Totally not wedding related, but sometimes you gotta give a little love, ya know? And besides, with all the wedding coordinating everyone is doing, any excuse to head out with the girls to do some “planning” over drinks and dinner is a good thing!

Having moved from Edmonton to Vancouver 2 years ago, both Reilly and I have really missed our favourite restaurants. One, in particular, was hard to replace - Dadeo on Whyte Ave in Edmonton. Cajun and Creole cuisine, vanilla coke old school style, blackened catfish po’boys, and an atmosphere that was laid back, a little retro, and overall just perfect. Oh sweet Dadeo - how I missed you!

Recently we found ourselves on Cambie heading to a shoot - a place a little hectic with the current construction. So we were dodging pylons and road crews, and amid the chaos we saw it - the name, the sign, and the promise of our beloved po’boys. Dadeo had just opened a second location in Vancouver!

We headed there after our shoot that day for lunch, and have been back many times since. One has to make sure the place lives up to their namesake, right? And, well, it does. In fact, it’s as fabulous as the original, and bigger for when the crowds discover the new gem over on Cambie!

If you’re a fan of good food, need a place to head with friends for dinner or just dessert, and especially if you’re looking for a new favourite place, Dadeo is the place to go. The po’boy sandwiches are to die for, the sweet potato fries a close second, the dessert a constant battle (bread pudding or a round of bananas foster for the table?), and the fritters a perfect start to it all. You won’t be dissapointed!

You can find them online at http://www.dadeo.ca/ and in person on the corner of Cambie & 17th. Tell them a couple of scooter riding photographers sent you, and they should know who we are

Enjoy!

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Reilly and I went out with our friend Angela (of Angela Hubbard Photography - you can find her wonderful work here!) to take some pictures of the Chinese New Year Parade today.

Here are a few of the images I took - complete with shots of both Reilly and Angela.

Enjoy!

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I’m almost caught up with all the great images I’ve been wanting to blog, but in the meantime I wanted to share this quick anecdote!

There are about as many different styles of photography out there as there are photographers. As such, we keep close tabs on what is happening in advertising, media, fashion, and film to gain our inspiration which in turn allows us to consistently deliver fresh and sassy images to each of our clients. And, yes, the rumour that Reilly subscribes to Fashion Magazine *is* also true

On that note, we met with Miranda and Mark recently whose wedding we did in May. They relayed the cutest comment from an older family member that both affirmed some of our style influences and at the same time reminded us that no matter what you do - whether you are a true journalistic photographer posing nothing all day long, somewhere in the middle as we are, or an accomplished traditionally influenced photographer posing every shot to ensure perfect composition and lighting - that there will always be people your work resonates with and those that it doesn’t.

So, of course, the comment after viewing the images that we had done for these guys was “I don’t like the way your photographer took your pictures. Everything looks like it’s out of a magazine advertisement, like you’re trying to sell something!”

Of course, we took this as a compliment as it means that those style influences seem to be shining through quite well! Miranda & Mark are thrilled with their images and we’ll be sure to get copies of some of the more formal group shots to that relative so that everyone is happy - I’m sure we can find a few that look a little less magazine-like!

You can view Miranda & Mark’s photos and slideshow by scrolling down to the May 21st & June 15th blog entries.

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I stumbled upon Ladies who Launch via another local entrepreneur’s blog last night, and I’m practically tripping over myself already because I’m so excited.

Ladies who Launch - as best as I can describe it - is a collective of creative entrepreneur type women working together to help each other reach their goals through networking, mentoring, idea generating, and just plain old girl talk. There is an incubator workshop being held in Vancouver in May led by the fabulous Bodacious Girls, and I’m already signed up.

I’m already meeting with someone I met last night through the network next weekend to talk about possibly helping out with some of the photography for an up coming tres cool Crave Party project, and I just CANNOT wait until May when I get to meet everyone else.

I spend my days immersed in Blue Olive… working on our new logo & brand (to be launched soon!), networking with other photographers, pouring over neat marketing ideas to get our name out to future Blue Olive couples, and thinking up great ways to WOW our current clients.

