PHOTO OF THE WEEK #17 - The Field

I've always loved looking at this field while driving by on the way to my old full time job. I don't get to see it that often these days, since I don't make that daily drive anymore. I loved watching it change as the seasons changed. The colours are always so pretty. Some people just see weeds when they see that field. But let me tell you....sometimes those darn weeds are beautiful! :))

I was very happy that Diane loves the outdoors and agreed to meet for her session at that location so it's fitting that my photo of the week from last week is one from her session that also shows off the field. :)

Diane & Judy in one of my favourite fields

Thanks for looking! :)

I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween weekend.

-- Lisa P.

CLIENT SHOOTS: Diane

At the Women's Vendor Showcase of South Simcoe this past March, I had a draw at my table for a photo session. Diane was the winner and at first I wasn't sure if she was going to use the gift certificate. But about a month ago she called and booked a session! :)) Her good friend, Judy, came along as well both for morale support and to participate in the session. :)

She loves the outdoors, so one of my favourite spots, down Bolton way, was perfect. I swear that most of the leaves in our area turned colours a wee bit earlier this year. Also, there have been such high winds lately, a lot of them have already been blown off of the trees. But the outdoors is still pretty this time of year.

Diane (and Judy), I hope you like your sneak peak.

It was the perfect way to start the day and was a lot of fun spending time with Diane and Judy.

Thanks for looking :)

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #16 - Renee

I just really like this one :)

If you saw the initial sneak peak on Facebook, you would have seen this one already. It was definitely my favourite of the week.

Thanks for looking! :)

-- Lisa P.

PERSONAL - Fall Fun with the Family OR How I Spent 10-10-10

So 10-10-10 has come and gone. Really, in a blink of an eye it seems. Did you have any big plans for that day? Did you actually follow through?? (leave a comment and share!) :)

I didn't really have anything planned in advance. It was a Sunday and you never know what the weather will be like this time of year. Well, lucky for me it was gorgeous.

I spent the day with my family. It started with Ben and I going out to catch the sunrise. He forgot his gloves so I gave him mine. Boy did my hands get cold!! It wasn't the most spectacular sunrise, but a sunrise nonetheless. I love sunrise time. <3

Catching the Sunrise

Catching a picture of Ben Catching the Sunrise

Catching Ben taking a picture of me :)

The sunrise was pretty quick and we were cold (could you see the frost on the grass??), so we went home for breakfast and lazed a bit. Then we all went driving to see the colours and to get some apples!

A lot of the leaves have already dropped. I don't know if it is actually true, but it seems that a lot of the trees turned early this year and we've also had quite a bit of wind, so they've also dropped earlier as well.

Some pretty Fall colours

Then we drove to the Apple farm :)) We decided to go to Albion Orchards since it was relatively close. We'd never been before but had heard from neighbours that it was a good place.

Albion Orchards

You don't just get apples there, you can also have fun!

Playing in the Hay

We did pick apples and we bought apples already picked. I think we came home with over 50 pounds of apples!!

There were yellow apples

There were red apples

They are all soooooo delicous! We've made apple juice, apple/carrot juice, apple pie and apple crisp. Mmmmmm so many apples. Still so many to use up too. We still have to make the caramel and candy apples. I can't wait to do that. I think Ben's forgotten because he hasn't mentioned it since we brought everything home that day.

I took a ton more pictures, but no need to bore you to death with them ;)

So all in all, I must say that I had a very nice 10-10-10. How about you??

Thanks for reading! :)

-- Lisa P.

CLIENT SHOOTS: Mother & Son

I have a soft spot for Mother/Son sessions. I don't know why I'm so biased...heehee :))

Daddy was away fishing, so it was a perfect opportunity to get some shots of the little guy (who's not so little anymore) and a few with Mom. Here are some of my favourites.

What a great smile!

A cool little dude

I love the trees on our property and so do little boys ;)

He loved to pose

This was on the verge of one of his 'crazy' faces.

Awwwww :))

I love this one

Holding on tight

A few seconds of peace and quiet

Isn't she gorgeous!

You may see these being used in a little project I'll be working on for her

Thanks Renee for letting me photograph you and J. Was so much fun. He has so many expressions (which you will see once I get your full gallery posted for you), some were just hilarious and will make you smile I'm sure. :))

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #15 - Apple Anyone?

Last weekend we went to Albion Orchards in Caledon. I think we came home with over 50 pounds of apples! :) We bought some already picked and also did some picking ourselves.

Apple Anyone?

Look at those grimey hands!

So between eating apples, drinking apple cider (that we bought there), making and drinking some apple/carrot juice and making and eating apple pie, we've really been making use of the apples so far. Mmmmmm sooooo delicious!

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

PERSONAL - Tottenham Fire Hall Open House

This one's from last week. The local Fire Halls were having Open Houses for Fire Prevention Week. Our volunteer Fire Fighters are awesome! :) Fortunately there were no calls during the Open House, so they didn't have to take off.

