Dragon Hare Studios

The neat thing about growing up in a small town, is the lifelong friends that you grow up with. To those that have never lived in a small town, the concept is foreign - 12-20 kids starting kindergarten and graduating high school together. The same core of kids, year after year, through life. These are lifelong friendships as you share a common history. They are the kinds of friends that you can not see to for ten years and then pick up right where you left off. It’s what I love about photographing grad classes. Grads come to me as individuals, but through each individual, I learn about the personality of each class.

I had several members of the Mannville Class of 2010 come in for their casual portraits that spoke about Sam. “Sam is a teddy bear”, “Sam is so super sweet”, “Sam never wears sleeves on his shirts”. When Sam came in, he lived up to all of the things his classmates said about him. He was very sweet, very respectful and I quite enjoyed getting to know him. Sam and his brothers have made a paintball range complete with towers and obstacles. I think that is a really cool thing that makes Sam unique so we took him out on a snowy day to capture his joy of paintball.

Thanks Sam for letting us “play”, we had a great time getting to know you! Best of luck to you in the coming months!

Today, you are a family struggling to get a preschooler to move fast enough to get dressed, eat, and to school on time without having to get up insanely early. You have an early elementary student that still loves school and makes friends easy with her fun loving smile. Going to the mall, or for a haircut, or even out to eat can still be a struggle if someone missed a nap. It’s often easier to stay at home and miss what sounds like a fun event than struggle to find a babysitter. A good night sleep happens more often than not, but there are still those nights that feel like they will never end. That is today.

In the blink of an eye, or what feels like only tomorrow, you will have teenage daughters that are too busy to stay at home, you can go where you want with only a purse and not a diaper bag, and you are counting down the months before one is moving out. You wonder where all the time has gone.

Capture them now before you have to wonder how it is possible they are adults with their own life to live.

I spent a lot of time growing up at my Grandparents home, and that of my Auntie and Uncle’s. It has been a joy for me to be able to take my children to their homes so that they too, have similar memories growing up of tea and scones at Auntie Norma’s or the toys at Grandma’s. In the past month, these memories have changed as both my grandparents and my Aunt have moved into assisted living. When I found out they were moving, my sister and I were talking about the unique things in their houses that make us think of them. I found it amusing that while we shared childhood memories of going to these houses, we each had different items that we remembered. For my sister, it was Grandma’s crazy knick-knacks that cover her house and a painting, for me it was little toys and Grandma’s hands on the organ.

Before they left, I photographed each of their houses. I photographed the things that made their house, their home in my memories. At Auntie Norma’s, I also photographed the things that were sentimental to her children - a teddy bear, a chest, my Aunt standing in the window waving good-bye and for me, the best tasting scones ever and the handles on her cupboards. It felt like time had turned back as I walked through the houses that I spent a lot of time in growing up. It was amazing to me the things I had forgotten, but as soon as I saw them, they jogged a memory and brought a smile. Even things like the colour of the carpet, a picture on the wall or a footstool that used to be just my size to sit on. The images flooded my mind with memories of wonderful times spent in those houses.

I can’t believe I had forgotten about things - like the half door and the pencil sharpener in the furnace room at my Grandparents, or the crazy fabric pictures of fruit on my Aunt’s wall - even the little faces made out of nylons that all of us grandkids got to make hanging on Grandma’s fridge, or the crazy little toys that Grandma collected. I am sure others have forgotten too as time does that, it fades these memories that used to be so sharp until it seems like they have disappeared until an image jogs that memory back into place. I photographed it all so that now I have images to remember with. I can look at these images when my memories fade again and remember to me what it meant to go to Grandma’s house with all of my cousins running around, or playing cards for pennies at my Aunt’s. I have the images to share stories with my own children as they are young enough that they probably won’t remember ever being in these two homes that meant so much to me growing up.

Life is constantly changing, new memories are made and old ones fade. A photograph is worth more than a thousand words, it is what keeps our memories alive.

Auntie Norma has flower shaped handles on her kitchen cupboards - cupboards that my dad built! Some of the handles had decorations hanging on them.

I always picture Auntie Norma’s hands on her mugs with scones close by. I remember these mugs vividly, as my Mom had the same ones only green! And I loved tea at her house as we always got scones with honey which is my tea time favorite!

These two pictures hung just inside her door. The top is the homestead which I have no memories of, but I have plenty of memories of sitting at her table hearing stories of life on the farm. And the second picture is near and dear to my heart - supper in the field with my Dad, Grandpa and Uncle as they harvested the acres and acres of grain. I love this photograph and wish I had one.

