I’ve only just met Pauline this past summer, but already she’s left a beautiful impression on my life.  She’s bright, friendly, gorgeous, and has an enormous amount of contagious positivity!

She’s now working for the Multicultural Coalition in Edmonton as an Associate Coordinator.  Somewhere I know she’ll make another beautiful impression.

x0

Steph

ps: Notice the earrings she rocked in this session?  She sells them for her aunts who make them and send them from Rwanda and in Malawi.  Let me know if you want me to hook you up with a pair of your own.

- Shuan

They were in town last week to finalize some wedding plans, so we snuck in a downtown Edmonton engagement session before they had to head back. Even with the weather deciding to be chilly they were both full of energy. Warm, smiling energy

Here are a few favourites,

Steph

They met at a wedding. She caught the bouquet.  Then he caught the garter. They danced. A lot.  And now they’re getting married!    :D

We took them out for an engagement session to a new indoor location, and then down through the river valley. They were troopers because we got a little shutter happy and spent over 2 hours with them.  Its easy to do when two people look so good and the light is just right!

The wedding is going to be a gorgeous February wedding with ivory rose petals and white candles on the tables.  It’ll also be a blast on the dance floor with Harman B and DJ Kwake mixing all night.

Here are some of our favs.

steph

This would be such a great way to spend a day for someone’s birthday, or wedding shower, or staggette, or just a girls date.

Our friends are in many ways our family, they are an extension of who we are as people. And they are worth photographing!

Gord and Kristina had a blast hanging out with this group for the day. They all looked gorgeous, and were so easy to photograph.

cheers, to your many more years of friendship.

- Steph

Kris first signed up for this outdoor boudoir shoot last summer, I’d envisioned long grass, sunshine and warmth. Like many projects we dream up..they get shuffled to the back burner and time goes by. Her last semester of school started in the fall. With the warm theme gone our vision changed to a more moody portrait session. She had some dark emo ideas…and then suddenly it was winter and she was about to leave for her India trip. (To be honest we finally did the shoot a day before her flight departure!)

I wasn’t sure if she’d still be up for it, because it was -10 degrees Celsius! but of course she was. We found a shack just out side of town, and it seemed too pretty for the dark and moody design we first had. Instead we went with a peaceful and quite theme. The plan was to do the shoot at sunrise. To have gorgeous light coming in through the trees as Kris was ‘waking up’. We decided on a wardrobe, tracked down a daybed that was easy to set up and take apart and were ready to go. The sun was set to rise at 7:58am, so we were up at 5am to do her hair and makeup, and out at the site by 7:15am so we could set up the bed. Everything was set to go…but the sun. Instead of morning rays, we saw a bluish sky turn into a light grey. We had an overcast day. Ahh well I guess that means shooting in it wouldn’t be to complicated.

Kris stayed warm in the truck in between shoots and clothing changes, but other than that…she was out in the cold! -10 with a bit of wind. She had blue legs but hardly shivered. Her already pale skin looked even more porcelain with the cold. And she did it all with a smile. She was so brave. Thankyou.

One more thing I want to mention;
Isn’t she absolutely, stunningly gorgeous!

love you Kris,

-Steph

ps: turn up your volume

Lilikoi from Shaun Scade on Vimeo.

Little Emilie Jo-Anne Amyotte was born on the first day of March, weighing only 5lbs 2oz and 18inches long. She decided to show up early and surprise us all. It was a wonderful surprise.  There was a mad dash to finish the nursery and stocking up on necessities, but their whole family chipped in. Amanda and Gilbert are two of my favourite people. Friendly, fun, honest and hardworking; Emilie’s lucky, they are going to be such good parents. And thanks to our many late nights of American Idol Karaoke, I’m sure Emilie will also enjoy  a few lullabies from Amanda.  They have been together for over 10years now, and were more than a little excited about starting a family this year.

Emilie needed to spend her first week in the hospital because she was so tiny, when she finally proved she could go home we rushed over to take some newborn pictures! She’s got the littlest nose, and the littles toes and a whole lot of sweetness!

Here she is.

- Steph

I luv this shot, she is so unimpressed with my scarf wrapping skills.

