Miranda Wensel Photography

daniella

mirandawensel — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:05:23 +0000

an “audrey hepburn”-inspired photo shoot.

what do you think? leave me a comment ~ i’d love to hear your thoughts

model ~ daniella anderson
makeup ~ aman pandher
location ~ duchess bakeshop

xx, mir

hoar frost

mirandawensel — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:34:36 +0000

i love hoar frost.

i love the way it glistens and shimmers in the sun. the way it wraps itself around anything it finds. i love the way it melts off as the sun shines, the way it floats and shimmers to the ground with some wind.

it makes me happy when i see it

xx, M

dls workshop ~ week 2: manual focus

mirandawensel — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:20:47 +0000

hello my pretties! so i am overdue on this assignment from this workshop i am taking through The Photographer Studio by a week. ack…but better later than never! don’t worry, you didn’t {and neither did i} miss the first assignment which was to create a blog. as i am a blogstar, i had that assignment completed before it was even given out

our assignment last week was to focus on…manual focus on manual mode. ugh…the dreaded manual focus. haha.

- set up 5 similar objects in a location with good natural light {my M.A.C. eye shadow rounds set upon our island counted in the kitchen}

- ISO 400, f/3.2, and shutter speed adjusted accordingly to get the exposure you like {i used the same ISO, but my aperture was at 2.5 and shutter speed at 1/60}…although just a side note…the ones i shot in my attempts were at 1/40th second and they were still great with no camera shake. hmmm…am sure this won’t always be the case in nearly 99% of the cases!

- shoot from the same spot and select an angle in which you are able to see all of your objects.

- once this is all set up {sounds long, but literally takes like seconds!}, manually focus on first object – click! and continue until you’ve photographed all 5.

wow…long story short, here are my images.

manual focusing is not the easiest…it’s so finicky i find…but that’s just me.

if you are following along, why don’t you try this yourself!? it’d be a great way to pick up some photography skills..and we can grow together write me a comment with your link and i’ll check it out too!

xx, mir

mcp project12 ~ january: resolution

mirandawensel — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:26:20 +0000

mcp’s Project 12 is up and running…the theme for january is resolution.

january really just came and went for me…with to do lists that never seems to be completed on time {is this just me?!}, the feeling of having accomplished so much, yet on the flip side, like one task has yet to be completed. i don’t think i even had a chance to really sit down and give thought to my resolutions!

so with that said, my resolution {one of them} is to “pause and reflect” and really take time to bask in the moment as it unfolds and live in the moment. to take the time and for a minute or two {or three or heck, 24 hours!} and forget the lists. no one shows me how to do this better than these two.

xx, Mir

blakeley

mirandawensel — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:13:52 +0000

i am so happy to be able to share with you all a session that I did for the Maple Leaf Mission. if you haven’t heard of the organization, I urge you to visit the website and learn what they do {gift of life in pictures}. I had the wonderful opportunity to share in a little bit of time with kylie and her 3-year-old daughter, blakeley and capture their {your moment} session.

this is their story in kylie’s words:

“Since she was 1, my daughter Blakeley has been living with very difficult, hard to control Epilepsy. When days are good they are great but when they are bad they are terrible, sometimes with over 70 siezures a day. When I became a parent I never thought I would be the one being taught strength from my child, but this little girl is the perfect example of strong. She has been such a trooper through this whole experience, reassuring us “”Im okay Mommy”" after a siezure, always being concerned about everyone elses feelings before her own, even thanking the nurses after everything they do including injections.

We recently learned that she is a candidate for brain surgery that if effective will limit, if not completely control her siezures as the medications are not working. She will be going through two seperate surgeries, one being on January 25th and one following on February 1st.

For the surgeries it is necessary that we shave my daughters head completely. She is not happy about this, as she has beautiful long blonde hair that she loves having “”done pretty”". I thought instead of having the doctors shave her head in the operating room, and her being traumatized when she wakes up with no hair, we would take her to a salon and have a fun day out of it also donating her locks to wigs for those with no hair.”

for their session, i wanted to focus on the time kylie and blakeley spent together, as well as on blakeley’s gorgeous hair pre-surgery. I had such a blast hanging out with them. they were both so relaxed and their quiet strength radiated throughout as they immersed themselves in being with one another and really living in the moment.

without further adieu, here are their moments:

is blakeley not super adorable!?

i love this image. they say the eyes are the window to the soul…

kylie ~ I hope these photos preserve and help you remember blakeley’s journey and strength throughout her diagnosis, during her surgery and after. she is as strong as she is because you are the shining example for her!

xx, Mir

the smith family

mirandawensel — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:18:21 +0000

they say the family that laughs together, stays together.

meet the exuberant, easy-going, and energetic smith family. this family of five, consisting of heather and her husband, trent, her sister, their parents and their two bischon-yorkie doggies were super fun…i was almost moving TOO slow to capture it all. when i was discussing locations with heather and proposing ideas, she mentioned that her family are always up for anything so one of my proposals was skating and making snow angels et al…but the day we went to lacombe park in st. albert, the rink was flooded and unusable and our lovely city of edmonton lacked the fluffy white stuff…so we did without.

skating + snow angels or not, this family was a blast to hang out with. this was a session full of smiles…so that’s five people, smiling and laughing all the time, in 99% of the pictures. that’s ALOT of smiles!

in order to have their dogs, toby and riley {pardon if mispelled}, to cooperate, i was barking like a dog, meowing like a cat, and making all sorts of strange noises….so perhaps all the smiles the smith family gave throughout the day were due in part to my awesome abllity to mimic animals and strange sounds

i think this is the third session i’ve photographed where oilers jerseys were worn…hmmm…a trend perhaps? ;D

thanks to heather and your family for being so awesome!

