Ever since having a family of my own, photographing parents and their beloved little ones has taken on a whole new meaning. I love tagging along on little outings or just spending some time documenting everyday life. This session was a first though! Thanks so much for having me join you at the Westerner Days Fair Taylor fam, I am so totally in love your photos! I hope that you are as enchanted as I am!Would you ever get your family photos taken at the fair? If not, where would be your dream location?!
May your portraits age like a fine wine!
The truth is I don't want your portraits be that cheap pair of flip-flops that broke after one summer of use and then were carelessly tossed into the garbage. I want your portraits to be that favourite pair of leather boots. You know the ones! The ones that just make you feel so darn gooooooood everytime you put them on! I want them to hang proudly on your walls or rest lovingly on your coffee table. I want your portraits to make you smile every time you walk by that gallery wall or flip through the pages of your album. I am wildly aware that this will not work for everyone's taste and/or budget and that's ok, because these days there are an incredible amount of photography options to choose from. But for YOU, you know who you are..... you think less just might actually be more, you would rather have 10 stunning prints for your wall than 100s of files lost on a hard-drive. For you, I want to create something one-of-a-kind, something long-lasting. Seriously though, is it egotistical of me to want the photos I take to be the ones handed down to your great-grandchildren? I imagine that they will lovingly look through them, perhaps they will need to smooth out a crease from it being accidentally folded into the gutter of a book, or maybe the ink will be slightly faded from sitting on that sunny livingroom shelf, and they will wonder to themselves about what life was like all the way back in 2018 with all it's strange, beautiful moments and trends.
What did I do before photography? | Embarrassing Photos Included
I recently had someone ask me, "What did you do before this."For a second I was confused, but soon after realized what she meant; what was I doing before I became a mom and started taking photos. My reply, "Nothing. This is what I went to school for!"She had no idea, and I suspect a lot of you didn't either. You guys, the becoming a professional photographer part of my life was so long ago, in fact it's been 9 years since I got that business licence. Sometimes I forget just how much that stage in my life shaped both me and my business. So what do you say, shall we do a little reminiscing today?
It all started in 9th grade when I signed up to go to Mexico with our church. Before this trip, I had been to the Calgary Zoo haha. So ya, let's call it the beginning of Karmen's love affair with travel.
My mom lent me her beloved camera (honestly still can't believe this, thanks Mom). It was her baby, a Nikon F80, silver and black, rather large for a young girls hands. Attached to the front was a zoom lens, and in the back I loaded roll after roll of film. You guys, I easily shot a roll of film a day and was quickly promoted to trip photographer lol.When I got home I dropped that giant ziploc bag of film off at the local London Drugs and waited. Oh my word, does anyone remember the gloriousness of waiting for your film to be developed?! Everything about it, right down to that weird chemical smell is something I will never forget about shooting film. When they were finally finished, my mom and I sat in the car in the parking lot (like we did every time a roll of film was developed) and looked through them all. She thought they were really good, and I mean that's all that really matters amiright?She encouraged me to enter them in some contests, I won. I was shocked..... 
But basically my head was in the game to graduate High School and to go to university for something BIG. You see, at the time, both my Mom and Nana had been single moms who devoted their lives to raising their families. No post-secondary for them meant I WAS GOING TO GO UNIVERSITY! I was going to get a degree and it was going to be for something important. Together we thought that perhaps I would be a great lawyer or a doctor (soooo not smart enough haha) or a nurse. I wanted to be a Archeologist.I focused on my core subjects throughout highschool, I didn't take a SINGLE art class haha. The irony. I had an after school job at a local coffee shop (shout out to Kavaccino's!!) and I savvvved and savved for tuition. But, truthfully, I ended up spending most (ALL) of it on a trip to Europe and then a trip to Bolivia. My logic here, the government certainly wasn't going to give me a loan to travel..... and I still needed some time to be 100% sure I knew what I wanted to be before spending an insane amount of cash on schooling...You see this idea of being a photographer was creating a lot of doubt (and excitement) in my mind, something about my previous plans just didn't seem right anymore. But a photographer? I mean, is that really something that can be a career? I decided to wait another year. I got a job at a cricket farm. Yes you heard right. I was indeed a cricket wrangler lol. During this year one of my former teachers said the magic words I needed hear, "I think you would make a fantastic photographer"... That was it, apparently that was allll the validation I needed. I decided the time had come to be brave and leave all my carefully laid plans behind for something entirely different. I was going to apply for NAIT's competitive photography program, and if I happened to be one of the 28 people chosen for the program then I would be starting school in September!! Weeee! Cue the nervous anticipation.Needless to say, I got in and, oh friends, the fit couldn't have been more perfect despite the fact that I hated the city (not for long tho, Edmonton won me over with her subtle charms). I LOOOOOVED both the artistic and technical details of photography. I loved breaking down lighting and understanding it. I loved the chemistry of developing film. I loved rich history of photography and photographers. I loved it's impact.By the end of my first year I was already working for several incredible photographers and I will always be so grateful for all the knowledge they shared. It didn't take me long however, to realize that I didn't want to work for someone else. I wanted to start my own studio. I was clueless, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.But here we are today, through all the ups and downs. 9 years, many trips and two babies later; I still LOVE it. 
