Photography Blog

I had the pleasure of photographing Anita and Craig’s wedding in 2006, so I was super excited to see them again when they emailed asking if I could take some maternity/family photos. They already have an adorable almost 2 year old! Here are 3 of my favourites (though it was really hard to choose!  I may share more on the blog once they have seen all their images in person 🙂  I chose these ones because they are so engaged with each other and the little one.

I love how every toddler plays the ‘drop it/pick it up again’ game (well, except when it’s my own and it’s applesauce or something messy like that). Amazingly, his parents are still amused!  Of course, a Thomas puzzle with no pieces on it isn’t hard to pick up!

Can’t wait to photograph the baby when he comes out of the belly in August (or maybe late July)!

I asked Jenn if there was a special place for her and Derek where we could take engagement photos, and I was very excited when she said, “Yes.  We can take them where he proposed.”  Not only did this place have special meaning for them, it was also a beautiful place!!! Thank you, Jenn and Derek for introducing me to Joker’s Hill .  What a cool spot for photos, hiking, biking and canoodling.  When I looked it up, I learned that it is U of T property, which surprised me since it is in Newmarket.

Jenn had an awesome idea of incorporating helium balloons into the shoot.  She picked up 4 balloons, but there were so many dragon flies that the 3 white ones popped in about 5 minutes!

One of my favourite parts of this session was when Derek went to get Yogi (the toy poodle) and Yogi came running into Jenn’s arms!  They both love the dog so much it’s almost like they have a child, as you can see from the images.  Jenn and Derek spent a year in South Korea together and Yogi is from South Korea (which is funny for those of you who speak Korean, since Yogi means “Come here,” so when they say, “Come here, Yogi” it sounds like they are saying “Come here, come here).

Congratulations again, Jenn and Derek! How am I going to wait a whole year to photograph your wedding when your engagement session was this much fun!?  I’m looking forward to it in 2012!

As you may or may not know, my husband, baby Emily and I (Julia stayed with her grandparents), went to Omaha, Nebraska for our friends wedding!

We didn’t know what to expect from that Midwestern town, but it had a lot more to offer than we would’ve guessed.  For one thing, they have a world-class zoo.  Their zoo features a geodesic desert dome and the world’s only indoor rainforest, among other things!

Here is one of the desert animals.

The following animals were hanging out in the indoor rainforest.

It was amazing watching this guy jump like he did for food!  It was a long way down, but he never fell…as he literally hung on by the tail.

I love baby monkeys!  The parrots were a little bit scary because they squawked angrily.

Lisa and Brent’s wedding took place the next day.  I was there as a guest and I was wearing my baby for most of the time, so I only took a few images.  You will be able to see more photos on the fabulous Courtney Patch’s blog (while you’re there, check out her amazing India photos!!!).

I took a photo of Brent while he was waiting for Lisa, then I decided to put down my camera and watch her walk down the aisle.

I had to take a picture of their bus driver, because he told me he always liked to wear suits that matched the wedding party’s outfits.

They had their reception at the Ackerhurst-Eipperhurst dairy barn.  My husband asked me to take his photo in front of it.

Lisa and Brent talking to a guest inside the hall.  Note the Indian food on their plates. They had an Indian food buffet! It was delicious!

Guests were asked to write a message on that chalkboard. I like how hard this little girl is trying.

Us!

Lisa and Brent’s first dance.

This is probably the first couple who have made me feel short!

Congrats again, Lisa and Brent!!! Thanks for having us at your wedding.

Omaha is great for walks as it has a river, walking paths, etc.

Ted and Wally’s has amazing ice cream.  My husband had some baklava flavoured ice cream and I had vanilla cola.

This looks like a war vehicle, but it’s really for war against the weather.  The people filmed the movie Tornado Alley were in this vehicle when they filmed it.

The Josyln Art Museum features over 16, 000 pieces. Check out the Chihuly at the front.

There was a recording playing as these statues talked to each other at the Durham Museum, which used to be a train station.  When were there, we also got to see all the Pulitzer Prize winning photographs, which was an amazing experience, but of course, no photos were allowed.

I hope you now feel like you’ve had a little taste of Omaha!

