Best Friends sessions might be a new favorite! Photographed in our Saskatoon photography studio, these friends made my job way too easy. How gorgeous are they?!
Halloween minis in support of the Saskatoon Food Bank.
October 31
Drop in between 11am-1pm OR 3pm-5pm on Halloween.
Minimum donation ($10 or $20).
1-3 digital file(s) will be emailed to you.
The fine print:
-Quick, 1 minute session on our simple, child friendly, pumpkin set
-All ages welcome - Children and adults
-Must be in costume (exemptions made for children sensory disorders, religious beliefs etc.).
-No appointment necessary, just show up at the studio between 11am-1pm OR 3pm-5pm.
-Studio address: 324C 105 street east (between fleetmaster and Acadia construction).
Minimum donation required:
-$10 one person.
-$20 for groups of 2 or more.
-Cash (preferred) or e-transfer to: memoriesbymandy@shaw.ca (direct deposit) with your name/email/costume(s) in the comments.
-1-3 images will be emailed to you a week or two following the event.
-100% of your donation will go directly to the food bank.
Thank you to Mistik Acres for donating the pumpkins for our set. We look forward to seeing you there!
In support of….
Photography inspiration
I get asked this question all the time. Where do you get your inspiration from? The truth is a lot of places. My surroundings, Travel, Movies, and books to name a few. Let us know where you get your inspiration in the comments!
What makes us stand out?
I started this business 15 years ago, before facebook, Instagram and Twitter really took off. The only ‘free advertising’ was word of mouth and kijiji. Boy the times have changed! We have managed to adapt to the changing world of social media, SEO, among many other changes in one of the most competitive markets in our province. In case you haven’t heard, 5 years ago (and possibly, still today, I haven’t looked into it recently), we had the most photographers per capita in all of North America, right here in Saskatoon 😳.
Running a business isn’t easy. Running a business with SO much competition has been tough, especially during a pandemic. Overhead is HIGH, and business has slowed with many people constantly rescheduling due to illness, etc.
Working in a over-staturated market, has forced us to step out of our comfort zone and do a few things to stand out from the competition. So what makes us different than everyone else? A combination of the following:
Education. We are constantly paying for courses on an annual basis, to keep up with the trends. Education has been and always will be important to me. I know I don’t know everything, so learning all the time is what keeps me inspired.
Equipment. Our equipment is $$$$$. providing our clients with top quality images.
Availability. We do this full time, so our availability is plentiful.
Peace of mind. If we have to cancel for any reason, we won’t leave you hanging. We will either reschedule to another date or have another photographer photograph your session for us. This has only happened once in the past when I was sick with a flu and had a grad session in the books (it was too tough to reschedule hair/makeup etc).
Studio. We have a nice, warm, cozy studio to shoot in all winter (and summer) long. Perfect for a back up on those rainy days too.
Experience. With 15 years of experience under my belt. I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. Experience will ensure your family session runs smoothly.
The process. We like to get to know all of our families before we get them in front of the camera, which is why we have a consultation with every client before their session. It’s important to me to have a bit of a repertoire with our clients before we ever pick up a camera. After the session we will have you back to the studio for an ordering appointment. At this time, I will personally help you go through your all of your images and decide which images you with to purchase and which images you don’t.
Retouching. We retouch every single image you purchase. This doesn’t mean we throw a filter in your image and deliver. We go over each image, individually and remove blemishes, acne, whiten teeth etc. We had our family photos done once and I had to retouch a zit off my face. I didn’t realize my photographer at the time didn’t do retouching on her images. Lesson learned. I promise you, we will take care of all the retouching so your images will be ready for print! Our rule is if it’s not there permanently, we will happily remove it. No filters used here!
Me! I know it sounds cheesy but I’ve been doing this for a while and it’s my main priority to make you feel as comfortable as possible in front of my lens. I have a few tips and tricks to get those natural smiles. If your photographer isn’t personable, you likely won’t have a good experience in front of their lens. My main priority is to make you feel at ease, which will translate into beautiful, natural looking smiles. I’ve been in front of the camera more times than I count and still feel super uncomfortable. So one of the things I’ve learned from being in front of the camera is my photographer must be personable to make me feel comfortable with a camera in my face.
If you are looking for a family photographer here in Saskatoon and area and want someone who is experienced in their field, I would love to meet you! You can check out this short video HERE to see what a session with us looks like (Please note this was shot precovid.).
Santa pictures are back!
Due to high demand, we are bringing back our ‘Santa holding a frame picture’. This year we will have two options… one horizontal photo and one vertical photo option. Each option sample is below.
How it works:
-Send us your personal photo and an e-transfer to: memoriesbymandy@shaw.ca for $11.10 ($10 plus taxes). Please note in the etransfer who this is for, if your email name and banking name don’t match.
-We will then put your image into Santa’s frame for you. (Sorry, we don’t offer any retouching to your images).
-If you prefer the horizontal frame Santa, please send me a horizontal photo and vise versa.
