Yukon Winter

One of our favourite things about living in the Yukon is that summer or winter, it is always beautiful.  I know it sounds cliche, but I swear it's actually the truth is it not!?  So even though we battle with the cold and the snow from time to time, we try to take advantage of on-location/outdoor shoots every chance we get...

This family shoot we did before Christmas was no exception.  We have a series of trails right behind our place so we were able to take a short walk to get some great shots of these guys hanging out, making snowmen, and just spending time together as a family.  When things got too cold we just resorted to some relay races and group huddles...

And as a side note, although it looks like we abandoned the baby in the snow we did not...he was just so comfy chillin' by himself we had to get a shot of it!

2012 Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Queen Candidates!

Welcome to the first GBP Blog post of the new year.... hope you all had a great holiday season and are back and feeling refreshed. Now on to the meat and potatoes.... Rendezvous... Ya, I know its still a bit early to be thinking about this Yukon institution of old timey goodness.... however it's getting closer and I cant wait any longer to share some pictures with you. We are super excited this year because we have had the opportunity to hook up with the Rendezvous Society, who has been working hard to make some changes to the festival and we are stoked to be a part of it! One of the parts we got to shoot this year is the famous Queen candidate portraits. We shot all 12 ladies in a span of 2 days in early Dec right here in our studio. It was probably the 2 busiest days that we have ever had here at GBP. Bill Murray (our Newfoundland Dog studio mascot) has never had so many new friends and belly scratches in such a short period of time. Thanks to all of the girls for being so great to work with. Oh and please let us know what you think of the new look this year by way of the comments below.

Here you go the 2012 Queen Candidates........

How quickly do these kids grow up anyways!?

It's a question we often ask ourselves...
As family photographers, we've gotten the chance to be a part of some very special moments in our clients lives...from engagements to marriages to first children, we're able to be there to see them grow, change and experience 'firsts'. To this day we're still amazed at how quickly these little ones are able to grow not only in height, but in personality over just a few months...mini people are the.best.ever.

This family is no exception. So far we've done a maternity shoot, a newborn shoot, and even a pet shoot with them!   This fall, we were able to hang out with them for this little lady's 6 month birthday, and we were blown away by how much she's grown! The smiles were non-stop, and i must say she has the most diverse set of stuffed animals we've seen yet...(note the ant eater...and the fact that her parents are both biologists!)

We can't wait to see what she's up to in another 6 months! Or what her first real pet is going to be...

T'is the season...

Now this isn't scientifically based or anything, but i'm pretty sure there's been a baby boom happening here in Whitehorse over the past few months...

Our maternity and newborn sessions have been booking up like crazy, which is never a bad thing because if babies know how to do do one thing as soon as they come into this world, it's be cute...Yes, that's whether they're awake or sleeping, crying or smiling,  or even pooping for that matter...THAT part IS science.  They've got a good life goin on...what can we say....

So what better way to celebrate the baby boom than to show you some photos from one of our most recent newborn shoots.  We had the pleasure of doing these guy's maternity photos as well, which makes the newborn session all that more special as we've been patiently waiting for the new arrival. (You see we get to have the excitement and anticipation without having to go through the labour...this job has it's perks after all!)

As you can see, she's about to become the family's  favourite christmas present...

Yukon Arts...

One of the things we love the most about living in the Yukon is the amazing arts community that we have.   We are so lucky to be surrounded by a huge variety of incredibly talented, passionate and artistic people.  So, anytime we get to work with artists, be it headshots, band promotional shots, event coverage, theatre work, etc. we are stoked to be able to be contributing and supporting this amazing community.

The variety of events we get to cover/shoot don't hurt either...just this past month we both got to see our very first opera show! (Did you know their voices could go that high without cracking!? Impressive to say the least...)

Anyways, we thought we would take the time to share a few images from one of our recent headshot sessions with the always lovely and talented Katherine McCallum.  Katherine is currently in the Sour Brides Theatre and Guild Hall co-production of "Boston Marriage". The show runs until Dec. 3rd here in Whitehorse, with a show in Dawson on Nov. 28th as well.  Check it out if you get the chance...what better way to spend a wintery Yukon evening than at the theatre!

Farm land

Born and raised here in the Yukon, I (Bri) spent almost every summer out at my grandparents Ranch down the Takhini Hotsprings road...so I was pretty stoked when one of our clients asked if we'd be able to do a family shoot with them out at their farm which just so happens to be on that exact same route.

It brought back tons of memories of how amazing it was to be able to grow up in a place where kids are able to have the best time with nothing more than a bail of hay or a mud puddle...and this family's little guy was no exception.  The last time we photographed him he was only a few weeks old, and now he's up helping mom and dad run the farm...And having his auntie and uncle wrapped around his finger; they came out to get some shots done too.

One of the best parts about being photographers is getting to work with tons of different people and be part of the process of helping them capture memories and see their families grow up around them. It's so much fun to see how much these little ones change from year to year.  Looking forward to the next shoot already, as we're sure he'll be running around on his own by then...I wonder if we'll be there for his first driving lesson with dad??...   

What's this 'engagement session' thing anyway??...

A question we've been asked many times...if you've been engaged a while, or you're not using photos on your invitations...what's the point of an engagement session? Well, it's actually more important than you probably think...

The engagement session gives us, as your photographers, a chance to work with you before the 'big day'...the majority of people aren't exactly used to having a big lens pointed at them all day, and quite frankly the thought of it can be quite intimidating...(Just try to get Gary in FRONT of a camera instead of behind it and he will squirm...there's a reason he's the photographer and not the subject...)  

So the reason these sessions are so important, is it gives you a chance to get used to us pointing cameras at you, and on the other hand, also allows us to get to know how you interact together, when you're most comfortable, what makes you laugh...basically, it allows us to get to know each other well in advance of your wedding day, so come the time, you won't be worrying about whether or not you're making a funny face or even notice that we're there at all...you'll just be able to enjoy the moments, and we'll know how to make sure to work with you to ensure we capture them.

And then there's always of course the added bonus of having some sweet shots of you two just hanging out, being you.  

Speaking of hanging out, we had a great time working with Matt and Stefanie for an engagement session a month or two ago...they were getting married out of town and so wanted some shots from around Whitehorse that they could use for their big day...It was great working with such a fun loving couple...did we mention we're more than happy to travel for weddings as well?   ;)