HanaFoto

World’s Longest Hockey Game! Hockey Marathon For Kids

hanafoto — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:34:24 +0000

I jumped on board when my friend Lesley from Magical Moments asked for any volunteers for an amazing event she was organizing. It is called the Hockey Marathon for Kids. 40 super men are going to undertake breaking the Guinness record for the worlds longest hockey game! 250 hours of hockey straight!

I was there today on my first Volunteer shift and experienced a taste of what they are going through – it is truly inspirational! They must eat, sleep, and play hockey all in the same arena for 10.5 gruelling days. They have 4 hour shifts of hockey, with medics and nurses at hand, for the chaffing, blistering and puck cuts they will get. The next 4 hours they get to shower, eat, sleep, and get treatment.

But they are not just doing it for the record!! The best part of it is they are doing it all for the kids. They are aiming to raise 1.5 million dollars for teh Alberta Children’s Hospital! Focusing on paediatric cancer. The little girl who started it all is Diamond Marshall and beautiful 7 year old who is famous for her big hug with Princess Kate last summer. Her fight with pediatric cancer is tear-wrentching, but she is at this point on the mend! What an amazing cause, especially having our own daughter in the Alberta Children’s hospital for 2 weeks when she was 9 months old. So very close to home.

Go to www.hockeymarathon.com to read more about it and donate.

I had the privilege of shooting their team and individual photos right before the game, and here is my favourite of them all, right before the opening ceremonies! Also some touching moments at the ceremony.
Go to Chestermere Recreational Center and Arena to visit the boys, and check out the silent auction items!

Nancy.

Our big girl turns 7! Calgary Child Photographer

hanafoto — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:49:04 +0000

Well even though it is a month late I just had to post this little photoshoot I did with our oldest daughter, Leilani. I can’t believe that she is already 7! We love her to bits! Here also you can still see her 2 front teeth, which have now fallen out with new ones coming in behind. She had so much fun being the little model, she did her “sad face” a lot! Also with this fun photoshoot we focused on her purple vintage room, which we had fun decorating. And thank you dear husband Maros for making the wainscotting (a word I had never heard of before that) I think it makes the room just perfect!! Also sneaking in are her sisters in their jammies, joining in the fun with photos! Enjoy this little part of our family life :)
Nancy.

Wedding Bootcamp! Calgary Wedding Photographers Hanafoto

hanafoto — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:32:15 +0000

When Cathy MacRae from Creative Weddings and Occasions asked us to speak at the first ever Wedding Bootcamp in Calgary, we jumped to say yes! What an honour, and so much fun! We were at the gorgeous Fairmont Palliser Calgary, in the Turner Valley Room. We were in awesome company with the amazing Trena Laine speaking first on “Enhancing What You’ve Got” doing a live make-up demo on a very willing bride!

Next were Ashley and Kevin Hill from Snap Weddings showing us with their amazing video talent, their topic: Cinematography – A New Take On The Wedding Video. Cathy then showed us how to “Plan A Luxury-Inspired Wedding on Today’s Budget”. And she blew me away with her knowledge of all the little details! she also designed the gorgeous, unique tablescapes.

After a break and some yummy wedding cake and tea, Maros and I spoke about “How To Get The Most Out Of Your Wedding Photography” with some fun examples and sillyness (see photo below)
The amazing Mallory from Mandala Floral, for some great tips on “Adding The WOW Factor With Flowers!” All those amazing centrepieces on the tables were also from them.

Last but definitely not least was Allie from the The Social Page who gave us the basics of “Wedding Stationary 101″. Just gorgeous work and such unique ideas for wedding invites and stationary!

Also Wedding Television was there to grab some quick news segments from all of us before the show started!

Thanks to Cathy and the Palliser for the amazing event, it was a great success! I am already looking forward to next year!!
Nancy.

showing you how NOT to pose! LOL!The butt squeeze! how NOT to put on your rings!! Thanks Kevin for the shots of us!!

Styled Inspiration Wedding Photography – Whimsical Butterfly theme – Calgary Wedding Photographer

hanafoto — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:09:58 +0000

Here is part 2 of our styled inspiration shoot with wedding planner Amy Cumby! It was a whimsical, butterfly theme.

Here are the vendors!

Design and Planner: Amy Cumby

Makup Artist: Andrea Giroux

Model: Katarina Z.

Floral Design: Catalaya Floral Design and Gifts

Hair: Dar & Dorxie

Stationary: Spoonful of Sugar Invitations and Creations

Photography: Hanafoto

Essential Wedding Photographer Gear – Hanafoto

hanafoto — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 02:09:04 +0000

We have decided to re-organize and optimize our gear for the upcoming busy summer. Being a busy wedding photographer in Calgary we need to be prepared for all kind of lighting conditions and weather. One weekend you can be documenting a luxurious wedding under sunny skies and the next weekend an awesome Indian wedding under cloudy sky with some snow and hail mixed in. We shoot almost all of time with off-camera lighting – OCF adapting to any situation while creating our distinct Dramatic, Captivating and Exciting photos. Over the years we have acquired a variety of gear from Led lighting panels, to professional high end lenses.

