Dale + Joy = Photography

Stye+crew

2011-09-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

Stye Quequish (far right) is cutting another CD and asked us to shoot his promo shots and cover. Naturally we said yes because we're big fans. These are some of the images we got. It was a lot of fun.

Meet our little Tehya

2011-07-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

OK so I know it's been a really long time since our blog was updated but I have a great reason why ... I have the pleasure of introducing Tehya, my 7 pound 10 ounce bundle of complete joy. She was born July 15 at 12:01 pm. She's beautiful, calm and alert when she decides to stay awake for more than a few minutes. And naturally my little family is completely devoted to her.

Remember Me

2010-09-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

I made a huge decision about two years ago and well that decision altered my life so much so that sometimes I wonder why I hadn't done it sooner ... I think I didn't because I just didn't think I could or should. My close friends+family know what that decision was+its not important to blast it out all over the place here. Because my main point here is to just kind of trumpet that its OK to make tough decisions even if they scare the shit out of you. Its really important to find yourself if you've gotten a bit lost along the way. We all veer off our paths once in awhile but once you get back onto it well we just appreciate ourselves all the more. And its in those times that you really discover who your real supports are and that can make you feel really rich+honoured.

Remember Me celebrates the lives of some really incredible women. Women who have faced shit and come out all the more stronger+wiser. I love people that traverse events+situations the best way they can and keep moving forward despite all the bad that life has to throw at them. People like that I truly admire+they inspire me to keep my chin up and my heart strong.

Making tough decisions and making the right ones for you can only lead to good and sometimes wonderful discoveries. That taught me that staying true to that inner most part of you can only lead to better things.

And as my grandmother taught me, women are the leaders, the clan mothers, the carriers of wisdom, the life givers to families and communities. We are loving+strong. We are warriors when we have to be and we give and help give birth to nations. We deserve to be honoured for all of that and so much more.

So to all the women that took part in the Remember Me project, I honour all of you. You are all beautiful, inspiring women that we should all take lessons from. Meegwetch. And to all the women that I know+love, you all deserve the best that life has to offer you, do not settle for ordinary because you're all pretty damn fine!

Stay true women

From Remember Me

Hospital Project

2010-08-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile since we updated our site. We have been super busy. Our most recent project that we're halfway through is for the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. We were hired to help build an image library of Indigenous Peoples. Given the scope of the project I enlisted my good friend Brent Wesley to help us out. What makes this particular project unique is that we're both taking part in the project as subjects too ... that's us by the way just below.

From Hospital Project

Remember Me

2010-06-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

Remember Me is a project that honours Aboriginal women who have been lost through violence. Below are women who represent the strength and beauty of those that are thriving and showing us that Aboriginal women are to be honoured. This is a wonderful, inspiring project and we're humbled to be a part of it. To view all the portraits because there are so many, too many to post here, please friend me on Facebook - Adrienne Fox - and you can see all the images there. Meegwetch to all the women who are taking part in this important photography project. Their images will be used in a calendar and will also be displayed at the Aboriginal Pavillion during National Aboriginal Day in Thunder Bay.

From Remember Me

Fox+Hardy Wedding

2010-06-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

We shot our first golf course wedding yesterday. My uncle Charles+his beautiful bride Meladina are avid golf enthusiasts so it was completely fitting for them to exchange vows at their favourite club. After a wonderful traditional ceremony, guests+family enjoyed 18 holes at the Whitewater Golf Club just west of Thunder Bay. The rain+chill didn't dampen spirits at all. And then guests+family were treated to a gourmet meal and a surprise choreographed dance performed by the bridal party. It was definitely the most fun we've had in awhile, so congratulations to this awesome couple.

From Mel+Charles

Redsky+Kenny Wedding

2010-05-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

We got to photograph the wedding of two beautiful people - Lani Kenny+Jeff Redsky. The ceremony was wonderful+the portrait setting was gorgeous. Lani was absolutely stunning :) We've only posted a few images that we shot. Brent Wesley helped us shoot so hopefully he'll post some images on his blog as well.

