I've been neglecting my website and my blog for too long so I decided that this would be a perfect place to share some of my amazing adventures from a recent vacation with the hubby to always-spectacular Newfoundland.

Just to give you a little history -- no, I am not from Newfoundland (although I'm convinced that maybe in a past life, I was!) but to me, it feels like home when I'm there.  A few years back, hubby and I bought a little shack there on the lower portion of the Great Northern Peninsula, in a little town called Daniel's Harbour. Every summer we go back to our little haven for a couple of weeks and spend most of our time working on it but this time we decided to take a little time to just be tourists and enjoy as much of the awesomeness of this amazing place as we could squeeze into a weekend (which turned into a four-day weekend).

The plan was to head all the way across the island to St. Johns, about an 8 or 9 hour drive, and spend a couple nights there exploring the city and surrounding areas then head back but this time we planned on making a few stops along the way.  In the beautiful city of St. Johns, we explored the city mainly on foot including the amazing little community known as The Battery, had a drink at the Duke of Duckworth (the bar featured in Republic Of Doyle), and found ourselves enjoying the city so much that it was hard to leave.

Next stop was Twillingate to see some icebergs and also to see if we could find the "Midnight Shadow" as my son is a big fan of the show "Cold Water Cowboys".  When we arrived at the harbour, there was no sign of the boat but I guess the locals are getting used to people looking for the boat so they were quick to tell us where we could find it.  :-)  

Without a doubt, the highlight of this trip was our visit to Burlington, a tiny little town on the Baie Verte Peninsula.  Those of you who have seen the tv show, Majumder Manor, will know the place I'm talking about as its the future location for THE Majumder Manor, the creation of Shaun Majumder (also from This Hour Has 22 Minutes).  Having seen the first season of this show, and anxiously awaiting the second (which starts Monday night!) hubby and I decided that Burlington was to be a definite stop on the trip home.  Once there, we saw a sign that said "Greenhouse" so we followed that road down, not really knowing where else to go (not that there were many choices).  When we got out of our car, a gentleman who had been in a pick-up behind us got out of his vehicle and headed towards us, which didn't really surprise us as almost all Newfoundlanders are friendly and will often come over and chat with us but you can imagine my surprise when we realized it was none other than Shaun Majumder himself!!  I tried to keep my cool and be nonchalant but I was ecstatic and on the inside I was just dancing around, jumping up and down and shouting like my name had just been called on the Price Is Right!!

So, after chatting for a few minutes, Shaun graciously offered to take us to see the location of the future Majumder Manor and we got to see the luxury tents AND a new "pod" still in the process of being built.  We spent the next couple of hours doing just that! What a truly amazing place! He even offered to let us stay in one of the tents but, at the time, we were feeling a little pressed for time as we had already stayed out an extra day, thanks to the magnificent icebergs and the "Midnight Shadow" in Twillingate.  We soooo regret that decision now!  How awesome would it have been to stay in that tent and wake up to an iceberg right outside your door?!  In the very near future, they plan to start renting the tents as an alternative to your typical hotel stay so I urge anyone who is considering a trip to Newfoundland, to consider checking them out.

Oh and did I mention that, seeing how awe-struck we were with the whole Majumder Manor concept, Shaun asked if he could do a little promotional video interview with us?  I opted out (too camera shy!) but Pat happily obliged.  We realized afterwards we weren't really sure exactly what it was to be used for but, oh well. lol  :-)  Or did I mention that I needed a wide-angle lens to do the tent shots but had left my camera bag back in the car.  As luck would have it, Shaun is also a Nikon shooter so we switched lenses for a bit!  I'm not sure why I think that would be interesting to you -- but its fun for me to see the photo of Shaun with MY lens on his camera! Do you think I was a bit star-struck?? lol :-)  

Ok, just one more Shaun tidbit -- I had seen the photos he posted earlier in the week of himself swimming with a beluga whale so I mentioned how awesome I thought it was.  I was thrilled when he told us that there was a harbour just down the road a few minutes (Middle Arm, I believe) where the beluga has taken up residence for the past month or so.   So, off we headed in hopes of seeing the whale.  When we arrived at the harbour there were a few young boys there who asked if we'd like to see the whale.  One of them just flapped something in the water in a few times and almost immediately, this beautiful baby beluga came close to the dock and jumped and twisted and turned and rolled around in the water right in front of us. I was so amazed I forgot to take pictures for a few minutes but eventually snapped out of it and managed to get a few.  A young kayaker went out paddling around the harbour and the whale followed him everywhere -- literally stayed right beside him!  The boys told us if we stuck around until after supper, they were going to put their wetsuits on and go swimming with "Milo".  As one of them commented "Who needs to go to Florida to swim with the dolphins when we can swim right here with a whale who can come and go as he pleases?" 

I have rambled on, haven't I? lol Well, I hope you enjoy looking at the photos from this incredible, amazing, spectacular place called Newfoundland. As always, please feel free to comment either here or on my Facebook page as I aways welcome feedback!  Thanks for looking!

J.

