It's been a hot minute.

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Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since I last shared here—since the start of 2020, to be exact. Right before you-know-what took over the world. Remember life before 2020? Me neither. ;)

I've been contemplating bringing this blog back to life and I'm not sure where it should be on the to-do list.

Your feedback will help guide the direction of this blog. I’ll be sharing when I have something to chat about. If you have specific subjects you’d like to read about, please share below. I always enjoy hearing from you.

update: thank you for the ideas! I’ve got a list of great requests and I’m all over it. Stay tuned!

Thank you for being part of this journey. I look forward to reconnecting with you.

Trish

Wait, what?

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Sometimes I wonder if my kid even likes me. As a mom, to stumble across a blog post by the brilliant jewellery designer Amanda Klein is…well…everything. It looks like there was a brief ‘model interview’ after a jewellery shoot and this was the result. I need to call Zoe and tell her the feeling is mutual.

 
Photo by Amanda Klein.

Photo by Amanda Klein.

 

Aspirations: my dream job is to be a Disney Imagineer (someone who builds the rides at the Disney Parks!), and I would totally love to have my first YA manuscript published within the next couple of years!
Q. What is your most cherished piece of jewellery?
A. A ring that my dad gave to my mum when I was born! It was passed down to me. :)
Q. Who is (or was) the most inspirational female in your life?
A. Definitely my mother, Trish Mennell. She’s the hardest working woman I know, and she’s built and incredibly successful photography business in less than a decade. If there’s anyone that’s taught me my work ethic, it’s her!
Q. Breaking into and working in the modelling industry can be extremely difficult work. How do you handle the pressure?
A. I actually don’t find that there’s that much pressure! As long as you understand that when you don’t get chosen for a job, or told that you don’t have the right look for a particular project, that it has nothing to do with you as a person, you’ll be fine! Don’t think too much about anything anyone does in this industry: although it’s a very personal business, it’s still just business.
Q. You in three words?
A. Hard working, over-analytical, silly to a fault!
Q. your favourite Amanda Klein piece?
A. I absolutely adored all of the chokers!!!! I can’t choose just one!

A Dream for my kids

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Wikipedia defines Entrepreneurship as the "capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit”. While it’s true that any business must make a profit in order to enable the owner to continue to operate and make their mark on the world, I believe the greatest gift of Entrepreneurship is the ability it gives the creator to make a life. To me, being an entrepreneur has meant that I could take the time to spend a month at the hospital with my dying father, take my daughter to check out her new digs at university on a Thursday morning, and rearrange my day when my son developed a mystery rash on a Friday. Working for myself has created the freedom that I never knew when I worked in the financial industry, tracking vacation days and commuting on the GO Train each day.

I think so many of us want our children to have a better life than we do. My life is filled with day after day of exploration, fulfilling work, wonderful people and challenges that constantly keep me on my toes. I can’t imagine how my kids could have it better than I do, but I know that I will always encourage them to do what they love, but to do it for themselves.

What is your biggest dream for your kids?

Could you find your child's baby photos in under ten minutes?

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The-Vault-Trish-Mennell.jpg

This weekend, we needed to find a baby picture to submit to the school's yearbook committee.  Much digging around was done through old hard drives until we thought we found the right one.  But no power cord. After trying every old cord we could find,  we head to The Source for a new one.  Oh, you don't make those anymore?  Uh...we could try this one?  Okay...  Ugh, this drive won't mount to the Macbook because the drive is formatted for our old PC.  Okay, out comes the work HP laptop, in goes the plug, and *poof*.  The computer instantly powers down and won't restart.  The hard drive sits there like a pretty pink brick.  Half a (beautiful, sunny) day spent hunting for one photograph, an embarrassing visit to the IT department at work on Monday morning, and still no baby picture.  Maybe Grandma in Guelph has one we can borrow...

This seemed like a sign from the universe that it was time to share a secret project I've been working on for my clients for quite a while now.

I want you to enjoy your photographs.  I like your children to have their baby pictures.

If you are interested in some full-service assistance with your photo collection, drop us a note.

Shall we do a retrospective?

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I can't recall a year that made an impact quite the way that this one did in so many lives.  Personally, I had moments that were filled with joy and excitement (taking Zoe to her first day at university), and moments that were scary and sad and left me feeling incredible loss (taking Zoe to her first day of university). 

Throughout the ups and downs, I was lucky enough to witness moments that reminded me that we are all part of a big family of people who just want to feel love.  My job is to capture that love for the families that I visit, and I can't imagine anything I would rather do.

Zoe was home over the holidays and we spent time together drinking green tea and picking out some of our favourite images from this year’s sessions to share in my annual slideshow.  We had such a good time looking through the images of families I've come to know, some over many years.  We even shed a tear or two over a few shared memories.

Despite what some may say about these past few months, I have proof that there was lots of love.

