Vancouver Boudoir, Portrait and Wedding Photographer | Jen Williams » Personal

Edmonton Portraits | The J Family

Jen — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:35:34 +0000

Last week Chad and I got together with the J family (aka, Chad’s sister, Jayda, her hubby Ryan and their daughter Grace) to take some photos. They are expecting a new little person to join their family very soon, in the next couple of weeks! We are all very excited to meet her…and I can’t wait to be an auntie again. I love being an auntie.

We started off just doing some relaxed portraits of Jayda and Ryan:

Little miss decided she wanted to get her photo taken in a couple too.

Nope. Not happening.

The photo below had me laughing when I was culling through my shots. Everyone’s expression says it all. Especially Grace. I just love that little stinker.

(yeah that’s me in there!)

Mr. Jinx happened to tag along at our shoot too.

4 years.

Jen — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:36:53 +0000

4 years ago I was having a discussion with someone I worked with about the ‘special’ people I had met via online dating; guys who would call me 36 times after I said I wasn’t interested, jealousy on the first date, and some who were seriously lacking in the conversational skills. Krissie (my co-worker) said to me ‘HEY OMG THERE’S THIS GUY AT MY GYM HE’S A PERSONAL TRAINER AND SUPER CUTE I THINK YOU WOULD LIKE HIM!’ Sidenote: Krissie does actually talk like this, her typing is even more exuberant, I love her passion for life. I thought to myself ‘oh GREAT he sounds special’. She tells me a bit about him, how he’s new to the city, wanting to meet some people, etc. I’ll be honest…I wasn’t that keen on meeting this guy. The last thing I needed was to add another meathead bozo to the list of ‘special’ people I’ve met. So the subject changes and we start talking about other stuff. The next day Krissie calls me and says, ‘Hey so do you want his number?’ ’Who?’ (had completely forgotten about the conversation we had about ‘gym guy’) ‘Chad, the trainer at my gym!’ I was totally honest with her and said no because I knew I would never call him…I have kind of a shy side and was definitely not bold enough to call some dude I’d never met and see if he wants to hang out. So, with my permission she gave him my number. Little did I know what I was in for.

I was driving down Jasper Ave in Edmonton, on my way to go take Mr. Jinx for a walk in the river valley. I was cruising along, listening to music and singing along loudly when my phone rang. I turned the music down and picked up the phone – I didn’t recognize the number but I knew who it was. Gym guy. I let it ring while I stared at it. Should I answer this call or just let it go to voicemail? Screw it – what do I have to lose? On the third ring I answered the phone… my hands were shaking, I was totally nervous (no idea why). He had me laughing instantly and asked me if I wanted to get together for a drink. I suggested we meet on Sunday (it was a Friday), but Chad wanted to meet tonight. TONIGHT. I was sooo not mentally prepared but agreed anyway. A few hours later I was standing at the pub entrance, nervously watching the people around. I had no idea what this guy looked like, just that he was wearing a black shirt. Great. Then I look up and see him walking towards me. YES. He’s not some freaky muscle head with arms thicker than my waist and no neck! We spent a couple hours chatting and getting to know each other. It seemed we had a lot in common and plenty to talk about. We ended the night with a hug and discussed hanging out again, which we did, several times that week. He even helped me shop for a new couch…I needed someone to help me test it out. True story – I asked him to spoon me at the furniture store LOL!!

A friend of mine was hosting a BBQ on May 6 and told me I should invite this new guy along. I talked to Chad about it and he didn’t have any interesting plans going on that night so he agreed. We decided to call it a ‘date’ because we hadn’t officially gone on a date yet. He picked me up and we picked up Krissie and another friend, Robyn and headed over to the BBQ. The party was fun and we all decided to go out to the Trap and Gill (super classy bar, let me assure you). The place was packed and there was a live band playing Great Big Sea covers. Chad and I headed over to the bar to grab a drink. I’m not even sure how it happened but I turned around to say something and somehow his lips met mine and we had this…KISS. It was unlike anything I had experienced before. It felt as if we had been sharing kisses like that for years. I felt so at home in that moment. I knew this guy was something special.

We had a blast the rest of the night, taking silly photos and singing along to Mari Mac, played by the band.

4 years ago today I had a ‘first date’ with the man who understands me more than I understand myself, the man who provides still strength in my life and the man who lifts me up because he believes in me.

Sometimes taking chances really pays off and I am so glad that he took that chance in calling me, and I took that chance in answering the phone.

Happy first-date-iversary punky. <3

Photo credit: Jamie Delaine

Self Portrait

Jen — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:09:15 +0000

I just spent the most amazing 3 days in Seattle with 20 people who have become my close friends.

