Nothing to do (and everything to do) with Photography

Oops, I let quite a while pass since my last post -with good reason! I've been crazy busy with photo sessions (fall colours/holidays) and retouching, printing and delivering orders. Now I can finally get down to some holiday shopping/decorating/baking!

The title of my post refers to a very special anniversary today. It's been five years since I had my pacemaker implanted (for those of you who were wondering about that large scar just below my collarbone, now you know). What a difference a piece of metal has made in my life! After frequent trips to emergency, hospital stays, tests, treatments, drugs etc. I'm so grateful that the pacemaker has worked like a dream and I haven't had one visit to the ER since getting my device.

My good friends know that my spell of poor health led to a decision to leave the corporate world to do what I'd always dreamed of doing and the rewards have been amazing. True, the security of regular income & benefits are sorely missed at times but I was given the gifts of spending more time with my amazing daughter, meeting the wonderful man who was to become my husband and the opportunity to do what I love (and get paid for it!) Paragraph #1 above wouldn't have been possible without paragraph #2.

There are a few things I can't do that were possible before I fell ill with a cardiac infection years ago, but I'm extremely grateful for all the things I am able to do again! The energizer bunny marches on......

Custom Orders = Treats, yum!

There are a number of reasons why I love to get custom orders through Arts on Queen (an art boutique in the Beaches area of Toronto). One being that after all these years, it still gives me a charge that someone would like to hang an image in their home that I've created. This order was for "Lane in Afternoon Sun", a black & white infrared image (created the old-fashioned way on film!) captured in Halton region soon after moving to Burlington.

The other reason is that when I deliver these custom prints I get to visit some of my old haunts (for about twelve years I lived five minutes away from Arts on Queen) and today was no exception!

Today on the agenda:

Vienna Meats on Birchmount (German specialties that I remember from my childhood)
Arz Bakery (Lebanese foods, far more than just baked goods. The freshest pistachios and at least a dozen different varieties of baklava)
Zane Patisserie (AMAZING custard danishes!)

I don't feel so guilty, after all - I do need to keep my strength up to capture new images, don't I? :-)

Fresh New Logo

I love it!

Let's toss the kids around a bit....

I'm wouldn't normally suggest that we throw our children about - but the hearty giggles that come when moms & dads do what come naturally when they're playing with their children make the best photos!

This young man wasn't so sure about having his photo taken when I came to visit his family a few weeks ago but once we got down to the serious business of playing he completely forgot I was there. Young "N" also showed me how he sweeps the garden walk, kisses his sister and does all the important things a 2 yr. old will do on a beautiful summer day in the backyard.

Thanks to the "Z" family for a fun morning!

September Mini-Sessions

Oops, I let a whole month go by without posting - so I'd better make this good!

I'm offering mini-sessions twice this month - 30 minutes, at least 10 proofs to choose from.

Either go a la carte at $50 which includes the session time and on-line proof gallery OR

Include 25 customized, press-printed holiday cards for $125

September 21st 9 am - noon URBAN LOCATION, Burlington

September 28th 9 am - noon PARK LOCATION, Burlington

Please email me for details or to reserve your session. Limited to five family members, $25 per extra person (includes an extra 15 minutes of session time)

If you'd like to be notified of promos, please sign up on the right side for my newsletter.

Holiday Cards (Yup, I know it's August....)

I'm back from vacation (we did a "stay-cation", enjoying time with family close to home, and trying out some local restaurants) and now I'm back at work getting my holiday packages ready for clients.

I'm getting so engrossed in "Jingle Bell-ish" thoughts that I'm pleasantly surprised when I occasionally look out the window and see that there's no snow. Banish the thought!

Here's the selection of cards that I'm offering for 2008, they're all customizable to some degree.

2008 Holiday Cards

Ordering deadlines for prints, photobooks and holiday cards fall around the end of October - your session should be booked to allow ample time for you to make your selection from the proofs. Many of the October weekend sessions are already booked up.

Happy (snowless) August!

Images Transcend Boundaries

It's often said that a picture is worth a thousand words...and I'll add "in any language"!

You may know that a publishing house in Miami represents my work, they in turn may licence images to other media companies. Two of my images have shown up as posters at www.art.com and www.allposters.com, but I was delighted to see that the international divisions of these companies are also offering my images in France (where my very lucky daughter is hanging her hat this week!), Germany, Spain, Italy, and the U.K.

However, the real surprise was to find my images on the website for the Baghdad Museum in Iraq. Although the images were taken in Canada (near my old neighbourhood in Toronto), it would appear that whoever makes the purchasing decisions at the museum felt that my images would resonate with their visitors http://www.baghdadmuseum.org/posters/qSandy%2BTrunzer.html

It makes me smile to think that someone so far away, experiencing a life so very different from my own might find joy in one of my photographs.