SmilesFromLloyd

This blog has MOVED!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:16:00 +0000

Yes, that's right. This is no longer the location for the Night and Day Photography Blog.
Please update your bookmarks to:

http://www.nightanddayphoto.ca/blog

It's a whole new blog, with a new look, but the new content is what we're really excited about! So come take a visit to our new and improved blog. It'll be updated much more frequently, and be much more interesting. Hope to see you there soon!

Lloyd

A Winter Morning with Alicia, Rob, and family!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:02:00 +0000

Alicia, Rob, and Elliott came up from Calgary to visit Elliott's grandma and grandpa in St. Albert one weekend, so Rob arranged a photoshoot with us!

It was a cold, snowy morning, so we set up a makeshift studio in the basement (after moving the big treadmill).

Elliott took a minute to warm up... hahaha he's so cute!

Here's the four of them! (Alicia was pregnant at the time of the shoot)

Elliott does his best to show off his belly too.

Getting ready to be his little sister's bodyguard. (Claire was born March 1. 6lbs 12oz, and absolutely adorable!)

Grandma and grandpa's turn...

...right before Elliott squirmed too much and lost his balance! haha he's so funny.

Every kid loves a rocking horse!

Belly!!

Love that beautiful smile, Alicia!

The happy couple

And I somehow convinced them to get outside for a couple of shots, despite the knee deep snow. Those of you who know me, know I'm ALL ABOUT shooting outside no matter what the weather is. Hahaha.

Elliott was done with pictures at this point and just wanted to play in the snow.

These were taken in the backyard. I tried to make it look as non-backyardish as I could.

Wow it's been two months already!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:15:00 +0000

So wow, it's been two months for Simon! I can't believe how fast time goes when hanging out with this little bologna loaf. (That's one of the many things I call him LOL)
He's been keeping us WAY too busy to do another formal shoot, so we're just gonna upload some snapshots.

THANK YOU Stefanie and Jim for this cute little sleeper! We love it now that he can fit into it, and it's definitely one of our favourites!

He was in pain one morning and he wouldn't relax unless held. So apparently I fell asleep while holding him, but he was still happy.

Right after after bathtime!

Something Merry tries to do everyday is go out on a walk with Simon. On this day, he didn't want to be bundled in. Rather, he wanted to 'hang out'. =)

Peek a boo!

Chillin' one morning... and he made a funny expression that made me LOL.

He's learning the GQ poses already.

It was my birthday recently. Simon was helping me celebrate, while looking as uninterested as he could.

Merry found this outfit. How funny yet how very true... sadly enough. haha

Taking a snooze.

And for his two month birthday:

Merry made me wear the post-it note too because it was my (insert sarcasm) "bright idea".

We've been getting countless well wishes, so thank you to all our clients and random visitors stopping by to say hello!!

Simon will say hello again in another month!

Awards and Inspiration with PPOC

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:56:00 +0000

For the past few days, I've been attending the PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) Exposure Symposium put on by the Alberta and Saskatchewan regions. I had finally decided to join and got my membership about two weeks ago. The Symposium was absolutely fantastic for a couple of reasons.

The first reason was the awards. You can submit four photographs for the print salon and one album. When the dust settled, two of the images and the one album I submitted received (accepted) awards. I was told this is really good, especially for someone who's never experienced a PPOC print salon. The two images are below:

Lyndsey who is "Caught in the Wind"

Cheryl and her "Circle of Friends"

In addition, here is the album design for Kathyrn and Andrew's Mountain wedding in Canmore that also was honoured:

Kathryn and Andrew's Album

The photo of Cheryl and her friends was also a top three finalist for the best in class wedding group of the year. I was quite happy with that.

So thanks to all of you out there who helped us grow since we started wedding shooting 11 years ago. Mentors, colleagues, family, friends, and most certainly, our awesome brides and grooms!

The second awesome part of the Symposium was the speakers. They were all awesome, but the two that stood out to me was Scott Robert Lim and Dane Sanders.

Here's me and Dane LOL! (sorry, it's a phone picture)

Scott gave me clues to discover within myself what direction I should grow my photography, and Dane gave me a concrete plan of action to achieve it. The two presentations together really hit it for me and fell into each other. Both are really good speakers and you should jump at the chance to listen to either one.

So also a big hello to my new PPOC friends. I hope I can rely on you for help when I need it, and the door is always open for you if I can help *YOU* out in any way.

Here's looking to an awesome 2010. Rock on!

The mother of all diaper cakes!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:03:00 +0000

Got an amazing diaper cake from our friends Aggo and Sonia. Seeing as I'm a total nerd and loved Star Trek since I was really little, they got us a Star Trek diaper cake!! Never in a million years would I have guessed there would be such a thing!!!

