This is a photo that my cousin Marcel van der Wal sent me the other day. It's my maternal grandmother, Maria Corver-van Maurik. Really terrible condition, with one corner missing. 

and this is my painstaking effort to fix it. Not wonderful, really, but the best I could do.  

Ok. We got a new snoot (hair light) and needed to test it out. Between Ricardo and I, there's just one head of hair, and it's mine. So much as I detest getting my photo taken here it is, compassionately retouched to stop me from running screaming out the door. ;-) 

Prettig kerstfeest en een gelukkig nieuwjaar!

This pic is for my mom and all my relations sitting in Holland right now, in the pouring rain, celebrating my Tante Rie's birthday. Happy Birthday Olaf too! And Merry Christmas to everyone we love from everyone here in Canada. 

Christmas family portrait of Beatrice and her children 

Beatrice. How could she be old enough to have all these grown children? She looks like a waif. 

Yesterday's shoot, Beatrice and her children. 

Remembering summertime  

Even though this shot goes against about a dozen of my caveats such as NO LOGOS etc it manages to please me, mainly I think because their faces are so strong and interesting. You could take any of them, put them in an old master painting and they'd fit right in. Considering doing just that, as a matter of fact. Watch this space. ;-) 

Drew Just wait till his grandmother sees what's on his arm..and gets back here to Canada.

Nick, who really didn't want his picture taken. 

Ella and her mom 

Tiny bella Ella 

You have to visit this blog. The Paragraph Novels. Love it a lot. It's exactly what it says it is. Paragraph novels. And each one has a dust jacket. Gotta love it. 

sepia van Horne 

one man band 

weirdness 

Terrance Van Horne 

Yesterday's marathon shoot. Terry Van Horne, Toronto musician. Talented, good-looking and sweet. 

Last week's shoot, Ben and his daughter Krista. 

Got an email last week from Charlene Chartrand. I always love Charlene's emails, she has the most exciting stuff to report. She's got the lead role in a movie filming now. She plays a character called the "Wolf Knight". Can't wait to see it. Great stuff Charlene. 

Drew, playing Bach's Prelude #1 in G, a solo cello piece that I love. 

Drew's hands 

My son, Drew, in the studio tonight. He hates having his picture taken so this was a pretty momentous event.  

today, snowy back garden 

Looking out my back window as I sit at the computer, this is what I'm seeing. Pretty, but cold. Brrr. 

potential trading card.. Toronto Police Mounted Unit. 

Toronto Police Mounted Unit

very rough sketch-out of trial combination - Toronto Police Mounted Unit .. potential trading card, P.C. Richard Cooper and police horse Sabre. 

messing about with horses and backdrops 

red lipstick on Lisa 

Lisa, Toronto actress again. 

Been feeling a bit burned out this past couple of weeks. Getting over the flu and Christmas is such a stress-packed time of year... was thinking of taking a little break from shooting. 

Today was very sad. We had to say goodbye to our friend Valeriy Krey from Kiev. He and his beautiful wife Ludmilla are flying back to Kiev on Saturday and then on to Manchester England to live for five years. We had a nice lunch together and talked about photography and life. This is one of the shots that Valeriy took this summer when we were all out together. Beautiful. 

Did you ever have one of those days? I had to work all day Sunday and Ricardo went downtown with the camera and had all sorts of fun and came home with this shot among many. Green with envy. 

Ghostly chairs after the concert 

Every once in a while you get that feeling that you've done something right. I'm really proud of my son Drew. He's an amazing cellist, among other things. Tonight was his school concert. He's also a cellist in the Mooredale Youth Orchestra and a member of a Mooredale classical quartet as well. 

International Trade Center with the Prince's Gates in the far distance.  

Toby, surveying his turf. 

Still working on the trading card project with the Toronto Police Mounted Unit. Hard to believe it's been more than two months since we started. It's been a lot of fun, I hate to see it end. This is P.C. Rick van Dusen riding police mount Toby. Toby is nearly 15 years old I think and a real beauty. He's bright and smart and best of all, always has his ears perked. Thanks to Rick for giving me a tour of the Canadian National Exhibition grounds and all the neat buildings. 

Owen and and his train 

Am I the only one who thinks Lisa Marie Presley and Diana Krall are sisters separated at birth? I'm sure I'm the only one who's sat down and stuck them together in the same frame. You'd never know it was my busiest time of year. Tsk. 

experimenting 

Molly and Chad are getting married next year so last night's shoot was sweet. 

man hands

falling out of the frame 

Molly, Chad and I were sitting looking at this photo and were mystified by the fact Molly's engagement ring appeared to have disappeared from her finger in the shot. Doh! It's Chad's hand.

headache-making hotel rug 

Mystery thing 

Bernard looking mischevious 

Bernard 

This afternoon's shoot, Bernard, Toronto real estate investment banker. Very easy to work with and adorable too. Miss Kitty got into the act. I think she knew he loves cats. 

This morning's shoot, at a series of seminars for ETFO with my headache-inducing flash. ;-) 

Sherry, at the ETFO seminar, sweet person. 

Victoria 

Tonight's shoot, sweet Victoria, on her way to great things. 

Last night's shoot, consulting dynamo Valerie  

Sgt Grummett was telling me that Elvis is actually P.C. Larry Bullock's mount and that Larry
has done a terrific job training Elvis over the last while. He certainly was well-behaved. 

Met Sgt Dennis Grummett down at Sunnyside Beach today for his photo session. He was riding police horse Elvis who looked like he was enjoying the outing. 

Had a a nice visit this morning from Julie Whelan, a photographer from Humber College who is doing an essay on what else? Photographers. For some reason she chose me and for some reason wanted a photograph of me in my studio. ;-) Hopefully she won't use the ones of my rear view. Anyway, I turned the tables on her and captured a few shots of her as well.. Here's one.
 

black and white crop