The shoot went so well!  The sunlight was lovely, and Ania was up for anything, she had lots of ideas, she loved the black and white look, and we were able to create some beautiful portraits.  Eva had a fun painting idea which I think I want to incorporate into a fun photography project later on this summer! (thanks Eva). Here are some of our favourite images!

- Steph

As soon as we walked in we felt like family, they were so warm and friendly. Imagine how their little baby girl is going to feel! Her new room was set just right, with pretty colours, a few toys, and a rocking chair.  We spent the next hour photographing them in their home with their playful puppies. Thanks for welcoming us into your lovely home. We had a great time. Hope you like these images as much as we do.

Here is a link to the old blog

The Olympics are a great excuse to watch TV.  It only happens once every couple years, it’s on all day, and it makes for great watching.  So this year I found myself watching the great Olympic coverage over on CTV and very often found myself looking at our family portrait above the television.

This particular print is large.  A good 4 feet wide.  So it’s noticeable, but suits the wall size perfectly.  It’s also about 12 years old.  So I am around 20 in the image.  As a family we have had several family photos done since this one.  But it is the dominant family photo in the house because it has a significance.  The image was photographed by Jigger Schmidt.  To most people that name doesn’t mean much, but to many photographers he was one of Canada’s best portrait artists.  Unfortunately, he passed away shortly after this image was taken.  He was an important influence on my father, and a lot of of other great photographers in our community.  Our family photo is a reflection of us, but it is also a reflection of Jigger.

Recently this image has meant a lot more to me.  In November my beloved mother Bev passed away suddenly.  It wasn’t expected.  It wasn’t prepared for.  We didn’t get a chance to take another family photo.  We didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.

This image has been above the television in their house (our workplace) for approximately 12 years now.  6 months ago it was a family portrait.  A reminder of what we looked like a decade ago.  Now it is a treasured memory of a family.  I look up, and I see my Mom looking happy and beautiful.  I see all of us together.  I will admit it makes me sad.  But it also makes me really happy.  My Mom, like many women, didn’t like getting her picture taken.  Considering she lived in a family full of photographers there really aren’t too many photos of her (especially in the last few years).  She would always cover up, or make a goofy face thinking that it would deter us from taking photos.

After she passed, we gathered up the best photos of her throughout her life and put them into a collection to show everyone.  Seeing her grow up and become the amazing person that she was had an incredible effect on me.  It made me realize the role we as photographers play in a family’s life.  We chronicle moments.  We capture instances in people’s lives that reflect that time in their life.  But more than that, we help families remember.

I vividly remember my vacation with my mom to China.  But looking through the images of our time there, I more than just remember it.  I feel it.  It brings me back to those moments.  I feel the excitement of being in a foreign land.  An image of my mom eating deep-fried bugs is entertaining to those that weren’t there.  It tells a story.  It shows how brave she was.  But to me, i feel her laughter and the palpable trepidation she had felt just before.  Without this image, I would remember it.  But I wouldn’t get that emotional charge from merely remembering it.  I wouldn’t remember the pride I had for my Mom to be trying something so out of character.

It’s why we cry when we see pictures.  Why we cry during movies that remind us.  Or when we hear stories.  It isn’t the memory.  It’s the emotion’s attached to the memory and the imagery somehow pulls these emotions out from deep within us.  Unfortunately, photos of my Mom and I alone are somewhat rare.  And this image of the 2 of us on the great wall is something that will be treasured forever.  Seeing it I remember her awe, and know the wonder we both felt, and the power of being in such an historic location.

I now realize how important photography is in people’s lives.  How important my job is.  I am not just taking pretty pictures.  Not just making people look good.  It may seem like that due to the immediacy of the photos.  But down the road sometime, these photos are going to mean a lot more.  We have people tell us all the time that they love their wedding photography.  That they go through their album over and over and over, and it makes them feel what they felt on their wedding day.  Imagine what they are going to feel ten years from now.  Or 25 years from now when there first child gets married.  That album is worth more than the paper it is printed on.  Those images of your first newborn child, bring you back the excitement you felt, and the fear.  You can almost feel the fragility of the 6 pounds in your arms.

