a few images from a recent session….

These kids ALWAYS crack me up. Love them and their AWESOME big personalities so, I decided to showcase some of those big personalities…..why? because they make me smile.

More soon.

Its always such an honor when another photographer chooses me to help them capture these special times in their life. Great to see you guys again. We need to be sure to get together again soon.

Sadly I was away when this little guy was born, and I was not able to photograph him as a newborn but, even though this was the first time we had met, he manage to steal my heart just as his big brother had years ago. Easy to see why right?!

This one makes me laugh. What could he be thinking? LOL

Just one share of one mama and her two beautiful daughters. Definitely more to come real soon.

WEBSITE :: FACEBOOK PAGE

~ Aaron Sussman

Brayden & daddy on day 11. More to come…..

I really think pregnancy is up near the top of the worlds most wondrous, and amazing things. Often, we moms to be don’t feel quite so amazing during pregnancy, and I view it as my job to make sure I show my clients just how incredibly beautiful they really are.

To me, she radiates beauty and happiness in these images, and it is my hope that years down the road she will look at these, and remember how she felt at this time in her life. I hope her baby will look at these and see just how wanted and loved he was, even before he was born.

Thanks for stopping by the blog. If you are interested in more information about booking a maternity session please feel free to send me a message through the contact section on my website or call me at 403 966 7917.

WHO : these sessions are for…. MOTHERS! All mothers! Expecting mothers, new mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers (what about a generations image?). Gift it to a friend or sister or aunt who is an amazing mother. Gift it to yourself and some day pass the images down to your children…..who wouldn’t love a timeless image of themselves with their mother?

Please note : these sessions cannot be used as a “newborn” session. Those sessions take much more time to do right. You are welcome to come in with a newborn but just be aware that the focus will be on the relationship images and I cannot guarantee that we will do any of baby alone.

*** Be sure to read all the way through, I am also running a contest where you can win your session. Details are below.

Pre- booking took place over the last day and a half, where those on the wait list had first choice of dates and times. There are still some spots left though, and even a couple spots left on the Saturday. Be sure to email me ASAP to guarantee you get the date you prefer.

DATES AVAILABLE :

March 23 1/8 spots left open
March 26 1/6 spots left open
March 27 0/6 spots left open

Times will be reserved on a first come first served basis. Please email me ( bowesphotography@shaw.ca ) with your preferred date, collection option, and background choice (light or dark).

WIN YOUR SESSION

I am also holding a draw for one lucky person to “win their session”. This draw is open to everyone, those who have not booked, missed out on booking or who have already booked as well. Contest starts tonight (Thursday March 22 at 9pm).

Here is what you have to do…

1) Hit the little facebook “like” button on the bottom of this post.

2) Go to the Bowes Photography -baby art facebook page

3) Find the Celebrating Mothers promo ad (LINK HERE) and TAG yourself. You must tag yourself, not just “like” the image for your entry to count.
You will see the “tag this photo” option under the image and to the right. If you need help figuring out how to do that just let me know.

Everyone who has tagged themselves will be entered into a draw. If you have already secured a date/time you can still enter, if you win, the prize will be applied to your booked session, or you will receive a gift certificate for a future session of equal value.
If you don’t have a booked session and you win you must be able to come for a session and time on one of the above dates, that I will specify.
One winner will be chosen and will receive a “Collection One” session.
This contest is open to anyone and everyone in the Calgary area (or willing to travel).
Contest will end Tuesday March 12th and the winner will be announced here and on the facebook page.
No other offers of promotions can be used with this prize.
The prize has no cash value.

I am super excited about this years sessions and all the wonderful families I will get to meet for the first time and all those families I will get to see again.

At Grand Cayman we took a day trip to the Cayman Turtle Farm. The kids loved it there. They got to get in a tank and hold baby turtles. Then they went snorkeling in the fresh water pool where you can find all kinds of fish and turtles to swim with. There is also a great pool there with a water slide that appeals to people like me, who are not interested in swimming with fish and turtles…

While we got off the boat in Costa Maya, we only got off briefly to buy some souvenirs, and for Kailan to get her hair braided. We decided to get back on the ship and enjoy having it mostly to ourselves while much of the other vacationers were out on their port adventure. Scott and I hung out at the pool with Etain while Kailan and Kolby were off at the Edge Club, meeting new friends, and keeping busy with people much cooler than us. I can’t express enough how well Disney has thought these kids clubs out. There is a nursery for babies up to 3. Then there is the Kids club and Oceaneers Lab for kids from 3-11. The Edge club for kids 11-14 and Vibe Club for 14-17. They even had a whole lot of events on the schedule for the 18*21 club so that those young adults 18-21 could go off and meet others their own age.

