I bought a new lens while I was at the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) convention in Las Vegas. It has been one that I have been wanting for eons but was too afraid to spend the money on. I finally decided I absolutely could not live without it so I called Terry and since he missed me so much I pretty much had him convinced as soon as he said “hello”. It cost nearly as much as my camera, I’m almost scared to use it but it is sooooo worth it. We were out at Fish Creek Park tonight and I decided to practice on Adam who just happens to be the only willing subject left in my family.

It is going to take some practice in order to be able to use the lens the way I want to, which is with this gorgeous bokeh, aka “out of focus background”. I could easily set my camera to a safer aperture but I love the look this creates. These photos are definitely not technically perfect but isn’t he just the cutest? A little girly maybe, but cute nonetheless and if you heard him make car and motorcycle noises while he is playing you’d see he is all boy. ha ha.

He is laughing because the grass was blowing in the wind and tickling him. He thought is was just hilarious.

This family is near and dear to my heart. This is one of my wonderful sisters and her family. They live near Edmonton and came for a visit before we got all the rain. Thank goodness! I have to admit I was a little bit nervous before we went out. Taking pictures of a large family can be a little bit tough sometimes, especially when the kids know you well, but this was easy. The kids were wonderful and co-operative through it all. They were getting a little bit antsy towards the end but with the promise of a lollipop after just a few more pictures the smiles were back on their faces.

Their Dad is a pilot so we got them to “fly” down the path. Lots of fun.

Just one picture that I loved for today. Father and Daughter enjoying each other and the sunset. Even more special because they are my family.

We went out on the long week-end to try out our new boat for the first time. The kids had a blast tubing all week-end long despite the water that I could barely set foot in. Seriously. We had one hairy launch of the boat where I had to wade in (in my clothes) up to my chest to guide the boat onto the trailer while the wind blew crazily around us. I thought I was going to get hypothermia. I’m not even being a baby, I swear. Ok, ok, maybe just a little bit but it WAS cold.

The kids each had a couple of spills off the tubes and we spun the boat around as quickly as we possibly could to go back for them. We hauled them by their life jackets up into the boat and wrapped them in towels while they swore they weren’t going to tube again. It wouldn’t be 10 minutes later and they would be back out there laughing and pushing the other tube over the wake. It was so amazing to watch them so happy, constant smiles and laughter. They really enjoyed the week-end in the sun, it was just what we needed after a long winter. I wasn’t brave enough to bring my good camera into the boat and haven’t downloaded the pictures from the point and shoot camera so instead of boating/tubing pictures you get these ones of Adam hanging out on the beach.