CLIENT SHOOTS: Addison's 1 Year Session

Wow!  It's so hard to believe that little Addison is going to be turning 1 in a few short days.  It has been amazing watching her grown this past year.  She is such an expressive little girl.

My final session of 2011 was with her and her family.  It was awesome to have multiple generations in these photos.

Here is Addison with some of her favourite people (and animal), doing some of her favourite things.  :)

Thank you Kirsten and Bannon for inviting me into your lives this past year to witness and capture some of Addison's amazing life so far!  I hope you like this little sneak peak.

Thanks for looking!  :)

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #25 - Fishing with Santa

I figured I'd better post the photo of the week from last week now, before I forget. I can just see myself forgetting to do it on the weekend with all of the Christmas activities we have planned.

I think this might be the last year Ben wants to go Fishing with Santa at Vaughan Mills. He almost decided not to go this time because he said there were only little kids there last year when we went. But he did want to go, so off we went. And he wasn't the biggest kid in the line when we were there, so I think that made him happy as well.

He's at that age where he almost asks questions, but isn't really interested in knowing the true answers yet. hehe ;)



Santa said he was a fishing pro since he had the line in and the fish on pretty much before Santa had a chance to explain to him how to catch the fish. Caught in 4.5 seconds was what Santa said. A new record! LOL

I'm glad he still has fun doing that sort of thing. :)

Thanks for looking and I wish you and your families a very merry and happy Christmas.

-- Lisa P.

PERSONAL: Doug's Cookie Exchange 2011

Speaking of Doug's cookie exchange.......

I think it just keeps getting better every year! :) By the time the taste testing started so we could pick the yummiest treat, I was so full from all of the food and wine Doug had out for us! But I did manage to taste all of the goodies so that I could vote. ;)

Thank you Connor, Doug and Carlo for helping take some of the pictures for me so I'm actually in a few of them. :)

Here is the amazing group of bakers for this year's exchange.

The finalists in the yummiest treat competition (minus one late addition).

The winner of the yummiest treat. It was this chocolate/peanut butter/crispy ball of goodness!

Look at all of the fabulous looking packaging!

Winner of the best packaging. (She made rum balls and packaged them in glass mugs)

And the most festively dressed.

It was a great time. Thanks Doug for the invitation again this year. And thanks Carlo & Mary for the ride home! :)

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

MISCELLANEOUS: Photo Memories of Past Christmases

I meant to post this a while ago. When I was at Doug's cookie exchange, I saw one of the photos I took of him and his two kids last year hanging on the wall. It's one of my favourites, plus he ordered it in a metal print, which I absolutely LOVE. It was nice to see it hanging on the wall, BUT.....what was even more awesome was what I saw on the shelf below it....



Yes, those are Christmas photos of his kids, when they were obviously younger, that he puts out at Christmas time. That just made me all warm and fuzzy inside. LOVE it!! :)

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #24 - Christmas Fun at Splashy's!

This was the first year we were able to make it to the Splashy's Swim 'n Fitness Christmas Party (this is where Ben takes his swimming lessons). It was a great time with fun for the kids and yummy food. Ben had a fun time.

Thanks Piret!! :)



Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

CLIENT SHOOTS: Fancy Dresses

I was so busy working on their photo book project earlier this month that I forgot to blog about their last session of the year!

The Browns came over in November to have some more formal photos taken for their Christmas cards. It was so nice having little girls in fancy dresses over. Mom, Dad and their brother looked great too, but, having an almost 8 year old boy means not many little girls in fancy dresses running around the house. I always like to see little girls in fancy dresses. :)

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

NEW BLOG POST: Photos with Santa - November 26, 2011

Finally, a post about the Santa photos at the Christmas Extravaganza show in Alliston on November 26th. It was a fun day seeing all of the kids try and decide if they were brave enough to get close to Santa. :)

There were some great vendors there as well. Joyce Walker won the draw I had for a complementary photo session. Congratulations Joyce!!

The Christmas tree we had beside Santa was beautiful and so much fun. It was provided by 'Flower by Lady Di'. Here are a few photos. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get a solo photo of the entire tree.

And finally.....here is a little video featuring some of the photos taken that day with Santa. I hope you enjoy them. :) (Just click the image below)

A big 'THANK YOU' to everyone who stopped by to say hello and to have their picture taken with Santa. We raised $37 for the Alliston Lion's Food and Toy Drive. :)
Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

CONTESTS: Show Us Your Christmas Magic!

TakethePartyOutside.com, Momstown Barrie and Picture Your Life Photography have come together to find the most Magical Christmas moment of 2011!


Send us the most magical moment that you have captured on film, well digitally, lol. We will select the top three images that we found to be most magical and then you will vote for your favourite one.


Show us a big surprise, happy faces, a big family hug, anything that made the holidays magic!


Enter for your chance to WIN a Children's Customized Photo Storybook Session from Picture Your Life Photography. (Current value - $155) Prize includes up to 2 hours of session time at Picture Your Life Photography Studio or on location within 30 minutes from Tottenham, ON. Includes one customized 7x7 inch soft cover photo storybook featuring your child. Gift certificate will be valid for 12 months from date of issue.


TO ENTER YOUR CHRISTMAS MAGIC


Step 1: Like our facebook pages! Direct links below.