Many of you who are reading this already know Sam, the gorgeous mom-to-be featured in this blog and accompanying photos.  I have done several sessions with this lovely young lady and her family in the past but this one was a little out of the ordinary! I already knew that she was gorgeous  and that she was always easy to work with, but what I didn't know was what a trouper she is -- especially at 7 and a half months pregnant!  

We had been talking about this session for a while and just waiting for the perfect evening to do it but with so much rain and cold weather, the windows of opportunity have been very small and didn't look promising for the next several days either.   We had been watching the forecast and knew that thundershowers were expected by 5:00 yesterday afternoon but when 5:00 came and went and it was still looking like a beautiful evening,  I messaged her and we decided to give it a try.  

So poor Sam rushed home from work and got ready and we had agreed to meet at her house at 6:45.  When I left home, it was beautiful and sunny -- 10 minutes later when I got out of my car at her house, the first crack of thunder boomed.  But no rain.  Sam said she was still game if I was.  So we decided to continue on to the location we had chosen for the session as we could always just turn around and come back if it started raining. When we got there, opened the car doors -- more thunder.  But still no rain.     With both of our busy schedules and the uncooperative weather we've been having, combined with the fact that we were already there, Sam said she was still up for it so out we went!  We took a very quick couple of shots on the grass beside the lakeshore and then we both agreed it would be fun to get a few shots IN the water.  So, off went poor Sam into the ccccold water and we got in a few more shots before the rain started.  But then the rain did start -- not pouring but a good shower for sure.  Sam's hair, which had started out so perfect quickly got flattened somewhat within a matter of seconds.  But even as it was raining, we realized that there was a little bit of sunlight off in the distance and then a beautiful rainbow appeared just above where Sam was still standing in the lake!

Those closest to Sam will know that rainbows have a very special significance to her.  It was kind of a magical moment, I think.  So after all the indecision about whether to go ahead with the session or not, and in spite of the thunder and rain, we knew right then that it had been exactly the right time to do the session.  That is, until after the rain when something I was totally unprepared for came out of nowhere and attacked me -- BLACKFLIES!! I have never seen, or been literally chewed by so many all at once in my entire life!! I have bites in places I didn't even know I had!  I'm sure Sam was getting chewed also but no complaints from her! (Later when I was washing the maternity gown, I expected the sink to be full of mud and dirt but couldn't believe the number of blackflies that were caught in the lace of the gown!)

Thank you so much, Samantha, for being such a beautiful and cooperative model.  :-)

J.

Yep -- I'm back!! Those of you who follow my Facebook page will know that, although things have been a little quiet on my page lately, I haven't really been gone.  I've been using the last couple of months to stop and catch my breath and 'regroup'.  And that I have!  I have to confess that, at one point there when I so overwhelmed with work, and photo sessions and editing and trying to find time to spend with my family AND keep my house reasonably clean AND still find time to eat and sleep -- I wondered if I could really keep it all up.   After finally getting all caught up on my editing (and my sleeping!) from last year, I didn't accept any bookings for photo sessions in February or March and I did some serious soul-searching and, after not much time at all, came up with the only answer I could -- I CAN AND I WILL keep it up because I love doing this way too much to give it up!!!  Its just not an option to give it up.  So, as long as people keep enjoying my photography, I'll keep doing it for them.  And if the time comes when I'm the only one enjoying it, I'll still keep doing it for myself.  :-)

So, what did I do with all that extra time over the last couple of months?  Well, lets see...I took a couple of online courses and learned some new shooting and editing techniques.  I took the most awesome vacation to Mexico with my sister-in-law and my cousin, both of whom I love dearly and don't get to see enough of.  While in Mexico, I saw, among other amazing things, humpback whales closer than I've ever seen them before!! Mostly, I tried to spend a little more time with my family and I spent a lot of time 'shooting from the heart' just for me, doing what makes me happy!  Hence, the bird feeders and the discovery of how much I love shooting birds.  Of course, by now, you all know that my granddaughter is one of the 'things' I like to shoot from the heart, so I did as much of that as I could squeeze in too.  And now I feel re-energized and ready to get started and do it all over again!! Good thing, because this is my last weekend with no photo sessions for the next few months!  

Speaking of the next few months, I have some exciting things happening in my photography world!  Along with my regular sessions, I'll be shooting another day of boudoir sessions at the end of the month, high school graduates on prom day, complete with hair and makeup (and considering a similar event for Grade 8 grads as well!), and  a  maternity session with one of my expectant moms who has agreed to be my model for a special outdoor session .   I can't wait to get started and I am beyond excited to start meeting all the new clients I will be shooting over the next few months.  :-)

Below are some of my shooting-just-for-me photos.  And I just had to include one from my most recent session where I feel I was truly honoured to shoot a couple celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary!! That is SO awesome and such an accomplishment.  I mean, how many times in your life do you get to meet a couple who has been married for SEVENTY YEARS?  

As always, I am so very grateful to all of you who comment and 'like' my photos and continue to support me both here and on Facebook.  Your support is what drives me to keep doing what I'm doing so THANK YOU!

Happy Victoria Day Weekend!!

J.