Alan Dickson Photography

Monday was our second rain date for Keshia & Kyle's engagement shoot, and what an evening it was! The warm weather we are having is giving everybody such a beautiful tan, and that makes for great photos. Keshia & Kyle both love the outdoors and being in the sun, and once we hit the beach, a few tunes on the guitar made for a fun and romantic time. There were a few locations that our good looking couple were interested in.  They wanted the sleeping giant in some of their shots ( a Thunder Bay fave.) and a Lake Superior beach scene for their second location. When we talked about what they liked to do, Kyle said  the outdoors and playing his guitar. Keshia was all for that and with their youthfulness and great smiles they were well on their way for some fantastic shots. Shooting outdoors is such a freeing feeling, as it allows me to use whatever background I like to make that special shot stand out. With their wedding coming up in May 2011, this is just a taste of what's to come. From the hundreds of shots here is just a sneak peak of my favorites:











    











       

Keshia & Kyle - your engagement session was an awesome time. With beautiful weather, warm sunlight and  some nice locations (good choices!) these are images you will both treasure for a lifetime.

Wow, Springtime in Thunder Bay is the time for Babies! We have been shooting many pregnancy sessions and then natually, the follow-up baby sessions. What's really interesting is the fact that these new moms are coming in with ideas for the photo shoots that they've either found in magazines, on-line or from reality TV. This is great as Alan's creativity is only enhanced when ideas are flowing freely. He's been experimenting with lighting as well, as our studio has two large south-facing windows, perfect for that natural glow of a happy mother-t0-be. And it's always great to have the dads in the shots -  dads bring a different element to newborn photography, that 'tough but tender' side of a guy's heart. These are images that will be treasured by these kids as they grow up and know that they are loved. Take a look at some of these beautiful shots:











    







Props to moms like Svetlana, Laryssa, Hillary, Kimberly and Kerri-Anne (and don't forget the dads!) for taking the time to make 'Art' out of their little masterpieces!

For Stefanie and Randy, their engagement session was a walk on the beach! Since they are having so many out-of-town guests, they wanted to use some of the portraits for a 'Save the Date' package, and wanted to give their guests a hint of what they can expect when they make the journey to Thunder Bay in July 2011. (By the way, all Satudays for July 2011 are booked now - good job Stef for booking early!) Stefanie is of French descent, and she is bubbly, energetic and full of life. Randy is an English 'surfer dude', more laid back and easy going, and he brought his smaller surf board for the shoot! Both of them loooove the water, the sun, the sand and the sky, and of course, the Sleeping Giant had to be a big part of this, since it's one of the best landmarks of Thunder Bay. They had arranged for an out-of-the-way locale on the shores of Lake Superior, and the weather co-operated by raining down sunshine instead of raindrops! The waves were high, and the colours they wore (also the colours of the wedding next year!) just popped against the blue of the landscape. You can just hear the lake breaking against the rocks in these photos:





    



    









Special thanks go out to the McCullough family for allowing this breezy couple to splash about on their little stretch of beach, and for Stefanie and Randy - great picks! Your wedding is bound to be a wonderful, colourful celebration of life, love and the best of Thunder Bay!

Wow, we are totally becoming Thunder Bay's Diva Central!! This Friday, the studio was jumping with Isabella and her gang, and boy, do these girls know how to dance! They came in ready to party in true Diva fashion (with life, joy and laughter) and maxed out the Hollywood mirrors (yes, that is what these mirrors were born for!) We cranked the tunes right up and turned a rainy evening into a celebration of friendship and fun. Isabella's mom really liked the idea of bringing her own munchies, as she's quite the chef, and the girls enjoyed watching all their shots on the 50 inch TV screen as they wound down from the dance-fest and opened presents. The girls had a blast and each went home with their own personally-chosen 5x7, and Isabella couldn't wait to Facebook her shots (Facebook DVDs are included in all our Diva Parties). It was a two hour one-stop total party event! Take a look at some of these fab images:



















Happy Birthday, Isabella! Your gang was the best, and we hope this year brings you all the happiness, joy and blessings you deserve!

Alan has been shooting the Lakehead University Nursing class since 1987, and each year it's a blast to get to know the girls and guys who work so hard to get through this challenging program. The last few years, he's also been invited to shoot their Capping and Pinning ceremony and this year was no different. 110 nurses were present and it was a packed house that afternoon with family and friends coming from all over the country to celebrate with the grads. It took place Friday May 28 at the Victoria Inn and is a completely different ceremony from Convocation. I had often wondered what it stood for, so, I googled it, and this is what came up:

The nursing pin is a 1,000-year old symbol of service to others. The earliest ancestor of the pin dates back to the Maltese Cross, adopted by crusaders and worn on their habits as a symbol of service to Christianity. Over the centuries, variations of the crusader's symbol were gradually modified and became family coats of arms, often symbolizing service to a ruler. By the Renaissance, guilds had adopted coats of arms symbolizing masterful service to the community. The most recent ancestor of the pin is the hospital badge of 100 years ago. It was given by the hospital school of nursing to the students to identify them as nurses who were educated to serve the health needs of society. This symbol of service involves many professional rights and responsibilities.