Growing up on a family farm that had been in my family for generations meant I was familiar with old fashioned things sitting right next to the modern equivalent. At Grandma’s, she uses an old iron for a doorstop - it is there in all of my memories but I had forgotten about it until I saw it again.

These crazy toys, Grandma has a bunch of them. You push up on the bottom and they dance. I had completely forgotten about them until I saw them propped up above her mirror. This one I remember best now.

This radio sat on shelf at the end of the kitchen next to two ashtrays. It was always on and always tuned to CFCW.

My grandma was always knitting. You had to be careful with sitting in her chair because there were always needles pushed in the side of it. She knit everything under the sun. I remember having my Aunt cut my hair and she wanted to pull it into a pigtail for me, she bellered at Grandma to bring a tie. Then she bellered again as Grandma wasn’t coming. Soon, Grandma came around the corner, knitting needles flying as she quickly knit a pigtail tie for my hair. Grandma had crazy knitted pillows on her couch - I can close my eyes and see them and now I have photograph of all of them.

One year ago, this weekend, my brother was killed in an accident. I miss his jokes, his laughter, his concern, his dedication to his family, and his fun loving manner with his nieces and nephews. I cannot believe that a year has passed since I saw him.

Time fades our memories. It dulls them, takes the shine away, but a photograph can give us an image that jogs the memories and brings back that moment vividly. My photographs of him help keep our memories strong. While I can’t see my brother anymore, all I have to do is look at his photographs to keep him close.

We spent summers on the farm when we lived in Michigan and Jorah hated leaving the farm and her Uncle. She clung to him as she said goodbye.

When I found this image, tears came. This is Kalla but she looks so much like Rylynn that it is hard to distinguish who is who in baby photographs. I hate that I don’t have a photograph of Ry and Colin, but in this image, I can see Ry with her Uncle.

I love babies! Their soft little sighs, their huge curious eyes, their little wrinkles and tiny fists that grab on and hold on for dear life. Babies are so precious. It is such an overwhelming time - that of the first born baby in a family. New parents adapting to this tiny little being that has suddenly twisted life upside down, but also adapting to the overpowering feelings of love for such a tiny little boy. And then there is the little one - it always amazes me when I sit down and watch them discover their world. Think of all that they must learn and how quickly they do!

I’d like to introduce you to Alex. Alex spent a lot of time watching me very carefully. He did not want to fall asleep and miss all the fun but when he finally did, we managed to get some adorable portraits of his sweet face! Congratulations Mom and Dad! You have a very precious, beautiful baby boy. Thank you for allowing me to capture this amazing time in his life.

We are in the midst of grad season and I am quite happy about it! I love this age group! It is such a unique time in a person’s life! Never again will you play competitive sports the way you have throughout school, you won’t attend dance classes, go on field trips or spend so much time with your friends. Upon graduation - life as you know it changes - you move away from home, your relationship with your family changes as you become more independant, you find full time employment, and have to make new friends at university. I think this is such an exciting time of life. So much changes for you and these changes will shape the rest of your life! I can’t think of a more fitting time to photograph the changes that are taking place in your life!

As with all my portrait sessions, I work hard to personalize grad photos. I encourage every grad to bring with them something they are interested in. Brett has been welding as part of work experience in school and he will be furthering his education in welding upon graduation. His parents gave him a flamed out welding mask and he brought it for his casuals. We attempted to make sparks in the studio but I was little leary of lighting the place on fire, so we headed out to the shop where Brett showed off his new skills.

Brett, I wish you all the best in the coming months and I hope you continue to keep on smiling! I very much enjoyed working with you!

Tonight, I had a thrill of a lifetime! In 1988, I dreamed of carrying the Olympic torch as a torch runner for the 88 Olympics in Calgary. I was unfortunately, one year shy of the age I had to be, to be considered.

This time around, I had just moved back to Canada and missed applying.

Tonight though, I got to hold an Olympic torch and photograph the Olympic flame! How cool is that?

My Uncle ran in the relay in Lloydminster. I photographed his run and then joined in the celebration at Bud Miller Park.

I want to add in that all of the torch bearers were amazing! They stood at the celebration with their torches and let anybody hold the torch and be photographed with it! It was such an energetic night and I encourage everybody to get to a torch relay and join in the celebration. The flame will be in Vermilion, St. Paul, Vegreville, and Edmonton tomorrow. Our beautiful country will soon be on display to the world!

The passing of the flame – it amazes me that this flame comes from Olympia, Greece! It was so exciting to see it!

Running through the night…..

The flame is lit in Lloydminster:

The end of the celebration!

Every year, I like to make a time capsule if you will. I collect news headlines, photographs, add our Christmas card letter and any other mementos that sum up the previous year of our family’s life. I love to sit down with these and look over where we were at that point in time.

