Tag Archives: Vancouver Portrait Photographer

Boudoir: Miss M

Posted on Jan. 14, 2011 under Boudoir

Sometimes to let someone know you truly care for them is to get out of your comfort zone, do something that scares you, and jump off and show them. Like reaching your hand out and holding their hand, telling your secrets, and letting yourself be vulnerable to become completely wholeheartedly in love.

And to show you have fallen completely wholeheartedly in love, you bare your skin. The imperfections, the dimples, the way your eyes have little lines when you laugh, out there for them to see. And this is what Miss M did. She told me she would have never been able to do this for anyone else except for him and was excited to show him the result. She had to keep it a secret from him, leaving the room when I called or waiting till late at night to email back, as it was his Christmas and parting gift. He went back to London soon after the new year and she wanted him to have something of her. Something he couldn’t get anywhere else.

And I couldn’t have been happier to help her fall completely wholeheartedly in love.

Miss M ordered a beautiful album to give to her sweetheart, and she told me later that he couldn’t get over it. He was so happy to have something so beautiful to hold onto, her.

Thanks to Alanna for assisting me, you completely rocked it!

Hair + Make up: Jayna Marie
Styling: Lesley Stefanski for Adley Studio
Photography: Lesley Stefanki + Alanna Peters for Adley Studio
Lingerie: La Vie en Rose and models own

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Early Christmas

Posted on Jan. 5, 2011 under Personal

This year’s Christmas was like no other; it was full of emotions and many happy moments! The week of Christmas I wasn’t sure if Mister would be home for Christmas, as he got stuck at the Heathrow Airport due to crazy weather conditions. But he surprised me with an early morning text the day after he was supposed to leave saying he’d be home that afternoon. He also told me to check my email. I could hardly contain my excitement and felt like I was in a daze most of the day waiting for his flight to land.

Finally he walked off the plane, tired and sick, but home. I was so excited to see him it was hard to share him with his family that evening, but I knew they wanted to see him just as much as I did.

That night as we cuddled in bed, we talked and discussed our future. The next morning he made an early morning call back to Europe. The next night, a whole 48 hours after he returned home we signed on the dotted line and made the decision to finally make our dreams come true.

We have talked and discussed since I swear the inception of our relationship of moving to Europe for a couple of years to travel and experience something new. Since Mister was born in Poland we knew we had a huge advantage over the average Canadian wanting to move to Europe, so we sent resume after resume, praying for the right job and the right location would find us. Finally everything fell into place!

We’re moving to south of Amsterdam at the end of January 2011, with plans of traveling over Europe and experiencing the Dutch Culture.

What does this mean for Adley Studio you might be asking. Nothing! I still plan on taking portrait commissions here in Vancouver as well as in Holland (someone holla “Yea International Photographer!). I plan on coming back a few times a year for portrait sessions, shooting boudoir, woman, teens, and children while expanding my business abroad. I’m still working on my first return date, but most likely mid-April to early May for those that want to schedule a session.

We’re super excited about the doors that have opened for us, the possibilities available, and the wonderful adventures and hardships we’re going to face! If you have any questions about how this will effect your past or future sessions, please, feel free to email me! I would love to chat!

Pictures of our new city centre, I can’t wait to explore it!

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Vancouver Portrait Photographer: Anytime with Kelly: Fort Langley

Posted on Nov. 30, 2010 under Anytime

I’ve been dddddddying to feature this shoot for sometime, and I’m so excited that the time has finally come. You’ve seen Kelly showcased on the blog and website time and time again, but I think this has been one of my favourite sessions with her. We discussed the look and feeling of this session, both knowing exactly what we wanted.

First, the outfit. We both have identical bridesmaids dresses hanging in our closets from a past wedding, and figured we couldn’t just let it hang there never to be worn, so we decided to use it. Second, props. Kelly’s late grandma left her some beautiful furs and a vintage suitcase, so we knew that we should incorporate something close to Kelly’s heart.
And third, the location. Well, this one was harder as it rained a lot around the time we had scheduled the session. We went from location to location trying to nail down one that would work best. Fort Langley came through for us, as did the weather.

I’m so proud of Kelly, she has been working her butt off for the past I dunno how many years to become the fantastic social worker that she is, and I was so excited to watch her walk across the stage to accept her degree, fist pump and all.

Meet the wonderful and beautiful Kelly!

