Want to save $200 on your new portrait this summer?

Purchase our Summer Portrait Deal:
Our Signature Portrait session – anywhere in the Lethbridge area
including one 11×14 Salon Portrait (framed)

Regular price – $375
Promotional Price – $175*
A savings of over 53%

TO PURCHASE ONLINE – CLICK HERE

Here is how it works…

Inspired by the “Group Coupon” offers in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto.
The promotion is offered for a limited time (extended to  May 31)
There is a minimum number of offers that must be purchased in order for the promotion to be released – We are setting ours at 10 (we have met this target – the promotion has been released).  So – If you want to take advantage of this, pass along the info to your friends and family – forward to a friend

Photography must occur prior to Aug 30, 2011.

To purchase:

• call our studio 403-327-2658
• click here

Summer is a fantastic time of year for a new family portrait.  Lethbridge has some beautiful venues to create your new family portrait.  Now is the time to capture this moment in your family story.

Key times to have a portrait of your family made are:

• At the birth of a child
• Children start school
• Children move from elementary to middle school
• Children move from middle school to high school
• Graduation from High School / College / University
• Prior to children getting married

Who should you trust to preserve these important moments in your family’s story?  You need a photographer who understands the subtle difference between good and excellent, someone who has invested time and resources into knowing how to work with people, see beautiful light and create portraits that speak to the soul.

deJourdan’s has a team of 3 gifted and talented photographers backed by a dynamic professional team of creative professionals to ensure your portraits are exactly the way you want. With more than 40 combined years of experience, we are ready to create portraits that speak to your soul – to create your family heirlooms!

Call or click today to reserve your “Summer Portrait Deal”.  And don’t forget to tell your friends!

* plus GST

Hi friends… It was an emotional evening as Mr. Frank Gnandt lead the LCI Chamber Choir for the last time… Over 100 Alumni were on hand to do a tearful farewell at the end as the entire Southminister Church was filled with the most beautiful voices… Thanks for asking me to do a some photos. Here are a few to enjoy.

Cheers!
Mark

Before I utter too much on the platform of this particular post, I would like to make it clear that this is Jen writing this.  …because I’m going to shamelessly brag about Mark and I don’t want anyone to think that he is the author of this one.  (and I hope Mark doesn’t change anything I write here…ha ha) 

In the PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada), there are several designations that we can achieve.  To get these designations we have to have a high level of skill, enough to get a certain number of images recognized in our national competitions (which is difficult) and we have to volunteer our time in service to the industry, educating other photographers, planning events, or other noble work to this industry that we are passionate about.

Over the years of working away, serving the industry and managing to accrue print competition recognition points, they start building up, and we can earn our Craftsman of Photographic Arts or CPA.  The next step after CPA is the Master of Photographic Arts, or MPA designation after all the further qualifications for this next designation have been satisfied (a second level of print competition points and service points). The PPOC awards these designations at our national event, such as the one we just had in Banff.

Mark Orenstein was officially awarded his MPA at this year’s convention.  I felt very proud of him because this is a very big accomplishment in the PPOC and it shows the high level of skill and commitment he has to photography and the industry.

He was soundly with his family enjoying Mexico at the time and wasn’t there to receive it in front of our PPOC peers.  I was very proud of him, and when they called his name, there were many cheers on his behalf in the big ballroom full of people.

Mark, it’s time to order some new business cards…:)

deJourdan’s was represented at the PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) Convention in Banff from April 16-20th

On Sunday, April 17th, I rolled into Banff – slid into Banff would be a better descriptor.  I was driving down from Red Deer early that morning in the middle of a spring, slick snow storm.  I love being in the mountains because I was raised in the mountains.  It just gets my heart going in all kinds of nostalgia.  The grandeur of the Canadian rockies, the smell of pine, the animals, the crisp mountain air, sounds of water running, the solitude… k – you realize I could go on.  Mountains are spiritual for me.  They make me feel humble and small.  This was my view from my hotel room window…

Disclaimer – these pictures were taken from my point-and-shoot camera in all its glory…

The grandeur was something else.  The conference was at the Banff Springs Hotel.  There were a number of luxury hotels that were built across Canada by the CP Rail company in the early 1900s.  The Banff Springs Hotel was one of them.  This hotel seemed to really fit in the scene of the massive rockies that surrounded it.  The hotel was grand, historic and gorgeous.

and yes, I took a picture of the women’s bathroom… it was gorgeous with amazing scenery!