It is amazing to me what a photograph can do. I can look at a photograph and be taken back to that moment in time. I can remember what I was doing, why I took the photograph, and how I felt about it at that time. It doesn’t matter if it is a personal photograph or that of a historical event like 9-11; photographs have an amazing power - they give us a visual history of our lives. Can you imagine what your life history would be like if it did not contain photographs? All there would be is memories and over time, memories become less vibrant but a photograph can bring that memory back to vivid colour in a heartbeat.

What does your visual history say about you? Were there landmark occasions this past year like a wedding, a newborn baby or a new house? Or were the memories equally powerful of events that were less monumental like a toddler’s first steps, the first day of kindergarten or university, or a missing tooth? I love looking back at these seemingly small moments of time that my camera captured - I love seeing where we were then, and where we are now. I love reminiscing over funny stories and I have sad/happy tears seeing my “babies” when they were tiny. Our visual histories tell our life story - I encourage you to pull out yours and take a look at your life over the past year.

I am going to share some of my favorite images from the past year. They may not have come from the very best sessions where the light was perfect, the children cooperating perfectly - they might have come from the most challenging session. They are images that make me smile and think to myself “I am so blessed”. To all of my clients who shared in creating Dragon Hare’s visual history last year - thank you! Thank you for entrusting us to create memories and capture those moments forever.

A fantastic couple, a fantastic evening even though we stood in nasty water and thick goupy mud!

A wonderful uplifting grad:

The perfect moment of serendipity:

An amazing, heart warming smile!

A nervous bride in a moment of quiet reflection:

A fun loving couple who were game for anything!

A perfect moment captured by Brian - the bride and groom’s ring on their cactus,

A beautiful grad who braved the freezing cold March weather for a stunning portrait:

The perfect light, the perfect pose - I love this moment!

Simple, but sets the tone for the love story:

It always amazes me how beauty can get lost in a world of bright, vivid colours - and how simple and beautiful life can be in black and white:

My love of dance - my love of photography - a perfect moment captured:

A goal *finally* reached and an image *finally* created. It took a lot of work to capture this specific moment in time!

The look - I love to capture mystery and drama on camera, what is he thinking?

Old friends, reconnecting:

Gorgeous light, a beautiful little sun goddess and a game of peek a boo to find those fantastic smiles!

New friends!

A heart warming family!

The moment that made all the work/sacrifices of going back to school worth it - on a hilltop overlooking my farm (my favorite place in the world!) with a breathtaking sunset and listening to a brother and sister with amazing voices. This made me say “I LOVE what I do, I am blessed”

New Year’s is a time for setting resolutions and goals. I thought I would share a recent goal that we finally achieved!

Twelve years ago, Brian and I were dating and living in Houston, Texas. It was a place that was a huge culture shock for both of us - I had never been in the US prior to moving to Texas, and Brian had never lived anywhere but central Michigan all his life. It was the first time either of us had been away from our families. We had to learn to depend on each other for everything and to help us learn to work as a team, we sought out an activity we could work towards as a couple. We entered in to a dojang in Houston to try a class of Kuk Sool Won. This was my first experience with martial arts and as it happened, a young man misplaced a kick and as a result, his opponent received a broken nose. I looked at Brian and say “no way” but he encouraged me to stick it out and try. As it usually happens when you try something new, I liked it. The more I participated, the more I came to love martial arts. It became our dream to obtain our black belts together. Brian and I began attending as many classes per week as we could and we rose quickly to the level of brown belt but then, life intervened.

We moved to Michigan, had children, I went back to school and then finally, we moved to Calgary some ten years later. We discovered a Kuk Sool school in Calgary and we began attending classes again. This time it was different - we had three young children, and I was pregnant so we couldn’t spend as much time training but we were determined to fix our number one regret - that we never stayed in Houston long enough to earn our black belts. As it tends to happen, life intervened again and we moved from Calgary when we were just 9 months away from earning our black belts. But, we were determined so we practiced at home and traveled to Calgary to test every three months.

On November 28, we tested for our black belts in Calgary under our instructor JIKN David Williams - a 6th degree black belt, and we finally achieved what we set out to do 12 years ago. It felt fantastic! To mark the occasion, we photographed ourselves with our shiny new black belts on. It is a challenge to do a self portrait, but doing a self portrait while throwing your husband over your shoulder into a flip goes beyond challenge into extremely difficult! We had fun though and manage to capture some of our favorite techniques on camera!

The Vermilion Standard did an article about our black belts, click here to read it.

Dragon Hare Studios would like to wish you and yours a very wonderful holiday season! May the true spirit of the season bring you peace, joy and happiness throughout the new year!