Rachel Boekel Photography Blog

C and S :: Married Sneak Peak ::

rachel — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:12:30 +0000

S and C were the winners of a engagement session giveaway last year and I was so excited when they booked me for their wedding.

S & C wanted a winter wedding in the mountains and were married at Rafter Six Ranch near Canmore. We were so lucky
with a picture perfect day and even snuck into town for some ice skating and hockey. Here are a few sneaks.

The girls all looked like they were floating as they glided on the ice!

Congrats S & C – more to come soon!

Love2Love :: Love your Canvas! ::

rachel — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:59:10 +0000

I’ve been waiting to share the Canvas love with you for quite awhile, but today is the day!
Until Tuesday, if you are a past client and are wanting a big and beautiful canvas of your wedding/family or family pet for your wall,
now is the time. Until Tuesday all canvas is 20%! After Tuesday canvas prices are unfortunately going to go up.
Please contact me for further details.

I’m pretty excited to photograph my first wedding of 2010 tomorrow!
It’s going to be awesome and I can’t wait to share some of the details with you on Monday.

In other news – who else is finding it hard to be active while the Olympics are on?
I feel as though I should be inspired and ready to get outside and so some running sprints up the sidewalk after watching speed skating… instead
I change the channel and spent another hour glued to the TV. Geordie and I don’t actually have a TV so we’ve been spending a lot of time on
his parents couch – I’m sure they’ll be happy when the Olympics are over and they can get rid of us

D and J are engaged! :: Rainier Wedding Photographer ::

rachel — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:12:57 +0000

We were supposed to photograph on Valentines Day, which I later learnt is when these two first met.
Unfortunately it was windy enough to blow you out of town, so we rescheduled.
I promise you we haven’t seen the sun for weeks in Brooks. WEEKS! But it made no difference yesterday. These two were wonderful.
They brought their own brightness.

I had spotted some locations a while ago while I was be – bopping through Rainier. Sometimes it’s hard to get in touch with people
to gain access to their land or yards. Luckily for me J had access to all these places and we could clamber up grain bins and into yards
without getting yelled at. Or, people giving us quizzical looks. Most often it’s the quizzical looks and questions.

D and J are getting married in a corn field in August.
I love my adventurous clients!

This is a favorite for sure.

This is heavily inspired by an image Brittany Esther took at our wedding.

A stop in Rainier is never complete without a stop at The Oasis gas bar.

Love2Love :: Valentines Day ::

rachel — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:50:57 +0000

For someone like me, who is crazy about Love, it saddens me to report that Valentines Day is definitely not a favorite holiday for me.
A day dedicated to love and I just can’t get into it. The cards, the cute pillows, the cinnamon hearts? Nope, not a chance, it’s not for me.
My good friend Connie and I were discussing this a couple times this week, how could I NOT love Valentines Day?

I kinda feel forced to love on Valentines Day. Maybe it’s that consumer thing. The pressure of it all. I want to love freely.
I always feel terrible for all the men standing in front of the cards, or picking out flowers or trying so hard on one day, because they have too.
I’m not anti Valentines Day or anything, I just don’t get into it. I don’t need the forced love.
Since however it is ‘the season’ of love, I started doing some searching.

If, figuratively speaking, I was going to get into Valentines Day, what would I buy for the people I love, or what would I want.
I found these two sweet little items on Etsy. They’re not pink, they’re not mushy but they’re adorable and totally lovely.

The Love Pillow can be found here and the 8×10 Hug’s Print here.

I also started speculating about music. Cause this girl is all over lovey dovey songs… and movies.
(I just might be headed to see the movie, Valentines Day, tonight)

The most played song in my itunes is Hotel Costes, Surround Me With Your Love.
Everyday is Valentines Day

The O Family :: Brooks Alberta Family Photographer ::

rachel — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:40:18 +0000

Oh dear blog readers…. I do apologize.
I have been all over the map lately, and with a cold to boot. I’m starting to come around again.

These images were all taken in January. Can you believe it.
Being able to go outside, especially with a little guy, in January is something that doesn’t happen in Alberta.
We had a warm spell. It was a relief from the -30C week. That is when these images were captured.

Such a fun family. We just hung out around their place. I’m jealous about all of their trees!

Thank you for having me out!

J and M Tie the Knot :: Brooks Alberta Wedding Photography ::

rachel — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:52:31 +0000

A blog post you ask? An actual blog post with more than 2 pictures?
It’s here!
My 2nd last wedding of 2009.
I have to say that my last two 2009 weddings were both the coldest events that I have ever photographed.
I may have wondered if I would come out of them with all my fingers in-tact. (Lucky me I did)

J is from Canada and all her bridesmaids were are from Canada, M is from Australia and over half his groomsmen were Australian.
I can’t imagine coming to Canada from Australia and being asked to go outside in -30C in just a suit. They were tough.
However, lets take a quick peek a the girls in knee length dresses outside in -30C. They were extra tough.
I felt very lucky to be a part of J and M’s wedding day and love the images that we managed to snap while running in and out of the house.
Congratulations you two! I hope Australia is Hot and Happy!

I really like this image. This moment is one of my favorites at a ceremony. So much is said in gestures and eye contact.

