PERSONAL - Jr. B. Softball 2010 Recap

So last week was a bit of an unusual and a bit of a crazy week with some unplanned personal/family things going on. All ended well and the weekend was spent with friends, which was very nice. I think I consumed so many calories that night between the martinis, muffins, cheesecake, and other foods, that I really should be chained to my Wii Fit 24/7 for the next month......but yeah, you know that's NOT going to happen! :)

I thought I'd do a fun post. Well...., not many of my posts are really that serious, but hopefully the story and photos will make you smile. :)

As you may know from previous posts, my 6 (almost 7) year old was in Jr. B. Softball this summer. He was on the 'Blue' team (Centre Ice Sports). Jr. B. includes kids from ages 7 to 9. Ben wasn't 7 yet, but turns 7 this year, so no more T-ball for him. I think he was probably the youngest kid on the team and definitely the one who usually paid the least amount of attention at practices and games. (at least so it seemed)

It's always a good time for a rest

Not much action in the outfield

His coach, 'Coach Nick', was fantastic with the kids. He continually made the game fun, while teaching the kids the basics they need to know in order to play ball and even win a few games! In Jr. B., the kids are learning more about the actual rules, how to make plays and many things they needed to learn to play safe. (Ben was not happy to learn about the 'force out')

"Keep the glove up so you don't get hit in the face with the ball"

"Just a little bit closer, Ben"

Be ready in the field....

...so you can make a quick throw in

Ben REALLY liked Coach and thankfully, Coach liked him too. Anyone who stopped by to watch a game, who didn't know better, would have probably thought that Ben was Coach's kid. Hmmm I wonder why......

"But I'm feeling a little bit cold, Coach"

Coach Nick had the patience of a Saint. Ben can be very trying on your patience and he's a master of distraction and changing the subject (that, and arm farts).

Coach Nick was very smart. He kept his biggest trouble maker close at hand. If Ben was out in the field, Coach Nick wasn't too many steps away.

'Playing' in the outfield

Ben, however, kept Coach Nick even closer.

"Let me know if the ball comes this way"

"It's not looking good, Coach"

Apparently, when Ben wasn't tossing out the 'one-liners', he was giving the play by play to Coach. Maybe he actually was paying attention to what was going on afterall.

Perhaps being a jock isn't in his future, but comedian, sports commentator, stunt man, politician, actor....who knows. LOL!!

And now I'd like to end with this........ Why did I never remember to cut that dang tag off of his shirt before we left for every game?!?!

Those tags sticking out drive me crazy!

Hopefully Ben will want to play Jr. B. again next year, and hopefully he will either be on Coach Nick's team again or have a Coach just as awesome as Nick was for him this year.

Thanks Coach Nick!

Thanks for looking! :)

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #12 - Mmmm Duck Appetizers

It's been just over a year since my Uncle Pete passed away. Last weekend, family and friends got together to remember him. Food has always been a part of gatherings with Uncle Pete, so it was appropriate that the food was plentiful at this gathering. :)

Duck Appetizers

Thanks for looking. :)

-- Lisa P.

ON THE BUSINESS SIDE: Mini-Sessions - October 16/17, 2010

I finally have some time to offer Mini-Sessions! :))

What are Mini-Sessions you ask? Mini-Sessions are a smaller version of my full photo sessions.

The length of the sessions is approximately 30 minutes (vs. 60-90 minutes of a full session) with a cost $75 (vs. the cost of the full session which is $125) and the sessions are going to be at my location just outside of Tottenham. They are great if you don't have a lot of time but still want the flexibility and creativity of a custom photography session. Sessions will be done outdoors.

Available Times:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16TH

8:30am - 9:00am
9:15am - 9:45am
10:00am - 10:30am

5:30pm - 6:00pm -- no longer available
6:15pm - 6:45pm
7:00pm - 7:30pm -- no longer available

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17TH

8:30am - 9:00am
9:15am - 9:45am
10:00am - 10:30am

5:30pm - 6:00pm  -- no longer available
6:15pm - 6:45pm  -- no longer available
7:00pm - 7:30pm  -- no longer available


These Mini-Sessions will be eligible for the Client contest I will be having in November on Facebook (stay tuned for more details about that soon).

