Photography Tips

Snippet of my family photos in this ad for Creative Memories

I was excited to be contacted by my friend Melissa at Creative Memories back in the spring to do some photography tip writing for them.  I love sharing my photography knowledge and this is a great way to reach lots of people!

At first she asked me to do one on Fireworks and a couple others and it has expanded to me doing 3 or 4 blog posts a month.   I hope you will check out my blog post on photo tips and all of the great scrapbooking ideas that are shared on there as well.

Tips for Photographing Fireworks
Put Yourself in your Vacation Photos

I am also providing them photos for some of the scrapbook ideas so you may see my families faces on there as well!
1-2-3 Layout Featuring Achievements Paper Pack!

I am excited to be back on the Creative Team for Creative Memories again, it feels like HOME!

I hope you will join me on my journey with Creative Memories again!

Happy Scrapping,
Beth

NEW Digital Artwork for October!

New Collections have Arrived!

Looking for some NEW ARTWORK for your digital pages?!  Well Forever Panstoria has come to the rescue and brought out over 90 new kits this month!  There is something for everyone!  I have chosen a few of my favourites to share with you. 

Please click the links on my blog to order your Panstoria Artwork, Software and Products so that your order is associated with my affiliate account, otherwise the sale will go directly to the Panstoria Home Office.  Thank you!!!!

Click Here to Order NEW Kits

Interested in creating photo books and gifts, create an account with Panstoria that will be linked with me.  Click here to Create Account


Here are some of my favourites:

The World is Mine

Monster Mash

Harvest Medley

Faringdon Scrapbooking Kit

Do You Remember When

Click Here for Creative Memories Paper Scrapbooking Products

Click HERE to upgrade / order Digital Scrapbooking Software: Artisan

Click HERE to check out all the Digital Artwork Panstoria has to offer.

Click HERE to upgrade / order Photo Management Software: Historian

I would love to hear which ones are your favourite!  Please let me know if you need help with anything!
~~Beth

1st Day of Grade 4!

The 1st day of school is always a bittersweet day.  Happy to be going back to see classmates and catch up on what everyone did over the summer, but it also means routines!  As a mother of three I don't like the first day of school, I LOVE having my children home with me and I love the carefree days of summer vacation. 

          Beautiful summer day at the lake filled with water sports,

campfires and family time!

After a few days of being back those summers days are a distant memory and we are back into the swing of schedules and routines.  I am of the mindset to enjoy the moment you are in and with back to school comes new opportunities for photos.  I did a new photo shoot with Grant this year and he really enjoyed setting up the props and posing for me.  He is a fantastic model for me! 

If you are interested in photos getting some photos similar to these it is not too late!  Book your session now!  I would love to capture these precious memories for you! 


Click the link for contact info and portfolio.
Beth Thomander Photography

All the best,
Beth

Update on my 21 day Challenge!

I am so happy I took on this challenge to complete a scrapbook page a day for 21 days!  I have 15 days done!  I am behind by a day, but on one of my early days I did an extra page so I am on track!!!!  Yay!!!!

 

I will get 2 pages done today on Day 17 to get caught up officially.  Going away on the long weekend set me back, but I am determined to stay on track!  I really don't think I will stop after my 21 days.  I am loving going back through old photos and capturing those memories on pages and also I am purging photos that I should have deleted a long time ago.  I don't need 5 photos of the same thing.

 Pick the best and delete the rest!!! 

Here are my pages I have done to date: 

 

As you can see I am not up to date on my photos and I am working on past years, but it feels good to get somewhat caught up.  I am printing the pages as well!  Getting them done is half the work and then ordering them is the other important step.  I love the feeling of filling my scrapbook albums for my family to enjoy looking at their photos.

 

  I print my digital pages as calendars at Heritage Makers

and then tear them apart and put them directly in albums.  12 x 18  Calendars are also available from Panstoria Print Shop and I am an affiliate for them so I would love it if you supported me by using the code here on my blog to link your orders to me.  I always appreciate your support!

 

If you ever need any help with any of your digital needs don't hesitate to contact me for assistance.  Love to share ideas with you! 