This photo is one I took of myself this morning. The sun was shining, the breeze softly brushed my cheek, the air was fresh. Today was a beautiful day. One of the most beautiful days of my life. Thought it was worth sharing with you.

Random thought of the day…

Jen — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:36:38 +0000

Why??!!!

April 8, 2010 7:30pm

My Family

Jen — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 20:20:32 +0000

Since it is Good Friday I thought I would write a happy post about my family. Last night Chad and I thought we would take advantage of the sunshine and take our fur-kid for a walk. Winters are really long here in Alberta and so when we have a sunny evening where the temperature is above zero it seems like a real treat. Even in April. The light was really nice last night and so I decided to haul out my camera to take some personal snaps. I think there’s an old saying about shoemakers’ children not having shoes…yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve taken photos of my own family.

It’s always nice to capture moments like this of your own family…human kids or fur-kids.

Whenever we go for walks, Chad and I hold hands or link arms and Jinx always walks between us. It’s rediculously cute. We are a happy little family and seeing him walk with us always makes me smile. It’s funny how he just makes himself part of the family. There’s no question that he knows he belongs with us.

It’s funny how much personality a little beast like Jinx can have. I could be having the worst day and I’ll look at him and he’ll always make me laugh. I mean, who can resist that little smile? He even smiles with his teeth (photo on the left)!

Then there’s my hubby. I love him. He puts up with all my crap and when I am being a crab he still continues to love me (which is amazing to me considering how grumpy I can get). I can’t get mad at him either, he can always diffuse my bad mood just by making me laugh. Sometimes I get mad because he has made me un-mad. I’m a woman…we’re funny creatures. This photo is funny to me because the sun flare looks like he has some bright idea going on in his head or something…big head = big ideas.

So, this weekend, spend time with your family. Take out your camera and just take some photos of everyone. Put them on Facebook. They don’t have to be perfect because one day you will look back and be really glad you have that memory to remind you of this particular time in your life.

Happy Easter

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Jen — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:00:10 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day from me and Chad….hope you’re spending the day with someone (or something!) sweet!

And for your visual enjoyment, some cute V-day cookies courtesy of Ailynn from Whimsical Cake Studio.

I assure you, they were delicious.

We’re moving!

Jen — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:12:14 +0000

Chad and I are relocating to Vancouver, BC in Fall 2010. For more details, click here.

Some news!

Jen — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:25:25 +0000

Over the holidays Chad and I were able to spend some much needed time together and we discussed our goals for 2010. The main goal we are working toward is moving – Chad and I will be relocating to Vancouver in late 2010, after we finish our weddings for the year.

We are very excited about moving because we have been talking about it FOREVER and now we’re finally taking the steps to do it. Even Jinx is excited! Well, maybe not, but he will be!

That being said – if you are a Vancouver bride, I would love to talk to you about your wedding. I am planning several trips to the city to meet with clients and shoot this year, with the first trip being January 27-Feb 1. If you would like to meet to discuss your wedding, just send me an email and we can make a date for coffee!

Edmonton brides – I am still booking Edmonton weddings, so if you’d like more information on pricing and packages, just shoot me an email and we’ll talk!

And because this is a photography website, here are a couple photos I took while playing around over the holidays. Heart shaped bokeh is so cute!

This is Janessa and Daryn, we’re shooting their wedding next August. Janessa changed her wedding date so she could book me, how cool is that?! I am beyond flattered!!

And one of my love.

My little buddy. {Edmonton Photographer}

Jen — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:08:47 +0000

Jinx and I were enjoying a lazy Sunday morning/afternoon. I looked out the window and there was snow…Jinx LOVES snow. He jumps around in it, it’s quite funny. I took him on a walk to the park behind our house, and here is the story of our afternoon…

Le Sigh.

Mommy, I’m bored.

Jinx gets what we like to call ‘crazy eyes’ when he is excited. You can really see the emotion on his face, it’s so funny. This photo is totally out of focus but I just love his expression.

I let him run around the paths in the greenbelt area while I took a few snaps of the sun and the branches.

He always comes running back to mommy.

He cooperated and sat nice for me so I could take his picture. He is so handsome.

I love my boy.

Mission Hill Estate | Wine Tour

Jen — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:10:50 +0000

While in Kelowna to shoot a wedding (teasers coming soon!) my husband and I took some time to drive down to the Mission Hill Estate winery for a tour. The property is amazing, the wine is delicious and I didn’t want to leave!

Those grapes were delish!

Can you believe this view?

Me and Chad just hangin out & drinkin wine

Love this shot…the building is a restaurant on the property.

The wine cellar…it was so nice and cool down there.

This is the room they rent out for special events. I want to shoot a wedding here… *hint hint*

Thanks for looking!