Here I am sitting eating a watermelon (oh yeah me and watermelons have a special relationship!) and thinking I should tell you about something that happened to us last week. On Friday my family had the privilege of participating in the Citizenship Ceremony. How awesome was that?! It was a very blissful event and I am so glad I could be a part of it! There were quite a few Russian speaking families there (from Ukraine, Kazakhstan as well) and over 70 families from 25 other countries. One thing united everyone - the amazed look on their faces and pride for becoming a Canadian Citizen.
Rewind. Alex, Timofey and I came to Canada in July 2005. We had friends here whom we met online a few months prior to our arrival (Olya, Taras - you guys are the BEST and we miss you so much while you are in US, please come back to Calgary! :)). I remember Alex telling me before we got to Calgary: "Are you sure these guys are legit and won't kidnap us?"...haha It seems funny now but back then after living in Russia for so long it was kinda hard to believe somebody can simply be kind to complete strangers and even offer their home.
3 years have quickly passed and we applied for Canadian Citizensip. And then we waited. And waited more. :))We waited for a year and a half to write our citizenship tests (follow the link to see what those tests are like, they say it's Canadian school program). We were so thrilled when we got letters from the government saying we passed! woohoo! The long wait was over and we got to the Harry Hays Building early Friday morning along with almost 100 other people.
I am proud of my Russian heritage, my accent, and the fact that I look Russian.:) My son speaks both English and Russian at the age of six and we hope he keeps his native language. I am happy to live in Canada, I love Calgary (no seriously I do!, I think it's a great city and I keep discovering more and more about it!) and I can't wait for Stampede each year! :) I am now Russian Canadian and I love it! :) Lots of love to all my friends - both Russian and Canadian! Love you guys!!!
Tim and his new buddy:
My Mom and I: :)
In the ceremony room...it was gorgeous!
He looks pretty happy, doesn't he? :)
Love the Calgary Tower on my head..:) haha
The Judge and kids singing the National Anthem:
My camera settings were way off in this one as I gave it to my Mom to snap this photo: I like it anyways. :)
Both Maria and I were checking the weather forecast for the day of the wedding every day of the week before the event...It showed rain one day, then it would go back to cloudy, then sunny, then rain again...And guess what - the weather was perfect! Just as Maria and Mike hoped for. They had the perfect day for their wonderful wedding! And both Ekaterina and I were thrilled to be there and document it for them.
Maria and Mike are a very special couple, when you're around them you can just feel their love for each other, it's literally in the air. They have an amazing way of making each other laugh and smile. Mike is so caring and protective of his girl, she's all he wants and she's the one he is making happy. I am lucky to be a witness of such love and I am so happy for you two! Much love and enjoy the photos! :)
I love taking pictures of April and her family! First of all, she's so much fun to be around and she's a beauty, too! I love hanging out with you, April! :)) Her boys (and here I mean her wonderful husband Glenn and her adorable baby boy Garrett :)) are a hoot. Couple of weeks ago we April and I got together again and took Garrett to a nearby park. We all had so much fun, Garrett was exploring the world that was new to him and was having an amazing time - meeting new friends, running around, going on the swing with his beautiful mom, and digging in the rocks (I mean can it get any more interesting than diggin' in the rocks??:))
Still a bit suspicious of the huge camera:
Loving the cute smile Garrett has!
Awww....chubby cheeks!
Oh did I mention laughs?:))) I liked it when Garrett would speed up like a rocket and leave his mom and me behind. haha :) I had to switch to my 70-200 2.8 IS if I had to keep up with this little Dash..:)
-Hello, anybody there??
-So should I rake first or dig?
A quiet moment with mom....
Garrett on the run! :)
Pure fun! Or is it determination?
Hugs with mom are the best!!
Love you guys!!
I can't believe Garrett has grown so much! It's wonderful to watch your friends' kids grow and being able to document it - those moments go by too fast and they're truly precious!
