helgaphotography

Our first Mini session winner from Kate and Matt’s baby gender guessing game is Amanda & Chris.

A chilly spring shower greeted us as we met them at Buena Vista park in Edmonton this past May.  But, we did not let the weather conditions hinder us from making the best of it, as we photographed this loving couple during a half-hour mini-session in the emerging foliage.  They donned rubber boots and clutched fancy umbrellas, accessories which only added to the array of pretty colours which were captured in the verdant surroundings.  Thanks for being so adventurous with me, especially with jumping in the puddles!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding day!  I think the chances of it raining on *both* the engagement and the wedding session are pretty slim!

Bye for now,

Helga & Peter

Well, I’m back again. Sorry I been neglecting blogging again, its just been a lot happening around here.

First I like to take you back to my recent post, to Sue and Rob’s engagement session, As I mentioned there, we were looking around for a perfect spot for their wedding. Originally they were getting married on June 26th in Banff, but for different circumstances they had decided to tie the knot closer to home and a little earlier. So two weeks after the E.session once again we drove out to Cooking lake are to photograph their wedding. It was a coldest day in April, especially that days before were almost +30. The ceremony held at a very special place, right beside the road in front of an abundant house where they use to play when they were kids. Just a small group, family and a few friends gathered around the little front yard. They only notified their parents a few days before the wedding. The ceremony was very intimate and a lot of laughter. What a beautiful day despised the cold temperature, and what a loving couple! Sue was beautiful and adventures, she didn’t even mind to have some mouse dropping landing on her lap and getting her dress dirty on the trampoline.

Enjoy the photographs.

Thank you for both of you to let us document your awesome day and we wish you the best for the life a head. Keep Christ in the center of your relationship and always lean on Him.

Warming up on the trampuline.

Rob like’s guns and LOVES Sue!

This following shot just happened right after she got covered with droppings…. but the shoot couldn’t stop because of it.

 I’m very proud of my Husband, Peter for taking those next two beaufiful images. He is getting better and better with the camera, finding the angels and setting the pictures up.

Thank you for both of you to let us document your awesome day and we wish you the best for the life a head. Keep Christ in the center of your relationship and always lean on Him. God Bless,

Helga & Peter

Only a month to go before Candice and Will tie the knot, so we thought it’s about time to take some engagement pictures. On a warm and sunny day we headed to downtown Edmonton for a mini-session. They are a wonderful couple with so much love apparent for each other. I can’t wait for their wedding, it will be so much fun. It takes place a little outside of Edmonton, in St. Paul, and the plans that they have for their wedding theme excites me even more!  So here are some of the shots we took in our short session. Enjoy!

Thank you Candice and Will for putting up with me on the photoshoot and venturing into a downtown backlot. I’m so happy to photograph your wedding and I’m looking forward to it. See you in a bit!

Helga & Peter

Well, last weekend was so wonderful, I met up with Sue and Rob for a Booster juice and a chit chat. We were driving around the Sherwood Park area to scope out possible photo locations. While we were driving, we helped to plan out their wedding which is coming up pretty soon. You wouldn’t even think how soon….. Well, keep your ears and eyes open and you will see pictures of the wedding before long!

We found this abandoned farmhouse, so we thought we would check it out. I happened to have my camera and a lens with me, so I quickly pulled it out and we did a quick engagement session. We weren’t planning on it, but it turned out really awesome. So, enjoy the photos!

Thanks Sue and Rob for hanging out with us and to choose us to be your wedding photographer. I cannot wait to shoot your wedding. I really enjoyed our time last weekend, and I’m super happy to be able to help you.

God Bless, 

Helga & Peter

Well, I finally finished Julie and Mike’s tropical wedding pictures, so the wait is over and you can take a look at our wonderful couple now. They were winners of our first totally free destination wedding giveaway. We ended up going to the Caribbean, to the Dominican Republic, to celebrate our anniversary and to take pictures of a lovely couple’s wedding day.

The wedding was held at the Melia Caribe Tropical, a 20 minute walk down the beach from our Hotel. Of course, on the day of the wedding, we took a cab to get there. It was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky, and it was HOT! The ceremony was at the shade of the gazebo where all of the 45 guests were comfortably seated beneath the shade. We had so much fun taking pictures around the hotel, finding peace in the shade as the sun pounded down on us. When the four of us got a golf cart to get around the huge resort’s property, it broke down right in frot of the beach. Poor driver tried to fix it but unfortunetly that didn’t happen. So we were off to a great walk, meeting with family members at one pool and kicking out a whole waterpolo team from the other one so just we can take picturess around it and the nice circular columns; they were nice, and understood why we wanted to use that perticular pool. The reception was really fun and memorable as some of the jokes and stories were quite entertaining. Unfortunately the hotel was charging so much just for a dance that we ended up using the marble floor hallway to do the first dance song and to throw the bouquet. I think they trurned out great, despite the fact that there was no music….