J was one of the most relaxed, chill, totally ‘go with the flow’ brides I have ever worked with. It was such a treat to follow her around.
Her happiness for the purpose of her day shone through completely. Everything else was extra.

Here we go: -30C.

We snuck inside The Heritage Inn in Brooks for a few indoor images and to warm up our fingers and toes.

Love 2 Love :: Brooks Alberta Photography ::

rachel — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:10:22 +0000

It’s Friday!

Hooray! I am pretty happy because it means one more sleep until a ski day in Fernie!
I’m looking forward to becoming a weekend warrior and driving 8 hrs to ski for 6 hrs.
I am aware that it doesn’t make that much sense but desperate times call for desperate measures.
En route to a ski day extraordinaire with two very great friends I plan on tossing The Wooden Sky album
into the CD player. Have you heard???? They’re pretty great. Check out their new album “If I don’t come home, you’ll know I’m gone.”

Then, onto my love portion of this entry.
We are so lucky to live in Canada. I have been thinking this a lot lately, with all the misery going on all over the
world and particularly in Haiti right now.
Yesterday myself and my little VW Golf had a little mishap in the fog on the black ice with a sign post.
My poor car is in for surgery. The whole time I was thinking… geez… I’m still one of the lucky people. This as I sat in the ditch
and waited for the very nice stranger that appeared in the darkness to pull me out.
I am one of the lucky people. How many people even have a car to hit sign posts with even if they wanted to?

So, here’s a little link for the Canadian Red Cross, if you feel like helping out the not so lucky people. Red Cross.

Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.

Snow, Skiing and Moosehorns :: Alberta Photographer ::

rachel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:53:29 +0000

I may have been getting harassed prodded a little bit by some blog readers about my lack of blogging.
So, here I am, literally.

January is a little slower for me so I like to take advantage and do as much for myself as possible.
In between a bit of work this week I took a ski day into the backcountry with my brother and my dad.
It wasn’t the best snow, it wasn’t the one of those on my goodness it was amazing, best ski day ever days!
It was a day spent with my brother and my dad skiing and talking baloney and laughing and pestering each other, so it was a pretty awesome day.

I am lucky to have a patient family who lets me stop while we’re climbing to photograph trees and tracks and them.
They are very patient people.

The old ’ski poles on the head’ is such a hilarious move…

Love 2 Love :: Giving is Awesome ::

rachel — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:09:53 +0000

What more can I say. Giving is awesome. I had to choose between a few nominations and that part wasn’t so awesome.
It was hard to choose.

Christine from Rolling Hills sent me this great nomination letter and I am really really excited to meet the Kolhmans
who have decided to wait until spring or summer for their session. I don’t blame them, it’s a little brown/muddy/wet/slushy/windy….
oh I mean Chinooky (is that a word?)

I wanted to share the letter with you all. Before I do, can I just say that people are great! Really great.
This community of Newell and Brooks and Rolling Hills is something else.
I felt the love in a big way when I was given a bridal shower last June. There were so many people there that I didn’t even know.
It’s a supportive, caring and community oriented community. Kinda why I liked this letter because it reminded me of all the things I like about Brooks.
One of the biggest aspects of my child hood that I appreciated was having a small and caring community. Canmore wasn’t always as big as it is now.
I remember getting candies at the butcher counter at the local grocery store and knowing everyone on the street on Canada Day, and knocking on
whoever was closests door to use the phone for whatever reason.

Community is awesome, neighbors are awesome and Giving is Awesome.

Christine Wrote:

I love looking at your pictures and reading your blog comments. You love your work and your positive outlook is infectious.
I was intrigued by your contest for the photo shoot.

I would like to nominate our neighbors, Dana and Cherry-Lynn Kohlman and their daughters, Sarah & Jane. This is a family
with “got-it-right” family values. They adore their kids and any time spent together is time well spent.
They are often seen walking down the country road together, be it on foot, stroller, or toboggan. Not only do they look out for their own kids
but the kids of our community – he is our school principle here in Rolling Hills and Cherry – Lynn teaches grade 5/6 fiddle program.

Their home is filled with art – finger painting by Jane (5), expressions in acrylics by Sarah (9) or tile mosaics by Cherry-Lynn.
I think they may have painted their kitchen to match one of these paintings! I think a photo shoot would be a lovely addition to their home
and maybe not something they would treat themselves to.

They are helpful and willing neighbors who cheerfully pitch in where needed. If I pie mysteriously shows up inside your porch,
you can just count your blessings and pass me a fork! (All we did was feed the dog!)

Happy Weekending Everyone!

A and M engaged:: Brooks Alberta Engagement Photography ::

rachel — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:46:53 +0000

A and M came to Brooks for their engagment session.
It’s kinda fun when people travel to see little ‘ole me in my lil’ prairie town.

They brought their Great Dane, Diesel with them and we bounced from
location to location all around town. I love the industrial area of Brooks
and find myself there often. There are so many different places to photograph in and around town.

They are getting married at the Galt Museum in Lethbridge in March.
I am SO excited to photograph in a Museum.

Here they are!

Is it wrong that I like pipe yards and tanks so much?

Diesel was a good addition to the images.