Author: Photography By Tracy Cook

Lifestyle Shoot – In the Kitchen

I’ve had an idea for a lifestyle shoot in the kitchen for a while now. My dining room walls are bare, and the best way to adorn them are with pictures of my littles. I love lifestyle photography, a general idea, a few props, and the natural fun that this type of session breeds makes for some adorable photos.

 

Sooooo help me out here…. which ones are your favs to go on the wall?

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Keeping it Real !

Someone posted an article the other day that talked about how facebook statuses that people post make up the 5% of their life that is ideal. It looks something like this. Perfectly dressed children. Smiling,wonderful, loving family. 
 
We DON’T post the crying, screaming, arguing, the exhaustion. 
 
I guess that’s ok, as long as everyone out there realizes those idealic posts, which seems to make up 99% of Facebook life, are NOT the real, full  truth.These sanitized, cleaned up, buffed and shiney posts aren’t what you should compare yourself to, or try to measure your worth or success as a parent or person. Because when you compare what your life is like 95% of the time, to this 5% idealic, you are bound to feel bad and feel like you don’t measure up. 
 
So, here are two sides of the coin. The real, and the ideal.
 
Real….
 
Beautiful location, crabby, tired child who doesn’t want to pose
 
 
 
Ideal…. caught that 1 second and managed to snap her looking peaceful, content and perfect.
 
Truth is, we have more of the first picture than we do of the second. And that’s ok because she is two, and it’s to be expected. I know this is the case for you too. Secret’s out. And it’s actually going to help everyone now that we understand this fact. So spread the word. This is your real life too. 
 
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Oh the vintage details at the Alberta Train Museum !!

We had the opportunity to explore the Alberta Railway Museum over the long weekend. Our family loves trains, but my father in law was also here from England and is the biggest train fan of all. We owe a huge thanks to the museum. They generously offered to have us out there even though they were not able to open because my father in law has missed it the last few years and would miss it again this year because the rain postponed the opening day.
We had an afternoon of the best experience ever. We had our own private, very knowledgeable tour guide in one of the amazing volunteers. As we explored the place at length, we often met up with other volunteers who had stories to tell, experiences to share, and offered a peak into what working on the rails were like, and how their lives have been impacted through working with trains. What a wealth of knowledge . They all were a pleasure ( to say the least) to speak with.
For me, as a photographer, a lover of trains and vintage things, I love the little details. Here are some of  my captures from the day.

 The first, and youngest generations of our family spending time enthralled in train conversations ! They LOVED it !

 Superb Volunteers with a wealth of knowledge 

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I’ve had the idea for a series of photos in the kitchen with my two year old for a long time. My dining room walls need art ! I haven’t had a chance to set it up yet, but last week, it sort of organically happened. She had the outfit on, and was “baking” so I captured a few cute ones.

I think now I have a better idea of what I want, and how i’ll make it happen for the day I organize it to have a real shoot with her. And then, we won’t have pajamas under the apron. 🙂

These are the images, I’ll share the images and see if I’m more successful in achieving what i’m hoping for when I set it up. But you know how it goes, sometimes the set up ones are a flop, and the natural unplanned yields better images.

So until then… here is little Ms.Danica 2 yrs 3 months

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I’m way behind on updating my blog, so let me start with today, and I’ll work backwards in the coming weeks (?)

I have not devoted much time to my photography lately, and photography is such a passion for me. A friend took me up on the opportunity to get out there and practice !

Thanks for coming out guys and letting me play with you.

Ohhh those melt your heart eyes !!! I love the back lighting that shows off her beautiful little girl hair !

Hello handsome boys, thanks for coming out today !

Ohhhhh that face !

I’m partial to the momma love image.
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It`s been a year, I see since I`ve last posted.  After I closed my business in Kamloops after a short and frustrating go at it, I felt very free and unconstrained by not having to please clients.  I went out and shot all the time.  I also had the beautiful landscape of BC, and lots of people who let me photograph them.  

Fast forward ahead more than a year, I`ve since moved back to cold Alberta, where there isn`t as many warm days, shooting outdoors is limited and more of a challenge, and we have since had a baby girl so my free time is greatly decreased.  
Our little lady is approaching 6 months, so I am trying to reclaim a bit of time for myself now that she`s a bit less dependent on me than she was in earlier months.
My recent photos are not living up to what I envision them to be.  I`m rusty, and out of practice.  My eye isn`t as good as it should be when it comes to composition.  I sorta suck.  
Two recent photography sessions, the fist, indoor images of my daughter, still using natural light were a success for me.  I was fairly happy with them.

And then I went out and tried to shoot where I normally do better, outdoors.  I am happy with this picture of Dylan, but it is not sharp enough for my liking, and I did not achieve the sort of image I had in my head.  The photo of Danica is mediocre at best.  Photos of the two of them…. are not fit for sharing unfortunately.  

Moral of the story.  I need to shoot more, I need to shoot others more, I need to continue my education.  I always appreciate constructive criticism from fellow photographers and friends alike.
Thanks for reading.
Tracy
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Vegreville

Our travels on the open road took us to the small city of Vegreville where you will find lots of Ukrainian folks and the worlds largest Ukrainian egg.
That’s my boy, in yellow standing  under the giant revolving egg.
 Now we can say we’ve been there.

Found a bit of info on it on the internet.

Material: 

Aluminum Permanently anodized in gold, bronze, and silver.

Number of Pieces:

Star Patterns: 524
Triangular Pieces: 2,206
Visible Facets: 3,512
Nuts and Bolts: 6,978
Internal Struts: 177

Weight:

Aluminum Skin: 2,000 lbs
Internal Structure: 3,000 lbs
Base: 27,000 lbs

Dimensions:

Length: 25.7 feet
Width: 18.3 feet
Highest Point from Ground: 31.6 feet
Over 12,000 man hours of design and fabrication were required to develop the structure

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