From Lani+Jeff

Aboriginal Youth Achievement and Recognition

2010-05-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

We covered the 2010 Northwestern Ontario Aboriginal Youth Achievement and Recognition Awards this past Thursday. It was an honour to photograph really great+inspiring people especially our friend Frances Wesley. She earned the Community Involvement Award for her continued efforts to better the lives of Aboriginal people in the city of Thunder Bay. Congratulations to all the winners. We've posted some of the images of these awesome people.

From AYRA

Ecole Gron Public School Cultural Presentations+Powwow

2010-04-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

We covered the annual traditional gathering hosted by Ecol Gron Public School yesterday. I had a great time and the atmosphere was absolutely electric when the demonstration powwow started.

From Ecole Gron gathering+powwow

Pushing Limits

2010-04-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Photography is a great means of self-exploration. We've all faced cross roads in our lives that call on you to be the best you can be, but that can mean pushing through some really tough challenges. Its during those times that I like to push pixels to their limits and find the grit and dirt in objects I see everyday of my life. Its within those moments of pure rawness that I find out who I really am. And its the same with images. By pushing past our usual ways of shooting, we can discover a new edge to our images. I've pushed my limits a lot this past year and it all started with our move to Thunder Bay. I've been consumed by ultimate happiness and pulled down into down and dirty struggles, but each experience has brought me closer to finding my centre. And I'm also beginning to discover just how strong I really am. Now how fantastic is that!

From Random Shooting

Little bitty baby Cole

2010-04-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

My gorgeous cousin Gloria recently gave birth to fraternal twins. I was able to photograph one of them. Meet Cole. He's super cute so get ready to awww and wish for one of your very own :D

From Cole

Niigan Inaabin 2010

2010-04-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

We've enjoyed covering this annual event for about three years now. Youth from across Treaty 3 are given an opportunity to explore careers through workshops, presentations and booths. Thanks to our awesome beautiful friend Vivian from Shooniiyaa wa biitong for hiring us again. This year, my friend Brent helped me shoot the three-day event. Joy was busy on another project in Thunder Bay. You can see some of Brent's awesome work here: youngthunderbird.blogspot.com

From Niigan Inaabin 2010

Jody+Wes

2010-02-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

Jody has been my friend for ... oh let's see 10 years! Wow! She's a beautiful lady, inside+out. She recently got married and we regret not being able to be there. But we really wanted to give them a gift, so we offered a portrait session. They're a lovely couple as you can see+very happy! Congratulations Jody+Wes. Much happiness to you both.

From Jody+Wes

Blueprint for the Future

2010-02-15T12:34:00.000-08:00

We know it's been a long while since our last update.
As many can sympathize with, life does march on despite our best intentions.
We've been busy, professionally+personally.

This is a recent event we covered here in Thunder Bay. The lighting was amazing in the ballroom. We were hired by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation to cover a large youth career fair titled Blueprint for the Future. While it might be needless to say: We had a blast! The students were a lot of fun+super curious about our role there.

From Recently Updated

Synchronized Swimming

2009-12-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

This was a first for us. We've never shot anything remotely similar to synchronized swimming, so it was definitely a challenge. We'll be investing in some longer lenses in the New Year in time for the Spring Watershow. For us, it's all about getting facial expressions and not being able to do much of that really pushed us to come up with compelling images. That's probably a good thing because it forces us to shoot better.

Thanks to our awesome sports-mom friend Jody for inviting us poolside. Her beautiful daughter Maddie is a talented swimmer.

From SW

Catherine+Touchan's Beautiful Family

2009-12-02T10:03:00.001-08:00

I know it's been awhile since we updated our blog. It's been an incredibly busy two months.

We've relocated to Thunder Bay, Ont., as of Nov. 2. So lots of packing+unpacking while getting used to our new surroundings. It was a little rough for a bit as changes are never easy especially with a big family in tow. But things are settling down just enough for us to relax now and again.

