Jaxon turned one and what better way to celebrate but with friends, family, cake to smash and photos to prove it, all on a SUNNY and WARM February day! Jaxon is such a delightful little boy who enjoys running (or taking a few steps and tumbling only to get up and do it all over again). He was all smiles until the cake was to be smashed. He wasn't so sure about that one....but what a lucky boy he is to be surrounded by such supportive family and friends. Enjoy some sneak peaks from his session.
WifeyCo | Small Business Feature
What made you decide to start WifeyCo?
I'm an extremely detail orientated person. During the day, I'm a teacher and I put every effort into making my classroom a warm place for the kids to enter. When my husband and I bought our first house, decorating and finishing it was such an enjoyable task! We made furniture, painted a chevron feature wall, etc.! So naturally, when I started to plan our wedding, every detail was covered and 90% of them were DIY (no one was surprised!)! Following my wedding, I realized that I missed the DIY tasks that I used to do every day after work (for roughly one year!), so I found myself wondering how I could continue to do that. That's when I started creating Invitations, Save the Dates and Thank You cards for close friends and family. Then, I opened WifeyCo. to help any Bride in need!
Are you self taught or have you done any professional training?
For the most part, I'm self taught. However, I have done a few courses and tutorials on computer programs that I use.
What design projects are you most interested in?
At the moment, you can see through my store that my cliental has been mostly Brides asking for Save the Dates, Wedding Invitations (including RSVP's) and Thank You's! However, I'm keen to create anything that can be printed onto cardstock or photopaper (Nursery quotes to go in picture frames perhaps? The list is endless!)!
What current trends do you see in wedding invitations etc...?
I definitely see digital taking over (Don't we all?). I remember when I used to make REAL scrapbooks (with printed out pictures, scissors, glue, etc.)! Now, I find I'm turning to creating photobooks (digitally made). I did my husband and my 'real' wedding invitations traditional - cut and paste style. However, I created my personal Save the Date and Thank You cards digitally and had them printed (Just like I am selling!). My husband and I were fortunate enough to have a second wedding reception overseas in Australia, and for that invitation, I created it digitally. Doing them digitally is both time consuming and cost efficient!
What is your typical process when full filling clients needs?
How do you put their ideas in to action? Typically my clients send me a few samples of what kind of invite they're looking for. However, a few have just given me a brief explanation on how they envision their wedding day (theme, colours, etc.)! I then create a proof with all of their wedding information (and possibly a photo, as that seems to becoming a trend as well!). I try my best to follow the theme and colour scheme of their wedding and use my creative imagination with the thousands of images and designs that I have. When I'm done the proof, I send it over to the client and wait for feedback - Willing to change absolutely anything, of course, to make it absolutely perfect in the end! The client and I then work together changing little things here and there. However, almost 75% of the invites I've custom created, my clients have told me that I've captured exactly what they want in the first proof! When everything is finalized, I send my client the JPG (PDF upon request) file to get printed wherever they choose! Somewhere like London Drug will print on photopaper, Staples will print on cardstock and you can always send it to places like Vistaprint, too!
What is your biggest creative inspiration?
If I have what I refer to as a 'writer's block' (but my husband always reminds me that that is not technically the correct term), I generally search the web for ideas. If the Bride has requested a blush pink invitation and I don't have any immediate ideas, I'll just search 'blush pink invitation' and start browsing through google images. I realize what I like and what I don't like and what I envision for this Bride. Then I go from there!
Contact: Andrea Haywood, https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/WifeyCo
Valentines Mini | Raeya
One of my favorite things to photograph is children and especially themed minis. They are new and exciting for the kids (and parents!) What child doesn't want to play with new toys, smile for the camera (lets be real, their used to taking pictures with their mamas!) and being bribed by candy? Raeya was no exception! I played soccer with Krista (her mom) 6 or 7 years ago. And I finally had the chance to meet her daughter Raeya who was 2.5 years old as she said! She was great for the camera, had the "model" head tilt going on and allowed me to continue to taking photos when I bribed her with candy treats ;) Mini sessions are great, because the attention span of children is often not very long, so 20 minutes is a perfect amount of time to keep them engaged. Make sure to contact me to join my mailing list to bethe first to see all my themed and non-themed mini session promos.
Before & After
I often get asked what my "style" of photography is....and so here it is! I aim for candid, natural, bright and emotional photos. In terms of my editing process I try to keep the images as close as possible to the original. As far as taking pounds off, changing hair color, and all those kinds of extensive edits, I simply don't do them. I know how to, but I prefer to capture YOU, just how you are and the moments as real as possible. Things that I do correct in the editing process are: increase or decrease exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpness, highlight certain colors, cropping etc... Here is a sample before and after portrait from a recent session (straight out of camera first and edited second).