A Little Shout Out to My Inspirational Friend Joanna Track, and her Life changing news service, “The Bullet.”

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If you are a Canadian in business you’ve no doubt heard of Joanna Track.   An incredible entrepreneur, Joanna has spearheaded several successful ventures, such as the popular Canadian brands Eluxe and Sweetspot, with which most Canadian women (who haven’t been living under a rock) will be familiar. She then put her efforts toward a marketing and consulting firm called “Good Eggs & Co.” which not only provides consulting for small businesses (like mine!) but helps other entrepreneurs and contractors connect with one another. 

As if this wasn’t enough for one powerhouse woman to accomplish, Joanna decided to take her passion for providing digital content to the next level. Joanna has recently launched a new project called “The Bullet”, a Canadian news publication delivered daily via e-mail that provides a concise, abbreviated “shot” of important news to your inbox every morning. The Bullet makes reading the news fast, easy and totally mobile, which is essential in my fast-paced life. It's a quick, fun read and a perfect way to start my day. I love knowing what's going on in in world events, with an extra bit of attention paid to our home and native land.  And now I actually know what teams are doing well in sports that I don't follow.  Excellent for dad chats during shoots. :)

I love checking my email in the morning and finding The Bullet in my inbox.  It makes reading the news fast, easy and totally mobile, which is essential in my fast-paced life. It's a quick, fun read and a perfect way to start my day. 

If you’re interested in knowing what's going on in the world every morning in one easy read, sign up here: http://thebullet.ca/

 

 

The Importance of Preserving our Memories of Grandparents

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Recently my family lost my Stepmom, Marie.  Marie had been ill for a while, but the loss came suddenly and was not at all expected.  In helping my Dad with the preparations for the memorial, we sifted through old photographs looking for great photographs of Marie.  I was stunned that we didn't have one fairly recent portrait of her, that featured her alone, that wasn't a snapshot.  How had I let this slip by?  This woman, who was the love of my Father's life, hadn't been professionally photographed since she was a little girl.  

How had I let this opportunity slip by?  This woman, who was the love of my Father's life, hadn't been professionally photographed since she was a little girl.  

Naturally, when we think of photographing our families, the emphasis is on the younger generation; the growing children who are rapidly changing in size and appearance from year to year.  As a result, the elder generation and even ourselves (parents) are often an afterthought.

I have had the pleasure of photographing many grandparents with their grandchildren, usually within an extended family session.  Rarely is a session booked just to focus on the grandparents. I certainly have never done this with my own family, as evidenced by our struggle to find a wonderful, recent photograph of Marie.  

For this reason, and in Marie's honour, I am working on putting together a special 'For Grandparents Only' Package.   I hope this session will inspire everyone to create these important photographs that will become such treasures.  Because, sadly, and perhaps unexpectedly, the opportunity for photographs will be gone.

 

 

For Women only - How to Pose Like a Pro for photographs

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If you're like most women, you struggle to capture your best features on camera.  As one who absolutely hates being photographed myself, I understand how scary it can be when the lens is pointing in your direction and you wonder, "Am I doing this right?"   While it may be true that some people just naturally photograph better than others, there are a few things we can do to make sure we get the best possible, most flattering photographs of ourselves. The secret is, it’s all in the pose! Here is the ultimate posing cheat sheet so that you’ll never again take an unflattering photo!

What To Do:

1.       Lean Your Upper Body Slightly Toward the Camera

Be sure when posing for a photo that you lean slightly toward the camera.  Your hips should always be behind your face as a general rule of thumb.

2.       Push Your Shoulders Down One Inch Toward the Floor

Many people tend to raise their shoulders a bit when being photographed, possibly due to nerves. Be aware of this tendency and push your shoulders down an inch or so toward the floor.   A longer neck, leaner lines and a more relaxed overall look is the result.  Beautiful!

3.       Turtle

Yup, you read it right.  It's called the turtle.  Project your face toward the lens, like a turtle coming out of it's shell.  Feels weird but looks great!

What Not to Do:

1.       No Duck Face.

No more of that obnoxious, pouty “duckface” that has somehow become so popular amongst today’s youth. You know, that one where you purse your lips and suck in your cheeks as though you’ve just sucked on a lemon? Duck face is out, got it? Just keep your expression pleasant and neutral, or give a nice genuine smile that feels natural and not too exaggerated.

 

2.       Don’t Stand Straight On.

Avoid standing straight on toward the camera, always angle your body slightly, it’s more flattering and always makes for a better shot.

3.       Don’t Try Too Hard.

Don’t exaggerate your poses or facial expressions, try to do what feels natural while keeping the above rules in mind. Trying too hard makes the photo look staged and uncomfortable.

 

Being photographed should be fun and painless.  Relax, enjoy yourself and incorporate the tips above and you'll look fabulous!  This post is for women only!  I'll have a post later on for the guys!