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Travel Adventures: Tofino

Posted on Nov. 24, 2010 under Personal

This past weekend Mister and I headed to Tofino with some fabulous friends to do some storm watching and to do a whole lot of nothing. Tofino has always had a special place in my heart, and on this trip it was really instilled in me how much I love the ocean and how at peace I feel there. I was crawling up and over rocks checking out tidal pools and the creatures left behind, and taking photos to help me remember the beautiful landscape. Sigh, it seriously warms my heart just thinking of it.

As much as we wanted to do some storm watching, we didn’t see anything like that. We had some wind and rain, beautiful sunny weather the next, and then snow when we were leaving. But we had a fantastic time exploring, reading, surfing (boys only), and time spent eating and laughing.

Amish lent me his 45 tilt shift, and I couldn’t get enough of it, as you can tell by the photos. I had to keep on telling myself to take some normal photos, but I just loved how it added something to the photo.

Enjoy, and if you haven’t made it to Tofino yet, go! Now.

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Vancouver Portrait Photographer: Anytime with Miss I

Posted on Jun. 24, 2010 under Anytime

Miss I is finishing up her last leg of the West Coast Trail right now, and I originally was going to wait until she returned to post about her session, but I couldn’t wait anymore. These photos are some of my favourite to date and I just want to show them off!

She had complete trust in me, we talked about the over all look and feel for her session, but other then that, she let me plan and dream. And that I did. I scouted for the perfect location, which was a complete surprise to find, got the props and accessories and boom! Everything just fell together.

Miss I, your beauty always stuns me. Your smile, laughter, and your friendship makes my day brighter, and I’m so happy that you have trusted me to capture this amazing time in your life!

Meet, once again, the beautiful Miss I!

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When I love it

Posted on Jun. 17, 2010 under Personal

I truly love it! I obsess over it, I hold it, wear it, talk about it endlessly, tell as many people as possible about how much I love it! And one thing I really love, is shoes – high heeled shoes! I have been made fun of this on many occasions that I own too many shoes or “oh look you have a new pair” but it’s the one thing I really love purchasing. And I’ll tell you why…

I could buy clothes, since I DO love clothes. But clothes quickly change seasons and style, and usually I either gain or loose weight that eventually I can’t fit it. I find it a waste of my money. Books, I do love a good book as well, I could spend hours peacefully wandering around Chapters with a latte in hand finding my next read. But usually I end up lending out my books cause I love them so much that I eventually lose them…(mental note: start a library with sign out cards!). So I have found that shoes work the best mostly cause their styles don’t change that much from year to year and you can wear the same pair from March till October!

But my problem is, when I find a shoe I love, I wear it all the time to the point where it gets scuffed, torn apart, or eventually ruined cause I love it too much.

Hence, my three favourite pairs of shoes, I think are hitting their last season.

What do you love to purchase and eventually wear out cause you use it too much?!

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How wonderful you are

Posted on Jun. 7, 2010 under Personal

I’ve been asked quite a bit recently why I don’t photograph weddings, and at first I didn’t know how to respond, but now with no hesitation I know why. I don’t want to shoot them. I used to feel really awkward saying that, almost like I wasn’t an actual photographer because I chose portraiture over weddings. I love weddings and enjoy talking about them and love love…but I love women and personal self love more!

There is something so gratifying about starting a relationship with a woman who has been beaten down by expectations put on them by the world, themselves, their church, their family, or even their work place. When a woman who originally didn’t feel beautiful according to magazines proportions finally sees what the rest of the world sees and says “Wow, I AM beautiful!”, it always takes my breath away. I was given a gift and a passion for this, and I get excited about every single day that I’m given the chance to build a relationship with a woman and have them feel more self confident, more beautiful, and giving themselves more self love.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not perfect. I don’t wake up every single morning with gallons of self confidence and I hardly ever feel beautiful. But one thing I do have, is self love. No matter how I’m feeling, if I’m feeling like my legs are attracting more cellulite by the day, that my eyes have somehow accumulated a nice set of designer bags underneath them, or that I didn’t make it to the gym the day before like I told myself I would, I give myself some self love. I tell myself today is a new day, and this is who I am. Heck, I’m not going to look like this, nor will my life be like this 10 years from now, so I better embrace it today!

So my challenge to you is, do you know how wonderful you are?! How beautiful and amazing you are to the family and friends that you have? Are you ready to accept who you are and let that shine even more then before?