I found that we use some gear more than others – so today I decided that it was time to optimize everything and re-think which lenses we use most and which we don’t. We will sell our 24mm Canon Tilt-Shift Lens as it does not really suite our style – but sure its lots of fun and it creates amazing effects. On the other hand we will purchase the 15mm fish eye, along with a new Canon 24-70 II 2.8. Flashes are our best friends so also in that department our Canon 5980EXII will get more friends coming while I sell all other brands – just to keep the gear consistent and uniform. I know all the controls by hand – in the dark or upside down – but if you throw in another brand like the Nikon SB900 it can become a bit confusing.

Note to anyone shooting weddings - weddings are a most sensitive matter – they are unique and can’t be recreated. Moments captured are precious – always be prepared to have backup gear, cameras and lenses, memory cards, batteries and flashes. Yes, we have been to weddings where others are shooting, and they run out of batteries, or cards, or need to borrow a flash. Hire an experienced Pro! (just our two cents!)

Here is an iPhone picture I snapped of our setup (as the other cameras are the subjects). I will post some more images later on of our stuff we use and recommend – so Brides be assured we got some gear and backups to document your day!

Maros.

Sample of a Calgary Wedding Photographer Gear

our Shootsacks & Lowepro bags include:

Canon 5D Mark III

Canon 5D Mark III (coming soon)

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 50mm f1.2 L (for sale $1500)

Canon 24mm f 3.5 T/S Mark II L (for sale $2100)

Canon 24-70mm f2.8 Mark II L (coming soon)

Canon 85mm f1.2 II L (coming Soon)

Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS Mark II L

Canon 100mm f3.5 Macro Mark I

Canon 16-35 mm f2.5 Mark II L

Canon 35mm f1.4 Mark II L our most used and loved lens

Canon 135mm f2.0 – L best lens ever!

3x Canon Flash 580 EX II

1x Canon Flash 580 EXI

2 Nikon Flash SB-900 (for sale $400 each)

9x Canon LP-6 Batteries

Canon G7 mini camera

Canon G12 mini camera

150GB of CF Memory Cards

5x Light stands

2xmini Light stands

1x Tripod

Alien Bee 1600 Strobe

Alien Bee B800 Strobe

4x CyberSync triggers

6x CyberSync receivers

1x Lage Octabox

1x Large Stripbox

1x Pul Buff – Vagabond Mini – with extra battery

200 Energizer AA batteries – they really last 8x (but cost 18$ per pack of 4)
and few other goodies including a 1947 Leica II with a rare Sonar 2.0 lens and few other creative oldies

Spyder 3 monitor color calibration tool

Styled Inspiration Wedding Shoot – Vintage Black Lace theme – Calgary Wedding Photographer

hanafoto — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:12:38 +0000

Working with amazing vendors from our awesome city, is such a joy and privilege. We really have a deep and strong wedding vendor field here in Calgary. I love how we can keep pushing each other up and up!

I had fun working with some super gorgeous and amazing women.

Amy planned a Black and Nude Concept shoot that she invited me to shoot. It would be perfect for an edgy wedding, with black lace and cream/nude/oyster contrast. The table-scape was a flower-less option with a birdcage with candles inside. I loved it!
The floral bouquet designed by Catalaya Floral Design, was so original and unique! You’ll see lots of pictures of it!

Up next will be the Butterfly themed shoot!!

Thanks so much to all the vendors!

Design and Planner: Amy Cumby

Makup Artist: Andrea Giroux

Model: Jen Maslak

Floral Design: Catalaya Floral Design and Gifts

Hair: Dar & Dorxie

Stationary: Spoonful of Sugar Invitations and Creations

Winner of e-reader Giveaway!!

hanafoto — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:14:21 +0000

Happy April Fools day! But no joke here! We have a winner!

Congratulations Cathi A.!!! Come by our studio to pick up your brand new e-reader!

Thank you to everyone who posted comments!! Keep coming by our blog to check it out! We appreciate you all!

Corporate Headshots – Calgary Corporate Photographer

hanafoto — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:17:56 +0000

Here is a selection of corporate headshots from last year. Come to Hanafoto for any corporate photography, including event coverage or headshots!

Jessica & Andrew – Slideshow – Calgary Wedding Photographers Marriott

hanafoto — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:50:30 +0000

We have prepared for you a slideshow with some select images from Jesica & Andrew wedding on February 18 2012

Enjoy

You can see the full blog post also at this link: http://www.hanafoto.com/blog/jessica-and-andrew-married-calgary-wedding-photographers/

Biggest Airplane in the world takes off in Calgary YYC – Aviation Photography

hanafoto — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:54:56 +0000

Today at 9 am the largest plane in the world, theAntonov 225 – Mirja, landed at YYC airport. It was quite the spectacle watching it land – so soooo slow. Then at 15:10 it took off loaded with Enerflex Gas processing equipment and fuel gaskets and headed towards Nigeria. Here are few images I took.

Check out also the article in the Calgary SUN – I saw the guys taking pictures of the plane up close – I hope to be there next year.