We’ve had the good fortune of getting to know Nadja over the past ten months while she has been living in Fernie. This young lady has been on an exchange program from Germany and in a few short days will be flying back across the Atlantic Ocean to rejoin her family and friends. While we’re sad that she will be leaving us, we know that her family must be thrilled to be getting her back – she really is an exceptional person! Her last few days here are jam-packed with visiting and activities; so she agreed to meet us first thing this morning to catch some early-morning light on the east side of the Valley. Slideshow at the bottom!

Thanks again Nadja! We’ve enjoyed getting to know you and wish you all the best in the future!

On Friday night I gave Ashly a quick call asking her if she would be opposed to bringing some comfortable shoes to walk to some of our locations in. Naturally, she asked what I had in mind so I had to casually mention that we were going to the dump, the cemetery and above the old sewage treatment plant. She started to laugh, so I made sure to tell her that I wasn’t actually joking. Still laughing, she responded with ‘I know!’Seriously good times with these guys – Ashly was laughing and joking all day long; and she brought along those comfortable shoes – so they were definitely up for being a little non-traditional with their wedding photos!

In keeping with the advice garnered from the last post (both on the blog and what was received via private messages) I went with about 25 images this time.

One of the things that I love about living in Fernie is that you never have to drive very far to get good light because it such a narrow valley. Last night we had a last minute change of plans with Jenn and Mick after a big storm blew through. We had been planning on heading to the Crowsnest Pass but figured that since it had cleared out here that we would be better off seing what we could find around town. We ended up heading towards Island Lake Lodge and exploring off of one of the mountain bike trails around that way. Looking forward to your wedding in the fall guys!

We had a chance to meet up Amrita and Kirk on Sunday afternoon in Calgary, after Madisen and Cole’s wedding. They were originally going to be married in Grande Prairie, but unfortunately some of the plans fell through on them. Good thing that their backup plan is the Banff Springs Hotel! Thanks for making the long trip guys – we had a blast getting to know you; and are definitely looking forward to your wedding in August! Oh yeah….I almost forgot! Amrita – the cupcakes are delicious!

So I have to start this post with a question for you, our loyal blog readers. Is more better, or is less better? Pictures that is. Whenever it comes time to start selecting images to share on the blog I can’t seem to stop myself. Part of it is that I can’t wait to show our clients and their families how awesome their day was; and another part is that after all of the editing is done I have usually become pretty attached to quite a few shots from the day. Clearly I have a sickness; or at the very least; a perceived sickness. So I want to know from you guys – does there come a point when there are too many pictures in a post? I know that some photographers only put up their best 10 shots from the day – but that seems really low, and would be really hard to do. On the other hand, the 54 that I originally had selected from Madisen and Cole’s wedding would probably be too many! =) Let me know what you think in the comments below; and in my arbitrary weighting system our former clients or current client’s comments count for double!

Which leads me to Madisen and Cole. Like I said, there were so many shots that I wanted to share from this one. I love that our clients never seem to be stressed out at all on their wedding days – and I love that we occasionally have to tell our clients (*ahem* *Madisen*) that we should do a shot where they aren’t smiling. Just to prove that it can happen.

Yes, I realize that the image on the left is completely out of focus but it was a really funny moment! What you can’t see here is that there is a bridesmaid completely underneath that dress adjusting the crinolen.

Cole’s reaction to seeing Madisen for the first time.

The ceremony was held at Knox United Church in downtown Calgary – the same church that Madisen’s mom was married in!

My abstract shot of the week.

Cole has a killer smile here right? It may have been slightly affected by Madisen though….

Note to Madisen: if the photographers dare you to do something – you should probably not take them seriously!

So normally we don’t include two ring shots, but since these are a bit of the ‘Where’s Waldo?’ variety we went with two. I think a few of the guests thought we were crazy for playing with the center pieces and a coat hanger…

Love the fish-face Madisen!