I've been thinking so much about what I will write in my blog post about this workshop but what I'll probably do is I'll just let my thoughts flow and I will type as fast as I can. :)
....I'm happy. I'm content. I'm full of energy to change things in my life and move forward. I'm ALL IN. I love this feeling! It's amazing, enlightening, invigorating, freeing, and I want to remember it and come back to it if I ever feel down. I look at people around me in a different light now. I want to smile big and make it contagious! I am ME. Thank you, Dane. You and your words have touched my heart more than I thought and I needed that wake up call (aka kick in the butt) to start doing something about how I run my business.
...I could not possibly imagine anything like that and definitely not at a photography workshop. The things Dane touched upon were so deep, the questions he asked were so complex that it was impossible to answer them in 2 words and maybe hope he will move on to the next person. It did not work that way. I am so used to hind behind safe phrases, excuses, settings that when I was listening to other photographers reveal their fears and hopes and expectations I felt like I wanted to do the same - share, commit and open up! We were there FOR EACH OTHER, we all bonded so much during the 2 days and now I can't wait for our first Calgary Fast Track meeting! I would love to see everyone's progress and just be in such a wonderful group of people again. Love you guys!! It was awesome to share the laughs and the tears with you, together we can be so much stronger!
I'm happy to see this workshop to be such a success and feel grateful to everyone who attended it! Art and I could not have done it without you! Dane, you were more than we...oops I mean I expected! You are a wonderful person with such a good heart and it was such a pleasure to finally meet you! You have an extraordinary ability to talk, teach and listen and I still have so much to learn from you. I wish I could attend Escalate 2010 in person! Wishing you best of luck with it!!
Special thanks to Danna Bowes for offering her beautifil studio for this workshop! Danna, you're amazing! And I still have your key, let's get together!
so many great people in one room!
Our technical guru Noel Dodd, don't know what I'd do without you!!
Marketing tips while watching Polar Express. Loved it!!
I think Dane was trying to make his point here..:)) Look how impressed Geoff is!:)))
Kristen had her birthday and she was lucky to get Dane and Kevin Kubota's books as a gift! :)) Happy Birthday once again, sweet Kristen!! hugs!
Dane's editor Andy phoned for updates..:) hi, Andy!
lots of laughs!! :))))
Jenna-Marie had the tough task of naming everyone in the group in the morning of the second day and she did so well!
David and Quin Cheung from DQ Studios spent some time with us as well! It was so great meeting them, they're so much fun! :)) Hope we will get to hang out again..;))
We also did some shooting and beautiful Stephanie Leblond was my subject. She was so easy to photograph!
Look how busy Joelene and Christina are reviewing their images..:))
Ok here's te photo I would like to tell you a bit more about. We got the most fantastic gift from DC Fast Trackers on the second day of the workshop - a very beautiful slideshow of their images from their workshop with Dane. Dane was very touched as well as everyone else. These guys were amazing! Feuza, thank you so much!!!!
"Love Life".....
Commit to a change!!
Dane touched on editing in Lightroom and yes that goofy face is mine..haha :))))
A formula for a CHANGE.
I barely slept in these two days because so much was going on in my head, I could just feel new ideas growing and breaking through like young seeds trying to break trough the tough surface. I feel passionate about my photography and I feel that I am more equipped now with the tools necessary for me to succeed. And I have my wonderful friends who have my back and will support me all the way! FEO - For Each Other!
Being originally from Russia I came to live in Calgary with my family in the hot summer of 2005. I love my family, reading, watching movies, translating documents (don't laugh! I know I'm weird), smell of freshly cut grass, playing Bejeweled on Facebook and.... - PHOTOGRAPHY! :)) I have been blessed with so many wonderful couples and families whose relationships and emotions I captured with my camera! I specialize in wedding photography but I love photographing families and kids a lot, too! My family is my GREATEST support and I will be thankful to them eternally! Have a seat, grab some popcorn and look through my blog. :) have fun!
Feel free to email me with any questions at lanaphotography@gmail.com or phone me at 403.440.1826. Looking forward to hearing from you! :)
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