constancepohlphotography.com

DKTBLEG sounds like texting slang! Daring Kitty Turns Black Lego Eggplant Green…hmmmm…or not. What it actually is the initials of this family of 6 plus their dog Gunnar. Last fall I did a family session for my sister and her family and this year with baby Eve making her appearance we weren’t sure if we would get a session in. Fortunately we fit it into our camping trip we had last week. It was good to shake the dust off my camera and get back into shooting mode before fall hits us!



Oh Bo…you’re “schoooo Gorgeoush”

A week ago Monday I went from looking like this…

to…ok well I’m not going to show you my belly in the aftermath – but meet our latest addition, Evelyn Esther (aka… baby Eve)

Just like her sister she was comfy cozy and had to be encouraged out via an induction. And while there may have been some rather emotional moments while I was in early labour and felt like she was never going to come out – it was probably the best and easiest birth experience of my three kids. I was able to labour at home for several hours before heading in to the hospital – and she arrived just over an hour after we got there – only missing her brother’s birthday by less than an hour and a half!

I have some blogging to catch up on from sessions completed prior to Eve’s birth but in general we have closed the office for the next few weeks. As many of you know with your own babies, this time is so short and it’s so important to make the most of it. We will not be scheduling any sessions for the remainder of July and August and may be a bit slower to respond to e-mails during this time as well.

We are, however, already anticipating the fall, which is looking to be our busiest season yet! Because of this time in our lives, the number of sessions we can take on will be limited – but there will be some amazing deals! We will be announcing our fall/Christmas specials in the next few weeks! We are taking bookings for September and on. Saturdays book up quickly so if you are wanting a weekend session we encourage you to book sooner than later.

As well we will be unveiling a new logo and website in the next couple months. Thanks everyone for your patience as we sort out our lives as parents to 3!

Just a quick note to let you know we’re closed from April 23-27th. I’m headed to Atlanta to work with some of my favorite photographers from North America! When I get back I fully expect our trees to be all green and the last of winter gone! Optimistic…maybe but all this budding of trees is making me very excited for the weeks to come!

And hopefully everyone will love each other when I return…a girl can dream right? Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Last weekend, or perhaps now that we’re through Easter weekend I should say the weekend before that, Brian and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. We spent that day in our usual way – close to home, giving each other cheeky grins all day and saying “you’re my favorite {husband/wife}”. I’m sometimes often not very patient or kind like the famed love chapter in I Corinthians 13 talks about – but Brian and I do work on loving each other every day and have committed to doing that for the rest of our lives.

As we grow “more married” it’s been fun to discover not only who we are as individuals but who we are as a couple. I think every couple has a personality – it’s own dynamic. If we were to get married all over again today I think our wedding would look very different than it did 6 years ago. We’re not as formal a couple as we maybe thought we could be back then? For example – our favorite romantic tradition is hot dogs at Ikea. Not joking…it’s how we do valentines day and at least one of the meals on our anniversary. The sappy reason for that is that we just enjoy each other and spending time with each other and find more to talk about in a crowded store restaurant then when we’ve dressed up to spend a night on the town (pressure!) The real reason is that I love hot dogs…no I LOVE hot dogs. I could eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner. Hot dogs in a cheap Swedish furniture store?…GENIUS! Brian doesn’t have quite the same love affair for hot dogs but he does love that they are cheap. (Shhh…I’m not sure it’s dawned on him that what he’s saved in hot dogs is spent elsewhere in the store )

Anyway all this to say that recently I stumbled across this awesome blog that is constantly being updated with photos from all kinds of weddings. What I love about this blog is seeing all the details and being inspired by them. Those of you who have had a wedding shot by myself and Brian know that I LOVE the details of your day. It’s what helps me to get to know you even more! I love seeing what things you’ve chosen to represent you as a couple, or just even what adds to the fun your guests have at your wedding.

And because no blog post is complete without a picture or two…These are some of my personal favorite details from just a few of the weddings I’ve shot this last year. I had the pleasure of being a second shooter for Lisa Lacroix last summer and fall and many of the fabulous detail shots seen here are from those weddings.

After my last post featuring many beautiful winter scenes I feel cold. Time for a quick spring warm up!

Oh and if you haven’t found us on Facebook here’s how to join our fan page!

Hope to see you there!

I apologize for the blogging break I’ve taken as of late! We had a very busy few months leading up to our Christmas break and unfortunately I fell behind. Which I mean to remedy very soon here! I have a few sessions to post from November as well as a January that is quickly becoming full as well! We are so excited for 2010. We have some exciting things in store for Constance Pohl Photography, as well as for our own family!

We’re so excited to announce that baby #3 will be joining us this next year. Hopefully late June or early July – before it gets too hot! We’re just drooling over the fact that we’ll have a willing subject again…oh and have a new baby – I guess that’s good too

I’m not one for new years resolutions but as I was looking over the past few months I realized that I had taken just a handful of snapshots of my own kids. Sad. So this year that is my resolution – to try to get more shots of just every day life. I encourage you to do the same! In honor of the only resolution I’ve ever made I will be blogging a series on how to get the best possible pictures of your kids! I know we have lots of mom-ographers, and dad-ographers out there!

I promise to take more pictures exactly like this…

Happy new year to you all! I look forward to seeing you in 2010!

I have a large extremely close extended family.  My Grandpa Strom had 10 brothers and sisters and as long as I can remember we’ve been getting together every few years with that whole side!  This year almost 200 of the over 300 aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins, 2nd cousins children etc all got together at Southern Alberta Bible Camp.  All this should be leading up to some great pics from my reunion right?  Eep!  ok so here’s my excuse…my children.  Yes I’m using my children.  They were awful this weekend!  I barely took any pics at this marvelous camp because my children were making me think about ways to jump off the top balcony of the main building.  Thank goodness for “Mama and Pawka” (My parents).  I’m sure between Adelle and I one of us surely would have gone over the edge if not for their patience!

