The Treasure Chest

You know what I mean?

Check this out: the tiny pink shoes belong to the baby, the red ones to her mom and the black ones to her grandpa:

All the family is waiting:

Congratulations for your little treasure!

Xander brings Christmas to Town!

Better early than late!

Tucker is being a good nanny cleaning Xander's face:

10 months ago there was just three of them. Now there's three... again. Four with Tucker!

Testing his new gold chain from grandma:

A 15 year early Christmas present for Xander:

Daddy is gonna take good care of it for Xan...

Really great to see you again, guys! Merry Christmas!

Vidhu & Karun - Decent Proposal

Today's Vidhu's birthday. Happy Birthday!
I'm really proud of this one:
There's a beautiful story that goes with these pictures! Karun is from London and he called me a few weeks before the photo shoot to tell me he was going to propose sometimes in the middle of the session, as a surprise for Vidhu.
So, I was ready! Here he goes down on his knee:
And the rock goes up Vidhu's finger:
I guess she said YES...

Yes, she definitely said YES!

We have confirmation. That was a YES!

Thank you so much guys for making me a part of this!

I can't wait for our wedding next year!

Kabir is ready for Winter!

Let's get this party started!

Thank you guys!

Don't mess with Sohan!

Somebody likes cars...

I hope you have a beautiful life!

Jasper - the Park!

Patricia Lake and Pyramid Mountain at sunrise:
Pyramid Mountain (2763 m) and Patricia and Pyramid Lakes, Jasper National Park, Alberta:

Pyramid Lake:

Elk female:

Lower Maligne Canyon, Jasper National Park:

Elk bull:

Medicine Lake - south end:

Old Moose bull. I didn't ask him his age, but he looked old:

Athabasca Falls, Jasper National Park, Alberta:

Athabasca River in the canyon after the falls:

Sunwapta Falls, Jasper National Park, Alberta:

Mount Robson (3954 m) - the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia:

October:

Overlander Falls, Mount Robson Provincial Park:

If you want to hang some of these on your wall, please let me know!

Jasper - the Baby!

Deep blue sea:

The Halloween costume:

How cute is that?

Thank you , Jasper!

Tubaa & Akash - Surprise Wedding!

The surprise was for me! I only found out when I got there that I was going to photograph a wedding. My very first Muslim wedding! It's safe to say I was a little confused. I'm not sure when the Nikah - the religious ceremony - started, but here we're somewhere in the middle of it:
No need to panic if you don't see the bride.

She was in another room with the family cat:

The priest is asking Akash if he accepts Tubaa in marriage from her brother. Akash accepts so they are declared husband and wife. The bride is still not here:

The groom receives the traditional watch as a gift from the bride's family:

Finally they see each other! The cat couldn't be more excited:

Everybody is going to Maurya Palace for the reception:

Spice it up:

The cookie jar! Only it's not a jar, but a glass and there are no cookies, but ice cubes:

Guys only on the dance floor! The girls just took pictures:

My man, Sunny:

This is it! No use to look for a portrait session. There wasn't one! But an amazing thing just happened! I was able to offer you 100% wedding photo journalism! Speaking of which, I have a proposal for you, but more on that later!

Congratulations Tubaa and Akash!

One More Time - Nya

We're old friends! This is our third get together with Nya and her parents after the pregnancy pictures and the new born pictures.

I'm already looking forward for Nya's wedding day! She's so ready:

See you at the 1st birthday party!

Picture of the Month - October

I know you like this, so here's some more awesomeness:

A huge thanks to the incredibly talented make-up artist Susan Gill!

Happy Halloween everyone! Have a horror weekend!

Neeru & Anil - Wedding Day

Neeru was ready at 7 in the morning and Ioana took a few pictures:

I was with the boys, at the Courtyard Hotel:

Anil receives his allowance from his father. He's gonna need it later!

Final retouches before entering the hall:

These are 100 Rupee banknotes brought all the way from India! About 200 of them:

No entry without fees! Jinney and all the bride's family is waiting for Anil:

The groom is calling for back up:

Finally he takes his seat and waits for his bride to be:

This greeting was original! Both Neeru and Anil were lifted in the air by their respective brothers/cousins for exchanging the garlands:

This is the part when Anil agrees to let Neeru buy all the makeup and clothes she wants:

The sixth step:

I do like a challenge and the location for the portrait session provided an interesting one! The cold winds drove us into a Hospital:

Sunita Sumaru did it again:

They changed for the reception:

A beautiful canvas is waiting the guests at the hall. It's one of the couple's favorite picture from our e-session in Spring:

The moment they stepped on the dance floor, the newly weds started to break it down:

It was RDB's and music producer Patwant's fault:

I guess this is the chair dance:

Singh is King:

I always wondered what happens with the money that flies in the air...

Well, it goes on the floor... And from there to charity. And by charity I mean the kids present. The fastest of them:

Speeches:

The sisters are gonna miss each other.

Like 3 of my brides before, Neeru is leaving Edmonton for good after the wedding! I start to see a pattern here. I hope it's not me!