Simon is set for life now that Spock has he has given him the "Live long and prosper" salute!! (I have a Christmas ornament where Spock says the same thing when you push the button. It's Merry's favourite ornament haha) So HUGE thanks to Aggo and Sonia!!

Now to turn down the nerd factor a bit, I went to Fantasyland with my nieces and had a blast! We went to the Moonwalker playground. Ok ok... they're actually called Galaxyland and the Galaxy Kids Playpark now but 25 years ago they had better names for them. Here is Lauren hiding in the ball pit.

I was trying to follow her everywhere and every 10 seconds I heard, "Uncle Lloyd, hurry up! Uncle Lloyd, you're so slow!!!" I went from feeling good to old in 5 seconds flat. haha

And here is my other niece, Elizabeth (we call her Lizabee) showing expert no-hands ice cream eating technique. Notice the look of concentration from her would-be apprentice seated at the next table... LOL!

And Merry got a photo of Simon and I that I really love... right after his nightly bath. What a funny guy!

Shop talk with Jens

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:13:00 +0000

So I got together with Jens (pronounced yentz) for a Shop Talk session. I often get asked if I run workshops or do training sessions. Yes I do... whether it is getting together for coffee to discuss the business of photography, teach photographic techniques, or as far as organizing a real photoshoot with models for hands-on training. Contact me for a quote on what you might be looking for. I've taught from Edmonton to New York; so I do like sharing knowledge. =)

GO CANADA!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:15:00 +0000

Simon is one month old today, and today also kicked off the Olympic games! So he had to show his support:

And thanks to Patricia for the Canada shirt and bear!

Pics from two weeks of age...

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:56:00 +0000

Well, I've been getting a bit of flack for not posting enough pictures of Simon. He's getting so big! Three weeks and four days today!

Here are some shots for a little photoshoot we did when he was two weeks old:

Hello, I am Simon. I am asleep.

Here I am asleep, again.

Look ma! I'm FLYING!!

Huh?

Yaaaaawn!!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

YES!!!!

Little fingers!

Tiny toes!

That's all I got for the moment. More to come... stay tuned!

Introducing our new... TOASTER!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:53:00 +0000

Yeah I know, a toaster? What can I say? Simple pleasures for simple minds?

But this one is NEAT! We use the toaster a lot so we decided that it should be on our counter 24/7, so we thought we'd get something that matched the style of our house. Our old, 99 year old house that is.

So behold! Our new (but old) 1939 Sunbeam T-9 toaster!

It makes some MEAN toast, and does an especially good job of Merry's gluten free bread, which is difficult to toast.

Why doesn't anyone make appliances with any character anymore? (Aside from the Artisan mixer it shares the counter with, sitting in the background)

Website and Email back up

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:51:00 +0000

Sorry for the inconvenience. If you have tried to email me in the last couple of days and your email was returned, please send it again.

No, I am not out of business! ;)

Website and EMAIL are down! Sorry!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0000

My website and email are currently down. So are the images on the blog. It'll probably take about 48 hours to get back online. Apologies if you've emailed me and your message got bounced back.

In the meantime, you can still view our work and our blatherings on our facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Night-and-Day-Photography/257398666496

Thanks Shantel and Rob!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:04:00 +0000

We got a nice surprise in the mail... a "congrats on your baby" card from one of our wedding couples, Shantel and Rob! We definitely weren't expecting anything from clients so this was a really cool surprise. So thanks guys!

Here he is with the card:

And a goofy grin...

Cars on Ice!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:24:00 +0000

One of my hobbies is driving fast... and the more slippery it is, the better!

Which is exactly what a couple friends and I went out to do today. We went to the Alberta Solo Association's winter autocross at the airstrip at the Canadian Forces Base. It's a great opportunity to drive like mad in a legal, safe environment.

The vast majority of cars were Subarus, unsurprisingly...

Here are my friends' cars. Steve drives the Impreza, Aref drives the Legacy SpecB.

Waiting in the staging area for my run on the course.

A typical "looking kinda stupid" shot of Steve and I...

How can you tell we are hardcore Canadians? Take a look... hahahah

All in all a great day! It's a great feeling to toast a bunch of 4WD cars in your pathetic 2WD car on ice. Anyone looking to get in on the fun should check out http://www.albertasolo.com/

Hope to see you at the next event!!

I'm gonna love him, I'm gonna hug him, and I'm gonna name him... Simon!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:58:00 +0000

Haha, for those of you who watched Looney Toons growing up, you know who I'm quoting.

So yeah, we've chosen the name Simon Sungwan for our little guy. He's doing awesome, thanks to EVERYONE for the well wishes!

He seems to change a little every day. Here's a few extra pics:

Here is Merry and Simon recovering the next morning... hahaha

Day 2, he fell asleep while I was burping him

Day 3: his hands compared to harabugee's (grandpa in Korean) finger

Day 4: here he is practicing his Taekwondo stances

Day 6: He's happy with grandma

He spends a lot of time just looking around and observing the world

Again, thanks to all for the well wishes!

