Mya's 1st Birthday! - sneak peek.

I was invited to join Mya and her family to celebrate her 1st birthday on Saturday! I met Mya and her family in the summer to do a family session, and since then did a few other sessions with their family members. So I was so happy when they wanted me to return to capture the moments of her special day!

Mya quickly go overwhelmed with the amount of people and needed to have a quick cat nap in the middle which was fine with me since it gave me a chance to mingle and chat with others.

I just had a chance to quickly edit a few tonight, shes soo adorable!

I LOVE her eyes!

Stay tuned for more!

-Tracie

Sarah's Shower

There is nothing I like more than a Baby Shower. Something about the food, cute little outfits, games and my favorite the decorations! A lot of work went into Sarah's shower on Saturday and I loved every detail of it. The cake was adorable!

I LOVE taking pictures of the little details that go into making it such a special day. There was even adorable keep savers from Sarah's little bean filled with Jelly Belly's!

Even the water was labeled for this special occasion!

Thanks again for having me there to share your special day!

-Tracie

Sarah's Baby Bump!

Saturday I met up with my dear friend Sarah to get some pictures of her growing belly. She is looking beautiful at 34 weeks and very excited! I have been wanting to do this for a long time now, it's not my story to tell but words cannot express how happy I am for her and Jimmy. She has been waiting for this for awhile and now they are expecting their little girl in March!
I have known they have been expecting for quite some time but while I was taking pictures it finally hit me "this is actually happening!". I have to admit editing a few of the pictures so far got me a little emotional, Sarah is going to be such a good Mom!
Sarah wanted some colourful pictures along with B&W's which I totally had in mind so it worked out well!

I was invited along to her Baby Shower after our session and oh my did she get spoiled, she deserves every little bit of it!

Stay tuned for a few more belly and shower pics!

Cheers

-Tracie

Rainy Days

Well it was another rainy day... surprise surprise! Rainy days in our house mean 'creative' days. I am always trying to come up with ideas to entertain Grayer so we don't have continuous meltdowns. Grayer being a typical 21 month old has a short attention span so we went from play dough, colouring, reading, trains and to my favorite crafts. You never know what you are going to find if you just take a look around the house. If you have glue and paper.. you have a very satisfied toddler!

When it came to bedtime Grayer brought an apple to bed with him. I allowed it since it was a healthy choice. As I was reading him his stories he took a couple of bites of his apple and tucked it into his covers.. and got very upset when I tried to take it away. I have noticed he has started doing those weird things that kids do that do not seem to make sense.. but to them they do :) After he was happily cuddled up with his puppy and his eyes were closed I carefully tip toed out of the room to get some work done! Oh and yes I took the apple...

Before settling myself down to do work I needed something warm and cozy..

Well I was able to get some work done..still slowly working on ALL the pictures from Nova Scotia. I also did some brainstorming for a maternity session of my dear friend Sarah tomorrow. I have been waiting to do this for awhile so I am very excited! Stay tuned for a sneak peak..

It is late and I am going to cuddle with my sheets and listen to the rain..

Cheers

-Tracie

Marcella & Family

While I was Nova Scotia I finally got to meet little Marcella and family. My sister-in-law purchased a gift certificate from me for a Christmas gift to her parents. Knowing I would be going to Nova Scotia I could do a session with little Marcella and her Grandparents. I was so happy to finally meet all of them. She really was a doll, very alert and had lots of smiles. Grayer even posed with her for a few.

One picture.. So Many Emotions..

I was having a very blah day today. I did everything right, got up at 4am (Grayer and I are still on Nova Scotia time) spent the whole morning playing with Grayer, went to the gym.. but couldn't shake frustration. My new site isn't up and running yet and this was not how I wanted 2011 to start.
I continued to try and shake it off but I just couldn't get my spirits up. I decided to spend the evening listening to music and updating my blog with a little editing. I have TONS to edit from my trip but can only do a little at a time. I start to get homesick and the emotions come so I have to stop and go back to them. Tonight I thought I would do a few and post them on the blog, when I came across a photo I don't even remember taking. My Dad and Grayer reading... the smile on my Dad's face made me smile right away, but then the tears came. I love living in BC but I do wish my Dad was closer. I have to remind myself when I am having one of those blah days to just look around and see how lucky I am to have such an amazing family. It's true a picture can say so much...

Grayer couldn't get out "Grampy" so he called him "PP"

Curt is such a good Dad, Grayer wanted to go out in the snow first thing in the morning. Curt bundled him up and went out in his pajamas :)

Curt and I self portrait.

Well that is all for now. I made myself stay up late so I can try and get back on BC time.

Cheers!
-Tracie

The Simple Things.