Wow! What an honour! Take a look at some of the images of the day:



















Alan and I commend and congratulate those who currently work in the field of Nursing, along with this year's batch of graduates. Well done, students!

When we started doing the Diva Parties here at the Studio, we never realized the appeal to the Inner Diva in every woman, whether 6, 16 or 60! Last week we hosted a Diva Party for April, a true Diva in every sense of the word. She and some of her BFFs brought the wine, the cheese and their own makeup artist (Chantal), we supplied the tunes (a truly Diva-esque mix of Sister Sledge, Donna Summer and other disco dance queens), and Central Avenue rocked well into the night! The makeup artist was a great idea, adding a bit of pampering and glam to the photo session, and the studio is so well set up for that, with banks of mirrors and lots of light. Throw in some feather boas, a couple of paddles and a few decades of friendship, and you have a combination that just can't be beat! Take a look at some of the highlights:



















Happy Birthday, April! You and your 'sistahs' were a dream team of Divas - thanks for allowing us to join in another milestone and we'll catch you for the next 60th!

Amy is applying to instruct at a Performing Arts School in Southern Ontario, and needed some head shots for the application. However, once she and Alan got to talking, they both realized that they couldn't stop at just head shots - Amy is a dancer and what better way to capture a dancer's personality than through the celebration of dance! She came in a few weeks ago and just wowed us with her grace and style, and we captured many very different elements of a dancer's repertoire. But what kept shining through was her personality - full of life and spirit and fun. Here are some of my fave images:

      

   



   

Thanks Amy for bringing your spirit to the session and we wish you all the best as your career takes flight!

Studio photography totally rocks! Almost 20 years ago, Alan had the opportunity of photographing Frank and Diane's wedding, and this past Saturday, their daughter Latasha came in for Graduation photos of a very different sort. Latasha is a sparkling young woman graduating Grade 12 this year and as a way to commemorate her senior year, she brought in 3 outfits with very different styles. Alan decided to employ three different styles of lighting as well to complement each style. The first outfit was very 'Pop-Princess', with balloon skirt in a funky leopard print. The second outfit was edgy and cosmopolitan, and the white room gave it that stark, clean look of a Manhattan debutante. The last outfit has a Disney-esque feel, and the lighting was harder, moodier with a 1940's starlet feel to it. With 30 years of studio experience, there is almost no avenue of studio portraiture that Alan can't handle with ease, and this time, I felt the urge to indulge my own creative instincts and play around with some of the shots, to enhance Latasha's fun and glam attitude with a little photoshop magic of my own! Here are some of my favourite images:

   

  

   

Many thanks to Latasha and Diane for their great spirit of fun and class and style. Have a great grad year - your future is very bright indeed!

Talk about the "Body Beautiful!" Tanya is a former competitive figure skater who, after many years of pursuing the normal social conventions of beauty, chose to strike out and examine what it really means to be 'beautiful.' The concepts of strength, athleticism, grace and poise were some of the ideals she found represented in Female Bodybuilding, and for the last two years, she has been redefining herself, both physically and mentally. She wanted to find a photographer who could capture that same spirit of energy, zeal and creativity, and she met her match in Alan! A former devotee of Weight Training himself, Alan had a keen interest in Tanya's lifestyle, as well as the lighting techniques, posing and attention to detail required for an effective shoot. Tanya also knew what she wanted, and that is always key in a successful session, so Alan took her ideas, blended them with his own experience and translated them into images that will leave you breathless. In five years, she will undoubtedly be on the Bodybuilding circuit, maybe writing or modeling as well, in an attempt to educate people on what it means to be healthy, fit and beautiful.

   



  

   

Good luck Tanya! You are a spirited soul with an amazing craft. You are making the world a better, more beautiful place!

Weddings, engagements, more weddings, babies, grads, Diva Parties, new computers...Did I mention weddings? It has been a crazy busy last 2 weeks. The photography we have been doing lately has ranged from extreme to challenging to I LOVE WHAT I DO! Capturing people  through photography  has got to be one of the most rewarding experiences one could hope for. As the Thunder Bay weather has been smiling on us for the past 2 weeks, I have been outside shooting to my heart's content, and Susan & Chris have been no exception. The fun thing about engagement shoots is I get to look into the life of a couple that I will be photographing for their wedding. As with all weddings we book, we include an engagement session - not just a simple session in the studio, but a session that gives our couples hundreds of images to have and Facebook to all their friends. What was fun about Susan & Chris' engagement  shoot was the ideas they had and the locations they picked. I find that the more extreme the ideas, the more creative I get. We went to 3 spots in 1.5 hours and it was non-stop energy all the way. The pair have a real love for the outdoors and a real love for each other. Out of the many hundreds of shots we took, here are my fave's.









 



  





Susan and Chris - You are a great couple to photograph! I can't wait for your wedding day this summer! Alan