Well, we had an awesome time with these maritimers and I hope we can meet again when we visit in Nova Scotia next time. Thank you Julie and Mike for trusting us and allowing us to be a part of your very special day. You guys are so much fun and we are glad that we gained new friends that we can visit in the future. We wish you all the best in your life together and hope to see you again soon.

Peter & Helga

Last Thursday, I had the privelage to meet two talented photographers from Sudbury.  James Hodgins and Robert Provencher started the No BS Photosuccess seminar series, where they basically share information on how to succesfully run a photography business. They are touring around the country, and stopped by Edmonton. Since then, I’m sure they both got home safe and sound.

I joined them at McEwan University on Thurday night, and scoped out the latest from these awesome guys. Well to my surprise, my husbad wanted to come with me as well. Of course, he was more interested in chatting with them about his hometown of Sudbury, and possibly seeing photographs from there, and I was happy because it’s always good if your spouse gets insight on the business too. That three hours was so interesting, that I couldn’t stop taking notes. I can’t wait to start doing some of the marketing ideas James and Rob thought about.

We also got talking with James about (of course) Sudbury and he graciously offered me a studio tour when I wisit this May. I might be able to go to a photoshoot with them too!  That would be really cool, even if I only have to carry the bag around.

I also met with Abbas from Album Epoca. If you have time and you are interested in getting a new album place for your photography business, you should definitely check them out. Beautiful albums and at such a great price.

Every photographer should watch this:

Thank you so much for the opportunity to learn and to hang out with you guys. I really enjoyed the evening together and I’m looking forward to spending some time with you in Sudbury!

Helga

A little over a year ago, Kate and Matt tied the knot in the beautiful Edmonton Basilica. I instantly fell in love with them, their energy, love for each other, and most importantly for their love for the Lord! We had so much fun together creating awesome images and memories for the future.

Now their life reached another chapter. It’s BABY time!!! So, last Saturday I again found myself at the front door of Kate and Matt with my camera and now with my husband. Kate looked gourgeous as a Mom-to-be. She is glowing, and just as I remember they still have the love and passion for one another. Oh and also for their doggy Holly. Of course, we had to take some family photos with her as well. Thanks Matt for letting my talk you into putting Holly in the bed (I know it wasn’t too hard to convince you!)

Thank you so much Kate and Matt, for allowing me to be in your life and document every important moment for you. I cannot wait to meet your little baby and take some awesome pictures of all of you in May. It’s too bad you don’t want to know the gender. How about make that a little contest. So whoever comments on this blog guessing the gender of your baby correctly, will win a mini session with me (a free 30-minute photo session)! Only one vote please! Kate’s due date is May 1st, so I’ll let everyone know about my availability for a mini session soon after that. Good luck!

Helga & Peter

We’re back from the Dominican Republic safe and sound.  I know that I have been neglecting my blogging but in the last month, a number of things have happened, from traveling, to moving to a new house, to finishing three weddings, and I could go on and on, but I know that those are all excuses, and I have to promise to be more on top of this blogging. 

Our trip was fabulous!  We arrived in the beautiful Dominican Republic with nice weather, sandy beaches, sunshine, and a lot of aggressive salesman on the beach!  The second day, we scoped out the area, walking down the beach to where Julie and Mike, our destination wedding winners, were staying.  We didn’t know we weren’t allowed to enter the resort, but the resort security found us, and politely showed us out the door.  But not back towards the beach, up towards the main road.  At least there was a mall there with a shuttle bus back to our resort.  On the way through the mall, we met a wonderful Christian fellow named Oscar.  We quickly bonded as brothers and sisters in Christ, and got into a long conversation about our Lord.  He invited us out to a Christian outreach a short distance from our resort.  Not knowing what to expect, we got on a bus, with my pricey camera equipment, and arrived at the Haitian slum in the concrete jungle of Friusa.  After our bus ride ended, we still had to walk fifteen minutes, to where the event would be held; we weren’t too comfortable walking through the poorly-lit streets, with a a mesmerizing array of crowds, motorcycles whizzing by, nightclubs with music, prostittutes, alcoholics!  I almost got hit by a big truck… at least Oscar was with us, smiling the whole way!

