Its Labour Day and I have been spending the day labouring around the house (cleaning the garage, my office, making lasagne, you know getting some stuff done kind of things). But I sat down at my computer to watch a show for a little break, I decided to play with a few photos I had sitting in my personal file from the summer on the other screen (and no, my office is NOT done yet…its coming, its coming…sheesh!)

These were taken during the week I was doing the Row for Heart – between events through the week, I had some time to kill so I took to doing alittle exploring around the waters edge and found some lovely summer pretties.

The first set features a lovely and seemingly rare Monarch. I remember as a little girl living in rural Ontario the fields were ALIVE with Monarchs, grasshoppers, butterflies and bees. I used to be a professional level bug catcher – you remember those bug catching sets right? One time, I had caught a preying mantis and I thought I had scored the very best of the incests I could collect cause he was so freaky/cool/unusual/weird/rare. I was also totally unafraid of letting catapillars crawl all over my hands |ick| and singing the ladybug song as I joyfully filled my bug catcher with all varieties of incests (except spiders…even then, with all my 10 year old bug bravery, I just could not go there…and yes, I know they are not technically bugs but they are creepy crawlers so they count in this instance). I also remember catching a jar full of bees – my parents were not really too happy about that one…and I remember my dad throwing the lightly covered jar as far into the field as he could so those confused bees could not see who to come after – good times, good times.

Sadly, now it is unusual to see all of these lovely August incests. So it was a major treat to spot this beautiful guy and I spent alot of time photographing him and re-living alittle bit of that bug catcher feeling (I have some nature sound tracks on my ipod and one of them is called “Summer Ambience” and I like to imagine listening to that while viewing these images – it sounds just like I remember the fields near my home did on a hot August afternoon).

How does one become a butterfly?” she asked. “You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”
Anonymous

(I was looking for a nice butterfly quotation and found that…and then, I also found this one…still thinking about which one I like best!!)

Women, don’t get a tattoo. That butterfly looks great on your breast when you’re twenty or thirty, but when you get to seventy, it stretches into a condor.
Billy Elmer

 This next set was taken at a different location, different day. It was really grey and overcast so the mood and tones is much more somber. I still like them though. The burrs remind me of the time last week when I got them all in my hair while at a shoot. And also the time in high school when I got a really really curly perm and everyone called me  “burr” cause it looked like…well like a burr (which it certainly did not!! More good times LOL).

Tomorrow is the first day of school and back to normal work for me (I did work all summer, but it was just complete chaos around here most of the time so I am looking forward to getting organized and back on track this week during my 6 hours of quiet each day). I will share a few sessions this week from summer (before we have red and gold leaves on the trees) and post the holiday schedules (ordering deadlines, session availability, etc.) Also I have a few new programs to add to the offerings so I will also let you know about those over the next couple of weeks (still just tweaking the last details).

When summer gathers up her robes of glory, And, like a dream glides away. – Sarah Helen Whitman

Where the H-E-double-hockey-sticks did August go?!?! I swear time speeds up as I get older (what will happen to time once I finally reach my thirties…HA!).

August did get away from me and was full of craziness (some good, some not so good). But I did get to have a portrait session for my new little niece along the way (I introduced her while she was still in the NCIU a few months back). This session was definitely…interesting…first it was gonna rain hard, but then it was blazing hot and sunny, then she was fussy…VERY fussy…so we went for lunch…didn’t get to do all my stuff with her because she was DONE with me! Such is life with newborn photography (I thought with my “in” as her aunt she would help me out more…not so much!)

I also got to test out my camera gear on her because I had her shoot the day after the DROVE OVER MY CAMERA BAG…oh yes, you read that right…it was one of those things – we were busy, late, he thought I was packing it, I thought he put it in the car already, I started to back out of the driveway and heard a terrifying CRUNCH (knew it did not sound like a person, thought it was a skateboard at first…no, it was my gear bag…). I have NEVER felt like that before – kinda like a haze dropped down over my consciousness. I sat there stunned while my husband was jacking up the car so we could pull it all out and assess the damage. I ripped apart  the bag right there on the sidewalk.