It was fantastic.  I loved being able to see all the competition images from all of Canada that were accepted into the National Gallery.  There is such talent in this organization.  There is a book that has been produced that has all the images from the 2011 competition, including all six of the recognized prints and one album from deJourdan’s photographers.

I was so glad to be able to have gone to represent the studio!  It is important to keep finessing and refining our craft and creative eye every chance we get.

Renae Peterson is an amazing woman here in Lethbridge.  She runs a program for mothers and especially their daughters, called Beauty from the Inside Out, that has many components to it.  www.beautyinside.ca I would encourage you to visit her website, it is an amazing program that is very needed in today’s world with the esteem-destroying messages that are everywhere we look and has been all our daughters have seen their whole lives.  Her concept is for the girls to be able to see and tap into their own definition of beauty and strength.  I am highly impressed with this program.

deJourdan’s is proud to sponsor and be involved in this program.  There is a mother-daughter makeover evening when, after they get their professional makeovers done, they come into the studio for a shoot.  They looked fabulous (even after the wind had its way with their hairstyle) and I could tell they felt fabulous!  We cranked the music again (I will do that any excuse I get…), and the energy was high. We had fun!  My personal highlight was, when I was able to coax the personality of the girls into their images.  There were a few girls, when I showed them their pictures on the back of my camera for the first time, literally gasped, because they have never seen themselves like that before.  There were tears from moms as they saw, renewed, how grown-up their daughters had become.  They are all beautiful!

If you have any questions about this program, go to her website.  In my opinion, every tween or teen girl should do this program.  The earlier, the better.  It is about time someone gave positive and attainable messages to our girls!

Last week, I wrote about having chicks in the studio (the ‘bird’ kind) for our Spring/Easter-themed pictures.  I have to share the cuteness.  These images have a double-whammy of cuteness.  My sweet little subject and the fuzzy yellow chick were made for each other.  As you can see, I didn’t even know what category to put this into, so I made a new one.  “Cute” is the new category in honour of these two darlings.

The two-days-worth of kids loved the chicks and we had lots of friends come to peek at our little in-studio-nursery.   We loved doing this!

You can see, from the pictures, how much fun she had.  The last image, was captured right after she said (looking at her mom and dad) in her little two-year-old, newly-verbal voice, “Please, can I take him home?”  I just melted when I heard her say that.  Sweetheart, we ALL felt like that! 

Let me introduce the cute:

In a world riddled with drugstore photography competitions and abundant Facebook praise on anything involving a shutter-release, there are many photography competitions that a photographer can enter.  The most arduous and tough photography competitions are the ones that are held at high industry standards in industry circles, judged by Master photographers.  In a world where there are so many photographers in an industry that are largely newer-businesses – competitions of this caliber are even more vital now and they speak directly to, and lend weight to the repertoire of the artist, thereby, separating them from the sea of photographers in the industry.  This is an indicator you can look for when searching out a photographer and quality is important to you.

Competition “season” starts in January and ends in April every year.  deJourdan’s is a studio that competes images in these competitions, competing against Provincial, National, and International competitors.  Between our photographers, we have a total of six images and one wedding album that have scored in the realm of recognition in three different competitions in 2011.

A photographer agonizes over their year’s work at the end of the year to choose the few images that they feel would do well in competition.  Then, there’s deadlines, entry fees, and then waiting…  If the photographer is lucky enough to attend the print judging, a healthy helping of humble pie and a churning stomach is usually on the menu as the anonymous prints each get judged.  When your image comes up, your heart stops.  (Mark, our fearless leader at deJourdan’s was a print judge at the PPOC-Alberta print competition in January.)

Here are the images from deJourdan’s photographers that received recognition in this years’ competitions:

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) National Competition, Accepted into the National Gallery – Wedding Album

Artist:  Jen Alston

(Link to see a slideshow of the wedding album)

Awarded Prints:

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) National Competition, Accepted into the National Gallery

Artist:  Mark Orenstein

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) National Competition, Accepted into the National Gallery

Artist:  Mark Orenstein

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) National Competition, Accepted into the National Gallery &

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada-Alberta), Accepted

Artist:  Jen Alston

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) National Competition, Accepted into the National Gallery,

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada-Alberta), Accepted

Artist:  Jen Alston

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada-Alberta), Accepted

Also, nominated for a provincial ‘Best in Class’ award

Artist:  Jen Alston

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) National Competition, Accepted into the National Gallery and given a Merit status,

PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada-Alberta) given a Merit status as well as

Winner of the PPOC-Alberta “Best in Class- Wedding Portrait” award.