 

I hope this has inspired you to get your photos off of your computer and into albums! 

 

Happy Scrapping,

Beth

#iamthetype

I haven't shared this on here so I thought it was time to help raise awareness... On Dec. 9th 2013, Grant was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 7.  It was a shock to our family as there is no family history of Type 1.  It has been a lifestyle change for everyone in our house because life does centre a bit more around Grant than it did before.  I am so proud of how Lauren and Ben took on the role of caregivers for Grant when Todd and I were not around.  There was a lot to learn from, recognizing lows and highs, to counting carbs, giving needles, checking blood sugar, checking for ketones and I am sure there are more little things I am missing.

Getting his glucometer ready to check his blood sugar which he does about 6 - 12 times a day depending on his activities

 

Checking his blood sugar level
                                      

 

                                                          Happy with a good reading!

 The most common question people ask me is, how did you know to take him to the doctor?  The first sign for me was his water bottle was empty when he came home from school and I asked him about it and he said yes he drank it all and even refilled it at the water fountain.  One night that week before he was diagnosed I heard him up to pee in the night and I asked if he wanted to sleep with me because Daddy was away.  I had a hidden agenda because I wanted to see how many times he was getting up.  Well the news wasn't good, he got up 4 more times that night!  The tell tale sign for me was when he went to hockey on Saturday he couldn't make it through the hour of ice time without coming off to go to the bathroom. 
 
I took him to the walk-in clinic and he peed in a cup and I heard the diagnosis I didn't want to hear, but knew in my heart that I had known all that week, but was in denial.  The guilt then set in that I didn't take him sooner, but I wasn't ready to hear those words.  I knew it meant a lifetime of finger pokes, needles, checkups, highs and lows, living our life on a stricter schedule.  Thankfully, we still caught it early even though I waited those couple of days.  They credited me to bringing him so quick because no damage was done.  The doctors and nurses didn't know the turmoil that was going on in my head. 
 
Well life before Type 1 is a distant memory after a year and a half of living with it in our family.  I credit that all to Grant who is an amazing boy!  Days that he should complain, he doesn't!  Testing before hockey, before lunch, at birthday parties are all teaching moments for him.  He is proud of who he is and uses those moments to share with new and old friends what he has to do everyday to stay healthy. 

                                            

Getting his needle ready for his insulin injection

 

His thigh is one of the sites we use for his insulin injection

I am the strong and independent type!

 

I will share more of what life is like living with T1D periodically.  It is always changing for Grant as he grows.  I scrapbooked a couple pages on Grant's journey with T1D so he will know when he grows up how courageous he was at age 7 when faced with this life changing illness.

 

#iamthetype who will love and care for Grant

#controlfreak

 

 

 

Warmly,

Beth (and Grant's Mommy) 

Behind the Lens

Well, after a few fall seasons of friends asking me if I would do their family photos and me saying, "No, I don't do that" I have finally decided to do just that.  In August, I set up my website, purchased my domain name, made a facebook page and ordered business cards.  This all of a sudden became scary!!!  I was really going to do this and get paid for it!   What was I thinking, I didn't need more stress! 

My first project was to get my name out there to friends and the public to let them know I am "doing" this now.  So, I decided to do a photo fundraiser for Sackville Minor Baseball.  At our September tournament I took about 1000 action shots from the weekend and donated all of the sales back to SMB.  It was a fun day at the ball field and I in turn booked some family photo sessions from it.

Well my first family photo session was in September and I was terrified!  I have been taking photos for years and for an instant forgot everything I knew.  Deep breaths and told myself "You got this!"  Well, the pictures turned out great and they were thrilled with them!  Since that first photo shoot my confidence has increased and I am loving this new adventure that I have added to my busy life! 

Some of the fun photo shoots I have been on since September:

I have so enjoyed spending time with these families and all of my photo families and capturing their beautiful family memories.  If you want to check out more of my portfolio you can see some sneak peaks on my Facebook page and my website:  Beth Thomander Photography

I am looking forward to setting up my studio over the winter so I can offer indoor photo sessions. 

I can help you capture your memories as well...

Warmly,
Beth