busy, busy

I know, I know, it's been a while. But my lack of blogging does not mean that I have not been busy taking pictures. It just means that blogging is the thing I'm letting slide these days. Life has been crazy lately! It's true what they say, life just gets busier the older your kids get, just busy in a different way. I think it's partly because I have kids in all three stages of the game right now. One in Grade school, one in preschool, and one toddler that doesn't understand the words "sit still". So they are my main source of busy-ness. And I do love (almost) every minute of it! :o)

And then there are my fabulous clients! You people are keeping me crazy busy! I feel so blessed for the work I am given and am able to do. With the number of photographers out there, I honestly feel so honored every time I am chosen to capture your families on camera. I LOVE what I do, I am so blessed to do it professionally. So thank-you. I am currently booked all through June, and most of July, at least for weekends. I will have some evening availability throughout the summer. All that being said, if you were hoping to have me photograph you or your family in the near future, I would suggest booking as soon as possible! I already have bookings into September!!!

And now, the reason I am blogging today...this little dude:



I recently had the honor of visiting this little guy and his mom and dad in their home in Port Moody for some photos. This little guy is 8 weeks old in these photos, and his parents are just crazy about him. It is so fun for me to see the awe of new parenthood! I alway am excited to see first time parents, the absolute awe of love and joy a new baby brings. It never gets old. It just grows and changes.

Anyways, wee man here was happiest in mommy's arms, or having a little snooze. So we let him set the tempo, and got some great shots.







I love a sleeping baby... no matter how old they are. My sleeping six year old "baby" still melts my heart. Funny how my sleeping husband doesn't quite have the same effect. hmmm.
Speaking of "hmmm..." isn't that what this picture makes you think:



He just looks like a cute little thinker. Finally, I have one last family photo, of mom and dad lovin' on their little man.



And now I am off to the great outdoors to enjoy this 30 degree weather we're having, but I promise, I will be back soon with more. I have some cute babies, some fabulous bellies, and one of my favorite families all lined up to be blogged about, so check back, I'll get back on my game soon!! :o)

and the winner is..

thank-you to everyone who checked out my new site and was kind enough to leave a comment! I am really excited about the new site and the ease with which I will be able to keep it updated, so keep checking back, I promise to keep it up to date!!

So this afternoon I wrote out all the names of those who commented, both on the blog and through my site, on a piece of paper and cut them up and had my little darling :


pick a name out of the strainer. Yep, I sad strainer. And she handed the slip of paper to her baby brother:



who toddled it over to his hero, aka big brother :


Who read the name "Chelsea B" out loud to me. So congratulations Chelsea!!! I will contact you to make some plans! And for all of you who didn't win, but did leave a comment as my thank-you I would like to offer you 20% off your shoot, but only if you book this week! Thanks again!!

Oh, and after the momentous draw, we all headed to the park for the fun fair at school. What a day!


(posts are just more fun with pictures!) Happy Mother's day all you mommies out there!!

MY WEBSITE IS LIVE!!!

My VERY exciting news that I had mentioned is that my new website is now up and running and I am so very excited about it!!! To celebrate my launch and because it puts me in such a great mood, I am feeling generous and like having a little give away! So...if you head on over to www.carmenvandyckphotography.com and leave a comment either here on the blog, or through the "contact me" section of the new site then I will enter your name in a draw for a free session! (and if you leave a comment both places I might even enter your name twice! You have two weeks, I will draw and post the winner on Friday May the 8th!
Good luck and happy viewing!

starting early

I am so excited to show off a few of these photos. I LOVE doing newborn shoots, more because I usually get a little cuddle in at some point than anything else. But I always love it when I get to try something a little different at a shoot, and this was one of those times. Anyways, this little miss was six days old on the day of her shoot, and she performed brilliantly. (oh, and if you're looking for mr. adorable, he's the post below, so scroll on down :o) there's some serious cuteness on this blog)

Here are a few of my favorites of the day:


Oh, and notice the new watermark/logo? It's all a part of the new website, which is almost ready, and I cannot wait for you all to see it! My cousin in law designed it for me, if anyone wants her contact info, let me know and I will get it to you!




Okay, now onto the shots I was really excited about...remember mom's maternity shoot, with the horses? So I thought we'd carry that theme on and get a few with the sweet girl on mommy's saddle. Ready for some serious cuteness?





