We did one year anniversary photos for this adorable couple around the Broadway area here in Saskatoon. I wanted to do an evening session, and they obliged. I'm so glad they did. They were naturals in front of the camera:). Here are just a few fav's from our session! Saskatoon is so beautiful, It's so fun to utilize it in the summer months.
Sometimes I still pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. It's been 10 years coming up in May that we opened Memories by Mandy Photography here in Saskatoon, and looking back it's truly been an amazing 10 years of my life, personally and professionally. The people I've met through this journey have truly been the icing on the cake. I would like to sincerely thank each and everyone of you who have been in front of my camera and those of you who maybe haven't, but have stopped by our website/blog to see what we've been up to. My heart is exploding with gratitude!!!
To celebrate 10 years in business, we are offering TEN $10 family sessions for 2017 (regular price is $175)! Only TEN of these are available, and they won’t last long!!!
Small print:
-Sessions are for immediate family sessions only. Sorry, no extended families, no newborns, no grads or no weddings, no head-shots, etc. are included in the promotion.
-$10 includes the session fee only. Prints/products/digital files are additional.
-Session must be booked at the time of signing up for the promotion.
-Session must take place in 2017 (please note we do have limited availability for the rest of the year).
-Sessions may be done in studio or on location.
-This amazing deal is extended to all immediate family sessions already in the books for 2017:).
-Sorry, this offer can not be combined with any other offer including gift card donations to silent auctions.
Please contact us if you have any questions! Please email us to take advantage of this amazing offer: memoriesbymandy@shaw.ca. Thank you Saskatchewan for the last 10 years!!! We are so excited for the next 10 to come!!!
xoxox
Mandy
We photographed this fun loving group last fall. Mom wrote a hilarious post on her facebook feed. She gave me permission to share it on my blog. So here it is! How to prepare for your annual family photos:
I wanted to write blog post on how to prepare for family pictures. You know that annual or bi annual event in which you rush around in attempts to make sure you get that one perfect family picture. It can be stressful- so maybe following these tips will help someone out!
The easy thing to do is give the manual- the perfect written directions to get that perfect picture- but I thought it would be more fun to give you this information using our last family pictures to illustrate the how not to prepare for family pictures- you guessed it, we broke just about every rule in the book.
1. Pick a good date-
- we did not really do that bad on this rule. You need to make sure that you have time before pictures to get ready as well as no pressing obligations after- you don't want to rush the pictures or the photographer. Sometimes that awesome shot comes at the 59th minute. We chose a later date in October which in Saskatchewan was risky- so book early with your favorite photographer. They book up fast so don't drag your toes on selecting a date.
2. Events leading up to your pictures-
- now I am not advocating for wrapping your kids in bubble wrap the week before pictures to prevent the inevitable black eye or scraped knees- but perhaps do better than me and do not take them to an event the night before family pictures that leads to face painting. Like Spider-Man- black eyebrows and beautiful pink butterflies full face paint night. The kids had a blast, but the look of horror on my face realizing I somehow had to scrub my son's now black eyebrows back to his naturally white eyebrows was daunting. Luckily I had a wonderful exfoliating soap in which both of my kids proclaimed I was scrubbing their faces off in protest. And I was.......
2. Outfits-
Every photographer will tell you to pick out outfits that go together- not necessarily matchy matchy, but they go together. They also want you to stay away from patterns as they can be distracting in a picture.
Easy enough right?
Have you tried to find a nice solid sweater or shirt for kids these days? And when you do- and if your kids are like mine- you can never find it for picture day. So be better than me- set those clothes out weeks before and don't be running around a mall the day of your pictures frantically trying to find a non-patterned or logoed shirt to only to have to re-buy something for your other kid because the only shirt you could find completely clashed with what you had planned. Sigh.
Still on this note- yes there is more- make sure your kids have normal shoes. Wondering why I say this? Well, we are slow learners. Three years ago for our family pictures both of our kids were rocking the rubber boot look. This year- our daughter sported cowboy boots, but our son- still rocking the black rubber boots. Who knew we did not have "normal" shoes for him at home.
