Here’s your sneak peek!
Taking orders 
Out-of-towners please visit the Babes go Bare for Cancer website
I’m a thirty somethin’ mamma, photographer, activist and lover of the outdoors. I grew up in bustling Montréal, Québec, and have been on the West Coast of Canada since 2005. I live in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) – a smallish city on Vancouver island, surrounded by awe-inspiring landscapes. I received my education and most of my professional experience in Montréal. I have been photographing professionally for over 15 years. I am inspired daily by great conversation, my daughter, friends, laughter, food, magazines, books, music, film, and the outdoors. As I grow as a mom, partner, friend and visual artist, so does my appreciation for spirituality, sustainability and well-being. Welcome to my blog!
Interested in working with me? Click here to contact me via my website.
Holiday Promo!
November 5th, 2010
A fun little promotion just in time for the holiday season! Let me capture the essence of your family and create cherished keepsakes for you to share and look back on
2 days only and sessions are booking fast!
Launch of the Girl’s Night Mixer website!
September 26th, 2010
The Girl’s Night Mixer finally has a home of its very own! Thank you Nicole Sims for your help! Looking forward to all your comments!
New branding and website launch
September 23rd, 2010
My lovely Nicole….
I met Nicole and her beautiful family on a remote beach on Gabriola Island a few years back. Our friendship has flourished into a GREAT friendship, and I feel blessed to have her in my world. Besides being a generous and beautiful human being, she is an extremely talented Art Director and Graphic Designer, with a background in illustration. Those who know me have heard me rave about her many times Nicole has the ability to understand her client’s needs and to translate it into a look, a brand that not only represents them but their target audience. Her talent floors me. I have been lucky to work with her on several projects including the Girl’s Night Mixer and my new branding and website. I know I wasn’t the easiest client, but Nicole, with her patience and skill, persevered and created a look of which I am so proud! Thank you sweetie!
Website integration and development was done by thenumber creative. They came highly recommended, and I can see why! A team of experienced professionals, they were able to take an idea and bring it to life. Jason was my main contact for this project, plowing through what must have been hundreds of emails, tweaking my website and blog until it was just right… a true professional! I highly recommend thenumber creative for your website needs! Talk to Connor Sweeney and/or Jason Jankowski and tell them I sent you!
From their website: “thenumber creative is a creative agency based in Victoria, BC. We create unique solutions for the highly motivated, creative businesses, organizations, agencies and individuals. Our team of experts can help with graphic design, web design, video & printing.”
Morgan’s Path
September 18th, 2010
On September 9, 2010, I attended the opening of Path-Sci‘s new location in the old Nelson building on Quadra, across the street from Wild Fire. Path-Sci is a group of dedicated and knowledgeable fitness/rehab specialists who work with clients with spinal cord injuries, to help regain strength, movement and flexibility. The work they do is phenomenal and the people’s lives they touch along the way leaves you breathless. I came to know Path-Sci because of my good friend Leona Fowler, whose husband is one of the wonderful specialists working the facility. The new space will allow Path-Sci the room to welcome new faces and offer a wider range of surfaces and equipment to facilitate the training.
The opening was a phenomenal success! Spanning over several rooms within the building, artists had gathered showing off their pieces. In one of these rooms (just so happened t’was the booze room ), I met the beautiful Morgan Van Breda and her art on the walls! I instantly fell in love both with the strength and stunning beauty of the lady before me, and with the humility with which she presented her work to the world for the very first time. In a moment of absolute bliss, I grabbed her hand and told her I was buying one of her paintings. I was giddy to find out that I was the first person to purchase a Morgan Van Breda
Morgan is a client of Path-Sci. Her art sales contribute to her rehabilitation. I cannot begin to express the joy I have looking at the beautiful colourful piece of woven canvas art that sits atop my Sofia’s dresser. I am blessed.
Morgan is planning a seven week, 3,300 km cycling trip across India with her partner Viktor Berg and a documentary team to raise funds and awareness for children of poverty, people with disabilities and to change the face of spinal cord injury perceptions. They will depart Taj Mahal on January 29th, 2011 to arrive at the southern tip of India in Kanyakumari on March 19th. Follow the Able Project at: www.theableproject.com. Morgan is planning a local fundraiser in November of this year. Morgan – keep painting and keep dreaming BIG
In the more immediate future, Path-Sci is hosting a fashion fundraiser at Outlooks for men on September 29th in support of spinal cord injuries and neuromuscular disorders. Food, music and a fashion show (yours truly will be strutting her stuff down the aisle ).
When Morgan left my apartment after a beautiful few hours of chatting over tea, she looked at me and said, “You sure surround yourself with amazing people.” – I sure do. Thank you sweet soul for reminding me to be grateful. This song reminds me of you Morgan…..
My new Morgan Van Breda painting photographed with my IPhone
Babes go Bare for Cancer – BC Cancer Foundation fundraising calendar
September 15th, 2010
The lovely Trish Caddy contacted me early August to discuss the possibility of photographing the second year of the fundraising calendar for the BC Cancer Foundation. Having first-hand family experience and loss to this terrible disease, it was my pleasure to jump on board with this project.