Before we went on the cruise I insisted I would not be one of those parents that ditches their kid at the kids club to be babysat all day while we enjoy the family vacation somewhat kid free. We did tour the kids club when they had their open house and I have to say, it was so awesome. I wanted to hang out and play in there. I really did not think Etain would be up for going there and staying without us, but when we left all she could talk about the night at dinner was when she would get to go play at the kids club. While she did not spend a lot of time there she did go some days for a couple hours while the older kids were off with their friends and we enjoyed the adult side of the ship with a quiet pool and poolside bar. We also took in a couple of shows that were for the adults only and as mentioned in my last post we signed up for a tequila tasting and margarita making class. Who knew there was so many varieties of tequila and that some of them actually taste so delicious….umm Patron Cafe Tequila Liqueur….YUM!!!

Anyway, back to the kids club. Every time we picked Etain up there she would beg to stay and all she would talk about when she was not there was the kids club. We started letting her stay there during the hottest time of the day (1-3pm) and once when we went ashore on a port adventure. Kailan and I went to see the Maya archeological site of San Gervasio on Cozumel Island and then visited the Mexican Cultural Museum and saw these crazy guys throw themselves off of a wooden pole and spin all the way down. Scott and Kolby went to an adventure park and did some zip lining and snorkeling. They had a blast having a guys day.

It was while we were at the Cozumel port adventures that Etain stayed on the ship at the kids club (about 4.5 hours). They feed them their meals, take them on adventures around the ship and characters come in for special visits. Mickey had a dance party one day and on another Tinkerbell came and hosted a fairy talent show. Etain was in heaven. On the flight home I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was. Without hesitation she said “kids club”. Even now, more than a month after going on the cruise she mentions the kids club at least 3-4 times a week. Asking when she gets to go back to visit her friends there.

The last port we stopped at was Castaway Cay. This was by far our most favorite port. Its Disneys own private island and its nothing short of magical. The beach is amazing, the lunchtime cookout was delicious and the tropical drinks were refreshing for this mom. My favorite was the “Java Juice” it had coconut rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice, cappuccino and chocolate….need I say more?

Kailan decided to head back to the ship to hang out with her friends, Scott and Etain were playing in the sand so, Kolby and I decided to be adventurous and walk out to the look out. Most others rented bikes and rode out there, but it really was not that far and we enjoyed the one on one time and chatted about all kinds of things. Did I mention that this was our favorite port? It’s really too bad we were only there for one day. It was the perfect place for families to play together.

Phew. Ok, I told you there was a lot to cover. I think I should manage to get the rest into one last post. If anyone has any specific questions about our trip I’d be happy to answer them. Feel free to comment below, email me or message me on facebook.

 Read Part One HERE.

I’ve been meaning to share some images and thoughts from a recent Disney Cruise vacation we took the kids on, but time has slipped away and I am just getting around to it now. I have had so many friends and clients asking me about our trip so I figured that Family Day = personal share….I guess. This will have to be a multi-part blog post. There is just way too much to post all at once, but I promise to try and get all the posts up fairly close together.

Last year we decided to take the kids on a Disney Cruise. We have always heard such amazing things about it and we thought it might be a good vacation for us as they really cater to families with kids of all ages (ALL AGES). When we started talking about it the biggest decision was when we would go. For me, that is a “no brainer”. In the middle of the freezing cold winter, duh!

First thing I did was contact Kimberly Hill over at Mouse Tails Travel  (their facebook page) to get some info. I know nothing about booking a cruise and wanted to make sure we did it all right. Kim immediately got our info and went to work looking for the best cruise and dates for us. She recommended the Disney Fantasy, and suggested we take 2 Ocean View Veranda rooms, side by side. That would give us lots of room. With 3 kids, ages 4,11, and 13 lots of space is pretty necessary. These rooms were incredible and perfect! We decided on early January and thought this would make a pretty amazing Christmas gift for the kids.