It's also a good time to have your family photos taken for your Christmas cards (I know.....I said Christmas already and it's not even the end of September!). Better to be early than scrambling when you're super busy with your Christmas shopping!

Special pricing for cards purchased with photos from these mini-sessions are:

$30 for 25 4x8 custom cards with envelopes
$57 for 50 4x8 custom cards with envelopes

Contact me for more details (see poster above for contact information). Sessions are very limited and must be booked ahead of time.

Thanks for looking :)

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #11: End of Another Ball Season

Wow! Such a busy week last week that I didn't get a chance to post the Photo of the Week from the previous week. So here it is, just a wee bit late.

Jr. B Participation Medals and Trophies

You may recognize those two handsome boys from this photo last year.  Boy have they grown!!

Thanks for looking! :)

-- Lisa P.

CLIENT SHOOTS: An evening with the Dwyers

I had the pleasure last night to spend some time photographing Doug and his beautiful children. What a photogenic family. :)

Some of my favourites of the session are below.

A Beautiful Family

I didn't even ask them to pose like that

I think they really do get along :)

Youthful Beauty

Just Hanging Out

A relaxing end to a busy day

I hope you guys like your sneak peak.

Thanks for looking! :)

-- Lisa P.

ON THE BUSINESS SIDE: Product Shots

I love delivering products to clients. And I love it even more when they are happy with the end result :))

This was from a recent Story Book Photo Session. Such fun!!

Thanks for looking :)

-- Lisa P.

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR FUN: Camping At Presqu'ile Provincial Park

I love camping. It's a great opportunity to get the camera out. :)

We spend the Labour Day weekend over at Presqu'ile this year with some friends. It was very windy and quite cool, but was still a great weekend.

Windy on the Lake

Did you notice the waves on that one. The clouds were also a bit crazy that weekend. You could see storms across the lake almost the entire weekend.

At Presqu'ile, hundreds of Monarch Butterflies stop over before they head to Mexico.  No, that's not a typo.  Mexico.  I wonder how long it takes them to fly that far!  Labour Day weekend was the weekend they were tagging and releasing them. It's pretty cool to watch. Ben got to release one. :)

Ben getting his butterfly from Monarch expert Don Davis

Ben's Butterfly...Be gentle!

It's too bad his finger is covering up the tag.

When he let it go it headed for the bushes

And took a brief stop before flying off.

Mr. Davis was full of information that he shared with those releasing the butterflies and those of us who were simply there to watch.  He told us how over the years, several of the butterflies tagged at this tagging event have been recovered later in the year in Mexico, Texas and other points South.  How cool is that?!

As an aside, for those of you who might be interested, I was looking at the "Friends of Presqu'ile" site and found this article in their News section.  Have a look.  That's A LOT of butterflies!!

One thing about Presqu'ile that I like is that they have this one trail, The Marsh Boardwalk Trail, that is pretty neat. For the most part, you walk along the boardwalk over the marsh (hence the name...haha).  It was closed for repairs for several years.  I believe they re-opened it either late last year or earlier this year.  The new boardwalk is awesome!  Very sturdy.

Walking along the Marsh Boardwalk Trail

Part of the trail goes into the woods and it does get quite dark in there. The trees along the way are pretty cool. Their trunks wind, making unusual shapes. There is one in particular that I always used to stop on to have my picture taken. It's shaped like an animal (i.e.: a horse).  Once Ben was born, I had Paul take a photo of the two of us at the same tree. 

One of the reasons why Photography is so important to me is that it's so difficult, as time passes, to remember all of the details.  I had forgotten that we did the 2005 photo.  I'm so very glad that we have a photo of it.  Ben loves it too, since, of course, he has no recollection of that camping trip.  He thinks it's pretty cool that he was sitting on that very same tree though. :)

                                              2002                                                              2005

 2010

So while the weekend was very windy and cooler than we'd all have liked, it was still fun :)  And of course, you can't be camping without a campfire.