Neeru - Sangeet, Mehndi, Maiya and Choora

This is my last 4 day wedding for this year! Neeru's mom rocked the Ladies' Sangeet:

What do they say? Like mother like daughter:

Mehndi ceremony:

Lime juice and sugar:

That's why mehndi is not for guys: they fall asleep in the middle of the whole thing:

This is the most creative rangoli I've seen this year:

Neeru is ready for Maiya:

Just a little bit over here! Thank you!

The end of the short life of rangoli:

Choora ceremony begins:

The maternal uncle of the bride gets the wedding bangles from the priest:

The red string around the wrist is for protection:

Help is needed with the wedding bangles:

Elephant God Ganesh is working hard on removing all obstacles:

Mommy is taking care of everything:

Neeru's brother is comforting her. The tears are not because of the bangles!

The wedding day is coming soon, after a short commercial break!

Rav & Indy went to Jasper

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't nice to us, so we had to continue the photo session in Edmonton a few days later....

We got a little lucky! We caught the 2 hours of Fall that Alberta had this year!

Don't do this without a professional international photographer close by:

Thank you guys! I can't believe we spent the whole Autumn together!

Allison & Michael - Wedding a la Carte

Allison was having her hair and make up done half a block from where we live, at Carrie'l Salon and Spa:

Her mom was there, as well:

Allison's best friend, Amanda, brought her lunch:

The ceremony was at Hotel Macdonald and Michael's grandma is making sure he's looking sharp:

Michael's sister and brother in law. Rummy knows why he's here! Thank you Rummy!

The last official photo of Michael as a single guy:

Keri Zwicker - a.k.a. the Harp Chick - provided the amazing soundtrack for the ceremony:

The portrait session was inside and outside of Hotel Macdonald:

Apparently, Allison is training for a new career:

My first bride with a bird cage veil, so I got a little carried away:

Photo tip of the day: change your angle of view:

Ioana is helping her take the veil off:

I've wanted to wear one of those ever since I was a little girl! How do I look?

Michael is ready to party:

The reception was at Characters Restaurant, the couple's favorite. The guests were welcomed by the most original sign in book: rocks! They symbolize stability, permanence and integrity:

MC Rummy:

The shoe game was fun:

The only person I've met in my life to climb Mount Everest, Cam Kish is a very close friend to the couple. I hope I'll have a chance to meet him again and talk about his adventures:

What can I tell you about the food? I wasn't sure if I'm in a restaurant or an art gallery! Allison and Michael trust so much the chef, they decided to go for a surprise menu! Don't try that at home! This is Pan seared Brome Lake duck breast with Pumpkin risotto:

Big Prawn with Spinach, Red pepper and Goat cheese Ravioli:

Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Toast:

There was more stuff, but I ate it.... Tequila shots for the girls:

Moral preparation for cutting the cake:

In case you didn't know, this is how you do it now:

Let's party!

Sweet dreams:

Thank you guys for a beautiful day!

The Superheroes' Cousins

After our summer escapade, we met again with the boys for yet another great photo session. Probably the best dad and kids picture I have taken to date:
Another one of my favorites:

Come on, Roman! You can do it!

OK, maybe with a little help from Josh...

I have to say it: one of my favorite family pictures:

Mom and dad got a few portraits, while the boys were showing Ioana the latest toys on the market.

Thank you for the fun times!

Happiness & Bliss

That's what Anand means in Punjabi .... And Anand is the name of this happy little girl who came all the way from UK to have some pictures taken by me!
Yeah, right! They were in Edmonton for a while and decided a photo shoot was a good idea.

Uncle Davinder did a great job entertaining Anand:

And he was very kind to let us use his back yard for the first part of the photo session.

Mom and dad joined in the fun:

After that we went to Summerside Lake for a little evening sun:

One of my favorites:

Hope to see you again in London!

3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Action!

If a picture is worth about 999 words, what about a movie? Specially when I'm in it :)
Well, this is not about me, as much as I would have liked! It's about my friend, videographer Laviniu Lazar, and his art. We made a great team at the fabulous Prague wedding of Lenka and Mark, last year. Get yourselves some popcorn and enjoy the highlights from the refreshing early morning e-session on the famous Charles Bridge:



But wait! There's more! If you call right now, you can watch the whole 4 day wedding in only 5 minutes:

And the portrait session from the wedding day. His website, Evodesign, barely speaks English right now , but he promised to fix that.

Thank you, Laviniu, for the fun times in Prague! We should do it again on this side of the pond! We're waiting for you!

Fall, Family and Fun at Devonian Gardens

We spent 2 beautiful hours in the Kurimoto Japanese Garden

with Courtney and Caleb

I wish I could still do this, rolling down hills! I would probably lose a few limbs on the way...

A little hidrating break:

Back in the helicopter:

Mom and dad got a few minutes of silence, while the kids were looking after Ioana ... or the other way around.

Thank you guys for the beautiful location! We really enjoyed the gardens!

It's Not Good to be Home!

Probably the most beautiful falls in the Canadian Rockies: Sunwapta Falls
Honestly now, if you found yourself in a place like this, would you ever wanna go back home? This is where we spent the last week, but the dream is over.... I'm back in front of the computer and.... I'm all yours :)

Anika Loves Mommy

And mommy loves Anika!