Still on the shoes- can you believe there is more? Me- I thought I should wear these cut black high heels- not too high, but enough to be a little fancy. About 30 mins into the pictures I was carrying those suckers are the blisters that had formed in my feet are disgusting. I will save the details, so you can keep your lunch down.
Wear nice shoes, because yes they show, but make sure they are comfortable and practical.
3. Hair Cuts
There are many sayings in life that pertaining to doing something or not doing something in a certain time table. These should be followed- such as- No swimming until 30 mins after you eat; Don't fall in love or out of love around school exam time etc etc. The most important rule for family pictures is DO NOT CUT YOUR HAIR THE DAY OF PICTURES.
Yes- sadly, this too was a learning point for us this year. Per usual we were unable to get a hair cut leading up to our pictures so we thought, no big deal- there are lots of places we can go to in the city. We even called and booked an appointment. Ok fine, we called on our way to the city to book the appointment, but it still counts!
When my husband and son were done with getting their hair done my phone rang. It was my husband and he prepared me for the fact that his hair was not good. In fact it was really, really bad. To give some context, he had been teasing me the whole drive to the city he was going to get something funky done. Being that he is a bit of a prankster, I thought well- he is either saying this to tick me off or he actually went for it and it did not go well.
As I turned the corner and saw him, my jaw dropped- not in a good way. He had done neither- he did not lie- it was bad, and it was not something he had asked for. To be fair, the hair cut is not horrible. It just does not fit a 37 year old small town guy that wears coveralls to work every day. The cut belonged more in a trendy bar in New York City on a complete metrosexual. **Side note** I actually like the cut now. It grew on me:).
But the lesson is still valid. Don't be us people; get your hair cut a week in advance. At least there is time for damage control.
OH and don't let the hair dresser give your child a bright red sucker after his haircut just hours before the session. Red suckers will stain your entire mouth red!
4. Book an experienced photographer that you like.
This is the golden rule. Do not break this rule. This is the one rule that we did not break. See- each of the other rules even if we did not break them may not have led to a great picture without someone knowledgeable on the other end of the camera forming the picture and taking it.
We booked with Mandy because she has an amazing talent for pictures and puts everyone so at ease that we know we are going to get great pictures.
Although we did not follow the "rules" and some of the points are actually important- the real truth is that these pictures are very much us. We are not perfect; we are a crazy young family making it work. So read the rules- follow if you like but most of all have fun. These are the pictures you will look back on some day
A year and a half ago, this gorgeous lady was at the studio for her family session and she mentioned that her 5 year wedding anniversary was coming up and she had a vision of a session she wanted to do to celebrate. She said she wanted to do a session of them, doing things they do in their everyday life, but in their wedding attire. A session that reflected where they are in their lives now. Their wedding was in spring and it was a cold, windy, rainy day so they didn't get as many images as they had hoped to on their actual wedding day. Fast forward 5 years later and here they are in one of the most beautiful homes in Saskatoon, with a gorgeous little girl who they welcomed into the family more than a year earlier.
Our session started off how most of their mornings do. Just hanging out in bed as a family and enjoying each others company. They then changed into their wedding attire (yes this handsome husband and dad rented a tux for the occasion), but not before we got some beautiful images of their little girl playing in her mothers veil.
During our consultation, I found out that they love to bake cookies (she does it so much she doesn't even look at a recipe!!!), dance in the living room, play outside and have lunch at their favorite neighborhood cafe. So we did just that!
I then stole the husband and wife to get some beautiful wedding formals down by the river, then we headed back to the house for bedtime. This, by far, was my favorite part of the session. To see these parents and the love they share for not only each other, but for their little girl gave me goosebumps. Their patience and respect for one another was so inspiring to witness. The way he still looks at her even after 5 years of marriage and the love you can feel she has for him after all these years, its apparent that these two were meant to be.