Wow I'm a dad?

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:12:00 +0000

At 16:42 on wednesday January 13, 2010, we welcome our little guy to the world. No name yet, though we hope to have that settled by the time we check out of the hospital. Merry did an absolutely amazing job. I'm so proud of her!!!!

Thanks for all the support and well wishes!

What's your play 78

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:03:00 +0000

Every tuesday my photographer cousin Laura Hana runs a "what's your play?" fun game. A basic photo is posted up and everyone throws their processing interpretation on it. Check out her blog to participate yourself: http://www.dolcepics.com/

The original photo is:

Here's my take on it:

-Various curve masks to reduce contrast between highlights and shadows
-Changed toning by dumping colours into a layers on top and selecting various blending modes (screen, Hue, multiply) and masking them to my liking
-Moved leaves over to a composition I liked with clone tool
-Bent branches (via liquify) to extend and connect to new leaf position
-Blur tool to even out the softness around the bends and cloning
-Brush tool at 50% to paint in colours that got skewed in the edit
-overlay a wall texture
-selective dodge and burn
-curve mask to bring out leaves more
-saturation mask to adjust colour levels as needed

Newborn Baby Jake!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:08:00 +0000

It is a pleasure to introduce baby Jake to our viewers! Jake was born Dec 21, 2009 weighing 7.5 lbs. Stefanie and Jim couldn't be happier! He was such a good baby and didn't cry once through the shoot! (Though Stefanie did get peed on... oops!)

So here's Jake at two weeks of age!

Yawn!!

Little feet!

Proud dad!

Little bum!

Jake's bodyguard, Maggie. Apparently she does an excellent job of guarding and alerting Stefanie and Jim when he needs attention.

Proud mom!

So congratulations to Stefanie and Jim! Jake is adorable!! Looking forward to seeing him as he grows!

A blizzard and a wedding with Elaine and Brian!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:44:00 +0000

And a Happy New Year to everyone!

We're going to start off 2010's first blog post with Elaine and Brian's awesome winter wedding. And let me tell you, it was REALLY a winter wedding! The conditions were cold, windy, blizzard, and undrivable in some places. But that was hardly a deterrent to Elaine and Brian's crew from celebrating a fantastic wedding!

And I'm glad, as I ABSOLUTELY LOVE shooting winter weddings! And I mean I REALLY love it!

In usual Chinese tradition, we started off at the bride's parents' house.

Getting the dress on!

Happiness abound!

Brian and the guys arrived, and had to pay, drink a nasty concoction, and sing a song to earn the right to get into the house.

Then they had to play the "pass the card with your lips" game, much to the laughter of everyone there!

Before the ceremony, we managed to get out for a few pics!

It was snowing and the wind was really strong!

Most people would shy away and stay indoors, but situations like this is when you can get something truly different than the usual wedding photos!

The ceremony was at Highlands United church.

Congratulations!

Then came the indoor shoot, which was booked at the Citadel.

Elaine looked fabulous!

The guys were goofy, as usual!

The girls were beautiful, as usual!

It was so dark in the atrium so it provided a different light to what is typical for the Citadel.

This cake had a water fountain in it! crazy!!

Wardrobe change!

And the Filipino money dance!

Followed by the first dance.

Elaine and Brian, your wedding was a fantastic way to cap off our 2009 wedding year! We were privileged to be a part of it, and SO lucky that you were willing to go outside despite the absolutely nasty weather!
Congratulations again, and have an awesome 2010!

Click HERE to view more PHOTOS!!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:10:00 +0000

Just for a bit of fun, here's a short timelapse video of us putting up our tree! =)

We have visitors here from DOZENS of countries around the world, so whatever you might be celebrating, have lots of fun!!

Putting up the TREE!!! YAY!!! =) from Lloyd Yoon on Vimeo.

Sunset with Kathy, Clem and Kalan!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Kathy, Clem, and Kalan decided to come up to Edmonton (from Calgary) to get a family photoshoot done! And Clem also loves coming up to Edmonton to sample the really diverse ethnic food selection here too. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

It gets so dark so early now! An afternoon sunset shoot!

Enjoying the sunset.

Kalan camouflaged. LOL

haha, I think kids love causing havoc when sitting on someone's shoulders. I remember I used to use my uncle's head as a drum when I was little.

Anyhow, thanks guys for coming up all the way from Calgary. It was a really fun shoot, and Kalan is so cute!

Click HERE to view more PHOTOS!!

At the stables with Jaclyn and Sebastian!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Jaclyn and Sebastian decided to skip the whole e-shoot thing and go for something a little different, which is always something I'm up for.