Recently we did a couple of sessions – the first was a family session with Catherine+Touchan and their beautiful children. The second was an event, a first for us. We covered a synchronized swimming show and it was definitely a challenge. We'll be posting images from that very soon.

Just a little update: We are beginning to work on an exciting new project that involves a lot of multimedia work, so be sure to check back for images/videos from that. We'll be working on that over the next couple of months with completion slated for Jan. 31, 2010.

In the meantime have a look at some images from Catherine+Touchan's family session :)

From C+T Family

Melissa+Family

2009-10-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

We did a session today with Melissa Plett and her lovely family. Everything about our surroundings allowed us to shoot in more of an editorial style. Muted colours and having to shoot indoors, albeit a beautiful location, forced us to use our Alien Bees. Not that we minded one bit. It gave us a chance to exercise our lighting muscles.

From Pictures

Our Approach

2009-10-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

We like to direct our shoots a lot. We tell people where to look, how to sit, when to smile, where to move. Not because we're control freaks but because we want to provide the best possible images to people who put faith in our work.

Lani+Jeff will be getting married next spring and we're honoured that they chose us to photograph their big day. It will only happen once and we aim to provide the best we can. Our talented friend Brent 'shot and chopped' (we borrowed that expression from him because it's pretty cool) this video of us 'in action.'

Lani+Jeff from Dale+Joy on Vimeo.

Lighting Technique

2009-09-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

You can probably see how I lit this close-up of my sister. I was trying to figure out how to do a high-key lighting portrait with one studio light. So take two large white bristol boards for bounce and one overheard studio light and voila! High key lighting close up head shot. I bumped up the exposure quite a bit to get rid of all the skin detail while retaining the eyes which clearly show the two boards on either side of her. I shot through the two boards.

And thanks to my Logan for holding one of the boards and to Joy for holding the studio light in place for a long-ish time. She's tough ;)

From Pictures

One Year Later ... Darion+Logan

2009-09-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

What a difference one year makes ... wow!

My sister and I have boys that are close in age and they've pretty much grown up together.
I took the first photo just one year ago ... and now ... well introducing the beginning of teenage-hood.

From Darion+Logan

Rowan's Session

2009-09-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

Our fantastic friend and multimedia wizard – Brent Wesley – videotaped a couple of our sessions last week. I think he did a great job of showing how we shoot.

Rowan, whom we blogged about previously, spent the majority of our session watching her parents as they did their best to make the little beauty smile. She gave a few appreciative smiles for all their efforts.

Enjoy the video and big huge thank you to Brent for all his hard work and talent.

Baby Rowan from Dale+Joy on Vimeo.

Lani+Jeff

2009-09-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

September 22, 2009

We did an engagement session for Lani+Jeff this evening. They'll be getting married next spring. Lani's parents have a fantastic home which gave us a lot of options for images. We had a lot of fun with this beautiful couple :)

Beautiful Rowan

2009-09-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

September 20, 2009

We had our first little baby session today and Rowan, who is now 2 months and 2 days into the world was truly wonderful to photograph. She's definitely a charmer and we had a really great time with her. Proud parents, Patty and Steve made our long-ish session a lot of fun and kept their little baby girl very happy.

Sioux Excursion

2009-09-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

September 19, 2009

Every once in awhile it's good to get out and just randomly look for images. Being able to 'see' in different ways enables us to appreciate places and things we drive or walk by every day.

Brent and I spent a couple of hours this morning exploring one small part of Sioux Lookout. Given our shared appreciation of photography, I was more then happy to walk around with him when he suggested the idea.

When I uploaded the images and started looking through them, my son Logan, who was standing behind me perusing the images too, asked me where the pictures were taken. I smiled and told him 'Sioux.' His reaction told me I'd accomplished my goal: find new perspectives in a place I've lived in for more then 10 years.