-We will email it back with your image in Santas frame within one business day of receiving payment. Price includes the digital copy only.
-Cut off day is December 22nd at 11:00pm.
COST: $11.10 (includes taxes)* Please e-transfer to: memoriesbymandy@shaw.ca
*$5 from every purchase will go towards purchasing hygiene products and food for Riversdale Community Fridge, right here in Saskatoon. Thank you for your support!
Horizontal option
Vertical option
Hey Saskatoon photographers, we rent out our Saskatoon photography studio!
Hey Saskatoon photographers, content creators, small businesses, etc.!!! Did you know that we rent out our Saskatoon photography studio? Located in the historic Sutherland, it boasts huge tinted windows, one big open room, and a select use of furniture. Shared bathroom also available for use. All of the details can be found HERE.
We've moved!
We officially got the keys to our new space today! We are moving to 324C 105 street East. I’d like to acknowledge that we are on Treaty 6 territory, a traditional meeting grounds, gathering place, and travelling route to the Cree, Saulteaux (So-toe), Blackfoot, Métis, Dene (De-nay) and Nakota Sioux (Sue). We acknowledge all the many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit whose footsteps have marked these lands for centuries.
*Image of our new Saskatoon photography studio
A post about Empty Arms - Volunteer Photography Saskatoon
I was out for coffee (and by coffee I mean wine), with my bestie and she said, I don’t know you can do the photography for empty arms... she said she would be a wreck. To be honest; I couldn’t at first.
Here is how I started volunteering with Empty Arms....
Rewind to roughly 10 years ago.
I met a (different) friend through a prenatal yoga class. We bonded over having the same breed of dog and similar due dates.
TW: baby loss
She mentioned that her and a few other women were starting a charity called Empty Arms. She asked if I would be a photographer for the organization and I politely declined. To be honest, I was scared. I didn’t know what to expect as I have never seen a baby that had passed, and I was scared to cry for a strangers baby. While I knew my friend had personally lost a full term baby in the past, I didn’t know what to expect.
Fast forward several years, and I got a phone call from a past client of mine. She was driving into Saskatoon to deliver her baby that had passed, and would I come and photograph it for them. Of course, my answer was YES. I felt a bit nervous... until I walked in the room.
We cried, we laughed and we cried some more. Their precious baby boy was born into heaven and he looked just like a precious sleeping baby, nothing to be worried or scared about.
I’m so glad these clients called me to capture their precious baby boy, because they gave me the confidence to volunteer for empty arms.
It’s not nearly as scary as I made it out to be in my head and I learned it’s ok to feel the heartache with the families. Giving these families these precious memories to look back on is a priceless gift. Remembering how little their hands were or how adorable their toenails looked. It’s easy to forget without a photograph there to keep all of the details sharp.
Meeting these families under such heartbreaking, vulnerable circumstances and witnessing what empty arms provides for the families is why we’ve chosen to give back to them for our next mini sessions. We all know of someone who has lost a baby, through any gestation. Empty Arms is such a valuable charity to help couples navigate baby loss.
For more information on Empty arms, please visit their website HERE.
Saskatoon award winning photographer
This image won two awards in PPOC-SK awards late last year!! Most creative and a judges choice award. I’m beyond thrilled and have been secretly celebrating over here over the last few months . I love to enter PPOC competitions because the judging is HARD, there is only one winner per category, and it’s the best of Saskatchewan or Canada depending on which one you enter.
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While I’m beyond thrilled with the awards for this image, I’m not sure my images was fully understood, which is OK too, I’m still thrilled with the awards it’s received.
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The story behind the image:
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TW -Suicide: Titled ‘She loves me not’ was inspired by a news article about high rates in male suicides and a flower near the end of its life in my living room. I thought about ways to depict this news article through this flower. I placed it on my driveway because in movies this view is often associated with death/suicide and I wanted it to look like it was hung it upside down, which is why I went with this composition. The title was a way to tie in the death theme and the flower.
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The feedback I got on the image was the background is too busy, it should be more plain (the judges obviously didn’t get my story here, as I purposefully chose that for a backdrop, but that’s ok.)
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That is the beauty of entering competitions. The judges may not understand the image or maybe they misinterpret it, similar to life it’s self. Not everyone is going to understand you, and that’s ok. Keep doing what you love, despite what others think.
Food photography - Saskatoon photographers
Something I love to do, but don’t post much about is food photography. The other weekend we decided to do some baking and looking in our fridge/pantry to see what we could make. It turned out we had all of the ingredients to make pizza rolls. We had a tube of Pillsbury crescent rolls, some deli ham from Sobeys, Armstrong Cheese and no name pizza sauce. They turned out amazing! I didn’t take any pictures of the process, but I did manage to sneak in this image when they were all finished. Let’s just say they didn’t last long.
Now, if there are any brands out there looking for photography for their products, please get in touch. Sobeys? Pillsbury? Armstrong? No name? Bueller? Call me.