Stephanie and I are getting married this year.  It is going to be a fantastic and wonderful day.  Though the absence of my Mom, and my 2 grandparents that have passed in the recent years will be tough.  I miss my Mom every single day.  I am constantly reminded of her laughter, her smile, and her compassion.  I know that with time, the hurt will subside slowly.  But I know that I need that hurt.  That I need that happiness that comes with the hurt.  My life has been filled with amazing moments.  Moments of happiness, pure joy, and discovery.  But there have been many tragedies in my life as well.  And it’s this tragic moments that have led to some of the biggest discoveries and changes in my life.  At my Mom’s funeral my good friend Jesh (of the the aforementioned life changing workshops) told me that there are moments in everyone’s life that will be trying.  But it is what you take from these experiences that will make the difference.  To experience the full gamut of emotions.  To completely embrace the pain.  To use it to strengthen myself and to use it to step forward.  This event, as heartbreaking as it is, will make me a stronger person.  A better photographer.  A better friend.  A better brother.  A better son.  A better husband.  A better Dad.  Better.  And as much as I wish that this is the last of these events to happen, I know that life is full of them.  I will not let them destroy me.  But I will never forget them.

As a family we have become stronger.  We are missing one of the most important physical elements of what made us a family.  But we will always be a family.  A family that will continue to grow and support itself.  A family that grows stronger as a single entity.  Grows closer and tighter with every collective experience.

As a person we are the sum of our experiences.  A combination of everything we have ever seen, or felt, or done.  A collection of every person we have ever met.

As a photographer we are our perspective.

Every photographer has a unique way of seeing things that is based on who they are, everything they have experienced, and everyone they have ever met.  That is why our photography will always be changing.  Because we as people are always evolving and growing.

I encourage you to commit to photography.  Whether you are a photographer or not.

Hire a professional photographer for the big events and the important milestones.  But also take pictures of the everyday things.  Carry a camera.  It doesn’t have to be a great camera.  My iPhone camera has become more important to me than I could have imagined because it means I always have a camera with me.

A self-portrait of us. This image wouldn't exist if we didn't have an iPhone on us.

Record the mundane moments.  Capture everything.  We have no excuse anymore for not having photos of our lives.  Cameras are embedded in everything.  So take pictures of your family, your friends, of things you love.  And when someone wants to take your picture.  Don’t shy away.  Be proud of who you are.  Embrace who you are.  Because you are loved.  And those who love you want to have these moments.  We all want to hear your story.  We want to see and experience your story.  We want to be a part of your story.

We all have a story.  This is my story.

- Shaun

This past weekend we were at the Exposure Photography Symposium.  We met a lot of great photographers and great people.  The speakers were informative and more so inspiring.  We loved getting to know everyone and hearing their stories.  It inspired me to tell mine so that it can be told, and as a cathartic exercise.

Why do we as photographers take pictures?  Every one of us has a different story.  A different catalyst that got us to where we are now.  Due to recent events in my life, I feel compelled to tell my story.  This story has 2 parts.  The first part is about what got me here.  The second is about why it matters.

As you likely know, Scade Photography is a family run Business.  When I was a wee one, my dad started taking pictures of me because he wasn’t happy with the photos of us he purchased.  So like many of the new photographers today, he began taking photos of his children, got good, and was asked to take pictures of others.  That is the simple synopsis.  The full story will be saved for another time.  And I suppose one could say my story is similar, but it just started a little earlier.  I shot my first roll of film when I was 2-3 years old of my little sister as a baby.  My dad still has these images somewhere.  They aren’t great or artistic or even in focus really.  But it was a start.

As a kid, I loved photography.  I remember asking dad to load film into my camera for me.  I remember him teaching me how to use the internal metering system in the minolta SLR camera.  I took photos of people, of toys, of pretty much anything around me.  I once went to the 7-11 down the street, bought those cool styrofoam planes with propellers you put together, and then flew them and took pictures of them in the air.  I took 3 rolls that afternoon.  I was hooked.  I took a camera with me all the time.  I wanted to be like my Dad, and I loved everything about it.  Taking the pictures, changing film, sending them away and the excitement of opening up a new pack of 4×6 prints and seeing what worked out.  I used to watch the film processing machines at the grocery store spit out other people’s photos.  I used to watch my Dad’s lighting videos, read his training books.  I understood “the zone system” when I was 8 years old.  I went to Quebec when I was 11 with school and I took 11 rolls of film in 5 days.