xx, M

tara

mirandawensel — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:52:47 +0000

i loved this maternity session with tara and her boyfriend, kevin. not only was there SO much color {think reds, greens, blues, purples!} but tara and kevin exuded so much love and kindness..to one another, for one another, and for their soon-to-be-here little baby girl. check out some of the pics of the gorggggeous mommy-to-be {ok, kevin’s pretty handsome too}…

i love that nervous edge that people get in front of the camera….it tends to loosen them up a bit, and get them laughing and in the process, forgetting the camera just that little bit

congrats you guys ~ i know at the time of writing you are anxiously waiting out you last couple weeks for your baby girl to arrive. tara ~ i’m wishing you a fast and safe delivery for what i know will be a very happy and loved baby, and two very smitten parents! enjoy her LOTS ~ you will be her world, and she, yours.

xx, M

Fruit Loops and Hot Chocolate

mirandawensel — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:54:07 +0000

i had the pleasure of joining Lorraine Marie Fotography for a styled kids photo shoot in early December. i apologize that it has taken me this long to post these photos {december was a whirlwind!} but here they are nonetheless. The only thing I can take credit for are the photos. The styling was done by Lorraine with many of the items provided for by fabulous vendors who provided everything from wooden spoons to clothing {see below for details}.

supercalifragilisticxplidocious {spelling incorrect??} cuteness full on ahead!

the morning session took place with little miss K and some fruit loops action. i always love studio lighting as it’s so different from natural /ambient lighting, and lorraine so graciously let me hook my camera up to her softbox for a few photos {thanks lorraine!}

next came lil’ miss A, full of charm and chatter, for the afternoon of hot chocolate and decorating cookies. this little girl knew how to work the camera. she sang for us, she gave us adorable looks, she talked to us, and when it came to decorating the cookies for her sister, dad and mom, she talked us through it as if she were on her own cooking show. Food Network, watch out!! here are some of my favorites with her…and there are many

ahhhh!! seriously. i. just. want. to. squeeze. her.

I must give a HUGE shout out to Lorraine for inviting me and sharing in this experience with me. Not only was it fun to play around a little bit with studio lighting, work with super cute little beings, but also to get to know her and Alora {the other photographer who was with us also}. thank you!!

Details:

Models ~ Miss K and Miss A

Photography ~ Miranda Wensel Photography

Paper straws, bamboo cutlery, credo bags, baker’s string ~ Greenmunch / 780.293.7805

Clothing ~ Little Bo-tique Clothing / 780.417.2508

Lastly, if you are interested in checking out Lorraine’s images from the day, CLICK HERE to see…and maybe browse around for a bit

xx, M

Looking Ahead…

mirandawensel — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:31:22 +0000

among the few projects i have floating in my head waiting to come to fruition {the little me inside is jumping with excitement}, i will be participating with just a few {haha} other photographers worldwide via MCP’s Project 12. Anyone can participate {after all, aren’t we all photographers in some way??}, so if you do choose to, leave me a comment on my blog post for that month’s entry so I can see what your interpretation is!

Choosing to participate is a personal one…I feel this will make me think {and hopefully outside of the box} and allow me creative freedom to try new things. i always love me a challenge. there is no fail. but there is try. and i believe if you don’t try, you won’t succeed.

and…so, there is a rambling for you

grow with me…i’ve got some things planned.

xx, M

What 2011 brought…

mirandawensel — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:24:51 +0000

happy new year clients, fans, friends and family!

grab a coffee/tea/water/hot chocolate/glass of wine {whatever tickles your fancy}…you’ll be doing a little {light} reading and looking through some fav images of mine as we look back through my version of 2011…

2011 was a year of excitement and two new beginnings. at the onset of both were feelings of apprehension, worry, self-doubt, excitement, joy, perseverance, and courage {basically, a whirlwind of emotions!}. both were long time dreams. both have been hard work, but both have also been far more rewarding than i could have ever dreamed/hoped/wished/imagined. they were both realized within a couple months of one another…

the first, near and dear to my heart, is the birth of our son, tristan. who ever would have thought such a little being could bring so much joy and laughter into our lives. with him, i laugh {at least} once a day. words cannot express my feelings towards this little guy…it literally feels like my heart will explode with love. by this Friday, he will be 8 months. EIGHT months! Where did the time fly by? i SO look forward to the present and the future with him, and will cherish the past as it goes by. and this is just the beginning…

here is a then and now look at the second guy who has stolen my heart, completely.

the second, if you haven’t guessed by now, is the birth, the actualization of my photographic journey. starting my own photography business has been a lot of hard work, late nights, and a lot of constant learning {really…it’s much like becoming a mother…possibly a tad easier…haha}. from what was just a {what if??????} in my head, has progressed, in a matter of 5 months {yes, it’s been a crazy 5 months!} to having clients, a portfolio, a website, business cards, better equipment, and fellow photographers for support. phewf, right!

i realize that both are constantly works in progress…as much as I will shape my son {values, morals, beliefs, etc.} and my business {where I want to go, what I want to do, etc.}, both will very much shape and re-shape me. anyways, i ramble alot, but i am so thankful to and for all of my clients and that you trusted me to capture your moments and stories.

here are just a few of my favorite images from 2011 ~

i look forward to 2012 and all that it may bring ~ wishing you all the best year ahead.

much love, xx, Mir