Thank you so much for trusting me to bring your vision to life. I have been meaning to post this for a while (A year actually, since it's your 6th wedding anniversary next month), but today was finally the right moment for me. It has been so amazing to be a part of such a special experience. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Bring on winter! I'm ready!!! I can't wait to spend more time in our gorgeous Saskatoon photography studio. It's going to be an amazing winter! This little man stole my heart... his parents are pretty awesome too:).
Did you know we offer a wide variety of products, including digital files and prints? We have a lot of clients order wall portraits from us along with the digital files... some do it for the convenience, some do it for the quality, and others do it for the extra retouching! The first image is straight out of camera and the second is the extent of retouching we do when you purchase a wall portrait through us.
We are getting so many inquiries for extended family sessions lately!!! There are so many big anniversaries coming up this summer, and I'm so happy that people are thinking ahead and getting their extended families photographed. I have to admit, about 5 years ago I was turning down large extended families. I wasn't the greatest at posing them, and I wasn't confident in getting the great images our clients have come to expect from us. After taking a few courses on large extended families over the last few years, our portraiture has really come a long way since then, and I'm now confident in getting beautiful images of large extended families. They are a challenge (more so when there are a lot of little ones in the mix), but they are also some of the most important images that we capture for our clients.
This family came to me last winter, so our options were a bit limited for locations, but we do have a few beautiful indoor locations that work well for these types of sessions. Aren't they a photogenic group?! Yeah, they made my job pretty easy.
Where do we even begin with this wedding?! Gosh, it was a good one! The bride was stunning, the groom/groomsmen are British (that means they are a blast, hilarious, and don't stop cracking jokes all day), the bridesmaids were sweet (a nice contrast from the guys, lol), and the flowergirl completely stole the show! At 2 years old walked down the isle by herself like it's something shes done 100 times. I have never met a more confident, smart, not to mention gorgeous little girl.
The ceremony was at Mayfair united church here in Saskatoon. Once the ceremony was finished we headed outside for a group photo. A tradition the groom organized, and I love. We went to a few different locations around town, then headed back to reception. The Glen at Crossmount is a beautiful venue for anyone wanting a unique location for your special day. The couple had it decorated beautifully, with some really amazing/personal touches. The speeches were hilarious and the first dance as husband and wife gave me goosebumps.
It really was the perfect day! Sometimes i have to pinch myself to remind myself that I'm not dreaming. This is what I get to do for a living! Here is a small sample from their special day. I CAN NOT wait for wedding season again!
We are moving into a studio space! After (almost) 9 years in the business, we are so excited to announce that we are moving our business out of our home and into an established (and amazingly gorgeous) studio right here in downtown Saskatoon.
Joi Photography has graciously opened her doors to us and we cannot wait to start photographing families in the space! If you haven’t heard of Joi photography, you must be living under a rock (just kidding... sort of). She is an incredible Boudoir photographer here in Saskatoon with a really amazing studio space. We haven’t offered boudoir photography in years, so we will continue to refer boudoir clients to her. (If you are ever thinking of doing a boudoir session, you must check out her website, she is the queen bee of boudoir photography here in Saskatoon!)
If you would like to get out of the cold for your family session (my specialty), and into a beautiful studio with 100 year old hard wood floors, I am your gal! We decided to make the leap to a studio because let’s face it, who wants to be outdoors in our Canadian winters? This will give us the opportunity to bring your fun family session indoors, into a beautiful space, to showcase your beautiful family. We will still be offering on location photography at no extra charge, so you will be getting the opportunity to take advantage of the best of both worlds! I am so excited for this next phase in our business and we can’t wait to share it with you! We are going to be hosting some really fun events coming up, so if you would like to be added to our mailing list to hear about them, please email us directly: memoriesbymandy@shaw.ca.
Thank you all so so much for your continued support! You all mean the world to me!!!
Winter makes a beautiful backdrop for photos in Saskatoon. Love this shot from a few years back!