To my SHOCK, only the frame in the front pocket (don’t ask why it was there), my sunscreen and bug spray cans, and ONE lens had any visible damage. And after a test run at this session, I found that one of my cameras was not firing correctly. So all in all, I got off LUCKY with only one thing needing actual repairing (time will tell if it is fixable – still waiting to hear).

Okay, so enough of my lameness. Let me share with you this lovely little lady, out of the hospital at 9 weeks old, but still 2 weeks from her actual due date. The first one is my family – they were not there for portraits (hence the kinda casual outfits!). There were fist fights over whose turn it was to hold her…clearly I didn’t get one! (ha, actually I sent them all away and she was all mine for the rest of the afternoon).

Big brother gets alittle of the lime-light too!

The old radio in the shots beflow was from my grandparents farm – I had a cool concept to try with her on that, but she was…lets just say…uncooperative! As she was for my brothers baseball concept…just wasn’t happening that day! I know she looks like she was sleeping alot of these (and she was for the first hour or so and we whipped our way through the images. But then she woke up and was so NOT happy – except for the time we spent in the car and at lunch – she was a total angel then…of course!)

This week I have been thoroughly enjoying being immersed into the world of rowing. This is a sport that is completely foreign to me and I have totally loved learning about it as I have been photographing the KW Rowing Club members.

This weekend is the Heart and Stroke Foundations Row for Heart regatta at Laurel Creek Conservation Area. And I have been pleased to help out with a photography fundraiser for this great cause. I have been out all this week photographing the training sessions (and I am heading out again right after this) and we will be selling the prints on Saturday in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation!

Rowing is a sport that will get you into GREAT physical shape – I know that because while I have been lounging in the coaches moterized boat all week, eating plums, chewing gum and sipping my water, I have seen lots of people sweating, getting blisters, panting and guzzling their water bottles (see, I am quickly becoming an expert! HA!). I am also learning about words like “crews” (the team on the boat – okay, that one is obvious), “bowside” (the rower on the starside, which is the right – okay, had to google that to be sure I had it right), conversely “portside” (left side) and “coxie” (or “coxswain”) which is the dude in the front of the board that yells at you to get your butt into gear and row harder and on the timing. That one was my favourite new word and I think I need to come up with ways to use that in conversation this week. The other one I learned is “stroke seat”, which is the person sitting closest to the coxie and thus getting the brunt of the yelling! (ha, of course I am exaggerating – the coxies were all pretty easy on their crews).

I am looking forward to the races this weekend (I am hearing from some of the crews there will be some pretty cool costumes and some questionable team names…of course THAT is right up my alley!) Good luck to everyone!

These training sessions take place on the Grand River – we have been boating back and forth under the highway 8 bridge!! Totally cool to me (old hack to all of these guys I am sure – I am such a landlubber!)

I am not much of a nature photographer but I had to “attempt” to capture the herons and ospreys that were hanging out, catching fish and looking all cool. These were my best captures, as the rest were horribly out of focus (I have the totally WRONG lens for this type of stuff – but what the heck, right?!)

My blog will be going down for some much deserved maintenance and a facelift anytime now. When we both return from our relaxation, we will both be ready to hit the ground running full on again! Can’t wait! Also look for some other changes for Tauro Photography (hint hint) in the coming future!

Todays post is the beginning of a new regular feature in which I will be featuring a local business, person, charity or volunteer in our community. I love Waterloo region and I think we have a TON of cool people and organizations around here and I am very excited to start this project!     

First up this month is Dr. Sara O’Neil from Dragonfly Chiroproactic and Wellness Centre in Waterloo. I have known Sara for a few months now and I was really happy to have an opportunity to learn more about her work and to meet her family. But I had no idea what I was in store for when we met for our session – out of the car steps two handsome guys – the littlest is the cutest curly haired dude and while he was pretty sleepy for a few minutes,  it wasn’t long before we were having fun and trading spiderwebs (however his sound effects were much better than mine – I am thinking I should have skipped the spiderman impression and went straight for my Wonder Woman act – I am much much better at that one!!).     

So here we go…let’s get to know Dr. Sara!     

