One of our favourite books is the Stella and Sam series. We first heard about these stories from the little girl in these images, named Stella. Stella’s first photo shoot took place about three years ago and her mom brought along the Stella Mini Library. The stories are exceptional, talking about adventures using their fullest imagination. They encourage curiosity, creativity, independence and a kindred sibling relationship. The Stella in these photos is much like the Stella in the book, they are both seeking the next beautiful thing to learn about, having lots of fun along the way and always with a smile. I love this session for it’s purity, depicting a family enjoying each other on a gorgeous Spring day, all they need is each other and gelato.

Ceyda and Leon have a beautiful ballerina, she’s in ballet class with my daughter. She’s always smiling and so sweet. Now they have welcomed a handsome little man into their world and life is changing. Life with two means twice as much love, twice as many smiles, twice as much fun and maybe twice as many arguments but that is yet to be determined. We will stick with the happiness of life with two and congratulate this gorgeous family. I know this wee guy is going to have an amazing big sister. She will watch out for him and show him the ropes, she will convince him to play barbies with him at least once and make sure he is confidant at his first soccer game. They will always have each other to laugh with and a shoulder to lean on. Life with two is good!

From three to four, this family keeps getting cuter! It is amazing to watch a family grow, to see their love expand and to witness the little things that make up their happy family. From the sweet newborn scents mom cherishes, to the casual playtime on the patio between dad and their first born. These are the footprints of their life. Congrats Katie and Jesse, you’re such an amazing team and your girls are absolutely precious! xo

It was such an honour to be a part of this amazing evening. An evening where family and friends came together to support Steph, Don, Kiki and Mika in their time of need. Kiki is a strong and determined little girl, showing us all how to be brave and courageous. Kiki has the most amazing mom, dad and big sister, standing beside her, showing her love and holding her hand at every turn.

Here are a few of the photo booth shots I took that night, the rest can be found in an online gallery. I’m going to do a bit of an honour system here. I would love to have people donate to Sick Kids Hospital in Keaton’s name, your donation will be greatly appreciated and in exchange, feel free to download your high res photo from the online gallery until July 1, 2013. Every donation counts, big or small so please take a moment to click on the link below and help out however you can.
http://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/donate/tributeCards.asp

Once you’ve made your donation you can head on back here and follow the instructions below to gain access to the gallery and download your image, please be respectful and only download your own photo, this will be monitored.

Go to our website at http://orders.altdesigns.ca.
In order to access the gallery you will need to create an account with your correct name and info, any falsified info given will result in an immediate termination of your account.
Enter your email address and password, then you will see a place to enter in the access code below:
Access code: 4edde4f1

The goal was Cherry Blossoms in High Park but seeing as Spring decided to make a late arrival this year, we made do with what we had. The sun and light were enough to allow us to pretend it was warm. Kaleigh and Brandon were troopers even though I could see their fingertips turning blue near the end. These two were brought together by a game of Scrabble so it seemed appropriate to play a game at the park. The blue gingham will be seen at their Balls Falls Wedding, I can’t wait to see all the rustic elements come together in the barn.
Kaleigh and Brandon’s love filled my frame. They are fun, easy-going and obviously made for each other. See you in August!

Em and I had the house to ourselves last night so we decided to take advantage of a little girl time. Only girls would bring a flower to their pizza picnic in the park. I’m in love with these images and even more excited about the time Em and I spent together. Pizza in the park was a great idea, inexpensive, easy and fun. I decided to treat Em to a little flower for our impromptu photoshoot, picked up from Charmed, being in her store just soothes me, not only are you surrounded by beautiful flowers but also her artistic creations. The pizza was delicious as well, our favourite Hawaiian from Gourmet Pizza.
Admittedly, I have not been good about posting on our 365 blog this year, though I’m doing my best to take a photo every day, it’s the editing and blogging that seems to be a challenge. Regardless, this is day 117 of 365. Enjoy and Happy Friday!

Three beautiful and strong women got all dolled up for some photos. Shannon is a fellow photographer and knows how rare it is for grown families to get in front of the camera, yet still so important. Shannon has developed an amazing brand and business, I was lucky enough to try out her new studio for this session. She believes in finding ones true soul in her imagery and because of this Shannon has the ability to capture genuine, real and poignant elements in people.
It was an honour to capture some memorable moments for the three of you. Enjoy!

A colourful family, a couple in love, what more can I ask for… how about a handmade vintage banner? I can’t share that image just yet but it will make an appearance on my blog as soon as I get the go ahead. Love Sarah’s creativity!
It was chilly and muddy but we had sunshine and smiles. Balls Falls Conservation is stunning, we did the engagement session here as this is where Sarah and Brian will be celebrating their wedding next year. Can’t wait!

We’ve got some big news and lots of changes happening at Alicia Thurston Photography.

Number one on the agenda is the introduction of my AMAZING Office Manager, Ruby!

Ruby is a dynamic and highly innovative Communications, Marketing, and Photography professional with 5+ years of multi-faceted experience in the manufacturing, pharmaceutical, event planning, and retail sectors.
With her background in communications and public relations, along with a strong affinity for photography, Ruby has a thorough understanding of the importance of imagery, professionalism, and brand value building.

Ruby will play a role in each and every portrait session and wedding, taking care of the important details behind the scenes and sometimes right along side me. The customer experience is important and I want to make sure that my time is spent getting to know my clients and their needs, creating an artful session that reflects my clients uniqueness, and finally taking careful time with the final images to ensure quality imagery, ready for your walls. I also want to make sure that I am giving just as much time, focus and love into my family. With that in mind, I felt that bringing in an office manager with Ruby’s expertise and wonderful personality, would offer a great balance to all the aspects of my business and home life. We are so happy to have her on board.

Next up, I wanted to announce our newest product. I’m so exited about our new Digital Albums, they are going to be a huge hit with all of your family and friends. Now you can share all the best from your session on your mobile device and there’s no time limit. Check out this great demo!

Now for a few updates on business and the like…
We are booking up quickly this year. There is one more spot left for a Toronto Portrait session and only two more weekend spots for Kitchener/ Waterloo before July. Weekday mornings and evenings in Waterloo region are still an option but very limited.
I am only taking ONE more wedding in 2013 and have starting booking 2014 weddings.
On that note, wedding prices are increasing for 2014. The new price book will be printed in May so I’m giving a last chance shout out for my current pricing for all 2014 brides. I will announce one more last call before they get printed in case this announcement gets missed with all the great news listed above.

We are heading to Toronto for a few fun photo shoots! As well, we are walking a 5KM walk to help raise funds for The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada and in support of a good friend and client, Stacy. Stacy appeared on City News yesterday to briefly discuss the importance of this Foundation and our team, take a look here. You can check out our team page here, there’s still a few more hours to contribute and your donations would be greatly appreciated. Both Em and I will be walking and we can’t wait. That’s all for now folks. Have an amazing weekend and enjoy some sunshine!

Just for fun…