Colourful Fire - The Last Night

The Last Morning At The Lake

Yes, he wanted to go swimming.  We convinced him otherwise.  LOL

Thanks for looking! :)

 -- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #10 - Just a few more minutes

I came out of my bathroom one morning last week to find Ben playing with Daddy's iPod Touch in the dark on our bed. He was supposed to be heading for the shower.

The light shining on his face was awesome, so I had to quick run and get my camera to take a picture......and then get on his case for playing instead of showering ;)

"Just A Few More Minutes"

I had to bump up the ISO quite a bit (2000) since I was using 'natural' light only (from the iPod) and it was pretty dark in the room still.

Thanks for looking :)

-- Lisa P.

CLIENT SHOOTS: Mayor's 3rd Annual Links For Learning Charity Golf Tournament - Alliston, ON

Yesterday was the Mayor's 3rd Annual Links For Learning Charity Golf Tournament up at the Notawasaga Inn Resort in Alliston, ON.  Initially the weather forecast predicted some thundershowers for the afternoon, but it turned out to be quite a nice day on the golf course.

David Chang assisted me with taking the photos this year. With the timeline we needed to follow in order to deliver the images to the event organizers on time, a second shooter was a must in order to keep things moving along smoothly. I felt so much more organized this time around and it was much less stressful than last year as well! :)

The people who organize the event are amazing! Here is the Mayor with some of the volunteers.

Before the Tournament Begins

I always love how organized things look at the beginning with the golf carts lined up and ready to go.  Seeing them all 'roll out' at the start is fun too.  Everyone is so happy and excited to get onto the course! :)

Ready to Go.

I spent most of my time at hole #1 taking group photos as people made their way through the course. 

A good place to begin.

It was also near the putting contest area.  I'm not sure who won the TV, but for $10 the participants received 3 chances to hit the golf balls into the slots.  I think it was pretty tough to hit the '3' slot, as I didn't hear a lot of cheering going on in that area. ;)

Putting Contest - Tougher than it looked

David spent his time over at hole #10 getting group shots.  He also got this one from the Tee off spot just before the start of the tournament.  I hope you got the grass stains out, David! :)

A view from the Tee off spot

       Photograph by: David Chang

My laptop could have been a little bit faster as I edited my photos on-site, but all in all, I'd say it was a good day :)

Thanks again David for your help and thanks Jill and Katie for having me back again this year.

 -- Lisa P. :)

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #9: A Brief Stop

Ben and I went on another photo walk out behind our property this past weekend.  He always says "Come for a walk with me Mommy.  You can bring your camera."  ;)

He started out with his point and shoot (our old one) but part way through it stopped working and he was so upset because "he wanted to get pictures of the............." and he listed a few things he knew we were going to stumble upon along the walk.  So we went back to the house so he could use my D80.  He's always pretty careful with it, and the smile on his face when he was still able to take his own pictures with a camera he was using on his own was well worth the walk back to the house. :)

I took many photos of plants and bugs it seems.  There were a few I liked, but this one stood out the most.

"A Brief Stop"

Thanks for looking! :)

-- Lisa P.

ON THE BUSINESS SIDE: See you on the golf course September 7th!

Next Tuesday will be exciting for a couple of reasons.

1. My little guy is starting Grade 2 that day.
2. I'll be shooting photos at the Mayor's Annual Links For Learning Charity Golf Tournament again this yearat the Nottawasaga Inn Resort Golf Club in Alliston, Ontario.

Last year was the first time I shot photos at a golf tournament.  What a learning experience that was!  Don't get me wrong.  Things turned out alright, but there were several areas that I could improve upon for this year.  LOL

Last year with the Mayor

This year I'm more prepared for the day and I also have a second shooter and good friend, David Chang, coming to assist me.  I'm really looking forward to it and I hope the weather is golf and photo friendly.

That's a lot of golf carts!

Putting contest

So I'm looking forward to getting out on the course again this year.  If you're golfing in the tournament, I'll see you there! :)

Thanks for looking :)

 -- Lisa P.