I had the pleasure of photographing Gianna’s First Communion portraits last year and was thrilled to be asked back for Amanda’s.   The church would not allow anyone to take pictures during the actual first communion, so we did some portraits before it.

Here she is with mom, dad, and sisters Gianna (on left) and Brianna.

Amanda and her great-grandmother are very close.

Check out the fancy nails.

She loved her little prayer book.

Getting ready for her First Communion in her room.

Amanda was a joy to photograph as she LOVES having her picture taken!

Thanks for having me back again.

Hope you have a fabulous day celebrating with your moms, remembering them if they are gone and of course, being appreciated if you are a mom or mom-to-be, or a want-to-be mom.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend today (the day before Mother’s Day) with my mom and daughters.

Thanks again mom, for proving that you are just as awesome at being a grandma as you are at being a mom!

Lisa emailed me two months ago, asking if I was available on April 29, and if, by any chance I would be willing to do a really, really small and short wedding.  Knowing I would have a newborn then, I said, “That’s perfect!”  And it was.

Although it was a cloudy day, there was no rain and not much wind (compared to the day before, which had gusts from the tornadoes down south that caused trees to fall and roofs to lose shingles).  Of course, though everyone hopes for perfect weather on their wedding day, what matters most is the love a couple shares, not the weather.

Terry and Lisa flew in from Hong Kong for their ceremony at Inn On the Twenty .

I was pretty surprised to find Terry getting ready in the same room as Lisa! She was happy with how much he helped her get ready before he did.

We went outside for the photos.  Hugging kept them warm!

I thought it was fitting to take a photo in front of The Canada Store, since they came all the way from Hong Kong (though Lisa grew up in Canada).

I asked them if they were willing to go for a little drive 5 minutes down the road, because I passed this little oasis on the way there.  Luckily, they were game!

This was another minute or two away.  I’ve never seen such brown water, but it looked really nice with the clouds.

The owner of Ninavik Native Arts kindly invited us into her store to take some images, because she noticed that Lisa was cold. If you are ever in Jordan, ON, I recommend you check it out.

Happily married!

The whole family in the room they got married in.

Finally, a handshake with their officiant, Sheldon Kofsky, who gave a beautiful ceremony.

Congratulations, again Terry and Lisa! Thank you for having me as your photographer !

Here, finally are some photos of Emily as well as her birth story!  Sorry about the delay.  My motherboard crashed on my main computer, so I had to wait until I got a new one to post.  I lost all my actions and haven’t had a chance to get them back into Photoshop yet, so these are all pretty much straight out of camera (with the exception of the black and whites, of course!).

Emily Mikaela Mai Vuong

Born March 28, 2011 at 5:55AM

Emily’s birth happened really fast. The night before, I told Vu I was having Braxton Hicks. He timed them and said, “They’re every 5 minutes. Should we call your midwife?”

“No. They don’t hurt at all.”

I fell asleep to Shawn Gallagher’s Hypnosis for Childbirth CD,which I’d been falling asleep to for the past month or so.

I woke up at 4:20AM needing to go the bathroom, but also having cramps.

I started worrying thinking, “Gee, I don’t want to have this baby on the toilet. I better time these in case they’re contractions.” I checked the microwave clock. They were mild, but coming every 4 minutes. I called my midwife.

She timed them and said, ” You are probably in the early stages of labour.” “They are only lasting 10 seconds.”

“How long was your last labour?”

“6 hours.”

” I better come and check you. You were GBS +, so I need to come and give you the antibiotics anyway.”

I agreed.

I woke Vu up at around 4:50 AM. I actually felt a little bad for calling my midwife, Mahnaz, since I thought it could be awhile longer. Mahnaz arrived around 5:05. She asked me if Tatyana, the student midwife (who had just started with the clinic last week) could check me, but said she would also need to check me. I said I would prefer only one check. I had a few contractions (but not many), then she checked me.

Her expression changed as she said, “Danielle, I don’t believe this. You are 9 centimetres. Don’t push. Vu-get the receiving blankets” She ran to her car to get her birthing kit.

Tatyana arrived (in what would be her first ever homebirth, as she is from Ukraine and they don’t do homebirths there).

My mom came as I had called her right after I woke Vu up. It was 5:30AM.