Who are YOU? Tell us alittle about yourself, your family, your work…     

I am Dr. Sara O’Neill. I help people through reorganizational healing and living.  I’m a chiropractor and I practice a leading edge method called Network Spinal Analysis (NSA). NSA is unlike any other healing techniques. I am married to Scott O’Neill who works for MKS in Waterloo and we have a son, who is 3 years old     

My practice is called Dragonfly Chiropractic and Wellness Centre. We are located at Westmount Place Plaza at Erb and Westmount in Waterloo. I am able to detect and analyze how stress is impacting a person’s health regardless of their symptoms and then through very gentle techniques I can work with someone to teach their brain and body how to respond differently to stress.  Then a person can start to reorganize to live to their highest potential.      

The American Medical Association has stated that 95% of all disease is stress-related. I work with a wide variety of people from newborns and children, pregnant women, athletes, and elderly. Anybody who would like to increase their quality of life or perform better in life can benefit immensely from NSA. Many athletes use it to enhance their performance     

How did you get into this work or career?  

I got into this field when I was in chiropractic school. I used to be a competitive figure skater at the national level and I had sustained a lot of injuries as a result. During my time in school, I started having a lot of neck pain and spasm, pain and numbness in my arms.  I was told that I would likely need to have neck surgery to stabilize my spine. I then started to see a chiropractor who specialized in Network Spinal Analysis and immediately I felt different. Even though I still had a lot of pain for a long time, I could now move my arms again. I could move my neck. The numbness resolved.  

 So I went to the states to study under Dr. Donald Epstein and learned NSA or what is now being called Reorganizational Healing. Now I get NSA on a regular basis because I continue to improve on a mental/emotional and spiritual level.  

What do you do that makes your work or career different or unique or special?  

 I have the privilege of being able to make a difference in a lot of people’s lives. People tell me they can now do things they hadn’t been able to do for years. One weight-lifter told me that he can lift heavier after a session of NSA. I also work with a number of people who have been told by the medical community that “nothing more can be done, you just have to live with it” and it’s always a joy to see these people improve and walk away from their pain.  I am the only practitioner fully certified in NSA between Toronto and Detroit.  

What do your clients or customers say about your and/or your company?      

Many clients tell us that they feel better than they have felt in years or that they feel better than they have ever felt. One lady who had low back pain for 40 years is now pain free and she and her husband are able to travel and she delighted to be able to hold dinner parties for her friends. They recently went on a cruise. Other people tell of being able to focus better at work and in general having more mental clarity. An overall feeling of well-being, relief from many aches and pains. One gentleman who was waiting for back surgery no longer needed it.     

When your body responds to stress in a healthy way there are a lot of emotional benefits as well. Many people tell me they don’t have panic attacks any more, relief from depression, and have a greater sense of their purpose in life. Several people have told us that they feel a deeper connection to who they are and to the divine in their lives.      

Let’s get to know YOU now …  

When you were 10 years old (so around grade 5), what was your fantasy job then? – My fantasy job was to be an Olympic figure skater and then to teach figure skating.      

If someone handed you $1000 and told you to go spend it today (and you have to spend it), what would you do with it? – I’d camp out in a luxury spa until it was all spent.      

What is your dream vacation? – Hmm a fabulous private island somewhere exotic with lots of luxurious activities and gourmet food and where you’d be waited on hand and foot.      

OR a trip to Peru where we would go to Machu Picu and attend a healing retreat in the Andes and Argentina      

What is your favourite time of year and why? – I like all the seasons since they all bring their own fun and celebrations.     

Tell us 3 unusual or interesting but meaningless facts about you. – I can touch my tongue to my nose, I have been to all the continents except for Antartica and South America, I learned to water ski when I was 4 years old.     

Tell us three things you love most – My son, traveling, staying at home     

Tell us three things that you definitely do NOT love – Frozen fish, cigarette smoke, and people who don’t signal when changing lanes or turning while driving.     

Who or what inspires you? – Children inspire me and people who take action in unconventional ways.     

Tell us anything else that you would like people to know about you. – I like long walks on the beach…..     

If you would like more information on Dr. Sara and her services, please visit her website at www.dragonflychiropractic.com. She will be happy to help you or answer any questions! Thanks Sara – I thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with you and your boys!!

