jewelimage « JEWELIMAGE PHOTOGRAPHY » Award Winning Calgary photographer. Calgary family photographer Calgary newborn photographer. Baby, birth, couple, child, family and life photography in Calgary. Calgary couple photographer. Calgary birth photographer. Specializing in LOVE! Also servicing Airdrie, Canmore, Okotoks.

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Dec 31: helping hearts session jewelimage photography

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Just this past year I joined a group called Helping Hearts.

This is how they describe themselves: “Helping Hearts is a project created by Melissa Knowles & Michelle Regner with the goal of being able to provide free photography sessions for families with children who are suffering a life-altering illness or disability. Over the last couple of years we have acquired an entire team of photographers who are dedicated to donating their time to Helping Hearts because they believe in sharing the gift of photography with as many families as possible.”

Just this past month I was able to photograph my first session for Helping Hearts. It was truly a highlight for me. I felt so honoured to be able to go into their lives, if only for a moment, and share in these special memories with them.

Our session was a long time in coming since we had to keep putting it off as Ryan, the three year old, was too sick. Finally he was feeling better and they were able to have me over.

The family just wanted a picture of Ryan where he appeared happy. He had suffered and battled through so much that just a smile in itself would be a victory. Not only had he been suffering with brain stem cancer, he also had neuropathic pain and many other issues. His older brother was also such a sweetheart. He has autism which added more challenges to their everyday life. I sure had fun with these boys though. We played on the floor the whole time and they were so sweet with one another.

It was great seeing the family interact with one another. The love they shared was palpable. I was just so happy to be there and be a part of it.

Just a few days after their session, Ryan’s mom wrote this to me, “ I am so glad you came when you did. We found out on tuesday that Ryan’s tumor has progressed so much in such a short amount of time that we now have only a short amount of time with him left. We will cherish these photos forever, they are so special.”

I cannot pretend to even understand a little of their pain. I am just glad that I was able to give them something to cherish forever.

As I was leaving the house, Ryan hurried over to me and gave me the biggest kiss on the lips. I think of that kiss often and feel blessed to have received it.

I look forward to helping more people through these sessions.

Apr 26: where have I been? calgary photographer

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Hey everyone! It seems like life is rushing by and I’ve sort of been MIA in blog world these days. Since January, I’ve been to Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Whitefish MT, Invermere BC, and Hawaii. Some work, some play.

This is always a slower time for photographers so I thought I would make the most of it and further myself artistically while I could. I took the time to learn the adobe Lightroom program. I did this by practice and also by watching and studying the amazing tutorials put out there by Rob and Lauren of Photography Concentrate. Fellow Canadians, and really awesome photographers and people.

I then went to Palm Springs to attend the amazing Wallflowers retreat with Leah Zawadzki and Deb Schwedhelm. Both AMAZING ladies. Love them and their work so much. I gained a lot from that retreat. Friends, confidence, knowledge and peace. Thanks to both of them.

After that I headed to Vegas for a big photography convention called WPPI. A complete 180 from the experience at the Wallflowers retreat the weekend before but still a great place to be. I got to meet up with friends, make new ones and learned something from each of the classes I attended. I roomed with my blogsite designer Renee Swigert from Ribbons of Red. We were friends online and were very happy to find out that we could be friends in real life too! haha She was so much fun and we had very similar interests so it was great.

One of my favourite classes at WPPI was Jesh De Rox. I love his work and found him very inspiring. Again, I learned a lot about myself here. It’s not the technical stuff that I was after, it was the answer to questions inside of myself that have been nagging me. Artistically, who am I? How do I want to present myself? How can I communicate with my clients so that they are comfortable enought to be themselves in front of me? Jesh has started a Beloved revolution. A form of photography that celebrates and focuses on relationships. Mostly with the ones we love. This has been one of my favourite avenues of photography so I was eager to pursue this. Learning from him and fellow Beloved friends, I am working on expressing myself better and create deeper relationships.

And, a final course I’ve been taking is called Fly by Angie Warren. Again, more of a self discovery approach to photography. I am at the beginning of this process but already feel so happy with the direction it is taking me.

I think that we as photographers aka “artists” we should never be comfortable with where we are. There should always be something to learn. This is what I have been trying to accomplish.

Since I don’t want to post without an image- here are a few pics from my sons Petland party. Yes, I am making more of an effort to capture my family this year too!

Session shares coming soon. Promise ;)

Feb 20: 29 Palms, CA – Wallflowers Retreat

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Last weekend I attend the Wallflowers Retreat put on by Leah Zawadzki and Deb Schwedhelm. It was AMAZING!

There were so many wonderful people there and the accommodations were unbelievable. I got to stay in a room that was build in the early 1900’s. The food was so delicious. Most of it is grown on site.

We had some great discussions, a portfolio review, and were able to watch Deb and Leah shoot and edit. They gave so much of themselves throughout the process. They are both such talented and lovely ladies.

It helped me so much on my journey as I work to capture and create art that I am truly proud of.