From the Babes go Bare website: “Babes Go Bare for Cancer is a non-Profit project started by Trish Caddy, of Nanaimo BC, to change the way people look at their bodies. Instead of spending time and energy on “flaws”, the energy is diverted- in this case, by making tasteful nude calendars featuring un-airbrushed pictures of REAL PEOPLE. The goal is not to be crass, but to be honest about what real bodies look like and to showcase people who love their bodies, regardless of what’s in movies or magazines.
Last year (the first year of the project) through the sales of over 800 calendars, a silent auction and a headshaving rally, the Babes raised over $19,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation, supporting research and enhancements to patient care. Calendars were sold all across Canada, the US, Brazil, Argentina, the Philippines, Australia and even Afghanistan! The project was featured on CBC radio, in the Times Colonist and the Vancouver Sun, on Chek TV and many more sources!”
After gathering a professional glam squad including Erin Froese on make-up, Piper London on hair (no website, but you can find her at Artiste on Yates Street) and Deanna Froese on massage (no website either but contact her through her sister, Erin!), we prepared for 3 full days of shooting at a beautiful Fan Tan alley studio. This year’s twist? Men and women were invited to pose for the calendar! A few local celebrities jumped on board, including Gordie Tupper from CHEK news and Eshu Martin, Victoria’s Zen Buddhist Abbott. We had a blast and the photos look great!
The calendar is set to launch mid to late October (competing with the firemen’s calendar ). Distribution has been picked up by Country Grocers across Vancouver Island, as well as several other local merchants. You will also be able to purchase the calendars through me! The cost will be $25 – going to a great cause.
The photos of the calendar men and women will be kept TOP SECRET until the calendar launch, but here’s a sneak peek at the crew and glam squad
The lovely Trish Caddy
Kirsten (right) of Boucherat Gallery and studio in Fan Tan Alley
Yes, that's me.... and Heather Johnston (float media) my wonderful assistant
Deanna Froese, Erin Froese and Piper London
Mollie & Robert tie the knot
September 9th, 2010
I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Mollie and Robert on a perfect August Saturday. Their beach wedding was simple, peaceful, and absolutely beautiful. No white dress, no tux, no big ceremony or after party… just a fairy and a gentleman saying their vows in front of their children, friends and family, followed by a block party with Prima Strada pizza and the Buchan Buchan Gypsy band!
Your love for each other is inspiring and touching. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness. You guys made me cry for the entire ceremony!
The Twilight saga
September 2nd, 2010
Admittedly I was never drawn to the Twilight saga and all the craziness surrounding it… until I received a call from the folks at West Jet early July about a film and movie issue they were working on, that would bring me to Forks Washington to photograph a “Twilight inspired” set of images. This of course meant I was to watch the movies to get inspired… and so, Richard and I did our duty – bottle of wine, popcorn and the first in the series of popular vampire movies. The next day, we left Victoria aboard the Coho and arrived in sunny Port Angeles itching for adventure!
A quick pop in at the information center, and off we were! We drove to the west end of Lake Crescent where we set up camp for the night at the Fairholme provincial campground in the Olympic National Park (absolutely stunning lake front campsite at $15 a night – a must if you are in the area!). We woke up the next morning ready to explore Edward & Bella’s stomping grounds.
Our first stop and hour and a half west of Fairholme was Rialto Beach, on the Pacific Coast. Being a west-coaster myself, I was expecting similar beach landscapes to the ones I have been accustomed to discovering in my part of the world. I was pleasantly surprised! By the time we reached Rialto Beach a beautiful mist had descended upon us and the grey skies and chill in the air was the perfect background for the crashing waves and the dramatic driftwood beach that greeted us. The beach went on for what seemed like miles – breathtaking and peacefully meditative. After a quick picnic, we hit the road again for Forks – the famous vampire town!
What greeted us in Forks was surreal and something straight out of a David Lynch movie. Small-town America turned Twilight crazy! From the Vampire meter at the town center to the organized Twilight tours to popular landmarks, to the small-town gun shops, it was all a little bit creepy!
A couple of hours later, we were back on the Coho headed home, eyes wide open, on the look-out for pale glistening skinned blood-thirsty travelers…
Weekend in Parksville
August 31st, 2010
Nothing more beautiful than to spend a wonderful weekend away with my loved ones…
And, I got to meet the lovely Mike, Christine and their wee sweetie for the first time!
Peter-po-Peter at Pecha Kucha
August 20th, 2010
Not sure why Sofia and I started calling my good friend and fellow photographer Peter Bagi this way, but we did! I have known Peter for 5 years. He was the first photographer I met when I moved here from Montreal, and our connection was instant. Not only do we share the same passion for photography, but we are both into food and wine. Peter is an amazing chef and finds most of his culinary inspirations locally. He shares his time between designing branding and websites (mostly food-related), photographing food in a lifestyle setting and blogging about his culinary discoveries. Not a surprise that he was asked to present at the Food for Thought Pecha Kucha night on August 12 at the Victoria Event Center. What is Pecha Kucha you ask? From the website:
“PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.”
It was a great night with amazing presenters and great food (including bread from my favorite local bakery Fol Épi) Very proud of you Peter! Your creativity and generous spirit abounds
Now, to find Peter:
Photo portfolio: www.peterbagi.com
Food blog: www.closetchef.ca
Twitter: @the_closetchef