This morning I joined up with a group of photographers to participate in the third annual Worldwide Photo Walk. This is a fun event where photographers from around the world of all levels, skills, interests and gear (although those with the Canon stuff were just alittle more “cool”…just saying…), get together and just walk around a pre-determind route, all at the same time, and just see what they can see…photography just for the fun of it!! I decided on a few parameters for myself to make it just alittle more of a workout.

When cleaning out my garage, I found 6 or 7 rolls of film – likely at least 4 years old (back when I used some film at weddings), so I decided to go old school this morning and use film for the photo walk.  The idea was to go back to my photography roots and shoot without the safety/knowledge of whether I was getting anything – as in, no LCD panel to checkup on myself. AND I only brought ONE lens. Yup, I was in personal challenge mode today. In case the battery on my film camera died (cause it also at least 4 years old – frankly I was surprised it had any juice left at all!!), I did bring along one digital body, which I did end up needing, not because my battery died but because of an unexpected side trip.

We were supposed to walk about outdoors, but we ran into a man who was very interested and curious about this big group walking around with cameras. Turns out he is a developer for a very old property along our walk route that is about to be renovated into condos and mixed use living spaces (I LOVE those – I could totally see myself in one of those spaces). They had just finished clearing out the old factory junk and he offered us a tour of the gutted, yet to be renovated interior.

What an amazing opportunity – but since my film was rated for outdoors at that moment (a digital benefit – can adjust for low or bright light on the fly), I was happy I had brought  my digital camera along. I was able to switch up my equipment and take some very cool low light shots in that building (at least I thought it was cool – feel free to tell me otherwise LOL). My film will take a few days to come back from the lab (I seriously forgot how hard that waiting is cause I.CAN’T.WAIT!!), so I decided to play with the digital images in the meantime.

There was not much “stuff” left in the building but I was fascinated by what WAS left behind by the people that once spent so much of their days there.

Don’t even ask me why there was a discarded hobby horse in the trash or a run down old motorcycle just lying around…I wasn’t complaining though…unexpected happenings make for a happy photographer.

So this is part one of my worldwide photo walk adventure. I will share part two after my film comes back (first I have to try to figure out who actually still PROCESSES film and second I have to see if 4 or 5 year old film will actually look half-decent). The mood of those shots will be really different because it was outdoors, but I am pretty happy with the two different looks I was able to play around with today (I am on holidays still after all - alittle playtime is in order I do believe!).

Lets go way back…WAAAAAY back…hold up, not that far…haha. Actually just to the spring (getting alittle behind around here…again…). This lovely little newborn was the last official portrait session in my teeny tiny home studio. I am really happy that my last session in that crowded space was for this little lady and her family. I have great feelings/memories about my home studio (and I miss it too surprisingly!). But my new digs are so much roomer and I am really happy about this move (plus I am enjoying getting to know the other photographers in the space too – hi girls!!).

This family is really enjoyable to work with. Lots of love to go around in their house! Big sister – always with the giggles and grins! Actually, we couldn’t get her to stop (cause she recognizes how seriously HILARIOUS I am – that or she is just a happy smiley child – no, its my comedic timing I am sure!). And the addition of another little cute smiler will only make things that much more fun!

See what I mean – another little smiler (although she was hiding it from us a bit!)

Lovin’ me some sneezes!!

Yes, someone is “missing” in this shot but hey, I outlasted the 2 year old! What can I say!! (is that really an achievement though – I am sure I didn’t ACTUALLY outlast her – she was just pretty done with me and on to more interesting things that did not involve the camera). This is the shot you take while trying to lure the 2 year old BACK on set, you know, so she won’t be left out of the portrait – she totally DID.NOT.CARE haha! But I just LOVE the babies face in this one, so I had to show it anyway.

I am gearing up now to start my family vacation this week (or should I say gearing down in that case). I decided I should get alittle blogging done, some last sessions edited, a few orders uploaded and galleries activated so I can head off without a guilty conscience (cause first up is a road trip to North Carolina for a soccer tournament…and there MAY be some shopping stops along the way!). And if the weather stays the way it has been, I know I am going to be enjoying my backyard resort during that time away from the computer.

I will be back in action on August 5th (although a few mystery blog posts may appear before that time – and you MIGHT see a few other changes around here. Not sure on the exact timing yet, but definitely soon!).

