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Spoonful of Sugar Mini Sessions are BACK!

Brandy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:41:49 +0000

As most of you know, I’m taking off to Italy for the better part of September. Which couldn’t be worse timing business-wise because fall portrait season in Calgary is the busiest season of all. So to make sure I am able to fit all my clients in, I am opening up two full days of mini-sessions. This year there’s a choice to what kind of setting you’d like – on September 5th we are doing colorful and “urban” style sessions at Eau Claire Market and on October 3rd we’ll be at Baker Park for some beautiful and cool looking nature backgrounds. So choose the best date and session type for you and register now, spaces WILL go quickly! Spots have already been booked by newsletter recipients, so make sure you sign up if you want first crack at things like this!

Now, onto the details!
Each mini session lasts 20 minutes and you will receive a gallery of approximately 10-15 images.
The session fee is $250 and includes (drumroll please) ONE digital file of an image you choose!
Digital files are not usually sold individually and are priced as a set at $3500, so this is an AMAZING opportunity!
Prints, canvases, storyboards and holiday cards are also available at regular price, and a full set of digital files from your mini-session is $1250. It’s a great chance for a quick taste of the Fresh Sugar experience, great for family portraits, maternity images and child photographs! Just email me at info@freshsugar.ca to book your mini-session spot before they are all gone!

Spots available:

Sunday, October 3rd at Baker Park

~~10:00am~~
~~10:30am~~
~~11:00am~~
~~11:30am~~
~~1:00pm~~
~~1:30pm~~
~~2:00pm~~
2:30pm
3:00pm
3:30pm
~~4:00pm~~
4:30pm

She’s Delicious

Brandy — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:56:06 +0000

Another fun repeat client, for their first baby they traveled down from Edmonton for their session, now they are a little closer, only having to drive an hour for the session. Trust me when I say that this means a TON to me, it makes me feel so honoured to have families not only come back but to go out of their way for a session. It was a great day with such adorable kids, I’m so lucky to be able to do what I do.

Hi, I’m Brandy Anderson. You might remember me from . . .

Brandy — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:26:22 +0000

One of my best friends is a PR Girl-extraordinaire. Every single time I win an award or get featured in something, I almost cringe waiting for the email from her to come in.
“Why haven’t you posted about it?”
“You need to sell yourself, girl!”
“Why haven’t you mentioned it YET???”

Now don’t get me wrong, it gives me all sorts of great pleasure to have nice things said about me, to be featured somewhere and to win awards. But writing about it is a totally different story. I don’t really know how to do it with out feeling like a big annoying show off.
We are taught as kids to be humble (especially us Canadians, eh?) and that it’s not really nice to sing our own praises. When you are a small business-owner though, it kind of becomes part of the job. If you don’t tell people how awesome you are, who will?

So here goes. Deep breath. And before you all think that I am blaming this on my awesome PR friend Reese, I should let you know that I do like attention just a teensy bit. Or I wouldn’t have a blog. Or a Facebook page. Or probably be a very good photographer. So you can leave comments for me if you like. It will probably make me smile like a goofball, kind of like I did when all these other things happened.

Cool Thing #1
I won a couple more awards! The National Association of Professional Child Photographers recently had their first International Image Competition. I snagged two first place awards, and let me just say the competition was fierce! There were many beautiful images and I feel very much in good company with the other winners. It sounds cheesy to say, but it is a really amazing honour to be regarded highly by my peers.
Check out the Image Competition here!

Cool Thing #2
The same great organization asked me to be their featured member this month, and I got to talk lots about myself, show some of my favorite images and even give a peek into my office.
You can read the spotlight on the NAPCP site and find out maybe something new about me.

Cool Thing #3
I was also featured last month in the Shootsac newsletter. Shootsac is a great product that I love, and if you’re my client you’ve probably seen me with it at our outdoor sessions. It’s a lens bag that has interchangeable covers, and I swear I am addicted to buying those darn covers!
They probably just featured me because of all the money I’ve spent with them! You can read yet another interview with me if by chance you are not already sick to death of what I have to say, lol! Shootsac July Newsletter

Cool Thing #4
Back when I won the WPPI Fresh Faces contest, I got a congrats from Mompreneur magazine. They asked if they could put a little blurb in the magazine about the win, so that came out this past month too.