I am impressed that I at least knew how to hold a camera stably at this age.

ignore the short shorts and check out the Contax camera with Carl Zeiss lens!

But then for some reason, it became less important.  I still took photos.  But it wasn’t something I had to do.  I didn’t want to be a photographer like my dad.  I didn’t know what I wanted to be.  Photography was something my dad did, and I didn’t.  At least from when I was 14-23.  I played sports and I had my computer.  I went to University.  I got a degree in Health, fitness, and well-being.  I worked at a physiotherapy clinic, I worked at schools, I worked at a music store, I worked with underprivileged children, I worked with adults with developmental disabilities.  All of this made me who I am now, but I was unhappy.  I was in a  relationship and it was falling apart.  I sought new ways to express myself.  To find myself.  I ended up finding something I used to love.  Photography.  I asked my dad to borrow an old camera of his and I went crazy.  It was like I was a kid again.  I took a 12 hour course at metro college on how to use the camera, I read books, and I explored whatever resource I could.

This past weekend new friend mentioned to me that many photographer’s get into photography at a time when they are unhappy.  They hypothesized that it could be that we are looking for the beauty in things.  That the reason it affects us so much is that we are creating happiness and beauty from things that we see everyday.  It allows us to focus on the good things around us, and not what is bringing us down.

My Dad was impressed with what he saw.  He asked me to come along with him on a wedding.  It was fantastic.  I took roll after roll, and there were some pretty decent shots.  I did whatever I could to learn and get better.  I went to my first WPPI convention in Las Vegas, and it opened my eyes to the possibilities.  I ignored Vegas and soaked in everything photography related I could.  I joined the Professional photographers of Canada.  I attended seminars, and I experimented.  It got to the point where I couldn’t do anything other than photography and got really stressed with my other job.  After a doctor ordered stress leave, I made the decision to pursue my career.

I Jumped.  I committed.  I worked with another photographer that had a huge influence on me, and with my Dad.  Eventually I got too busy and my Dad and I began working together full-time.  It became a family business.  Dad the main photographer, I was his assistant and the computer guy, and my Mom running the office and business aspects.  Throughout the past 5 years, my role increased and we have had several photographers work with us as well.  In 2008 I went to 2 workshops (Red Leaf Studios and Jesh de Rox) that changed the way I think about photography, and life.  They changed my perspective, which in turn changed my life.

Last September I got engaged to Stephanie, and we are to be married this Summer.  The same weekend we got engaged, Steph took the plunge and made the decision to leave school and become a photographer.  As with me, her passion for photography overwhelmed the rest of her life.  We then had my mom doing accounting, bookkeeping, and office management.  Dad, Steph and I as full-time photographers, my sister Kristina, and our good friend Jeff as part-time photographers.  A family business.

In November something tragic happened that rocked our little family business.  My Mother Bev passed away suddenly at the age of 55.

To continue reading “Everyone has a Story” click here to continue to part 2.

- Shaun

When my sister Kristyn and I were younger, we looked way up to our older cousins. Heather, her sister Melissa and Jennifer. Anything they were interested in, we thought was cool too. Now that we’re older and the age difference doesn’t seem so important any more. The relationship is more parallel.

I remember the first time Heather told me about Chris. Kristyn and I were visiting out in her back yard. Heather was going on and on about this fantastic guy who lived next door to her. We left with the distinct impression she was just a little more than smitten with him, turns out he was smitten with her too!

The two have been planning on their wedding for quite some time now. They booked us back in the summer, but Chris actually never officially proposed with the ring until just this past Christmas season.  He still wanted it to include at least some element of surprise for her.  So, with one fake proposal to throw her off, (which wasn’t cool. haha) and one that didn’t pan out due to a sudden case of food poisoning..Chris was still able to pull off a perfect proposal. One that knocked Heather’s socks off and even included fireworks.

Congratulations! Here are some pictures for their engagement session.