BUT on the very last day Adelle and Hunter both had fabulous naps and life started to look good again.  It was too late for the reunion though.  However it was in time for me to appreciate my old stomping grounds as we drove from the camp to the town I grew up in!

Here’s our little SUV and trailer… 

We pulled into the ThreeHills campground and met up with a few from my Dad’s family!  My Grandpa took us all to the GuZoo in the morning.  I am ashamed to say I had never been though I grew up in 3Hills and remember a Tiger being brought into my class at school once.  Anyway as I suspected Hunter LOVED the GuZoo.  It was a charming little country zoo – but they had alot!  Lions and Tigers and Bears (Oh my!).  We petted some miniature cows…

And rode a mini horse of some kind

Ok well really Adelle was saying “all done all done all done all done” but we thought it was fun!

Then we stumbled across my weakness…

Yup there they are folks.  I begged and pleaded to let me bring just ONE MORE home…but Brian didn’t think we needed a 3rd dog – even if he was the cutest blackest pug puppy in the world.  He wasn’t for sale…but I would have found a way.

We petted bunnies…ok kissed them even!

And then Great Grandpa offered up rides on his scooter!   I think it might have been Hunter’s favorite part of the zoo!

But then we got to have a truly unique experience – when the owners let us have a backstage pass so to speak and visit the Lemurs!  (Thanks Auntie Sheila!)  Oh they are so cute – in a monkey-ish way.  (The Lemur – although my Aunt looks pretty cute too )

Hunter says “Hey guy….hey”

And Adelle’s vantage point…she was a little less sure of the Lemurs since she was missing her nap at the time…

Lastly – I show you my favorite childhood flower.  I can’t find them here – I would love to grow them in my yard – or attempt to anyway.  They seem to be all over ThreeHills.  Maybe I can steal some stocks from someone.

A simple Hollyhock.  Why was it my favorite childhood flower?  Well the petals made great stick on earrings for a little girl who wasn’t allowed (at the time) to get her ears pierced….

This weekend was so wonderful.  It made me homesick for a simpler time, and a simpler life.  My heart dreams of living in a small town or in the country side again one day.  But I know I’m where God wants me, I am so thankful for the many blessings in my life.

I am the youngest of 4.

Yup – there I am.

My parents have been married for 41 years.

Yup – there they are!

Their family has grown….alot!  There are 22 of us now…

Happy Anniversary to my parents.  41 years of bliss.  Well mostly bliss I’m sure.  Really I don’t need to know the details.  ;)

The 4 in the back produced (with help) all of these….

Scary!

My sister Lynay took this of Brian and I

I took this of our kids…aren’t they cute?

I love my family.  I’m so grateful for each and every one of them.   We spent the whole weekend/part of the week laughing till our guts ached and just enjoying each other.  I remember as a child asking my mom what she wanted for {insert special day here} birthdays, mother’s days etc.  She would always say “for you to be obedient and for my children to get along”.  I hope that gift is realized for her now.  I wish we could do this all the time – it’s rare for us to all be in one place at the same time.  Thank you to my brother Gerry and his wife Pat for hosting us all in our trailers on their property and letting us crash their pool.  Thank you to Lynay and Stan for coming out from Vancouver Island!  And everyone else who showed up bringing yummy snacks and treats and helped me to gain back 10 lbs.  ok well I dont’ thank you for that – but it was fun at the time!

July 17th always has a magic ring to it for me.  I heard it in the midwife’s office  3.5 years ago, and repeated it to anyone who asked – and everybody does.  It was my son Hunter’s predicted birthday!  Of course barely anyone is actually born on their due date but as a first time mom I obsessed over this date for nearly 9 months!  Funny enough I can’t for the life of me remember Adelle’s due date – (which she was so late to the party it wasn’t even funny…seriously…ask any overdue mama to be…not funny!) but Hunter’s I almost think of this date before I can remember his actual birthdate! 

I won’t bore you with the details (though I do love a good birthstory) but he was born a few days “early”.  July 13th is his actual birthday and we celebrated his leaving the terrible twos and entering his thriving threes with my parents and my sister and her family.  The theme was CARS.  The boy is obsessed (I don’t know where he gets that from…) – Disney cars, Opa’s car, Grandma’s car, mommy’s car, Dubby’s car (Daddy was just renamed this week – aparently now he’s “Dubby”).  I went all out and even made a CARS cake!  I am not a baker.  But at least I have pics to prove that I baked a cake.  I don’t think the cake actually tasted that great…no idea what went wrong – but the icing was good!

The day after he turned three he all of a sudden decided that the potty was not some crazy torture device made by evil beings, and we began our most successful attempt at potty training to date.  There really is something to leaving it until their ready.  But really…a birthday makes that big a difference?  Really?  If so this is going to be a great year!  Happy Birthday to my son!  Here’s to the thriving threes!

It’s time for a change!  Hooray!  Time for a bit of a clean sweep.   See I have this thing about ugly things.  I don’t like putting pretty things in or on or around ugly things.  The old blog was an ugly thing.  I would write my post, preview the beautiful people on my pitiful blog, shutter and die a little on the inside, close my eyes and gingerly click the “Publish” button.  Sometimes I just couldn’t do it…I couldn’t associate the post with my blog so you missed seeing all that I’ve been up to this last year.  I promise this will change.  Please bear with me – I’m doing a bit of branding change as well – but I just couldn’t bare to stay on the old blog any longer.  So I’m jumping the gun – showing you my new logo EARLY and hopefully everyone will be happier!  I know I am!!!