Cool Thing #5
I was asked to photograph a number of families for the Alberta Children’s Hospital – a place near and dear to my heart. I spent last Thursday photographing some of the cutest and most inspiring kids you will ever meet. It was a HUGE HUGE HUGE honour to be asked to this, and it was incredibly humbling and uplifting. I will share more about this on the blog later on, but I had to mention it because it was such a special day.

Cool Things #6 & #7
Boo, I can’t talk about them yet because they haven’t fully happened. I don’t want to jinx anything, so I will just say that I promise to share with you all as soon as they do.

Just a couple of last things to mention. I’ll be away for most of September, I’m going to ITALY and I’m VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT!!! What that means for you though, is that I am booked up for most of the fall already. I have a couple of spots during the long weekend and a couple in October, and will also be doing two days of mini-sessions this year to help try to fit everyone in. The first date will be Sunday, September 5th and the second date is Sunday, October 3rd. Hopefully one of those dates will work for everyone. I’ll be putting the appointments up on the blog this week, but newsletter readers get first crack, so make sure to sign up above if you want in!

Also, I’ve been super swamped this summer with some really great clients. I’ve fallen behind a bit on the blog, but I promise there are lots of sneak peeks to come VERY soon! Thanks so much for your patience.

They make really, really, really cute kids.

Brandy — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:42:51 +0000

I was so excited to hear from this family again, I first saw them a few years ago to take maternity and newborn photos for their first adorable child.
She was born around the time of Suri Cruise, and I remember commenting on the resemblance. (I always think people look like celebrities). She was even chosen to grace the cover of Birthing magazine here in Calgary!
Well, fast-forward to the next baby, and yowsa! Gorgeous baby #2! The same head of dark hair and the same beautiful lips. So much newborn-y goodness. And of course big sister is still just as cute as can be!
Thanks again to this wonderful family for having me out to document this next chapter!

I want her hair. And her house. And her iPads. Oh yeah, and her body.

Brandy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:30:12 +0000

This session was an absolute DREAM, a dream I tell you. Firstly, she is gorgeous. Like SO NOT EVEN FAIR gorgeous. Secondly, she was super nice, and almost shy! Then I find out that she sent her other two kids to the park so we can have a session that focuses on her and her new baby. Score!
But wait, it gets better! They are moving, and so their home is completely de-cluttered and there’s lots of open space to shoot in. And lastly, they are Apple fanatics like me and it seemed like there was an iPad in every room. I seriously want to move in with them, lol!

I’m excited to share some of these because she was just glowing. I know it’s a cliche for pregnant women, but she really was! You’ll see. Oh, and the body? She was exactly 10 days away from her due date in these photos. FOR REAL.

That was then. This is now.

Brandy — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:10:14 +0000

Just one (or two, I guess) to share before the weekend. I first met this little man last year at his newborn session, and it was so great to be able to see him again now that he’s one and all grown up, lol!

I’m reallllllly behind on the blogging, and I am so sorry to all my wonderful, patient clients that are waiting for sneak peeks. I will be working like a demon for the next week to get blog posts up, so stay tuned!
I’m also realeasing the dates for this year’s mini-sessions – and newsletter clients get first crack at the dates, so make sure you sign up above!
As always you can visit www.freshsugar.com to book your full session.

She’s One!

Brandy — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:25:22 +0000

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this family 4 times in the past year, and I’m excited to say I will see them at least two more times because Mom is pregnant again!

I adore this family, you all probably recognize little Izzy by now. She’s the happy little girl with a loving family and a fabulous closet.

We ventured out on a drizzly day in Calgary and had the BEST time! I was so excited about these images because Izzy was just such a sweet and happy girl that day. Ahhhh, when the stars align!

Howdy howdy howdy!