Getting Autographs

Only if you spend every day with Ben, would you really know how important it was for him to go to this Open House. Ever since he first learned about Fire Fighters and Police Officers at 'big school' (probably since Kindergarten), when they would come in for presentations, etc., he's wanted to get their autographs. "They are REAL Heros and I want to have their autographs" he would always say as we would pass them on the streets, roads, highways, etc. while they were working. Every time I'd have to tell him that it wasn't really a good time to ask them for their autographs, because they were very very busy working.

Well, he FINALLY got his chance! Yes, my Ben was the crazy kid who was running around trying to find all of the Fire Fighters at the Open House to get their autographs. He was so excited! He took his Buzz Lightyear note pad and borrowed a pen from me and off he went.

Strapped in with his Buzz Lighyear notebook

I didn't get photos of everyone signing, but I did get a few. Here are a couple of collages (otherwise there would have been way too many photos in this post!)

Getting Autographs

More autographs and learning about fire safety

He even got Sparky's autograph!!

He loved getting to see inside the fire trucks and climb on them......

Uh Ben....are you supposed to be climing on that

But he did get to climb out the window of the 'house' when they were learning about smoke and fire inside houses.

I think he did this more than once....

He was disappointed that kids weren't allowed to try out the fire extinguishers on the fire. Only adults were allowed to try it. Actually, what I think he was MORE disappointed about was not being able to control the gas trigger that was lighting the fires!

This fire needs to be put out

Hurry, before it's too late!

It's working!

Almost out!

I did give it a try as I haven't actually used a fire extinguisher before. I gave Ben my camera and he was going to take a picture of me doing it, but he said the camera didn't work. My guess is that because it was so dark, it was having troubles focusing and he didn't know what to do.

He defininitely didn't get everyone, so watch out for him next year!

The evening ended with a 'Photo Opp' with some friends.

One last climb

Thank you to all of you who took the time to sign his book and teach him about fire safety. Even though he wasn't allowed to try to put the fire out with the fire extinguisher, he was still one happy little boy. :)

Thanks for reading :)

Oh, and a bit of a side note, he was very excited to see himself in the local paper this week in a couple of the photos Wendy took of that event for the Times. :) It's like he's famous now. LOL

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #14 - Checking to make sure I'm still there

It was a fun week last week. :)

Here's my favourite from the week for many reasons that, if you've been following along, you'll know what they are. ;)

Checking to make sure I'm still there

Thanks for looking and I hope you get to do some fun things with your families this weekend. If you're in Southern Ontario, it's going to be a nice one! :)

-- Lisa P.

CONTESTS - A Client Contest

November will mark the second anniversary of the official birth of Picture Your Life Photography.

As a thank you to my clients who have supported me during my second year, I will be holding a contest on my business Facebook page for those who wish to participate.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

If you have had an eligible session with me between November 1, 2009 and October 31, 2010 you are eligible to participate. Eligible sessions are:

• Regular portrait sessions - family, individual, pet, etc.
• Story Book Photo Sessions
• Mini-Sessions - yes, those being held in October qualify
• Family Events - birthday parties, weddings, etc.

Session that are NOT eligible are:

• Micro-mini birthday sessions
• Corporate events
• Book or Collage Design projects where photos were supplied to me (i.e.: photos were not taken by me)

HOW DOES THE CONTEST WORK?

If you have had an eligible session, I will be contacting you via e-mail to confirm whether or not you would like to participate in the contest.

I will be creating a collage (approximate size = 8X12) from each eligible session.  If you have had more than one session during the eligible period, you can choose which session you would like to have represented.  I will be making the decision as to which images will be used in each collage.

Images of the collages will be posted on my business Facebook Page early in November.  Followers of the page will be able to vote for their favourite.  The image with the most votes will win!

WHAT IS THE PRIZE?

The winner will receive their collage on a metal print.  Approximate value = $95.00 (Metal prints are VERY cool!  At least I think so)  Prize can not be substituted.

Sample Collage

At the end of the contest, clients will have the opportunity to purchase their collage on metal at a discounted price or to purchase a print of their collage.

THE FINE PRINT.

1. All collages will be created using the same template. 
2. Photos used in the collages will be chosen by Lisa Piellusch, not by the client.
3. In the event of a tie, a tie breaker vote will be held using the same format.  Each collage included in the tie breaker will be posted to a new Facebook album and followers will vote to break the tie.
4. Prize may not be substituted for cash or any other item.  It must be accepted as is.
5. Voting time period and rules will be posted on the Facebook Album at the time the Album is created.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #13 - Waiting for the Bus

Last week started off with Ben's first day of catching the bus at the house. He's been taking a school bus to school already, but had been catching it at Rocking Horse, the daycare where he was going before and after 'Big' school.

It's been interesting getting into a new routine in the morning and after school, since he now spends 3 more hours with me each day. So far so good. For him, it's great. He gets to sleep in an hour longer than when he used to go to Rocking Horse. He loves that. We'll see how things go once the snow comes. Should be interesting.

Waiting for the Bus

So far I haven't forgotten to go out to meet him after school at the end of the driveway, but that's only because I have a reminder in my calendar.... ;) I tend to get so wrapped up in what I'm working on that I lose track of time. Bus drop off time comes so quickly!!

The photos I took that day mark another small milestone in his little life. There are so many and I love capturing each and every one of them!

Thanks for looking. :)

-- Lisa P.