The images below were taken on a small stretch of land that hugs Pelican Lake. I shot all of them using a fixed 50mm lens. I kept my depth of field shallow – between f1.2 and f2.8 – to create a more minimalistic look.

Dear Rose

2009-09-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

September 9, 2009

Granny Rose passed away Sept. 1 at the young age of 86. Rose was definitely a free spirit, filled with a 'life is too short to waste' attitude. I'm sure she saw all of us gathered to pay our final respects and I'm real sure we made her laugh.

I haven't seen a lot of my dad's side of the family for many years. We haven't kept in touch like we should and I was very happy to see them all. Losing someone like Rose reminds me that despite some difficult personal hurdles – it all boils down to family ties. It's in family that you're reminded we're not alone in the world.

Below is my awesome beautiful aunt Janet, my dad Robb and sweet aunt Maggie. I've got more group pictures that really show the diverse nature of our family and I'll be posting those soon.

Preserving Mother Earth

2009-09-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

September 5, 2009

Joy and I spent two fantastic days covering an Elder's gathering on Animiki wadjiw (Mount McKay) in Thunder Bay. The gathering brought together Elders from across Ontario to discuss ways of conserving energy and preserving the Earth.

First Nations Elders who follow both Christian and traditional teachings and Métis Elders shared and made recommendations to Ontario First Nation leaders and delegates on what needs to be done to help preserve Mother Earth.

The two-day discussion took place in a traditional lodge and included sweat lodges, a shaking tent ceremony and gospel jamboree. The event was truly inspiring.

Our New Logo

2009-08-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

August 24, 2009

We're super excited to have our new logo. It's an 'aaahh' moment. We're proudly using it as our blog masthead and incorporating into our website soon.

Big, big thank you to our wonderfully talented beautiful friend Grace Winter who designed it for us. I was super charged when I saw the feather because I immediately saw the outline of two people. So big long twirly hug to Grace.

Embracing Old Traditions

2009-08-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

August 21, 2009

As long as I've been a photographer, the mere idea of shooting weddings has terrified me. There are probably many reasons why but I think the main one has been not wanting to mess up. After all there are at least two very important people – the bride and groom – counting on you to record and produce beautiful keepsakes that will be passed on generation-to-generation. What a spectacularly huge task :o

So throughout the years, whenever I was approached to shoot a wedding, I'd react physiologically:

1. Increased heart rate
2. Sweaty palms
3. Queasy stomach

I guess I almost developed a phobia. So fast forward a few years. One of my awesome bff Brent asks me to shoot his wedding. Well the physiological reactions had a new layer to them.

Let me explain.

A friend and former colleague of mine told me that at least once a year he takes out his wedding photos intent on organizing them. But each year, he stops, shakes his head in disappointment and puts them away.

He told me he'd wished that I had been the photographer for his wedding. I remember smiling and wishing I had been his wedding photographer too.

So back into the near past – so when Brent asked me to photograph his wedding, I had a more layered approach to my initial reaction:

1. Increased heart rate mixed with excitement
2. Sweaty palms and anticipation
3. Butterflies in lieu of a queasy stomach

Moral of this particular story: Strong fear of doing something usually means you'll put more heart into it and do it to the best of your ability.

So given my newly acquired confidence, we've developed a rate sheet specifically for weddings. Again we're reasonably priced because we want to be accessible to everyone looking for a photographer. You can download our rate sheet here: Dale+Joy Wedding Price List

Brent+Kanina loved their photos and that makes me very happy.

Rebecca

2009-08-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

August 19, 2009

We're working on our second session for a regional project. This lovely lady is Rebecca Baas. We did a preliminary session this evening to test out the lighting conditions. We'll be getting together again Saturday afternoon to hopefully shoot some images that are sun filled – crossing our fingers. It's been raining A LOT!!