Brandy — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:10:40 +0000

You either love it or you hate it. I don’t know too many people who are indifferent to the Calgary Stampede. We love it, although I would agree that this year had several things that could have been done better. But I love this city we live in, and I love that we all pull out our western wear once a year and walk around with cowboy hats and giant belt buckles. I love that there are hay bales all over the place, and every store window has an awesome cartoon window painting. I love that you don’t have to pay for a single breakfast in 10 days, and that country music is the norm, not the exception. I love that with your admission you get to see amazing artists for free – like Martina McBride and One Republic. I love corn dogs and mini donuts, bingo and whack-a-mole. I love the Calgary Stampede – The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
(For those non-Calgarians reading this, you can see what the heck I’m talking about here. That is if you haven’t already heard of it from one of the midway rides breaking apart and sending 6 people to hospital last week. And yes, in Canada we say “to hospital” not “to the hospital”. We’re kooky like that.)

Before we headed out, I had to get some snaps of the girls in their cowgirl duds.

Various Stampede activities, all taken with my iphone because I always forget my point and shoot. They look like poop because it is late and I have no desire to even begin to try to fix them. If you cross your eyes and squint, they look better. Try it.

We had crazy fun down on the grounds. Ride, after ride, after ride. And deep-fried Oreos. Go ahead, scroll back up to look at them. I'll wait.

My girls are so very different. Charlotte is not even 4 and a huge daredevil, wanting to go on EVERY ride. Emma, who is 7, was a bit scared of most of them, but did get a kick out of learning how to juggle. Oh, and then we had a pulled pork parfait. And it was delicious. The end.

She’s 12. Can you even BELIEVE IT?

Brandy — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:52:23 +0000

When it’s not raining here in Calgary, we’ve been getting the most gorgeous evening light. So when Lisa from Sugar Shack Cakes asked me to take some photos of her daughter Haley, I was excited to be able to photograph someone whose bedtime isn’t 7pm, lol!

Haley is the most beautiful girl, inside and out. She’s polite, funny and has the best giggle I think I’ve ever heard. She was an absolute dream to work with, and as you can tell me the photos, the camera loves her. Thanks so much you guys for an awesome evening, enjoy your sneak peek!

This is one of my favorite photos, ever! I looooooooove it.

She was a trooper for sure, as I made her tromp all over the place.

Such a natural in front of the camera. Or else she's read posing books, lol - I didn't even have to tell her to do this!

Squeal! She's the cutest thing ever. Seriously.

Anytime I asked her to do ANYTHING, she was already on it. Love her.

I took a lot of close-ups because she has the most beautiful eyes!

I just realized that this is a huge share because I couldn't. stop. editing.

Ok, last one. Couldn't resist.

Ok, I lied. So sue me. THIS is the last one.

I have some really great sessions to blog next week, I wanted to squeeze an extra one in tomorrow (Hi Miranda!) but I am off to the Stampede with the family and want to give the blog post the attention it so richly deserves. So until Monday . . . YAHOOOOOOOOOO!
As always, you can book at session by visiting the website: www.freshsugar.com

Friday Night in Inglewood

Brandy — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:27:44 +0000

I don’t know how she does it, I honestly don’t. I spent the evening with a lovely mom of 4 – a 1 year old, 2.5 year old twins and a 5 year old. I know that it was the hardest I’ve worked for a session in a looooooong time, so I can’t even IMAGINE keeping up with the four of them on a daily basis! Superwoman, I tell ya! Between the chaos of having 4 small kids on a busy Inglewood street on a Friday night, we managed to have lots of fun and get some adorable images. I have my usual look for most of the gallery, but I’m sharing some moodier stuff here on the blog that just seemed to grab me.

Kids love me, they really do.

We had fun, I swear.

Even if it looks like they are trying to escape.

See, I'm not really so bad.

I can even be mildly amusing. Mildly.

Are you kidding me with those glasses? So freaking CUTE!

Even mosquitos want in on all the action. Maybe I can be Calgary's top mosquito photographer.

Just yet another reminder that fall is booking fast. Visit www.freshsugar.com to book your session today! You do NOT want to miss the holiday card awesomeness we have this year!