Since moving our studio to Vancouver in the fall, I’ve never felt so EXCITED about our business as I do this week (if that’s even possible, because I’m always excited about it!). Later this month we’ve been setting up a dinner and drinks get together for some other local wedding photographers so it will be great to meet more people. And now, with Ladies who Launch I’m going to meet and work with a whole pile of amazing, talented, and creative local women who are looking for the same thing as I am - to take a idea, turn it into reality or expand it exponentially from where it is now, and KICK SOME BUTT with what we do!

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When you spend a week at a workshop and come home, you get asked constantly about how it went and what you learned.

When you attend a normal business type workshop, you come away with specific changes you will make or investigate for your business - new software, a better way to do something you’re already doing, a neat new marketing tip. You have tangibles.

The focus of FW4 was to get the participants to think differently… to see differently. I’m pretty sure they accomplished just that.

But, what specifically did I learn? What tangible things did I walk away with?

I can’t tell you. I just know… it was good. Really good.

Everything is so abstract… I walked away with a number of mantras and vague concepts, things I can’t articulate and that my right brain is still digesting, but stuff I know I’ll have running through my head from now on whenever I pick up my camera or edit a shoot. Shoot and move, shoot and move. Watch for secondary subject matter. Anticipate the moment, as in, REALLY anticipate it. When you think you’ve nailed it, work it some more. And more. And again. You might surprise yourself. No tilty, tilty; no funky, funky. When it’s a good time to get that SCREAMING TIGHT SHOT (and why I’d better ensure that shot is horizontal when I grab it). There’s so much more…

Part of our week had us out on assignment, assignments that revolved around anything but weddings. I spent time with a family of 4 - Alex, Rob, Max (5), and Nia (3). We shot during the day, painfully edited and critiqued the shoot at night, and did it again the next day. I’ve been home for 4 days and was only there for 5 and I’m still playing catch up on my sleep.

Click to View Slideshow

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What an amazing week.

There’s so much to say and so much to write about, but I’m still in catch-up mode trying to get everything done that I missed while I was away.

I’m working on a slideshow of the images I created and I can’t wait to share them, along with more of the story!

Chat soon!

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I leave early tomorrow morning for photography boot camp FW4.

I’ve been waiting for almost a year for this - I’ll be hanging out with, learning from, and working with a group of AMAZING wedding photographers, some of whom I consider to be among the best in the world.

There should be high speed at the hotel I’ll be at so I hope to blog from there at least once or twice. I should be able to stay on top of email and such as well, so don’t hesitate to drop us a line. I’ve been setting up consultations for Saturday and Sunday next weekend for after I get back (25th/26th), if you’d like to get together to chat about your wedding plans and have a look at what we do, give me a shout!

Cheers!

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It’s the new year already, and that means a rush of inquiries for remaining 2006 dates. Already this is shaping up to be another fabulous year!

So far we have a flury of multi day cultural weddings combined with intimate urban affairs and fabulous yacht club elegance to top everything off. I’m looking forward to shooting each and every one, and I can’t wait to share some of the highlights.

Congratulations again to all the engaged couples we’ve been meeting with. I’ve loved hearing about everyone’s plans!

If you’re still searching for just the right photographer for you, get in touch.

Cheers!
Miranda

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Just a note to send everyone our warmest holiday wishes! Regardless of what and how you celebrate, hold your family and friends close and make sure to indulge just a little!

For us - we’ve been busy finishing up all those last minute holiday orders and meeting with new couples for next year’s wedding season. This weekend, we’re having a small gathering and I’ll be cooking up dinner including a goose! I normally do a turkey, but we’re just having a few people so goose seemed somehow appropriate. We’ll see what I think after I figure out how to actualy cook it

This next week we’re spending some time with family and friends as well as working on some new sample albums and other goodies for the studio.

Here’s to looking forward to an exciting 2006! Thanks to everyone who has been a part of our studio so far and for those who we will be working with this year, it’s going to be a great year!

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