WPPI (International) – Accolade of Excellence, Las Vegas

Artist: Jen Alston

,

Lethbridge has an event called Leaders of Tomorrow, presented by Volunteer Lethbridge, where they recognize leadership and volunteerism in the youth of the city.  The Leaders of Tomorrow program began in 1997 and has steadily grown over the years.  Since it started, the program has recognized 1,396 young people, including 92 2011 nominees.  More information can be found on their website.

deJourdan’s is a platinum sponsor of this event.  We are so proud to support this program.  We also provided the photography for all the winners.

The banquet and recognitions took place on Tuesday, April 12 at the Lethbridge Lodge Conference Centre.

I had the opportunity to have previously worked with the winners when we did their portrait and I felt like a proud family member when I saw them up on the stage accepting their awards.  I was in awe of the outstanding young people that were there.

On behalf of the whole deJourdan’s family, we would like to extend our most robust congratulations to the nominees and the winners.

-Jen

Let me introduce the winners to our audience:

5-11 Year-Old Recipients:

Brooke Dykslag

Allison Vonk

12-15 Year-Old Recipients:

Cierra Ginter

Michelle Kwan

16-18 Year-Old Award Recipients:

Taylor Findlay

Lynn Nguyen

19-24 Year-Old Recipient:

Samantha Gilbert

I will clarify at the beginning this post that this is Jen posting. I refer to having experience as a teenage girl, and I don’t want to misrepresent my esteemed male colleagues that I work with as having those experiences.  (chuckle…)

What is one of the things that teenagers have in common…especially girls.  (Women out there, think back to when you were that age.)  They love pictures.  They love taking them and most of them, from my experience, have fun goofing off in front of the camera.  When I was a teenager, I had loads of pictures of my friends and I.

One thing that I’ve always wanted to do, but it is nearly impossible in a home-studio – is teen and tween parties…birthday parties, just because parties…  I brought some girls in to the studio for one of these to see what it would be like and how they would enjoy it.  They are all turning 16 this year.  They LOVED it.  We all had such a great time!!!  We cranked the music and had a dance party… oh ya…and we took pictures of them.  They liked it so much that they wanted to plan another one the very next weekend.  Why not have your tween or teen’s birthday celebration with us, doing something that teens and tweens already LOVE to do?

Sweet 16 parties are gaining incredible momentum in the U.S.  I also think teen/tween parties are fantastic because, anyone who has experience with teen/tween girls knows that, it is such a fragile time in a girl’s life with self-esteem and self-discovery and what a pivotal time to show them how beautiful they really are and with people that are important to them.  I have heard it said before, that pictures of family members on the walls of the home boosts self-esteem in the children that live there.

Here’s a link to a slideshow with more images from this session:  slideshow

We will be offering this at the studio.  What a FANTASTIC way to celebrate a big birthday.  If you are interested, please call us (403.327.2658).  We are also talking about ‘Girl’s night out” and “Stagette” possibilities as well.

Every Spring, deJourdans Photographics does Spring-themed pictures.  We decided to switch from little bunnies to chicks this year.

A few of us had the ultimate privilege to be the ones who went to “pick up chicks”…yes, we’ve been laughing about “chick” puns this whole time.  I know…I know…  “Don’t touch the ‘chicks’”, “Go take pictures of chicks”, etc.  It has been fodder for a lot of snickering around the studio.

I thought that I would record the “homecoming” of these cute, fuzzy little birdlings.  They were hatched just a few hours before we got them.  They were tiny, docile, downy and CUTE little creatures.  The whole office and half the employees in our building fell in love with them.  They had a comfortable home in a warm enclosure with all the food and water that they could ever dream of wanting and all the purple bedding that they needed to poop on.  (We are artists…we needed colour.)

All in all the chicks were a screaming hit, which I will blog about in the near future.  We had two days of sessions with kids and chicks together.  It was such an adventure!  We are SO doing this next spring!  How can you not love them (especially after you see the last picture on this post… awwwww….)

We said goodbye to the chicks today.  We know they went to a good home where they will be surrounded by friends and love.  Thanks for all your hard work being cute.