Fun winter plans

There's going to be a whole ton going on for us in the next month or two, in a really REALLY good way!! First there's the holidays, my second favourite time of the year (after summer - I love the sun), then we head off to Brasil for our honeymoon (who says the wedding has to be first?), then after a few days back home we're going to Mexico for our wedding!!! I'm so looking forward to it all, this is going to be a WICKED winter! I plan to do my best to keep the blog updated with all our going-ons and will be responding to email while we're gone. And I don't doubt there will be a mongo post after the wedding :)

The other reason for the Brasil trip is for me to hopefully, finish my book that I have been working on for about 5 years now.. or to at least have enough photos for the book, because I'm sure it will take me another couple years to find a Brazilian to write the text (writing is definitely not one of my strong points), as well there are a bunch of negs that I still have to get scanned, find a publisher, etc.. But I'm getting there! The book will be entirely b&w and show the day-to-day life of many Brasilians and although I don't ignore the poverty and hardship that many face, I do focus more on the positive to show what an incredible people they are. Every time I visit Brasil I am completely amazed by the joy and pride that they have in their lives, despite the extreme poverty that many of them live in..

Funny how those with very little can be 10x happier than others with way more.. Maybe a good thing to keep in mind during the holidays


















More at www.alanacouchphoto.com

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Chuck, Mandy, Lynden & Brayden

I just love this family! We wound up doing the majority of the session in the bedroom, just because after about 2 minutes outdoors the boys were chattering their teeth and freezing from the cold (supposedly it was about -10 today..brr!) But it was no problem at all because the light coming into the bedroom was gorgeous! The images all have a very clean and simple look to them that I just love.









babies loooove to touch camera lenses :P

Cheryl

Normally I don't do 'headshot' type sessions, just because they usually feel a little too formal for me but after chatting with Cheryl when she called the other day I just couldn't say no and am so glad I didn't! It was an absolute pleasure to photograph you and a ton of fun. You are such an incredible and inspiring woman, I could have spent all afternoon chatting with you!

Cans Donated

Thank-you to all of you who posted comments this past week I will be donating 26 cans of food to my local food bank this weekend!!

Mexican Wedding Balls

This week's baking.. Perfect for the holidays! (and yum!)



Ingredients:
* 1 cup butter, room temperature
* 2 cups icing sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 cup pecans, toasted, coarsely ground
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:
Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup icing sugar and vanilla; beat until well blended. Beat in flour, then pecans. Divide dough in half; form each half into ball. Wrap separately in plastic; chill until cold, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups icing sugar and cinnamon in pie dish to blend. Set cinnamon sugar aside.

Working with half of chilled dough, roll dough by 2 teaspoonfuls between palms into balls. Arrange balls on heavy large baking sheet, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Bake cookies until golden brown on bottom and just pale golden on top, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies 5 minutes on baking sheet. Gently toss warm cookies in cinnamon sugar to coat completely. Transfer coated cookies to rack and cool completely. Repeat procedure with remaining half of dough. (Cookies can be prepared 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature; reserve remaining cinnamon sugar.)

When balls are cool roll a second time in icing sugar. Makes about 4 dozen

I had actually made them for a cookie exchange with a few friends... Here are the resulting goodies I wound up with!

2nd shooting

It's rare that I get to second shoot a wedding these days, just because I'm always so crazy busy with my own weddings, but I had the opportunity to help out Mandy Anderson from Leap Photographic recently and had such a blast!! I even got to shoot the guys getting ready, which I was excited about since I haven't done that in ages!

Here are just a few fun, random images from the day:

Cans for comments

I always love doing whatever I can to give back, and I also love getting feedback and comments on photos in the blog.. For the next 7 days every person commenting on a post will equal one can of food donated to the local food bank!! It doesn't have to be this post - you can leave your comment on ANY post on the blog! So definitely be sure to comment, and get your friends and family commenting too!

There are a whole group of photographers doing the 'cans for comments' so check out their blogs too, and don't forget to comment! So far there's

Erin Gilmore,

Chris + Lynn,

Amber Hughes,

Lori Miles,

Blue Olive,

Bebb Studios,

CJ Scott,

Lisa Landrie,

Tracey Heppne,

Micheal Wachniak,

Jamie Delaine,

Laura Dolcepics,

Shandro Photo

I'll let you know at the end of the week how many cans everyone helped to raise!

Sara & George

Sara and George eloped recently, then called their families from the beaches of Hawaii to announce their marriage!! Excellent shock value, I love it!

Their reception was held here in Vancouver at The Lift, which was wonderfully atmospheric..





The gorgeous couple...