Be a fan!

I resisted joining facebook for ages, but finally joined a few months ago and found it to be so great to keep in touch with people I meet, and it's also put me back in contact with people I haven't spoken to in years!..

So I decided it was time for Alana Couch Photography to be on facebook too!!

To check out the page or become a fan: click here

To become a friend of mine: click here

:)

April 15!

Yesterday was my birthday!! I'm 26.. getting old :P It's been a great year, they just seem to keep getting better and better!!.. and it was nice to just have a relaxing night last night too (dinner out and a movie) since things have been crazy busy the past few weeks..

Rowing!

I'm not a huge fan of the gym and prefer to exercise by being outdoors and doing something fun.. That way I don't even notice I'm exercising! I'm a huge fan of the water, especially the ocean, and have always loved kayaking and other water sports. So this week I started rowing lessons with my good friend Jessy. We haven't quite made it off the dock yet (it turns out theres a lot to learn first to make sure we don't tip the boat!) but I already know I'll love it!..

The 100 Mile Diet

I read this great book while I was in Asia, called "100 Mile Diet" which I really really recommend.. Nothing to do with dieting, it's the one-year diary of a Vancouver couple who vow to only eat food that is from within 100 miles of their home... It's funny and interesting, and it really makes you think about how much of a 'carbon footprint' that we leave, and especially by eating food that is imported... We've always been good about recycling, not using too much energy, etc, but this really gave me a good push to do more. anyways I won't get too much into it but it's definately a great read!

Almost booked up..

It doesn't happen all the time, but every once in a while there will be two couples interested in the same wedding date at once. I always wind up feeling terrible that as much as I would love to be able to do both events I just cannot and someone always winds up disappointed.

On that note I am just about fully booked for the year, and then I will no longer be accepting bookings for 2008, so it's definately a good idea to book soon if you are interested..

off to Asia!!

We're just about off for Asia! I can't WAIT! So far the plan is to start off in Singapore (where Jin is from to visit with family) then to Cambodia and Thailand before returning to Singapore for a final couple days and returning home...!!

I will do my very best to keep the blog semi-updated while I'm gone, and at the very least will add a ton of photos at the end of it all!.. so stay tuned :)

We're going to miss our dog Dekker (our baby!) while we're gone, he hasn't been away from us for more than a day since we've gotten him but we're guessing he will completely forget about us the minute we're gone because of all the long walks he'll be getting :)

I will still be checking email while I'm there if anyone needs to reach me, but it may take me a day or two to get back to you..

2008!!!

2007 has overall been an incredible year. I've always been very lucky in that I've had so many amazing couples that I've worked with (and not a single bridezilla :) Between all of you, your wedding parties, and your families, I've met some wonderful people and I can't wait to see what 2008 will bring!!

One of my many goals for the new year is to be much more 'green', both in my personal life and with my business. We've always been pretty conscious about our impact on the environment, but I would really like to increase my efforts for 2008. One of the books I bought to read on our trip next month (that's another of my resolutions, to find more time to read!) is the "Hundred Mile Diet", which from what I've heard is about only buying food that was grown within a 100 mile radius to reduce impacts from importing and to support local businesses, etc. So hopefully that will also give me more ideas about what I can do!

I wish everyone all the best in the new year..

Happy Holidays!

We went ice skating last night, for a fun winter activity.. I admit I took a good fall while goofing off and trying to do a 'spin' :P I think the last time I went skating was back in high school when I'd go to the 'teen skate' with all my friends and they would turn down the lights, the disco ball would be on and they'd play loud music while everyone skated.. so fun..

another thing I would love to try this winter is snowshoeing, I've never done it but have always wanted to....

I hope everyone has a wonderful holidays.. family, friends, tasty food.. enjoy it all!

-Alana

new toys!

I just picked up a couple new lenses today, the 50mm 1.4 and the 28mm 2.8.. I can't wait to use them! In the meantime I took some photos around here just for fun..

I love prime lenses because they're SO fast and sharp and they really let me move around and be creative.. Also I'm going to Asia soon and I know that wandering around with my big zoom lenses will just scream 'rob me'!..

Get-together

Last night there was a get-together at Blue Olive for wedding photographers from all over the city which was a blast! Lots of drinks, tasty food, and I met a ton of great people!! I get together with other wedding photographers fairly often and always love talking shop and just getting out to socialize, so this was especially fun as there were so many of us..

Joyriding..

It's time for me to get a new car. We've been looking online over the different models for a while, and whenever we're out taking Dekker for a walk we always watch out for the ones I'm interested in.. So today we went around to a few dealerships to do some test driving! It was very fun but exhausting! I'm still not completely decided but it's come down to the Honda Civic and the Honda Fit. I enjoyed driving them both and they both seem like great cars that I would be happy with, but now it's just making the decision of which....

