Tot Shots Photography » Personal

The first month | Calgary Family Photographer

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:09:49 +0000

Okay, I had promised more client work but I have had a lot of people ask how things are going. So I have decided to post an update here first. I have set up a new blog to document our adventure in Southern California. The blog serves a few purposes for me…update friends and family that have been so kind with their notes and thoughts, a photojournal of our adventure (which will later be made into a coffee table book) and it will also serve as a creative outlet for me. I have had ideas, personal projects and goals that I have not made enough time for over the last couple of years. This year brings the opportunity for inspiration through more time with my children, the adventure of a new country, and experimentation/growth in my photography.

The new blog is located at http://jodyboryski.tumblr.com. I am not committing to a daily blog but do hope to have it updated a few times a week. I will not be adding a lot of text to it as I am hoping that it speaks for itself and the images will tell the story for us for years to come.

The first thing that I purchased (with free shipping and duty free – woohoo!) was a camera purse. I wanted to make sure that I had my camera with me as much as possible. A few pictures have been taken on my iphone but the majority will be with my DSLR. There will be minimal editing (as that is typically where I get stuck in the process of getting pictures of my children) – I take lots but don’t find the time to go through them. These will be mostly right out of the camera.

I purposely did not come back in January (other than to get the dog who was not allowed to fly over Christmas) or begin my U.S. business so that I could focus on helping my children get settled in a new country, new school and new family logistics. It was a chaotic month but we are getting settled and in a routine now. As we get settled we can now begin to enjoy the benefits of small town Southern California – definitely a different pace for this family:). We are in Redlands, Ca – with a population of about 70,000 and orange groves and desert hills everywhere you look:) We are renting a house at the edge of town – the other side of the street is desert hills. This brings some creepy critters – last week was a dead tarantula… and snake season begins in May…should be fun for my son:) With the summer temperatures being 40+ degrees, we were very interested in a rental with a pool. I was super excited when we found one (as I grew up swimming and teaching it). However, I have since found out out how cold the pool is right now and how expensive it is to heat. I have now solved this issue by purchasing a triathlon wetsuit – I am getting in that water! I am certain that the neighbours will soon be calling me the “Crazy Canadian”:) I am hoping to do a triathlon but have not got into road biking yet…going to conquer running these hills and getting back in the water first:)

California is definitely appealing to my love of fresh, healthy and locally grown produce. I do have to say that I was somewhat surprised to find that a few things that I have taken for granted at home are a little more of a challenge to find here (i.e. I have gotten a few looks when asking about spelt flour). I have now found my favourite things though, just not all in one location. We have amazing resources in Calgary for healthy eating.

I am back in Calgary this week completely booked and SOOOO excited to get back to my business. More this week from the end of 2011!

CIBC Run For the Cure

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:41:48 +0000

I want to thank all of my teammates and our supporters for a very successful fundraising year. Our team raised over $12,000 for breast cancer research. 18 of us ran or walked the 5km yesterday amongst thousands of other Canadians to raise $33 million in support of breast cancer research. Yesterday definitely had a different feel then past years as this year we had a survivor on the team and raising money for research seemed so much more important. I truly hope to see a future without breast cancer!

I have to mention how awesome Steph did as I know how any of my clients have asked about her and have been wishing her well. Steph not only attended the race yesterday but participated…running (and beating me in:).

Thank you again everyone!

65

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:56:45 +0000

Today, my mum would have been 65. I wish that she was here for us to throw her a party. Although she would have said that she would not have wanted one because she never wanted anyone to fuss over her. Funny, as she ALWAYS fussed over everyone else. I wish she was here to see my kids (and to give me advice), I wish she was here to see my brother get married next month (she would be so proud), and I wish she was here to enjoy retirement with my dad. I wish she was here…so we could fuss over her.

Victoria

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:46:25 +0000

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I went to visit my maternal grandparents in Victoria a few weeks ago. Although I am pretty sure that they would not care to have pictures of themselves posted on my blog (despite the fact that at 89 and 90 they look fantastic!), I had to share some of the images of their gorgeous view and the peacefulness of the ocean. The rose is planted outside my grandparents’ condo in memory of my mum.

CIBC Run for the Cure | Calgary Photographer

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 20:14:53 +0000

As many of you know, Tot Shots has sponsored a team for the CIBC Run for the Cure for the last couple of years in honour of my mum. For the second year in a row, our team was recognized as one of Calgary’s top fundraising teams. So, again, I thank all of my teammates and everyone who donated to this cause. I am excited to do this again!