I hope everyone is enjoying their amazing long weekends, both here at home and across the border. I am sitting here Sunday morning with my second coffee in hand (thank goodness for that!), enjoying my own long weekend. It is a busy one here for our household (as usual with three crazy kids and two annoying but cute dogs and a house that never seems to let up with the chores already!). We have lots of soccer on the schedule (and for us the big game  yesterday was not Germany versus Argentia, although my 9 year old was totally happy cause that is HER team!), but my oldest played an amazing game yesterday and has another one this morning (the reason I am posting right now is that I had game time one hour off, so I decided to blog alittle while I waited til we ACTUALLY had to leave the house). Sadly one of our girls suffered a broken collar bone at the game yesterday, which will definitely impact her summer plans – girls soccer is definitely not for the faint of heart or the sissies among us (me included!!)

Once home later today, I will be taking the rare opportunity to 1. sit on my butt for the rest of the day 2. with the Edward and Jacob saga in hand (I always re-read before seeing the movies and I plan to see Eclipse this week. I CAN.NOT.WAIT.ANY.LONGER…swoon – okay, I am totally acting like my 17 year old self…and I am completely okay with that!!) – same for Harry Potter, except Harry does not do for me what an afternoon of reading about Edward does! And 3. wearing a bathing suit for the rest of the day and jumping into the pool every 30 minutes or so. We will even have leftovers for dinner so there will be no real cookng going on (steak from Canada day though – not exactly reheated spaghetti). Then there is 4. nibbling on the raspberry bushes in my backyard that is finally yielding up enough berries that I could tell the kids about them  and still be sure to get my own share (up til now they had not noticed them, which was good because I was eating them all myself – good mom eh?!?)

There are not enough days like this so they must be enjoyed/savoured/plotted whenever possible. The to do list will wait another day. It is always there, waiting like a not so welcome friend that wants to get-together all the time and you just can’t find a way out of it (no worries though – it is the ONLY friend I have like that!!). I hope you ALL have a day like mine – we all definitely deserve it!

(oh yes, let the berry season continue…my favourite treat of ALL TIME!)

(note to self: I need better titles for these posts…you see, I am not exactly known for my brevity in my writing, so titles are a bit of a challenge…okay, on with more interesting stuff).

This was  fun session summer evening session ( for me that is a redundant description – they are all fun!). I had a perfect weather, a great location and a wonderful subject. Actually, I did have one complaint – she was just way too tall…actually it was that I am way too short…height-challenged that I am – seriously jealous of anything over 5’5″ to be honest. She is an athletic young woman, active in volleyball (went to nationals recently even – congrats on that BTW!), and participated in lots of  other interesting activites and sports over the years - love that!

Her mom was going to be with us at the session but ended up not making it before we finished, so these were going to be a surprise for her when I was ready to show them – as in surprise, look how amazing your daughter looks in these portraits!! Actually, no surprise at all I am sure…as soon as she walked in I knew we would have a great session. I hope you guys have a great summer (it sounds like a busy one!) and a great senior year as well.

This session was quite an education for me. I learned what I didn’t know about photographing horses…which was pretty much everything LOL!  This gorgeous boy, Jack, was quite the character (lesson number one – horses can be just like human toddlers – seriously!!). He definitely challenged us but since he is just so beautiful and sweet, all gets easily forgiven (lesson number two – we forgive them (toddlers and horses) their difficult behaviour because once we look into their gorgeous eyes, how can you be mad).

When this young woman contacted me about photographing her with her lovely horse, she told me how completely crazy she was about him and just had to have some portraits together with him before she heads off to college. I love how she described him and their friendship, and knew we would have a great session (lesson number three – people who are into horses are totally devoted to them – clearly with good reason).

N, it was so lovely to meet you and your family, and a real treat to get to know your spunky boy. I enjoyed it immensely (well, except for the part where we got eaten alive by mosquitos – I do think you did a great job pretending you were not being swarmed while we did these. I retouched not only the bites but the ACTUAL mosquitos themselves from your skin…next time, we bring some deep woods off or something).

This little cutie was one of several cats that were around the barn. He kept following up wherever we went, including out into the fields. I think he was jealous of Jack’s time in the spotlight and totally wanted IN!!