Finally we arrived at the outreach, and to our surprise, there were about a hundred people, singing.  They were worshipping our Lord on a stage, with a gravel road in the middle, and chairs on the other side of the street.  Throughout the service, which also had a pretty strong Gospel message (that Oscar translated to us), people would walk along that gravel road during the service (even on motorbikes!), which went for about an hour, with numerous onlookers from the surroudings.  I was worried about pulling out my camera, but did eventually have the guts to use it and make a video of a portion of the worship on the stage, using my Canon 5D Mark II.  That night, we met Oscar’s wife and child as well - a wonderful family!

It was the most memorable adventure in the Domincan Republic.  The rest of the time, we were sitting on the beach, having fun in the water, and of course, we shot a wonderful wedding for an amazing couple, Mike and Julie.  Check back again soon for images from that great occasion!

This is the path that takes you down to the beach in our resort.

I like this building, it was so inviting. It was one of the á la carte restaurants in the resort.

Our view from the room, and the beac front where we spent most of the time soaking up the sun.

This beachfrot was right beside us, and it was full of little shops. When you walked by, every sale man aproached you (very aggressively) to go and see their store. Of course, all of them had the same stuff, but different price. They were so annoying after a while, that I started to speak Hungarian to them so they would leave us alone. Oh, another trick, walk in the deeper water, they don’t want to get wet.

Peter in the cave, thinking of jumping in.

This was the best airport ever. All open-air, awesome leafed roof and a HUGE fan.

Vacation over, time to head home. :(

I do have to admit that I’m a little shy taking pictures of people if they don’t ask me to do it. That’s why this album is lacking of humans. Maybe one day, Ill be able to go to an adventure with Rob and Lauren and can learn to be more bold with my camera.

 This is Oscar and his Wife Anna at the mall. 

This is Anna, and on her right is the guy who took as to the cave. We rented a car and went for a drive with her, to scope out the location for the Trash the Dress session. We couldn’t find the cave so we hired this motor taxi guy to lead us there. The other fellow in the picture is a very talented young man, who was sitting inside the cave making palm tree leaf hats.

On the plane back, we saw a beautiful lightning storm from the plane window, and I took a video of that as well.  Enjoy!

Adios Amigos!

We are going to the tropics again! As we are celebrating our first anniversery we are also making Julie and Mike a very happy couple by being there and taking pictures for them on their wedding. We are leaving cold Canada tomorrow morning for the beautiful and warm Dominican Republic. I can’t wait to dig my feet into the warm sand and swim in the salty ocean! The wedding will be on the 17th, St. Patrick’s Day and I been informed that the some of the family of Julie & Mike are Irish so they will certainly be celebrating. Here is a picture that I took almost a year ago in Costa Rica, the “Monkeys” on the tree are my lovely family. I’ll be missing them this time around, as we had soooo much fun with them. Oh well, I’m sure it will be just as much fun now, just the two of us!

See you when we get back and keep your eye on the blog as I’ll be posting some awesome pictures from the trip.

Helga & Peter

Just a day after our arrival from Hungary we were back in business. Lindsay and Aiden got married on August 28th at the Rutherford House. We met Lindsay at her parents’ place and quickly noted that it will be a different wedding then usual. I love unique weddings - it makes my life colourful. Lindsay came up with a lots of great traditions from various cultures to incorporate into their wedding. The first I noted was the shoe… instead of throwing the bouquet, the girls wrote their name on the bottom ofit, and whoever’s name was still most visible by the end of the night got the bouquet. She had an old ring from grandma, and a garter that was white but quickly turned into blue by writing “something blue” on it with a blue sharpie. Her dress and hair resembled the ‘60’s  and her bridesmaids were all in their own dress, whatever they wanted to wear. Well, that’s what I call an easygoing bride!

We met everyone at the Rutherford House before the ceremony for a formal picture. Then the setup was quickly changed from an indoor wedding to an outdoor gathering (better lighting that way!). She walked down the street to meet her hubby to be and picked up her bouquet one by one from her bridesmaids. In the end the MOH tied it together for her and the ceremony began. Short but sweet, as it should be. After our photoshoot at the U of A grounds, we went to an out-of-the-ordinary wedding reception. The name of this loungse is Yiannis. The food was phenomenol, the atmosphere was great, and the company was fabulous. Lots of laughing, crying, and emotions filled the room as we ate and listened to well-prepared speeches.

Was a great day with lots of uniquness to it. Congratulation to the both of you, wishing you all the best!

Helga & Peter