I recently learned that one of our teammates from the last two years was diagnosed with breast cancer – a young mom like most of us. It has actually been a brutal couple of months as I have learned a number of people that are close to me have loved ones that have been affected by cancer. This just makes me want to do more for this cause. So I have set up the team again for 2011 and increased our goal to $10,000 (we raised over $8,500 last year) and I am kicking it off with a Social Series event this weekend to start raising funds in honour of my mum and of our teammate. This Social Series event is the 5th in the series and the second focused on photography (based on last year’s response to this event). Due to the response for the event this year, I will be hosting a second one in September. A note will be sent out to clients in August with the details.

I invite you to join our team this year for the run/walk on Sunday, October 2nd – http://www.runforthecure.com/site/TR/RunfortheCure2012/PrairiesNWT?px=1064204&pg=personal&fr_id=1294. It is an amazing day for a great cause. I look forward to working with you on this!

Loose tooth | Calgary Child Photographer

admin — Thu, 05 May 2011 21:12:44 +0000

So I have been MIA for the last couple of weeks. I scheduled last week and this week to work on my business rather than in it. There are a couple of things that I am working on and needed to focus as much attention on them as I could. I apologize for being cryptic at this point. I am hoping that everything will come together in the next month and I can finally share!

Of course, I never really take a break from shooting because there is always something awesome going on with my kids. My son has his first loose tooth! This is big news at almost 7 and MUST be captured:) This was a quick shoot before school one day because that was all he would give me;) Fortunately I did a shoot with them laughing a little while ago to really capture his awesome toothy smile/laugh. I am shocked as to how much this milestone is affecting me. My little boy is getting so big!

As I was prepping for this weekend sessions, I got the little one to come and test the lighting with me. I will add she was not thrilled to model but I ADORE what we got. This picture is totally her! Her very mischievous self! This picture was a result of her shaking her head in protest – which, of course, I captured as well:)

I will be back with regularly scheduled blog posts now with lots of things to share.

Dog Sledding | Calgary Family Photographer

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 23:43:44 +0000

A few weeks ago we headed out dog sledding for the first time. I tend to be a fairly mainstream winter activity person…skiing mostly…so this was a bit different. The funny part was that I probably would not have even thought about it, if a friend (from NY) had not recommended it when they were here visiting at Christmas. It is pretty sad that it takes visitors from another country to recommend activities in your own backyard but that is typically how it goes. Although I will totally take her recommendations in New York:)

I have to give a shout out to the company that we used – Snowy Owl Tours. They run a fantastic operation and it absolutely apparent how well the dogs are cared for and how much the employees and dogs love their jobs:) It is encouraged that everyone give the dogs some love for the great job they do. Well, you did not have to tell my children twice! I totally would have thought that the dogs would be a little skittish but I was wrong. They were rolling over on their backs taking in the belly rubs (my lab does not even do this:)

My son even had the opportunity to drive (with my husband’s help). He loved it!

Laughing | Calgary Child Photographer

admin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:10:06 +0000

This is the sound that I have been hearing a lot from my children as they are playing together (don’t let me fool you though…there are fighting sounds too:). The throw-your-head back, fall-off-your-chair, belly laughs have definitely stood out though as they have been enjoying each other’s company lately. I must also add that many times it is as a result of toilet talk that they have incorporated into whatever they are playing together but other times they are just being silly and they think each other are hilarious. I have snuck up and caught them on video to get the sound but I really wanted to capture it as a still as well. I wanted to make sure that I could see their baby teeth as amazingly they both still have them and I wanted a simple dark backdrop so I dragged each of them into the studio last week during Spring Break. I was also playing with B&W’s and I had to include a detail shot I love:)

Mexico | Calgary Family Photographer

admin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:25:39 +0000

Just a few vacation pictures from our annual trip to Mexico to see my in-laws. It seems that we have not made enough trips to Saskatoon to see them as my daughter kept asking my mother-in-law “which room was Daddy’s when he was a little boy?”. Very cute.

It was a wonderful trip filled with swimming, beach critter hunts, runs on the beach (without jellyfish incidents this year) and most importantly relaxing! Here are a few pictures.

I am hoping to have a new dive partner very soon:)

My (disgusting) little dophin…amazing she did not get sick!

What I am typically looking at with this one!

One day (soon) there will be a decent picture of me.

Just one for now | Calgary Family Photographer (in Mexico)

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:51:06 +0000

This is a little treat for my mother-in-law from our trip to Mexico a few weeks ago. I know that she and my father-in-law are missing their grandchildren so had to share one. My daughter and mother-in-law have spent a bunch of time on the beach each year that we have visited them and concocted many pots of “soup”. This was one of their trips down to the water for “broth”. In case you are wondering, I shot this with my lensbaby. It had been awhile since I used it so decided that it was one of the two (yes, only two lens) that I would take this year.

I will share some more soon. It was so nice to get out and shoot for myself so I will definitely share a few more of the moments that I captured:)