Look what just came in the mail today! 

Now I don’t usually get super excited about various gizmos and gadgets – however when I saw this travel mug that looks like my all time favorite lens (70-200) I wanted one!  This was the fun swag that was given out to the photographers at the Vancouver Olympics and it seems to be only available in Canada (for a change).  The desire grew as I began looking to purchase one and was told that it was sold out….everywhere!  Shortly after the intense country wide search, I arrived on a waiting list…..and there I sat as weeks and months passed. 

And now… here I sit, just getting back from the post office, a happy smile on my face and a wonderful Canon cup in my hands!

This Canon girl is a happy girl!

Christine

PS – if you too MUST have one….let me know.  My cup came with friends ; )

What a great event this was as so many people took time on a gorgeous weekend to stop by the Syncrude Sports and Wellness Center and be a part of the Spring Women’s Show.  I was extremely thankful that it was not -50C like it was for the last show I was in! 

How fun it was to spend the weekend meeting new people and reconnecting with friends!  Thanks to all of you who stopped by : )  

I also want to thank Danelle, Sheri and Erin for giving of their time to help out in the booth and keep me company.  They were fabulous and did such a wonderful job!

I was so proud to be a local exhibitor and to be one of Fort McMurray’s very own in this show!  Speaking of Fort McMurray’s local talent… featured a short distance away from me was local artist and incredibly talented painter, Amy Keller-Rempp.  I have the joy of working with her and her husband and will be featuring them on an upcoming blog!  In the meantime…here is a sneak peek at their booth that weekend.

Fort McMurray Photographer,

Christine

Part of what I do is something that is called stock photography and I have been involved with it for the last several years.  It is unlike a lot of the portrait work that is shown on the site and is yet another outlet for me to express my creativity.  One of the exciting – and frustrating - parts about the industry is that you never know how or where your pictures may be used.  This creates an unending treasure hunt (which I don’t mind!) – looking at billboards, the sides of buses, magazines, advertisements, etc.  to see if you can see any familiar faces or images.  What a fun surprise it is when you see people that you know and furthermore a shot that you have taken!

I happened to be in the Tourist Information center in Fort McMurray – and stumbled across a wonderful surprise!  Here….on a brochure that was advertising Devon, Alberta…..was my image!  Not me specifically…but an image that I had taken.

I loved it and just wanted to share it with you!

Christine

For the past 3 years, I have had the amazing opportunity to organize, produce and co-emcee an annual event called the Laugh for Life Gala at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton. November 7, 2008 was no exception…other than I was the only emcee for the evening! It was great to see so many of you there to share in such a fantastic night!

Laugh for Life is a fundraising gala that is geared towards providing people with a clean night of comedy in the gorgeous venue of the Winspear Centre. There is also a silent and a live auction that takes place through the evening to raise funds for The Mustard Seed and Candeo Housing Association.

This year was the 5th anniversary of this great event and we celebrated with a fantastic evening that was far from being short of laughs! Tim Hawkins and Bob Stromberg were the comedians for the evening and I don’t know if I have ever laughed so much in a long time! I heard from a few of you who said that your cheeks were still hurting the day after from all of the laughter! I suppose that it is true what they say…that laughter truly is the best medicine!

Talented artist, Tracy Dunham and band (Rondah Worrell, Rob Dunham, Mark Franklin, Bryan Muth and Karlus Andrews) graced the stage and wow’d us all with their music as we all watched in fascination as Performance Painter Lewis Lavoie created two stunning masterpieces on stage while they played.

Stockwell Day was the auctioneer for the evening and turned out to be the third comedian as he was absolutely hilarious and simply fantastic! As a result of such a successful live auction and the combination of such generous giving through the silent auction and other avenues, this evening raised $32,500 for two fantastic charity organizations. This total also set a new record in the amount of funds Laugh for Life has given away in its five-year history which is so exciting!! Plans are already underway for LFL’09 which will feature comedian Anita Renfore at the Winspear on Saturday, October 24, 2009. Feel free to visit www.laughforlife.ca for complete information on that and information on how to get your tickets early. You will not want to miss out on this!

So thankful for all of you that I had the privilege of working with on this gala as well as all of you who attended and laughed to make a difference.

We truly can change the world around us.
Christine

Perhaps some of you have seen what I lovingly refer to as the “uncontained-mobile” on the streets…or in the ditch…or randomly in a parking lot. It has been one of my latest projects and on one dark Wednesday night not too long ago my precious Jeep Patriot underwent its facelift thanks to Janet at Signs by Janet. It was a simple procedure really and Janet quietly talked both myself and my Jeep through the process in a calm and pleasant voice. I am thrilled to report that the Jeep is now recovering quite nicely!

I am just joking! …it was simply far from painful working with Janet! In fact it was fantastic and just added to the excitement of this next step in the facelift process!

I am now contemplating buying a fleet of vehicles just so that I can go back and see her!

Janet – you are the best!!

Christine

What an incredibly exciting time this is for Uncontained Photography!

There is so much to celebrate as it has under gone a face-lift and as a result there are now new business cards, gift certificates, a new logo and of course my favorite…. this new website! Phew! It’s no wonder things have been busy around here! This face-lift process has been a time of growth and refocus and I have joked that it has been a time to grow up as Uncontained Photography is no longer referred to as “uncontained photography” and is now capitalized. Oh how the times are changing!

I would like to thank the fantastic guys at SurgeDesign for blessing me with such an incredible website that I have been simply thrilled to show off to as many people as possible for the last year and a half. You guys are absolutely the best!!

I would also like to thank my dear friend, Dustin Steller of Five Loaves Creative for being such a pivotal point in this new branding process for Uncontained Photography. There have been many hours spent on the logo, promotional material and this site… not to mention putting up with this detailed and rather picky artist! D, I can not thank you enough!

Please take some time to explore the new site – there are a lot of new features that I am excited to share with you. I will now be embarking on the world of blogging – and the blog here will be updated often – so visit back often, or feel free to subscribe to it if you desire. There is a lot to be unveiled in the next few weeks – so please come back often!

Friends and clients of past and days to come may you enjoy and celebrate this progress with me! Visit the new site here!

Filled with excitement as to what is to come and daring to be uncontained in the process,
Christine