So… regarding my Eggplant Parmesan video prior to this post… does the recipe help induce labor?

Let’s just say twelve hours later we were holding the most precious thing in the world: Olivor Michael Wachniak. Weighting in at an astonishing 9.5lbs, this little man stole our hearts before he even got here. Everything went EXACTLY how we wanted it. Homebirth, waterbirth, short labor, healthy mommy and very healthy baby. We cannot thank the ladies at Sage Midwifery enough for their support and helping hands with our baby. They truly went above and beyond and I recommend them to anyone and everyone wants to have a midwife on their side (and believe me, you do!).

Many more pictures to come, once we get some rest. :)

Have a freakishly amazing Saturday everyone!

Michael

Like Daddy, Like Son :)

So we are now officially 5 days passed our baby’s due date. This apparantly a very normal thing for first time mommies and daddies, but Grit and I have been looking around for ways to help the baby along. Grit heard about a restaurant in the states that was famous for their ‘labour-inducing’ Eggplant Parmesan.

We found the recipe. :)

The following video is not in any way related to photography or weddings. But it is directly related to an 11 minutes peek into a day in my life. This is who I am. Not ALL the time, but this is me. The real me. :)

I’ll let you know if this ‘miracle recipe’ works!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Michael

Meet Carrie & Oreste. Grit and I have known Carrie for a few years now; we all met while working abroad on cruise ships! Ah yes, those were the days! :) Carrie happens to be an ‘ah-mazing’ photographer and has always been someone I have looked up to, so when the time came when she asked ME to shoot her wedding…the teeth went a chattering! It’s always a strange feeling when other photographers (hobbyists, pros, amateurs etc) ask you to shoot them…its an absolute great honour but at the same time you feel you are being watched and put to the test! I always get that feeling that I am being put under the microscope! Thankfully though, my inner-self (the one with the wings, not the pitchfork) whispers to me: “Well, there are a million ka-jillion other photographers out there but these guys hired YOU for a reason! Do yer thang, honey!”. (my inner-selves are cool like that!) Carrie, I love you and hope these images are EXACTLY what you were hoping for, and then some! Oreste, I’ve only met you a few times, but you are one ultra-uber cool guy. Despite the fact that you could probably take on the entire city of Vancouver in a bare knuckle fist fight, you aren’t at all held-back in showing your love for Carrie.

To all my readers, these guys are tying the knot in the Mexican Riviera in January 2011, which means you are going to have some MAJOR amazing photos to look at to kick off next year right! (oh, and it also means I have only six months to get into shape! I can’t look like my pasty-pear-shaped self on the beaches of Mexico…again… can I?)

Happy Friday everyone!

…any day now. :)

Its my Birthday today!!! (well, for the next 10 minutes anyways!)

The big 3-1! Holy Moly, when did that happen?! ….well, this morning at 12:00am I guess? (After a hard day’s work that was my humble attempt to be funny).

Today went by in an absolute blur, I shot an totally gorgeous wedding and then came home to a plethora (yes I just said plethora) of gifts. Tomorrow the family is having an un-official birthday BBQ and I am making my famous Dr. Pepper Ribs, so before I relax and put up my feet I have to get them ready tonight so they can marinate in all their marinated glory.

Pics will most likely follow, but for now I leave you with one of me as a kid. In fact the shirt I am wearing says “The Kid”.

Yup thats me. To my soon-to-be-born son: Don’t worry. You’ll be cuter than this. :)

P.s. can you believe my sister’s hair?! what kind of animal IS that?!

When Joanna emailed me saying she had access to a hazlenut orchard and wanted to use it as a backdrop for their engagement session, I was STOKED for two reasons: 1) Hazlenuts, hello?! LOVE EM. and 2) I haven’t seen it done before! Well at the very least, *I* have never shot in a hazlenut orchard before, let alone BEEN in one! I had all these amazing ideas of shooting at sunset, the rays of light peaking through the orchard…and when we got there on Sunday?…

..rain. Not just rain, actually…TONS of rain. Like, monsoon rain. Boo.