I'm so lucky...

I would have to say that one of my MOST favourite things about being a photographer is afterwards once all the photos have already been taken and seeing just how happy I have made people! I always get giddy after meeting with a client and seeing how excited they were over their prints/albums/whatever.. Or having a mother tell me she was bawling while going through the photos of her child.. How much more fulfilling could this possibly get?!

Legally Argentine!

I met up with the Consul of Argentina today to sign the papers to become an Argentine citizen (my dad is Argentine).. I even got a new birth certificate, although I'm not sure how that works..? When I started the paperwork for this I was told it would take about 6-8 months and 3 years later it was finally ready! The Argentines loooove their red-tape :) I applied for it after being deported from Brasil a few years back (through no fault of my own, the man at the border crossing put the wrong stamp in my passport) and I thought it would come in handy for travelling in the area..

I haven't been back to Argentina in almost two years now, but hopefully I'll have another chance to go sometime soon.. If ever you get the chance I highly recommend it!

2007 season coming to a close...

My 2007 wedding season is starting to slow down, just one more wedding left to photograph (check back this weekend for Alyssa & Lara!) and a ton of wedding albums to work on. It's been such a fabulous season!! So far dates are booking up quickly for 2008, I'm almost halfway booked for the year, and am already fully booked for August. Looking at all the great couples that I already have booked for next year, it looks like 2008 will be just as much fun as 2007!

Moving Day

We're moving!

Initially we had planned to stay in North Vancouver, but when we found this place in Kits we fell in love with it as it is much more central and we loved the look and feel of the place... The almost vertical stairs to the loft where we will be doing all of the post-processing and editing work, the chocolate-brown walls.. I can't wait!

It will probably be at least a few weeks before we're all settled in and able to do client consults and meetings there, but it will be worth the wait!

ps - Please excuse me if I am a bit delayed in responding to emails in the next couple days :)

Canucks

As an early anniversary present (our 3rd anniversary is Oct 10!) Jin surprised me with tickets to tonight's Canuck's game!! It was SO fun! Normally I'm not much of a hockey fan but actually being at the game was much more exciting than watching it on tv, I really got into it. Even though they lost I got to experience everything from all three periods, to overtime, to a shootout!
Thanks Jin!

100% Digital

Last night I sold my darkroom. It's sad because I used to spend soooo much time in the darkroom, especially after I'd just come back from a trip.. Every spare minute, that is where I would be. It's funny, I had always sworn that I would NEVER go digital :P But of course once I'd actually seen how high the quality was with digital I was convinced and I've never looked back... As much fun as the darkroom is I just don't have time for it anymore, and everything I used to do in the darkroom I can now do on the computer in a fraction of the time.

I am happy though that it went to a good home, this really nice couple wound up buying it who seemed super into photography and like they would be getting a lot of use out of it.. Hopefully they have as much fun with it as I did!

Salsa!!

Years ago I was salsa-crazy, going to dance a couple times a week, but now I only go once or twice a year.

Throughout this summer, every Sunday afternoon there has been salsa dancing in Robson Square. Today I went to check it out and had such a great time I wish I'd gone sooner (today was the last day). I've offically decided that this fall I'm going to get back into it!

If you haven't tried salsa dancing I HIGHLY recommend it because it is sooo much fun! It is also a great way to impress all your guests for your first dance :)

Here are a couple of my favourite salsa teachers:
Tony from Easy Salsa
Diego from Grupo America

For all of Vancouver's salsa info: Salsa Vancouver

Seminar

Today I went to the most inspiring wedding photography seminar! I only found out about it a couple weeks ago so I was really lucky that there was still space available and that I didn't have anything scheduled for the day.

It was lead by Bambi Cantrell and Jerry Ghionis who were named two of the "Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World" by People Magazine. And rightly so. Their images are incredible, and they just had so much information and techniques to share. I left feeling completely inspired and can't wait for my next photo shoot!!

Proposing?

I was contacted by a wedding planner the other day and when I checked out her site I saw that she plans proposals! I think that is so neat, and a great way to make a proposal special if the groom is short of ideas or even if he has ideas but doesn't know how to go about making them happen.

Whenever I meet with couples I always have to ask how they became engaged because I love to hear their stories. One of the most incredible proposals I've heard of was a friend who sent his fiance on a scavenger hunt all over the city (she had to bike/kayak/run/etc from location to location to meet up with different friends and do different activites) and after her very last stop (a day spa) he was waiting with a ring! How creative is that?!