Sweet Pea

2009-08-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

August 11, 2009

Little munchkin stopped in for a visit yesterday. Naturally, we had to get some photos of him because he's just too adorable. Cole just came back from a week-long trip with his Nanny aka grandmother. I asked him to give me a big smile and he sweetly obliged. He looks a little mischievous :)

Weather

2009-08-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

August 10, 2009

We've been travelling a lot lately and driving from destination to destination can bring you through vastly different weather systems.

Yesterday we drove through a particularly harsh summer storm.

Sadly we passed by a very bad accident surrounded by rescue people, including police and medical personnel. It was horrible seeing the mangled upside down vehicle, the body crushed like it had just been tossed there. We pray the person/or people in that wreck lived to see another day.

So as we passed by, the traffic in front of us formed a slow train that wound its way through the dense forest that sits between Kenora ON and Dryden. Our impromptu caravan thinned out about 20 kilometres later leaving about six of us. The rain was steady and grew in force as we edged our way to Vermillion Bay. Midway we were forced to pull to the side the road and wait minutes as the rain reached torrential amounts. Previous, we had been crawling at 20, 30 kilometres per hour trying to see the highway in front of us.

We parked and waited for about 5 or 10 minutes and slowly edged our way back onto the highway when it seemed to slow to a steady heavy fall.

It's always a bit of a stress driving through conditions like yesterday, but an equal relief when it ends. The weather was glorious after the we drove through the worst of it and we couldn't resist taking some photos.

Too Cute

2009-08-07T07:38:00.001-07:00

August 7, 2009

My mom-in-law has this adorable little dog named Chester and he fathered equally adorable puppies. She's keeping one of these cuties and sending the other one to family in Red Lake. So cute :)

Agnes

2009-08-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

August 6, 2009

Elder Agnes Hardy has been wanting portraits for awhile now and we finally got a chance yesterday. Her regalia is gorgeous and we had a lot of fun. We took advantage of the cloud cover which provided some really great soft light.

Darryl "Penasi" Fox Memorial Golf Tournament

2009-08-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

August 3, 2009

It was the second annual golf tournament honouring the memory of Darryl Fox, July 30. Proceeds of the tournament go towards cancer research and student scholarships. Last year Charles Fox and Linda Redsky, Darryl's parents and his sisters and brothers raised more then $6,000.

Twenty teams came out and had a great time despite a break that lasted nearly one hour because of rain. Each team completed 18 holes and enjoyed a great dinner at Whitewater Golf Club near Thunder Bay.

Thanks to all our friend Brent Wesley who helped us photograph the event. He did an amazing job. Below are some of the images we took. Narrowing more then 800 images down to 400 was a major task. But we had a lot of fun, especially since we were able to use two golf carts to get around that awesome course. Joy nearly veered into the bush a couple of times, but overall, definitely a good time.

We're contemplating playing next year, but I'm not sure about placing a heavy metal object into Joy's hands ;)

Gorgeous Dancers

2009-08-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

August 3, 2009

We attended the Eagle Lake Traditional Powwow yesterday. It was a beautiful relaxing day.

Joy+I decided to try a portrait booth giving dancers a chance to have themselves photographed in their beautiful regalia. It was a learning experience for sure and I think we're going to do it again next year but we'll be a little more prepared. The biggest challenge was processing in daylight and despite being nestled under a gazebo, the glare coming off our computer screen was still pretty intense. Luckily Joy brought her black hoodie and I was able to scoot under it to get more accurate skin tones.

Our lighting kit gave us fantastic results. Our friends were able to set up a booth near this very skinny tree which came in handy. Next year we would love to set up right by the lake and use that as a backdrop instead. I think we'd have super results that way.

What we've been up to ...

2009-07-31T22:13:00.001-07:00

August 1, 2009

It's turning into a busy summer for us, which of course is a very good thing.
Below you'll find a sample from three different projects we're currently working on.

The first image is from a session Brent Wesley and I did for our personal project titled I am ... it's an ongoing project that highlights the diversity of indigenous peoples in the region. We had a great time with Nick Sherman – a talented musician from Sioux Lookout.