Feel free to share your best photo tip in the comments below!

the top five places to play hooky with my kids

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The Urban Dictionary describes playing hooky as being 'absent from school without an excuse'. As a serial hooky player during my high school years, I always had an excuse.  Aside from my sanctioned absences as yearbook co-editor, I had myriad reasons for attending class as scarcely as possible.  The lineups at Canada's Wonderland were so much shorter on school days...

My kids hit the Mom jackpot.

This propensity to do something fun instead of school every now and then hasn't left me.  My kids hit the Mom jackpot.  Here are my five favourite things to do with my kids when we play hooky together:

  1. Legoland.  This is only first because my son and I were just there.  On a Tuesday.  He got to hang out with one of his best buddies who is homeschooled.  So, it was kind of like a school trip.  They built stuff (engineering), played with other kids (social studies), negotiated with us at the snack bar (health studies), and ran around like maniacs with practically the entire place to themselves (phys. ed).  I bought an annual pass on the way out but can guarantee we won't be clocking any weekend hours there. 
  2. Disney World. Two words: Off season.  Everything is pretty much half price in October and November.  We did end up spending a long weekend confined to our room during a hurricane one visit, but that room was just so well priced!
  3. The cottage.  We fly to our cottage, so adding on a day to a weekend visit just makes sense when going that far, right?
  4. A shoot. Spending time at a studio, watching my daughter be transformed into a model and then do her thing for a fashion or beauty photographer, is a fabulous way to spend a weekday together.
  5. Our family room.  Sometimes you need some extra time together to hang out and just be.  Depending on the kid we'll Netflix binge on The O.C. or Lego Ninjago.  
 
kissing a dolphin is so much sweeter when you're missing school                                photo by Discovery Cove staff photographer

kissing a dolphin is so much sweeter when you're missing school                                photo by Discovery Cove staff photographer

My youngest will be in the double digits this summer, three will be in post secondary come September, and that almost-empty-nest feeling is looming.  I truly treasure the extra time that we spend together when my kids and I play hooky.  Of course, there's always the details to take care of when a kid's missed school so I'll write their school office a note the following morning saying that they "had an appointment".   What I don't write is, "with me". 

Do you play hooky with  your kids?  What are you favourite things to do together?

 

Why and how you should wear jeans at your maternity session

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Looking stylish is easy during pregnancy with a great pair of jeans

Looking stylish is easy during pregnancy with a great pair of jeans

I love capturing the beauty of pregnancy with the casual and cool vibe of a favourite pair of denims.  When Robin styles a maternity client she knows that the jeans and tank (or shirt) look is my favourite and so always includes one look for me to capture at the session.  It's true that jeans can be tough to wear well during a maternity shoot, so I've listed my top three tips here for you:

“If you need to wear maternity jeans at your session, invest in a great pair and go under belly all the way! ”
your diamond and your favourite jeans.  Perfect with your beautiful Belly.

your diamond and your favourite jeans.  Perfect with your beautiful Belly.

1. I like to time my maternity sessions so Mama can still get into her pre-pregnancy jeans simply to avoid the dreaded belly band.  Top designers obviously feel the same way as they've come up with jeans that are suitable for maternity without sacrificing style.  

2.  If you need to wear maternity jeans at your session, invest in a great pair and go under belly all the way!  Watch this guide from Ani+Wren, a fabulous boutique right here in Toronto (and online) with a great selection of maternity jeans from your favourite designers.                               

3.  Wear your jeans for a day or two before the shoot.  They will give a bit and you'll be able to move comfortably while we work together. 

always a classic, jeans never go out of style.  this image from 2010 is still an all time favourite.

always a classic, jeans never go out of style.  this image from 2010 is still an all time favourite.

How a little girl named Mara made my day

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It feels like only yesterday when I met this lovely couple who were expecting their first child, a little girl.  I remember chatting with Hayley on the phone about how I was exactly her age when I had my first child, also a little girl.  I told Hayley that, at the time, I didn't realize that I'd given birth to someone who would turn out to be my very best friend.  

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Since then, I've watched Mara grow up from this wee, darling baby...

...into this beautiful little lady.  Mara is a big sister now.   Her little brother was in the studio today for his six month session, so she's no longer the baby of the family.  She's a spirited, chatty little girl who loves Disney princesses and Paw Patrol.  

We made lots of sweet photographs of everyone and had finished up for the morning when I looked around and saw Mara and Hayley, snuggled up just like my daughter and I way back in the day.  I ran for my camera and grabbed a shot.  

This endearing moment made the memories come rushing back to the times when my 17 year old and I would snuggle and be silly.  We built a bond back then that has never broken (except for that little blip during the early teens, but I've managed to block that out).   Seeing this happening with Mara and Hayley altogether made my day.