After getting back from Nova Scotia for two weeks I feel rejuvenated. I needed to see familiar faces and have many good laughs.
While I was there, I realized I love simple things. The houses in that area have so much character and history. Its hard to find that around here these days since everything is new and crowded. While I was there I would just roam around taking pictures of things that we all take for granted and simply walk by without noticing. If we just all took some time and looked at the simplest things we would find beauty in them.
Growing up in Nova Scotia I always knew it was beautiful but never really saw it that way. People would talk about it but I just thought we lived in the boonies and it was inconvenient to get a ride into town. Now that I live in a small city I miss having that privacy. This time I took a look around and saw the farmland from a different point of view, instead of looking at it as just grass I looked at the hard work that goes into it, instead of looking at the muddy brown water as dirty and cold, I looked at it as unique.
From now on I am going to try and see the little details in things and appreciate them more.

Beautiful little white church in Grand Pre, NS

The Beach Breeze Motel at Evangeline Beach, Grand Pre.

Home away from Home

Being in Nova Scotia for the past 2 weeks has made me realize how lucky I am to have two places I call home. When I come back to Nova Scotia I can always count on a few things to stay the same.. my Dad's house, the food, and the same friends I have had since I was in Grade 4. This time around was a little different since I was bringing my Son back for the first time, seeing him places I spent so much time as a child, Seeing him play with the same toys I once did at my Grandparents' really made it special.
I have a few more days here before I go back to reality, a reality I have missed. I am missing my routine and editing, posting and blogging on a regular basis.
The next couple days I am going to try and get some more pictures of this beautiful province so I can fill my home with memories of home :)

Christmas 2010 - 5 more favorites of 2010

After taking a couple days off of not posting, editing, or checking email all day I realized how much I really do love my job, because I missed it!
My holiday was filled with love and laughter with my family. This year was defiently more exciting with Grayer being 20 months. Christmas morning was spent unwrapping presents and drinking 'special' coffees. The best gift of all this year was to have everyone together in the same room Christmas Eve/morning!

The rest of the week will be spent getting organized and packing since we are leaving for Nova Scotia for 2 weeks to visit family. I am SO very excited to not only see everyone and introduce Grayer to them but to get TONS of pictures!

Picking my last 5 favorites was tricky.. there not necessarily the best pictures I have taken but stand out to me for different reasons, which I will explain :)

I captured this one of Mya during there family session, I LOVE her expression and those long eyelashes!

Maybe I am a little bias but this is a favorite of my son. It was the end of the summer and we were out for an adventure so I did a mini shoot of him playing in the rocks :)

If I remember correctly I believe this was the grooms idea. I had SO much fun shooting Kris & Cindy's wedding! They had a few old cars and unique places picked out, I love how this one turned out.

I met Alexis and her family for a session as a Christmas present to their grandparents. She was VERY photogenic! I love her outfit and the color contrast in this one.

Armita's maternity shoot was awesome! They all turned out really good. We did an inside and outside session. I love this one, the glowing belly with the leaves blurred in the background.

Well that was HARD! I have sooo many favorites of 2010, and am so thankful for having the priviledge to capture SO many special moments in peoples lives~!

Cheers for now :)
Tracie

Thankful - 5 favorites of 2010

It is getting close to the end of 2010 and I have a lot to be thankful for. I started Tray Photography in the spring of this year with the hopes of picking up a few photo sessions and experience. I was able to pick up more than a few and gained a lot of experience! I recently held a contest on facebook asking people to pick a favorite, for participating they would have their named entered in a draw and have the chance to receive a free photo session. After going through the pictures of different sessions since I began, I can truly see the improvement along the way.
The first job I took this year and the one I still look back on quite often was an engagement session. It was Mothers Day, a Mothers Day to remember. I brought along my family so we could still spend time together while I worked. I was grateful for the couple to take a chance on someone just starting out, I now use one of their pictures on my current business cards. I would not be able to do this without the support of my family, they are always interested and keep me motivated!
Between now and the end of 2010 I am going to go through my pictures and pick 10 that are my favorites for different reasons.
I am really looking forward to 2011, hoping to gain more experience and knowledge of photography. I continue to think of new ideas for different sessions, but find they just happen when you least expect it!
As of right now I have 2 weddings booked for the summer and can't wait to book more!

Cheers for now!
~Tracie

This is a favorite not only because it was the first session I did, but its cute and fun. If I remember correctly it was his idea for this picture. I'm finding the men have great ideas!

This is Ellen, I was hired for her first birthday/family session to follow. She was adorable, she got her colorful poncho for her birthday which was perfect for a mini photo shoot!

This isn't just a favorite because he is my adorable little brother Hayden, but it was his first day of school and this is truly his personality. I LOVE capturing peoples personalities!

This continues to be one of my favorites! This was at Tanya & Corwin's Wedding, she didn't pose this way on purpose. Just a hungry bored flower girl!

Susan's family was an easy session, all participated very well! I had an idea for this picture while walking around her property, I really didn't know how it would turn out but it's favorite!

That's it for now.. this is going to be a lot harder than I thought!