Below Nick is a beautiful portrait of Irene Beardy, she's part of an ongoing project we're working on for a regional organization. We'll talk about it more once we've completed it.

And then there's a teaser image from a memorial golf tournament held just this past Thursday in Thunder Bay. We'll post more images later.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Elder Posters

2009-07-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2009

We finally completed a series of energy conservation posters featuring First Nation and Métis Elders from across Ontario. All of them were a pleasure to photograph and all are very beautiful. In all we photographed 17 Elders. The posters were requisitioned by Charles Fox Consulting Inc., which is leading a province-wide initiative to bring energy conservation back into hundreds of Indigenous communities. You can read more about the initiative here: www.conservethelight.com

Brent+Kanina in Black & White

2009-07-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2009

Brent and Kanina also exchanged vows during a traditional ceremony July 13. It was a lovely intimate event with just a handful of friends and family present. Below you'll find a few images from that day.

Our Website is Launched!

2009-07-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2009

Our website – daleplusjoy.ca – is up and ready for viewing. We invite you to take a few moments and visit. If you're perusing our Folios, you can view our images bigger simply by clicking on your choice and clicking again to return to the automated slide show. Joy worked super hard getting it all working and I think she did a beautiful job.

And please don't be shy, feel free to send us your comments. We'd love hear from you.

My Baby Sister

2009-07-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

July 16, 2009

Since Melanie was a baby, she's always had the ability to look sad even when she's not. She was adorable as a child. She had super chubby cheeks and a contagious smile. Mel is still a beauty and she still looks sad when she doesn't smile.

... and just a little more fun

2009-07-13T19:19:00.001-07:00

July 13, 2009

We had fun with lil' Cole this evening. He's a bundle of energy and rarely stands still. We love him so much :)

Having Fun with our new 'Alien Bees'

2009-07-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

July 13, 2009

We finally got our long anticipated studio lighting kit, so naturally we had to test them. Darion, my nephew kindly agreed to model for us and didn't complain once despite the blazing hot sun buffeting our back yard.

And we LOVE our Alien Bees!

Traditional Vows

2009-07-13T09:56:00.001-07:00

July 13, 2009

Brent+Kanina also honoured their roots through a traditional wedding ceremony this morning. The couple rose early for the occasion and exchanged promises to each other and their respective parents-in-law. The gathering was intimate and extremely peaceful.

Kanina+Brent say 'I do'

2009-07-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

July 12, 2009

What a beautiful July 11 was. Brent and Kanina's wedding day couldn't have been more perfect. The weather was beautiful, the setting was beautiful and the people gathered to help celebrate were beautiful. Brent is a wonderful friend and I knew he would find someone just as great as he is.

Congratulations to both of you and big thank you for trusting us with your photography. I won't lie. I was nervous about covering the event because I wanted to do the best job possible for these two lovely people. I'm crossing my fingers they won't be disappointed ;)

I know many of you are anxious to see the photos, so here's a small sampling to help tide you over.

Happy Birthday Canada!

2009-07-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2009

Can't believe it's that time of year AGAIN! I think Canada – born out of colonialism – is now 142 years old, but we all know Turtle Island has been home to Indigenous Peoples since time began ... but Happy Birthday anyway.

We like fireworks cuz they have pretty colours. As with all the images we post here, just click them to view them bigger.

Elder's Gathering – March 31-April 1, 2009

2009-06-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

June 30, 2009

We completed a DVD containing a slide show of a two-day Elder's Gathering that took place in Thunder Bay. The Elder's from across Ontario met to discuss ways of bringing back conservation into their respective communities. Below is a teaser slide show from the DVD – our gift to the 17 Elders who participated.

Elder's Gathering – March 31-April 1, 2009 from Dale+Joy on Vimeo.

Our portfolio is online

2009-06-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2009

The cover of our online portfolio thanks to the fantastic self-publishing website Yudu

The Best Part of Summer

2009-06-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

June 26, 2009

While many love summer for its long hot sun-filled days, for us it means fresh fruit is in season. Nothing beats a bevy of berries when temperatures soar. Yummy!