Several months went by and it was SO hard to keep the secret. We were dying to tell the kids. For Christmas we got them each a new suitcase and filled them with summer things. New swimsuits, flip flops, clothes, and fun stuff for the long journey down to Florida. We timed out Christmas morning just right. Shortly after they opened their new suitcases our “Disney Character Call” came in. Mickey Mouse, on the phone with a special invitation for the kids to join him on this magical vacation. It was an exciting morning to say the least.

We left on January 4th (Friday) and traveled down to Port Canaveral Florida. On Friday night we stayed at The Four Points Sheraton in Cocoa Beach. This hotel was perfect. The restaurant served a huge variety of food (and the Pina Colada was AH-MAZING!!). Right in the restaurant there was a huge shark tank and the kids had a blast watching the fish through dinner. A big perk was the serf shop right in the hotel. We picked up a bunch of beach stuff before heading out. Another great thing about this hotel is that it’s only a block and a half to the beach. Saturday morning we got up and headed out to the beach for a nice long walk. The sunshine (after months of cold), put the kids in the best mood.

Getting through security and checking in at the ship was a little bit of a wait, but not as long as we were prepared for. All the staff were incredibly helpful and friendly (as we soon learned ALL Disney staff are). Making our way through the giant Mickey ears from the dock onto the ship was quite exciting for the kids. As soon as you step onto the ship your family is announced and the staff greeting you, all clap. The kids thought that was pretty cool.

We spent the next couple hours touring around and getting familiar with where our rooms were in relation to everything else. Kimberly did a fabulous job of choosing our cabins. We were on the 9th Deck, right near the main elevators. It was only 2 decks up to the pool and restaurant where we ate breakfast and lunch everyday. We found the kids club (ages 3-11), the “Edge Club” (ages 11-14), the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, (where Etain was booked in for a princess experience – more on this later), the Dining Room we were scheduled for that night (The Royal Court). We also managed to book Scott and I into a tequila tasting and margarita making class for a couple days later. We then made our way up to Deck 11 to take part in the Sailing Away departure party. That was a really good time, I don’t know if I have ever seen all my kids as excited as they were then when the music started playing and various characters came out and danced. I still can’t help smiling when I think about the kids dancing around, even the older two let go of their pre-teen and teen “coolness” and let loose.

So for now, a few images from the trip down to Florida.

Thank goodness for modern technology on long trips!

And a few from our first sight of the ship and our first hours on the ship. We happened upon Princess Aurora while we were walking around the ship and Etain got to meet her. I feel my heart ready to burst right now just remembering it. Aurora bent down to greet Etain and Etain just flung her arms around Auroras neck and held on for dear life. They stayed like that for a good 5 minutes, and just chatted quietly. One of the staff standing next to me stopped to watch and declared “my heart just grew bigger”.

That drink made it to the collage because it was a chocolate martini and pretty much one of the BEST drinks I have ever had. Thanks to Andre (from Jamaica) for always remembering us and remembering what we liked! He also made a killer chai latte!

All iPhone photos by the way. I wanted to enjoy the holiday as a mom, not a photographer and left the pro camera at home.

More tomorrow….or the next day.

Read part two (port adventures and kids clubs) HERE.

If you are not familiar with what a blog carousel is let me explain. This is a monthly event. The purpose of these posts is more personal. These are exercises to get us doing something for ourselves and to push ourselves in a different way. Its for fun and personal exploration, that’s it! Each month we have a theme and we will photograph or find images that, for us, represent that theme. At the end of my post you will find the link to the next person in this carousel, please be sure to check out her post and leave a little love. Also if you want to play along feel free to post your own versions on your blogs with a little info on what your doing and then you can come leave your link in the comment section below so I can be sure to check out your post too.

This month our theme is mystery macro. My macro images may not be much of a mystery. I am sure many will recognize what my macro images are of but I enjoyed creating them and like them a lot better than I thought I would. Macro can be quite a challenge.

Any guesses yet?

and because I was conflicted about whether I liked the b&w or color version of this one better, I decided to add them both. Which do you prefer?

Was it really obvious? I think the third image probably gave it away. I love Lavender, smelling it and looking at it.

Next up in the carousel is Dena, Grand Rapids Michigan Photographer.

Be sure to head over to her blog and see what she came up with. Her images are always stunning.

WEBSITE :: FACEBOOK