Lesley Model Test.jpg Last week I had an opportunity to be the one in front of the camera, with modeling lights and everything! It was quite scary! But Jason from Jaylena Photography, captured this amazing image of me. This is how I want to remember myself.

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Vancouver Portrait Photographer: Things I learned this week

Posted on Jun. 3, 2010 under Personal

Sometimes I astound myself, like laugh I can’t believe I just did that, astounding.

1. I learned how to open a bottle of wine, the traditional way! I had a session earlier this week and I brought a bottle of wine for us to enjoy, so while she was getting ready I thought I would open the bottle to keep myself busy. Adam and I have this fancy wine opener at home that you just hug around the neck of the bottle, screw in and pull out. It’s like magic! However, my client didn’t own one of these, she owned a beautiful traditional one. So I sat there trying to figure out the best way to get the cork out. I think it took me about 10 minutes of screwing it in, unscrewing it, flipping a metal piece down, and trying it all over again before I got it out. I kept on laughing at myself, cause really! I should know how to do this! Eventually I figured it out, and can now open a bottle of wine, the traditional way!

2. I learned that I talk to animals thinking they are going to understand what the heck I’m saying. Dog sitting has left me talking to Adam’s family dog, like it’s a human. “Hey Sandy, what are you doing?!” she’s lying there just looking at me. “What do you feel like doing? Going for a walk cause you’re cold?! I’m cold too, we should go for a walk, lets go!” She’s still lying there staring at me like I’m crazy. My best friend Sarah hates it when people do this, so I always picture her laughing at me and calling me a crazy person! So I laugh and just tell Sandy “Walk?! okay, walk”. Oh yea, Sandy is also deaf.

3. I also learned that I cannot walk nor can I not go up or down a flight of stairs with out tripping. This week Adam and I have been ending the day by taking Sandy for walks around the neighbourhood to talk. But every single time we go, I trip over my own feet. Sometimes falling right into either Adam and Sandy. We both laugh, but it can be quite embarrassing. If I’m going up or down stairs and Adam is with me, he’ll hold onto any part of me that he can to make sure he can catch me if I fall. It makes me feel like I’m five, but also a little bit safer, cause I can’t tell you how many times I’ve scratched my face by falling down stairs.

What have you learned about yourself this week?

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Spill my heart

Posted on May. 17, 2010 under Personal

This weekend was quite an exciting one, an emotional roller coaster to say the least! First on Friday afternoon I found out that I made the cut for a list for cream of the crop photographers, Boudoir photographers to be exact, and I almost died when I found out! I didn’t think I would make it, considering I’m such a small fry to everyone else in the world. But out of everyone and 220 people chosen, I was one of them! All I could think of was “WOW, this is simply awesome!”, while jumping up and down in my chair and clapping my hands! Let’s just say I went to bed that night, very happy!

Saturday morning my heart dropped a little bit when I found out that some of my images were stolen and posted on some other person’s user page. Sure, they kept my watermark on the photos as if thinking that would be okay, but it was just disappointing that they would just take them without letting me know. If they had asked, I would have probably said “Yea sure, here you go!”…but the fact that they just took them…just made me really sad. So, if you’re thinking of taking someone’s images for your own use, send them an email first.

Then on Sunday afternoon, I headed out to the airport pick Adam up from his week long business trip to China, and I couldn’t believe how excited I was to see him! Life is just way more enjoyable and fun with him around! Adam is the one who’s hand I hold when we drive down the highway
together, cuddle next to when I watch hockey, and the one who I talk
to when things are going on or I need to make a decision about life and/or business – and considering the previous two days, I couldn’t wait to sit down with
his hand-made cup of coffee and just spill my heart!

Thankfully Monday is here, and I’m so happy that I’ve held his hand, cuddled next to him, and sipped his hand-made coffee while I spilled my heart!

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Friday in the Studio

Posted on Apr. 30, 2010 under Top Gossip

It is simply beautiful today that it is making it really hard to convince myself that staying inside is a good idea. I don’t think I’ll last much longer! I am, however, working on a project that I’m so excited to share with you, hopefully very shortly! This weekend I will be finalizing the details and then hopefully next week I can share it with you. I’m seriously so excited about it!

I wanted to wish you a wonderful and hopefully sunny weekend and leave you with something that I simply adore. My Paloma’s Nest bowl that my best friend Sarah gave to me as a birthday present! It arrived on my door step last week and I squealed with delight that I finally own one! It’s a great place to hold my rings when I’m cooking, and how I do love sparkly things!