Step 2: Name your jpeg file with your full name (ie. SallySmith.jpg). Send your file in an email to
the following address: pictureyourlife@email.smugmug.com. The subject of the email MUST be: ChristmasPhoto


Step 3: Check the gallery to ensure your photo was added successfully. GALLERY LINK:
http://www.pictureyourlifephotography.com/Other/Email/11328608_nJm8Br#1610701662_2GdfSzB


Deadline: Jan. 6, 2012 11:59pm (be sure it's in jpg format!)


Our top 5 finalists will be notified by email before January 9th. Voting will begin on January 9th!!
The winner will be announced on January 30th at 6:00pm.


Having problems? Email: kate@takethepartyoutside.com


Please head on over to Facebook and "like" our pages!  We have made it easy, click on logos below to get there!

 

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #23 - Here comes the parade!!

We always make sure to go to the Tottenham Santa Claus Parade. This year, it seemed even better than in previous years. I'm not sure if it was because there were more or better floats and participants this year, or maybe because we know more people in the area than before..... But regardless of the reason, it was a great little parade! :)



I will be doing a blog post with more photos from the parade, but that probably won't be until holiday time in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #22 - Who's that kissing Santa Claus?!

What a fabulous time I had at the Christmas Extravaganza show in Alliston at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre on Saturday, November 26th!!

I got to hang out with the one and only Santa!! And who's that kissing him??



It's Joyce Walker, show organizer! :)

It was a great time and I took a lot of photos that day. AND...I was able to donate $37.00 to the Lions Food and Toy Drive. :)

Stay tuned for more photos from that day.

Thanks for looking!!

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #21 - Beautiful Smiles

A couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of having the Ball family in the studio.  I love watching the girls grow up.   And just look at all of these beautiful smiles!! :))

Thanks for looking! :)

-- Lisa P.

CLIENT SHOOTS: Back in the studio with the Ball Family

This past Saturday I got to spend a few hours with one of my favourite families. :) I've known these girls since they were born, and boy how they have grown.

So who is this?

Well, it's the Ball Family, of course!! :)

We spent some time in the studio and then we ventured outdoors. The girls were a lot of fun.

What a gorgeous family. :)

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

MY COMMUNITY: Women's Christmas Showcase of South Simcoe - Photos with Mrs. Claus

The day taking photos with Mrs. Claus was a lot of fun as always. In total, we all raised $162.46 for "My Sister's Place" in Alliston. I think the beautiful weather kept some people outdoors instead of coming in to the Women's Christmas Showcase, but $162.46 isn't too bad at all. :)

Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by to have their photos taken and to just say 'hello'.

Thank you to Shelley Barlow for once again making her appearance as Mrs. Claus. You make a perfect Mrs. Claus, Shelley!

Thank you Ginette Stone for helping to take the photos and keep things organized, as well as helping to get set up and put away. :)

Thank you to Benjamin for helping spread the word at the show and thank you to your new little friend who helped you out as well (I think his name was Cameron).

Here are the photos from the day that we have permission to post. What an awesome looking bunch! :))

To everyone waiting for their digital files.....they will be emailed over the next couple of days. My mail server is almost full, so I'm sending them out in smaller batches.

Thanks for looking! :)

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #20 - A day with Mrs. Claus

I'm falling behind on my blog posting, but thankfully my 'Photo of the Week' gets me to post at least once each week! Things have been busy, which is both good and bad. :)

Last Saturday was the Women's Christmas Showcase in Tottenham and we did the Mrs. Claus photos for donations to "My Sister's Place", which is a women's shelter in Alliston. This year we raised $162.46. Not quite as much as last year, but not too bad.

I wanted to thank Shelley Barlow, who was our absolutely fabulous Mrs. Claus, and Ginette Stone for helping to take photos and keep things organized. Here they are. :)

And of course, thanks to Ben too for helping spread the word at the show in his elf hat. ;)

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #19 - My little Ninja

I'm a day late posting this one. It's my photo of the week from just over a week ago and is from Halloween night. Ben LOVES dressing up. He dresses up in costumes all year long. He decided that for Halloween this year, he wanted to be a Ninja.

Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #18 - Jack O'Lanterns anyone?

Well, I'm not exactly sure how to spell Jack O'Lanterns. I even googled it and there were a few variations. So I'm just going with the one I used. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, regardless of how I spell it. ;) (But, if anyone does know the proper way, leave it in a comment!)

The photo of the week from a week ago is from the weekend before Halloween. That was when Paul and Ben carved the pumpkins. Ben came up with most of the designs.



Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #17 - He Melts My Heart

I took so many photos last week of so many awesome people that it was REALLY difficult to pick my photo of the week for that week. I think this one is it though. And you've already seen it earlier this week as well. This little guy just melts my heart. :)



Thanks for looking!

-- Lisa P.

CLIENT SHOOTS: Meet the Hargreaves Family

Meet the Hargreaves Family!

We had to reschedule their session due to nasty weather, and we were so lucky to get such a nice day this time.  This time of year, you just never know what it's going to be like.

Here's Mom

And Dad

And their three adorable children!!

I had such a fun time with them. :)

Thanks so much for the opportunity to photograph your fun, beautiful family. I hope you like your sneak peaks.

Thanks for looking!!

-- Lisa P.