Mother's Day Sale!

If your mother is anything like mine, then she likes quality things. She likes them even better if she gets them on sale. Well, you have come to the right place for items of quality, and the good news is they are on sale, too!

We are offering a Spring Portrait Session, with a 20 per cent discount on your portrait order, for just $99. This amazing deal is only available for four more days. Why you might ask? Because my experiences have taught me that mothers like to get stuff on time, the day after Mother's Day just won't cut it!

These sessions will need to be completed by the end of June. They can be used for individuals, couples or families, newborns, maternity or glamour sessions. It's up to you! Call the studio now at 403.346.3573 and get your gift package today.

If you have some time, be sure to check out our display at the Bower Mall. We have posted some of our favourite images from our Tribute to Mother's promotion we did for past clients. We focused on the special connection that mother's and daughter's share. It was a lot of fun, and a rewarding experience for sure. I have posted a couple here for your enjoyment.

Trash the Dress - Dominican Style!

Well, last August was our 1oth anniversary. We really needed a holiday somewhere that did not include children, but we decided to wait until the deep cold that comes every February in Alberta. We managed to find a great deal at an amazing resort, just minutes away from the Punta Cana airport in the Dominican Republic, a place called the Grand Oasis Bavaro. The resort was amazing, the food was fabulous and the beach was incredible. One thing that Denise was adamant about was that she wanted to trash her wedding dress in a fun and creative way. With complete abandon, we hit every corner of the resort before making our way to the beach.

It was very entertaining watching all the people watching us, as Denise started posing on dry sand, then slowly made her way out into the water. You could hear people talking around us, saying things like "She isn't going to get her dress wet, is she? "

Uh, yeah, she is!

We had a great time on this shoot, the weather was perfect for it. The wind was carrying her veil around in dramatic fashion, and the storm clouds rolled in to make a perfect backdrop. But, it didn't rain!

We even spent some time around the main pool swim up bar. The resort staff were great, always smiling, and open to any of our suggestions.

Overall it was a fabulous experience. In the end, we decided to leave Denise's dress with the resort staff. Our visit there was shortly after the Haiti earthquake, so the resort was collecting any clothing or supplies you wanted to leave behind as a donation. We thought it was a cool idea to leave her dress there, in the hopes that a Haitian woman would have the priviledge of wearing it some day. Here is a cool video that shows off the whole event, showcasing some unique, behind-the-scenes images as well.

Real Estate Photography in Red Deer

Well, more accurately, Stettler. Terri Anderson is a trend setting go-getter in the Stettler, Alberta real estate market. However, when things get busy, sometimes certain things get overlooked. Like new promotional head shots for business cards, website, brochures etc. Terri called me a few weeks ago, and the first words out of her mouth were "I don't take a good picture". A you can see by the results, in this case she could not be more wrong!!

Terri is actively trying to get an updated website in place, and the portraits we created are going to be a big part of it. It was a real pleasure working with Terri, so much so that she booked us for family portraits this summer. We are going to take the speedboat out to Sylvan Lake . . . I can't wait!

The Big Time!

I was fortunate to be asked by the David Thomson Health Region Foundation to do some promotional shots for their fundraising event, the DTHRF Lottery. There is almost a million dollars worth of prizes to be one, including a brand new home!

Some freindly faces from the community helped make this happen, and now my work is larger than life as it graces these billboards and bus benches around Red Deer. The billboard with Jesse Wallin, head coach of the Rebels, is on Highway 2, south of Bowden. John and Joan Donald are across the street from the Tim Hortons as you head up the hill on Gaetz Ave. South, and smilin' Jordan can been seen as you head North on Taylor Drive, with the hospital in the background. The bus bench signs change location regularily, so those you will just have to find yourself!

Be sure to visit the link above and get your tickets today!

Fashion Hunting Hills Style

For the third year in a row I have photographed the Hunting Hills High School fashion show. This event has some local businesses represented and silent auction, with the funds raised going to offset some of the expenses of putting the grad on. It's usually an evening full of great music, more than a few miscues and some antics from the teaching staff. I don't know how we can trust these people to educate our children, considering their behaviour!

Just kidding Lisa and Chelsea, slouch socks and spandex was a great look, I don't know what made it go away:)

Enjoy the show, and remember you can order copies of any of these images, just call the studio at (403) 346-3573, or view them at a slower pace at Traptow Photography

Brent and Krista

One of the things I said in my very first blog post was that I had a number of weddings coming up and I was looking forward to filling you in on all the details. Well, this one was a lot of fun. Brent and his family were past clients, I had photographed them about a year before the wedding. Now the lovely and adventurous Krista was joining the family, and I was thrilled to be part of the story.

We had an awesome engagement session during the hot summer, out at Sylvan Lake where Krista's parents have a sweet little cabin on top of a cliff. You have to take a motorized chair lift from the house to the dock. We made is up and down safely, despite the vorociuos mosquitoes, and we got some amazing shots. However, you will not see any of those images here! I just thought I would tease you with the story. What you will see here a complete story of their awesome wedding day. It started at the salon with some rather unco-operative girls, but there was muffins and fruit so I still came away happy:)

The boys put themselves together in fairly good order, with only a little help from Arnie, Leslie and Jose Cuervo. I guess it was just Corona, but Jose sounds better. The ceremony went off without a hitch, wait, that's not right, they did get hitched - then we headed for the great outdoors.

October in Alberta is not a reliable time to be outdoors, I'm just sayin'. I had some beautiful light at the park, and some beautiful people to work with so things went well for the first hour. Then it got interesting. We had just made our way to Brent's second home (the baseball field at Great Chief Park) when the clouds started to roll in. By some small miracle the wind did nothing, so we captured some awesome shots around the field and in the dugout. Surprisingly enough, flip flops have incredible traction on red shale, hey ladies!

Anyway, without further ado, here's Brent and Krista. Congratulations you two!

Rebels 20 Year Olds

There are a number of perks that go with this job. One of them is going to unique and interesting places to photograph clients that most people do not have access to. Working with the Red Deer Rebels organization allows me the opportunity to get into a very unique place at least once a year! I always photograph the 20 year old team members for the last issue of the R magazine for each season. These young men are only weeks away from finishing their junior hockey career. There is still plenty of hockey in them, as they have college or university options and some semi-pro possibilities. The goal of the article, and the portraits, is to showcase them one last time for the hard work they have put in over the last four years.

This year I took Brennan Wray, Carter Smith and Luke Egener out to the Finning Centre of Excellence to photograph them on some of the biggest trucks in the world. Finning is a very large sponsor for the Rebels, and I always like to incorporate that into the portrait session. Now these guys have no problem being in front of a camera. They had lots of attitude to go around, and it suited the environment very well. Job well done guys, all the best!