I am more than thrilled to introduce my brother-in-law, J, and his wife, R.  After patiently waiting quite a few years, they are having their first baby!  It couldn’t be better news.  My father-in-law insists they know the gender of the baby, but they actually don’t.  The rest of us have all had girls, every one as of mid-July grown fully up, so welcoming a little boy would send everyone over the moon.  And if it’s another girl, well then, we know how to handle those.  Plus, no question that photographically speaking girls are a ton of fun…

We started in the studio, then drove down to Spanish Banks to round things out.  These guys are soooooooo in love, it is just so sweet.  And R is glowing, I swear.  A lightbulb.

Please be generous and leave a comment on this post if you are reading this, because we are trying to help out Cassidy’s Craft Campaign this month. Cassidy Briggs is a little 8-year-old Surrey girl who died in January of liver cancer. There weren’t enough craft materials at Children’s Hospital during her stays, so all on her own initiative, she started a charity drive to purchase supplies. Now that she’s gone, the charity is continuing, and all little sick kids will have this sweet gift from Cassidy. We are pleased to offer Cassidy’s Craft Campaign $1 for every comment received on this blog during the month of July, 2010. So come one, come all! Send your friends and family to this blog to leave a comment. It’s such a little thing, but it can make such a big difference. We are happy to send the hospital a cheque for up to $200 at the end of the month, depending on how many comments you leave.

Here are some words of wisdom from the mom-to-be:

You and hubs have been trying to conceive for some time.  Was the pregnancy a big surprise?

Yes, we were completely surprised and feel so blessed by having this baby.

How has the pregnancy been going?

Really well. I have had such an easy time, no morning sickness. I was just tired in the first trimester and after that time have been feeling energetic.

Any words of advice for other first-time moms-to-be out there?

Enjoy this special time, people treat you differently & share their experiences with you. It is also a nice time to do some special things with your spouse like some weekend getaways.

What has been the best part about being pregnant?

Just knowing that there is a child growing within you and we can’t wait to meet this little person.

What has been the most challenging?

Picking names for our baby. We are still debating this issue.

What are you most looking forward to in being a mom?

Having my maternity leave to be with the baby, getting to know them, nurturing them with lots of love.

What is hubs most looking forward to in being a dad?

He is looking forward to doing things with them such as playing and teaching them to play all sports

Do you know if you are having a boy or girl?

Nope, it will be the big surprise

When are you due?

August 23rd

Do you have plans for your labour?

Staying at home as long as I can and keeping active

Any special cravings?

Not really, I like my ice cream fix but I don’t think that I can blame that on pregnancy.

It’s always a particular honour when another photographer chooses you as their photogapher. I shoot some fine art work with Sarah’s dad, Gary. He’s the excellent fellow who had the ring flash and 580EX II on hand in January when we got to the studio with pinup model extraordinaire, my daughter Sarah, with hair and makeup and costumes all ready, only to find out someone had cleaned out all my studio gear. (I’m still trying to recover from that theft, which is another story. A very sweet photographer named Angela Deville in the southern US sent me two White Lightning can lights (…woo hoo Angela. The woman should be sainted…), but I am still limping along without the proper equipment.

Necessity is the mother of invention, I learned that night. Gary mostly used his ring flash and I used on camera flash in-studio, which was totally weird but kinda liberating and artistic. You can a couple of the resultant pix below under January or pinup. I am still amazed that I could carry on shooting when all I wanted to do was crumple in a ball and weep and weep and weep.

Anyhow, back to the celebratory matters of this current week.

I love brides and grooms who will play. I LOVE BRIDES AND GROOMS WHO WILL PLAY. There is almost nothing I’m not game for for the end result of “giving great photo”. Lol. Sarah and Erik actually had me come up to Furry Creek Golf Course a couple hours before their ceremony and agreed to meet ahead of time. It’s such a fantastic choice, because then there’s time to get some out of the ordinary shots. And isn’t that what your wedding is about? You being you?

‘Course, parents, Gary’s daughter doesn’t really smoke. We were just putting on the dog for a good snap.

So have a peek at the lupin field up there. Anyone thinking of getting married there ought to pick the last week of May. Just look at these things! For a fine art flower photographer, it wasn’t to be missed. In fact, I’m going back up to do some more shots of all that blue. It’s kinda like BC’s version of France’s lavendar fields, right?

Thanks, Erik and Sarah and all your attendants, for being so much fun to photograph. I can’t wait to have a better look at your images, and to design your Italian wedding book! I just got one back from Italy last week where the couple had chosen a butter white leather cover and a big, big, big book, and it was smashing. Yours will be too, I can tell just from these few pix.

Photo of the guys by Janet Rerecich shooting for Jane Photo. Thanks, Janet!