Thank you Sarah for the beautiful bowl I’ll always remember our trip to see the fireworks, and happy weekend everyone!

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The bus to Burrard and 5th

Posted on Apr. 23, 2010 under Personal

Today I met up with an amazing and inspiring woman, Morgaine Owens. I have been following her blog for awhile, but we recently connected on Twitter and we met up so that I could show her samples of Wall Blanks prints (if you’re looking for beautiful printing options, check these people out!!). What at first was a quick meet up turned into an amazing morning of exchanging thoughts on fine art, school, photography, business, dreams, and our childhood.

We talked about how when we were younger we would beg our parents to put us into dance or music classes. My parents always said it was too expensive so I never attended, but it’s something I always wished I had the chance to learn. Deep down inside I knew I would have excelled at it…more than anything else. I confessed to Morgaine something that I don’t know if I had told anyone else before.

When I was younger I so desperately wanted to know how to play the piano that whenever I had the chance to sit in front of one I would. I would sit on the bench, put my foot on top of the damper petal, and lay my fingers so softly on top of the keys and….wait! I would sit there waiting to know how to play. Eventually I would play a key and wait some more. So many times I remember sitting in front of all these pianos just praying that God would teach me how to play the piano, and that I would play the beautiful music that flowed through me.

It never happened, of course. But one day my parents blessed me with a little keyboard and for the next 3 months I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning teaching myself how to play and I was so happy. My soul filled with joy and I was excited anytime I could sit in front of a piano and play something. Eventually I taught myself how to play well enough that I was asked to play in my church worship band, and helped lead music for our youth, and sunday services. I don’t think you’ll understand how excited and blessed I felt to have the ability to do that.

I have never learned how to read music, but I can play by ear, and to this day sitting in front of the piano is what fills my heart with joy and I cannot wait for the day I can afford to have a baby grand piano of my own and fill my own house with beautiful music.

We both discussed that you need find something that fills your soul with happiness! Whether it is art, painting, playing music, playing a sport, doing yoga, hiking, or making coffee…do it! It doesn’t have to become your profession (I know I will never be a concert pianist) but I know that my heart yearns to play the piano almost everyday, and when I visit my family who live on the North Shore, you will most likely find me sitting in front of their piano playing something that makes my heart sing!

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Inspire to be!

Posted on Apr. 9, 2010 under Journey

It’s been on my mind for a long time, constantly there…lingering,
knocking, persisting, never letting up. I would try and push it aside
telling myself that I couldn’t do it, that I’m not
smart/knowledgeable/cool/old enough, that I wasn’t the right person. But
it was persistent pushing even harder against my heart telling me I should,
that I must! Eventually I knew I would have to give in. One night I
wept. Wept my tears of fear and soaked Mister’s shoulder, he had no idea
what was going on. I was sobbing so hard I could hardly formulate a
sentence beyond “I just..” sob “I don’t know if….” sob “I want to
but…” sob. He eventually pulled me back and said “I believe in you,
that you can succeed in anything you put your mind to, but you just
have to do it”. Even after crying about it I still didn’t even know if I had the
courage to really pursue it.

This past weekend while lying in the
snow and staring at the winter wonderland that God created, I knew, I
could and I would! Without sobbing this time, I told Adam and formulated
an actual sentence, actually, more like a monologue, and told him my
dreams and what I wanted to do! And once again he smiled and said “I
believe you can do it, you have it in you and I think it’s a great idea,
you just have to do it”!

So hear I am, putting it out there and putting all my fears aside
and going for it!

I’d like to meet up with 4-5 women (any age) who have
been possibly thinking of starting something new (whether its a
business, a hobby, a lifestyle change…anything!) and would like to
meet up once every two weeks to talk, encourage each other, and inspire to be. Be greater, to be who we were created to be, to
be the best version of ourselves!

I’m scared that this is going to fall flat on it’s face, but I’d rather
say I tried then just hide it inside and not do anything at all. So, if
you’re interested, send me an email and let me know what you’re thinking
of doing and which days/evenings you’re free and I’ll set something up
for us all to meet within the next two weeks!

These are the last few pictures of my recent from Alanna + Stephanie from the country shoot.
These two, even if they didn’t know it, encouraged me to put myself out
there and ask if you’d like to meet up.

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