We met up with them a couple months AFTER their awesome wedding. They got dressed back into their wedding day outfits and we headed over to J and D Stables, where Jaclyn's two horses are boarded!

It was a beautiful fall day and a great time to get the horses out!

If horses could talk, I'd bet we'd be hearing the word, "HI!!!!". hahahaha

This is the horse Jaclyn has been riding since she was little.

The grounds are beautiful!

And also got a couple shots of the two of them (sans horses).

So thanks a bunch for the unique experiences guys! First shooting in a fire house and then this. It's been a blast! We hope to see you guys again soon!

Click HERE to view more PHOTOS!!

Alissa and Bryce: married in fine style!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:32:00 +0000

Alissa and Bryce chose a mid October day to have their wedding. At that time of year, you can have anything from +30 to -30. This time around though, it was around -5 and windy! That didn't seem to ruin the day at all though; it was fantastic in every way!

Ricci salon was where the girls started

The dress was just stunning with a vintage flavour. I love vintage style!

Alissa's mom putting on the earrings.

Such a beautiful necklace!

Bryce sneaking a happy peek at his gorgeous bride.

Unity Candle!

The guys

We toughed it out at the Provincial Museum for the photoshoot. People had to wait in the cars to warm up between shots. But it all worked well!

The girls, looking like runway models!

That sky looked a bit threatening. It actually did begin to snow.

Then we went to the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald. Got to warm up a little bit!

Had some fun and played up the vintage theme, since they were dressed as so. hahaha, it worked well I think!

And we took some quick shots out in the gardens. It was snowing very lightly at the time.

The reception was at the Meridian. Here is the backside of their awesome cake! See the slideshow for a look at the front.

Good times!

And an awesome Ukrainian dance performance by Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Company.

First Dance

Rings!

Alissa and Bryce, it was a blast sharing in your wedding with you guys, your friends, and family. It was truly a celebration of everything wonderful. And you guys have so much style that it almost hurts! Hahaha. Thanks for the awesome day and the good times!

Click HERE to view more PHOTOS!!

Eid ul-Adha at the Alberta Legislature!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:34:00 +0000

Yesterday was the Annual "Eid at the Legislature", in commemoration of the festival of Eid ul-Adha. This is put on by the Ismaili Muslim Community, the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities, and the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. We were privileged to be there in an official sense, shooting for the Muslim communities.

This is a very impressive event in that the Government of Alberta is the ONLY government in the entire western world that acknowledges and honours the Eid.

Anyhow, onto the pictures.

Many of our wedding clients have shot at the Legislature, but have never actually been inside. Well, here it is from the inside:

Here, Shaleen Kanji, one of the organizers of the event, doing a media interview

The Speaker of the House, the Honourable Ken Kowalski, kicks off the event.

Followed by a chanting from the Qu'ran

The Premier of Alberta, Ed Stelmach, makes a speech about the significance of Eid ul-Adha.

Followed by speeches from the leaders of the opposition, Dr. David Swann (Liberal Party leader)

And NDP Leader Brian Mason

Moe Amery, MLA for Calgary-East

Ayaz Bhanji, President of the Ismaili Council for Edmonton

Presenting an $8000 cheque to the Executive Director of the Edmonton Food Bank. All funds raised by the Ismaili Muslim youth. Amazing work!

And what would a celebration be without food?

All in all, an honour to be a part of such a significant event.

Stefanie and Jim + belly!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:52:00 +0000

We got together with Stefanie and Jim on an October evening in St. Albert for a maternity lifestyle shoot. It was great to see them again as we shot their wedding back in 2007 and had a riot! This time though, the weather cooperated and it wasn't rainy! hahaha.

Stefanie and Jim are expecting their first in January! Exciting! So they thought it would be a great idea to get some pics before the little one arrives! And why not??!

For those who don't know, this is downtown St. Albert. Pretty darn nice!

Stefanie looks really great!

They are a really fun couple

And a little family pic including their dog Maggie. Maggie also came to their e-session a couple years ago!

Jim has a little ways to go before he starts showing. With some hard work, I'm sure you'll get there, Jim!

Hahaha, Stefanie's favourite shop... the CANDY STORE!!! They have so much neat, rare imported stuff!

We then went to their home for some bare belly pics!

They look awesome!

So congratulations guys! That is really awesome! I can't wait to see the baby! Wishing you the best. Keep in touch and be sure to show us some baby pics come January!

Click HERE to view more PHOTOS!!

A slight change in the blog

noreply@blogger.com (Lloyd) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:37:00 +0000

Thanks to another awesome photographer, Susan at Picture That Photography, I have decided to increase the size of my blog images. She insisted that I wasn't doing my pictures justice by posting them so small. I guess I'm a little dumb that way so kudos to her for showing me the way! That will mean my previous posts will look funny, but hey, live for the future and not in the past, right? =)