And finally, you can't have a newborn shoot without some sweet feet (the only version of feet that I actually like :o)


Congrats again! I hope you enjoyed the peek, and I hope she keeps right on being a little angel for you!

one

my baby is one. they don't come any more adorable than this :o)



love him. LOVE him. thank-you Lord for this precious gift.

precious boy

I am loving that we are starting to get some nice days here and there, and that gives me a chance to get outside with my camera. I recently had the privilege of meeting this family of three, and snapping some photos. This little guy was born eight weeks premature, and mom was so happy to finally get some family photos as newborn photos were out of the question. Having spent a little quality time in the hospital myself, since having kids, I am always amazed by those who, like this family, have to spend weeks there. All this to say I was honored to get to take his first photos. I am so glad you have all done so well!

When he arrived, he was in the middle of a nap, so I decided to take the opportunity to get some sleepy shots.




I love this shot of the little guy. (by the way, how stylin' is he?!?)


The family of three:




And finally, when mom mentioned they hadn't had any shots of the two of them since their wedding day we decided to change that in a hurry :o)


Thanks guys! It was so great to meet you, I'm glad it worked out for us! And congratulations again, he is so precious!

baby girl

Sorry for the LONG break from the blog. You know how it is, all the Christmas festivities have a way of keeping me from being on the computer too much. And then my little sweet face (and current blog banner) went and got much too sick, which landed he and I in the hospital for a week. So needless to say, everything else got put on hold for a little while.
I am happy to report that he is doing MUCH better, and photo sessions are off to a running start this new year! Although I have much to catch up on, I promised this new mommy a sneak peek tonight, and seen as she had to put up with much, due to my sick baby, I can't not post a few favorites, so here goes...

As usual, the hardest part is picking which images to post. There were so many I loved of this beautiful baby, and her sweet family. This one was a favorite:


The proud new Mommy and Daddy


How beautiful is this new mommy?!?


This will be one well protected little girl! Her daddy adores her, and look how tiny she looks in his hands, the boys won't want to mess with this girl :o)




I love this shot too! Not too long ago, this sweet baby used to fit inside that belly! It is just all so Amazing!


And this shot...I love this shot. Everything about it. Her little foot hanging off, her pretty dress, the chair, LOVE IT!!


And a final snuggle with Mommy


We had scheduled this session for the day I ended up in the hospital, so I had to cancel at the very last minute, which I felt terrible about, so I just want to thank you both for being amazingly understanding through it all! I'm glad it all worked out and we got some great shots of your beautiful baby. Thanks for having me, I hope you enjoyed these photos!!

I think I may have a new favorite...

Have I mentioned what a genius my friend Rachel is? Well she is. I think she figured out my color problem, so I have lots to post. This is my last shoot, I will have to go back and fix all my other ones before posting them, but here are a few new ones in the mean time:

You may recognize this family if you've been following my blog. We had planned to get together for some Christmas pictures and after a few tries, we finally found a nice day, and got some great photos! I love this little family. Their baby is seriously the most smiley, happy little girl ever! I thought I had happy babies, but she takes the cake! And her mom and dad are so much fun, it is just such a pleasure to take their pictures! Here are some of my favorites:


And miss happy herself




She seemed to like sticking her tongue out. I got lots of shots of that little tongue, and I just love her expression in this one


Now for the kissy pictures... i love these


That new favorite I mentioned? This just might be it. I LOVE this picture!! Dad's expression, how little miss is practically mauling him, all of it, I just love it!


Or it might be this one. I love it too. Can't decide, both will be on the new website!!


And finally, because they were Christmas pictures, and I'm beginning to feel rather Christmas-y...


Thanks again, you guys are such fun, and I just adore your sweet baby!!! Hope to see you all again soon! Enjoy the pictures!

little miss

Sorry for my lack of blogging, I've been having some trouble with the color of my photos. This makes me none too happy, I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I figured I'd post a few anyways, and try and choose a few more black and whites.

Anyways, little miss here was a part two of a belly/baby booking, so you might recognize the proud parents. Baby had a little trouble gaining weight in the beginning so it took us a few weeks to finally get together, so at four weeks, she was nice and alert almost the whole shoot.



I borrowed a friend's stroller from when she was little, thought it was so cute! Now, baby didn't love it, but we did get a few shots!






I love baby feet. I despise adult feet, but baby feet are just so darn cute. Is that odd? I'm not sure, but here's a sweet foot anyways.


Thanks again guys, you were a pleasure to spend time with, and I appreciate all your grade one advice :o) Enjoy every minute with your sweet baby! Time really starts to fly now!

sweet, sweet baby

Another beautiful little girl has been added to this beautiful little family. At two weeks old, she was a delight to photograph, I don't think I heard a peep out of her the whole time.

Her sweet, talkative big sister was more than happy to oblige and hold her new baby for a few pictures.


I love this shot, how you can see how tiny she is.





Mom had some gerberas that we just had to put in there, and as always, baby was perfectly happy to oblige!






Congrats again guys! Your girls are such little darlings! Thanks for having me over to take her first pictures!!!