It may seem odd for a very proud Canadian to be posting to celebrate the birth of the USA, but my household is half American and so I honour both countries and both traditions (and languages!).

It is with great pride that I wish our American friends/family, and my American husband and children a very happy Fourth of July!

I photographed this American flag on our recent journey to Michigan. It was flying outside our hotel near Marquette, in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula.

I quickly discovered that a huge tradition on the “Fourth” are fireworks. The displays are always massive and beautiful so in honour of this tradition, here are some firework images Brian recently captured!

So it is with great pride today that I say “Happy Canada Day”. And just as a little aside - since it is an important day in Canadian history - if you want to test your knowledge of Canadian history, why don’t you see if you can pass the Canadian citizenship test. This is the exam that all immigrants must take and pass to earn Canadian citizenship! Brian will be studying for this test hopefully in the next year!

In honour of Canada Day, I want to post some images of a recent wedding we photographed. This wedding really touched a soft spot with me as Brian and I are from different countries/cultures!

Charlene and Paul celebrated an international marriage - I loved how they incorporated their differences into the day! The yard was decorated with red and white, the colours of both national flags (Canada and Switzerland) and of course flags from each country. These are some of the decorations from the day: (the yard was decorated by Marj of Marj’s Greenhouse - she did a beautiful job!)

Charlene and Paul were married in their beautiful backyard. They walked down the aisle to their gathered friends and family, surrounded by red and white flowers, decorations and flags.

The celebration was very colourful as Paul and the attendants wore traditional Swiss costumes.

And finally, this photograph speaks volumes to me. It is the reason Brian and I photograph together at a wedding. I was photographing the formal portraits of the new family, Brian was watching for the emotion of the day. He caught the bride gripping her new husband and hanging on tight! I love this photograph for the emotion that is captured. I could not see it as this was behind the groom’s back - but two sets of eyes, two cameras and the moment was forever captured!

Congratulations Charlene and Paul. May your marriage be full of love, laughter, tears of joy, and always be as colourful as the day you were married!

Good Luck!

I am so glad I did as I think the storm clouds just added to the drama that I wanted to capture with Carrie. Thank you Carrie for sticking it out with me!

It’s hard to believe it has now been two years since I graduated! Time sure flies when you are having fun!!!!

I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich. ~Dan Wilcox

The Rains are a rich family.

When Audrey and I spoke on the phone, she told me she wanted portraits now and portraits again in six months. She went on to share that she and her children have revamped their entire life and because of this, they have lost an astronomical amount of weight together! She wanted to document their weight loss journey so far, and she wanted to come back in six months and record it again. I jumped at the chance to provide this family with images that could showcase their success!

During their session, Audrey, Cindy and Patrick began to share more of their journey with me. They have recently lost the man that made their family unit complete - husband and father, Art. I was touched by their determination, strength and their ability to celebrate the life Art had with them. Audrey told me they had made a list with Art of things he wanted for them before he had to leave them. She said they finished everything on the list but one thing - a photograph of them together towards the end of Art’s battle with cancer. I have volunteered with hospice to do just this and I am sorry that my own journey did not bring me here in time to do this for them.

Congratulations Audrey, Cindy and Patrick on your weight loss. I am looking forward to photographing less of you in six months! Thank you for being a family that is so rich it brought a smile to my face and thank you for allowing me to share in your journey and document it for you.

To my blog readers - please join me in celebrating their success by leaving a note of encouragement to this family. They deserve it!

What has become a Dragon Hare signature image!

My father is a carpenter by trade. I love sitting and watching him shape wood into whatever he dreams up. When we were little, we’d love to spend winter days in my Dad’s wood shop watching him work. He always let us “create” whatever we wanted beside him out of wood from the wood pile. We’d hammer and saw right along with him. My children have the same memory as Poppa always makes time to create a little something out of wood for the kids - from swords, to airplanes to a sailboat!

When I heard this song by Holly Dunn, it immediately made me think of my Dad’s hands working with wood. I love watching him shape something out of nothing! In honour of Father’s Day, I am posting this image of my Dad doing what he loves best.

Thank you to all of the wonderful fathers that I am blessed to have in my life: Daddy Don, Brian, “Grandpa Great”, and “Grandpa Darrell”, and to those that I no longer have but who’s memories continue to keep them close: Uncle Art and Uncle Ken.

I love to do family portraits on location. When I suggest that we go out around town to clients, the response I get is “in Mannville? Seriously?” I just laugh and point out some of the portraits that were taken around town. I had a request this week to post some that I have done around town. The first may not be as obvious as the second but both were photographed in Mannville a few days ago!