I told my midwives I wanted to push. I had to wait until they got the antibiotics into me. I told Mahnaz I was really itchy. She told me later that she had Benadryl just in case, but decided to concentrate on getting the baby out, since there were 2 of us to worry about-me and the baby (the right decision as the itching went away).

When they finished the antibiotics, I started to push.

I did the first 2 pushes with my face, then Mahnaz explained how I need to push farther down and my mom said to push in the shape of a J.

I pushed and my water broke. There was meconium.

They said, “Call the paramedics now. It was only a little bit, so hopefully it is ok, but we need to call them” (I wonder if they said that so I would be more calm).

My mom left the room to do that. Then they said, “Level 3, ask for level 3.“ Vu left the room to tell my mom to ask for Level 3 as I pushed. I was highly motivated, since I knew meconium could be dangerous. Then they shouted out, “Cancel the paramedics.” She had already come out! After only 7 minutes of pushing. It was 5:55AM. My mom and Vu were in the kitchen when she came out. They did the cord blood retrieval.

Everything happened so quickly!

She weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz. and her head circumference was 37.5 cm. Somehow, I did not tear (but the after pains were probably worse than labour).

Julia woke up around 8AM and wanted to give her a stuffed lamb, then asked to cuddle her. She was pretty excited to be a big sister!

Emily was born at home at 5:55AM just one day before my birthday on March 28, 2011.  We were very happy she held out that long, as I had threatened preterm labour at 29 1/2 week and lived at Sunnybrook for just over 2 weeks.  She came at 39 weeks, 4 days-exactly the same as her sister!

Emily gets weighed in the fish scale midwives use.  We were very surprised that she was 8 lbs, 2 oz! We thought she looked about 6 pounds. It’s amazing how quickly you forget how small newborns are.  My mom took this photo.  I’m glad I showed her how to use my camera!

Emily just before getting dressed for the first time.  Somehow, I managed to take this photo right after giving birth.

Mahnaz and Tatyana get her dressed.

Julia wakes up about 2 hours after Emily is born.  This was how she reacted upon first seeing Emily.

Julia asked if she could cuddle her baby sister.

My post-birth breakfast.

Julia insisted on wearing this pink dress.  I guess she knew it was a special day!

My birthday is the day after Emily’s birthday.  We still managed to celebrate with a little cake.  Another image by my mom.

Julia wanted to kiss Emily.

Emily reacts to her big sister kissing her.

Here she is!  We were surprised by how much hair she has.

She sleeps a lot. Thank goodness for that!

We decided to start putting her in her crib for naps, since when we started putting Julia in the crib when she outgrew the bassinet she wailed.  Emily seems quite  content in the crib so far.

Our little bunny.

You have to love a sleeping newborn!

Newborns are like little angels.

Look at all that hair!

Happy baby bunny.

In the pea pod.

Surprisingly, she fit into this doll bed.

Photos with daddy.

Julia made this for Emily with help from an older friend.  She was so proud of it, she stuck it on the fridge herself!

Check out the fabulous maternity photos Amber Williams took just a couple of weeks before I gave birth!

https://amberrichmond.com/2011/03/danielles-maternity-shoot/

I am pleased to tell you that we have been accepted to volunteer for Helping Hearts.

Helping Hearts was started by British Columbia photographers, Melissa Knowles and Michelle Regner, with the goal of being able to provide complimentary photography sessions to families who have a child or newborn with a life changing illness or disability.  If you are or know of a family in need, please contact us! There are Helping Hearts photographers throughout Canada.

This is a perfect volunteer opportunity for me because before I became a full-time photographer, I worked with children with such conditions (a little boy with quadrospastic cerebral palsy and a little girl who was DeafBlind from meningitis).

Please contact Helping Hearts  if you are interested in a session for your family and please pass this info on if you know of another family who could benefit.

Note: I will be starting around mid-May.

We are very honoured to have placed again in another ISPWP contest.  This time, we placed in the humour section with the following image.

There are some very funny images in the humour section, which you can check out here: https://www.ispwp.com/contests/ispwp-wedding-photography-contest-gallery-winter-2010-humor . Please browse through all the contest entries!

The ISPWP features only the most experienced wedding photographers from around the world. Photographers must submit a portfolio for evaluation by current members to gain acceptance.