I am glad though that we both planned ahead and saw that rain was inevitable, and still the 3 of us wanted to trudge on and make the day fantastic! And we did. I think the images turned out beautifully. Besides, Joanna’s smile and Jamie’s charm and OBVIOUS love for Joanna could make any day sunny. That was pure cheese, I know, but its true. :)

Joanna and Jamie are getting married in August at Whonnock Lake, and its going to be fantastic! I can’t wait to see them again and meet their friends and family! :) Hope you like the images!

click below to watch their engagement slideshow!

On the ferry ride over I remember thinking to myself “Jeez, I come up to Rockwater so often, we may as well MOVE there!”…and seriously, if it wasn’t for my insane love for the White Rock area where I live, I would definitely consider it. Every time I blog about a wedding at Rockwater Secret Cove Resort I mention how much I love it there, so really why should this one be any different? :) I love it there.

Now, onto Carla and Kevin & Co. :) These guys…well, what can I say about these guys? I can write about how much they are in love with each other, and how great they were to work with…but really, it won’t do any lick of justice to how amazing they truly truly are. I covered their day for only a few hours, (it was an intimate wedding of just over 20 people), and in those few hours there were SO many beautiful moments…the kind that we all would live and die for. One of the most vivid and memorable moments of the entire day was after the ceremony, I was standing behind Carla and Kevin at the receiving line, shooting all the hugs and congratulations, and I looked off-camera and noticed just out of frame was Carla’s dad, who was next in line. He had a little twinkle in his eye and I remember anticipating a tear or two but as I composed the shot I didn’t realize that some of those tears would be my own! I kept as composed as I could (pun-intended) but when he got to Carla I was a mess! I remember after the moment passed they looked up at me and were wiping their eyes as I was wiping my own. I remember someone saying “Hey, you just met them a few hours ago, you’re not supposed to be doing that!”. Something magical happened next…after seeing what was happening and feeling that energy in the air, some people waiting in LINE started even hugging each other and getting teary eyed! It was such a great moment to be laughing and feeling connected with this amazing group of people..they truly are the perfect definition of Family.

Every. Single. One of them.

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.

Click below to view their slideshow!

Last week I had the pleasure of spending a little while with the very sweet Baby Liyana. She is just a month old and the amount of facial expressions she has is simply adorable. I just love the little bow! :)

Happy Monday everyone!

So I have been running around all day today getting ready for Mexico tomorrow (will be back in the office Wednesday May 19th)… it always seems that no matter how prepared I am for travelling, I always end up feeling rushed! (I was sitting down eating supper tonight, and felt like I was wasting time haha). Yup, I’m odd like that.

Anyhoo, Grit has decided to make a lil’ somethin’ for baby boy, and I can’t wait to see it when it’s done! I pulled out the camera and did the ‘daddy documents everything’ thing, and thought this pic was pretty cool.

I will be checking emails as often as I can while in Puerto Vallarta, so any questions/concerns should be answered within a day.

Cheers,

Michael

On Thursday of last week I met up with Shana for a portrait session in Pitt Meadows. She was looking for newer, fresher headshots for use on her website http://www.shanaleegibson.com (she is an amazing intuitive!) and for media packages etc. Shana has a killer smile and is such an amazing person with great energy, I had so much fun shooting with her. We even headed to Pitt Meadows and found a fantastic Cranberry Field to shoot in just as the sun was going down!

Hope you like the images! Happy Monday, Y’all! :)

Cheers,

Michael

Shana Lee offers one on one mystical (intuitive) mentoring for adults and teens, an online ‘Seership’ course for psychic and spiritual development, spiritual healing, crystal healing and psychic/ mediumship readings. If you are interested in speaking with Shana, please visit her contact page.