Good Medicine

2009-06-23T22:15:00.001-07:00

June 23, 2009

We had the supreme pleasure of shooting the first annual Summer Solstice Pe-Anihshininiimok Celebration – Come Speak your Language sponsored by Kwayaciiwin Educational Resource Centre. It was a two-day event held near Sioux Lookout that gave local school children a chance to learn some traditional Aboriginal games as well as learn some words in Oji-Cree.

The event also included a storytelling competition and gave adults a chance to relax and take part in some amazingly funny square-dancing and jigging.

William Dumas, executive director of Northern Nishnawbe Education Council said happy events create 'good medicine' that help all people.

We definitely had a blast!

Being Thankful

2009-06-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2009

This is Logan, one of my three children. He's introspective, quiet, has a hunched walk – typical of any young teenager – and laughs easily.

Recently members of our extended family have been facing some tremendous hurdles and our hearts goes out to them. But I think it's in those moments that you truly realize how important family really is. We're grateful my grandparents instilled a strong sense of family in us.

Beyond my small immediate family are cousins, aunts and uncles – who take care of each other and gather together when one of us is wounded or taken. It really is a remarkable feat in a world focused on self.

Brent + Kanina

2009-06-13T22:28:00.001-07:00

June 13, 2009

Brent and Kanina will be getting married July 11 under the canopy of evergreens that surround her parent's home. The location is beautiful and we're honoured our favourite, fun-loving couple is trusting us to take care of their photography. We're super psyched and ordering new equipment to ensure they love each image.

Sweet Cole

2009-06-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2009

Our sweet lil' muse Cole. He's a bundle of chunky energy, so when he visits, we've usually got our cameras at the ready. Cole is my niece's son. He's learning to talk and it's fun getting him to say 'heckicopter' when he means helicopter.

Beautiful Elders

2009-06-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

June 11, 2009

We had the pleasure of covering an Elder's conference held in Thunder Bay. We were also charged with doing individual portraits – all of which will be used for a poster series we're designing for the Ontario Power Authority through Energy Efficiency and Conservation Measures for Aboriginal Communities.

Seventeen Elders from across Ontario met to discuss energy conservation and how to instill traditional values back into their respective communities. It was an honour meeting each of them.

Stefanie + Tristan

2009-06-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

June 10, 2009

These images were from a session we did this past winter. Lil' Tristan loved the camera. We'll be adding some images from previous sessions just to give you an idea about the kind of work we do.

Our homage to Sioux

2009-06-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

June 9, 2009

We've pretty much spent the last nine years living in Sioux Lookout. It's actually a quaint little community where we don't have to worry about rush hour or spend hours just going to the grocery store ...

I think we'll always be Sioux Lookout-ians at heart, but we do long for the sprawl of urban life.

The first of many Dale+Joy blogs ...

2009-06-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

June 8, 2009

We might be slightly crazy starting a photography company in an already saturated market. But we can't deny our shared love all things photographic.

Welcome to our inaugural blog. Our first of many, many more we hope.

We'll do our best to post our latest work and we do have a few planned over the summer. A few weddings, some portraits and a few events so check back often. You can also visit our temporary website daleplusjoy.viewbook.com to see more of our work and email us at daleplusjoy@gmail.com if you like what you see and want to hire us.

Just a little bit about us: we're based in Sioux Lookout, Ont. Canada – a small town that sits about a half hour north of the trans-Canada highway. We're also a mother-daughter team, so we pretty much have all the bases covered when we shoot events. Creatively, it's great having the combined energy of two when it comes to setting up shots and scouting for locations. We also love travelling.

Naturally our family gives us endless opportunities to practice and practice we must. Below is a small sampling of our practice work. Enjoy. Oh and if you're wondering about the skyline image, it's Windsor, definitely not Sioux :)