Tami and Tommy | Badland Engagement Photography
You guys! I just love exploring new locations with my clients. Like, I am pretty sure there is NOTHING better. Do you have a location that you would just loooove to have photo sessions at?! Let me know below!And huge shoutout to Tami and Tommy, thanks so much for hanging out with me in Drumheller!! I seriously cannot wait to photograph your BIG DAY! It's gonna be amazing! <3 P.S. In case you missed it, I am currently booking Badland Mini Sessions on July 28th and 29th!!! Obviously so stoked!! More details HERE.
Karlee Prins | Genuine Portait Series
Hi Friends!! I am so excited to share another set of images from Genuine Portrait Series! I would like you to meet Karlee Prins. Karlee is one of those women who light up the room with her kindness and confidence. She is a HARD-working Mama of 4 who left her psychiatric nursing career to become an entrepreneur and she is absolutely crushing it, if I do say so myself!! If you follow me on Instagram and Facebook you probably already know, but Karlee is also the talented Make-up artist for all of my Boudoir Marathons!! I am honestly so glad to have her on our team. If Karlee had a superpower, it would probably be making others feel absolutely amazing!!I asked Karlee if she wouldn't mind sharing a little about herself, so here she is!"When a women is deemed to be confident its perceived that she must be conceited, or self-centered! Our society in general has made a confident women seen this way! And because of this, we choose to dim our lights, to make others feel more comfortable.Let me tell you what gaining more confidence has done for me....I used to be the type that would walk into a room and feel like people were judging me, were talking about me, or didn't want me to be around me. In fact I felt nervous and would stutter more. I used to look in the mirror and feel that without makeup, I wasn't beautiful. I used to feel that my dress size reflected me as a person, and that I had to fit a certain mould to be beautiful. You see I, like so many women, cared more what others thought than what I believed or thought of myself. It wasn't until I began on my journey with Younique that I realized you can walk into a room full of women you have never met, and not feel like you're being judged. And in fact, leave that room with life long friendships. I realized that pouring more into myself through personal development and surrounding myself with women who are constantly lifting you up, has been the biggest contributor to me finally realizing I'm worthy. I'm enough. I can walk into a room now and not care if people are judging or talking about me. Why? Cause I'm confident in who I am and know I can't control what other people's perceptions are! It doesn't bother me like it used to. It has made me love myself more, and genuinely have a sense of peace inside me. And that sense of peace is like no other! Can you honestly say you're happy? I can!So the next time you see a confident women, instead of being intimidated by her, be inspired. Be inspired to find yourself enough that you can truly say you are content with who you are and who you were created to be! My goal is to help as many women as possible know how amazing they are, how WORTHY they are, despite their looks or pant size! My goal is for my kids to know they can literally do anything they put their minds to, to follow what their hearts are telling them, and to NEVER dim their light to make someone else feel more comfortable! We each have a path, and we each have many gifts and talents! My hope is that you can be confident enough to realize your own, to embrace who you are, and let you light shine so bright the world will have to wear sunglasses!Be Confident. Be You! Cause you're amazing! And my gosh girl, you are so so WORTH IT!!"
If you guys want to chat more with this fantastic chick, find her on Facebook! You can also check out her website, www.youniquebykarlee.com. Thanks so much for hanging out guys!! Have a great week!!!Warmly,Karmen
Miss J | Alberta Boudoir Studio
Returning clients make this heart happy!! So great working with you again Miss J, thanks for bringing such positive vibes to your shoot, you totally killed it!
Miss S | Boudoir
Miss S, you are ridiculously gorgeous!! It was so much fun creating this memorable gift for your fiance (and let's be honest, YOU too!). I cannot wait to work with you again on your big day <3 <3.// This was an exciting one for me, as it was the first shoot in our new house!! When we were building I was very intentional about the placement of windows and rooms so that I could kick the family out and turn the whole thing into temporary studio when needed. And dang, we did good. So much amazing light; I cannot wait to spend some more time shooting in here! //
