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Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my blog! If you love photography, or just want to see who's been here lately, this is the place to bookmark. I try to post a few images from every session I do, so that means that I'm usually updating this a few times a week. You'll find lots of variety, and hopefully my writing that goes along with the posts won't bore you!

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Tatum Duryba, and I started Paper Moon Photography in 2000. My dad was also a professional photographer, and I grew helping him in the studio. I never realized it was going to be my dream as well, but I love doing what I do. I run my studio out of Grenfell, Sk., but travel all over photographing everything imagineable. Weddings, grads, expectant mommies, newborns, families, sports clubs, animals, and even passports! The list goes on and on, and thank goodness for that. I love getting to photograph something new every day, and turn the ordinary into something a little extra special.

Take a look around the blog, check back often, and if you like what you see, leave a comment!

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Evening wedding

Any photographer will tell you that shooting in the evening is the perfect time. You get that golden light, and now that sun flare is the latest fad in professional photography, you can do all these cool sun flarey looks, and it’s o.k.! In the old days, that was something you tried to avoid, but I love the way you get this soft, romantic image with a little bit of that evening sun shining in the lens.  It’s not often I get the opportunity to do an evening wedding, so this was awesome. That in combination with the fact that it was with cowboys and horses was even better!!  

This was a super fun wedding, and we were lucky enough to avoid the predicted thunder showers.  They hit just before the 6:00 ceremony, but they didn’t seem to get as far as the couple’s farm, which made for an easier time shooting, not having to avoid too much for wetness or mud.  I also had my wonderful assisant Josie with me again.  This girl is only going into grade 8, but she’s helped me with a number of weddings now. I probably talked about her in previous posts, cause she’s just a gem.  If I leave my bag on the ground, she’s got it. If I got to take a shot, she’s there with the reflector. She’s coming up with ideas, grabbing my extra camera and shooting, and just always right there if I need anything.  She”ll be coming with me alot this summer, and I couldn’t be happier! The ring shot on the barbed wire was her idea.  :)

Wolseley Grad Day

Well, last friday was my last full grad class full of students. Crazy hectic, but the day went beautifully. I love shooting the Wolseley grad students, because my vine on my front steps has filled in perfectly by the end of June, and it is a deadly spot for so many different shots. It makes eyes look killer on close ups, and full length shots look like they’re taken in a tropical location.  It’s extra full and green too this year with all the rain (see, one positive to all the wet!!).  Hope you guys all had an awesome night last friday for your grad.  Congratulations!! :)

 

Music time

I was up into the early hours of the morning last night working, and I was listening to youtube in the background. I was listening to Amos lee, the wonderfully talented Amy Winehouse and one of my latest favorites, John Mayer. I love John Mayer best live (as I do with most of the really gifted musicians. They have a much more honest, real feel to their live stuff).  I know that JM seems like he might be quite a jerk in real life (from the tabloid stuff you read anyway), but the man has an undeniably romantic stage presence. Here are a few clips from his Live in LA set.  I listen to this Cd at minimum 2 full work days per week. It’s just one of those ones you never get sick of.

 

And an Amy Winehouse clip, to show that despite her media attention for the wrong reasons, this girl can sing!!

Now, back to editing. Wolseley grads, your post is still coming up. I didn’t forget about you!! There’s just around 1400 files to go through with your class, so it’s taking me some time!!

Busy, busy, busy

Little boys are busy. Little 2 year old boys are exceptionally busy.  I was pooped out enough playing with the little guys, but dad was literally dripping with sweat!! When you have a young family, your session is going to be very active, just so you know!!  That’s why I prefer doing sessions with little people in the summer, when we can be outside. We had a ton of fun, but the outtakes are absolutely hilarious!! I could do a post just with the awesomeness of them. :)  Thanks so much for coming guys.  I know you had to work hard for it, but it was worth it. There are some super sweet shots.

I know the image below is a wonky angle, and distorted with the wide angle, but I still like it.  I had been tickling him with grass, and he decided to go after me. I was taking pictures as he chased me around, and this was one that turned out great! Look at those eyes!

↓ Just one of the many priceless expressions dad had while trying to keep everyone in check. By this point, the boys were not happy in this position, and dad figured he may as well join in on the unhappiness of the moment. Love it!

Wedding time!

Last weekend was my first wedding in this rainy season. I was very nervous, as it tends to rain nearly every day lately. Well, weather did not care that there was a wedding going on! It downpoured right before the ceremony and continued for awhile after. Thank goodness, the bride’s mom and dad had an AWESOME house to shoot in until the skies cleared!  We shot inside for awhile and got some really neat stuff, and then we were able to head out for a bit, until it started raining again.  Aaah, Saskatchewan.  Why are you so hard on us this spring???

↑  The bouquet of wild flowers the groom picked for his bride when we stopped at our first location with just the couple.  Super sweet!

E-session

In a couple months from now I’ll be photographing this local couple’s wedding, so for a warm up, we did an engagement session. These are a good idea to do, cause then the guys find out that I’m not so bad, and it won’t be nearly as painful as they may have expected. Right Mr. H??  Getting your picture taken can be a  little bit of fun. I try to make it so anyway!  Waaaay back, about 11 years ago, I photographed this guy’s sister’s wedding. It was one of my very first ones, and they were so wonderful to take a chance on me when I was so new to photograph.  My style, experience and camera gear sure has changed in that length of time (I’m one of the rare younger photographers who actually worked with film for a number of years before the digital revolution!)   I’m looking forward to your wedding. You guys have been blessed with great weather for your sessions, so I’m sure your wedding will be spectacular!! 

Gorgeous grad

Three guess why this grad student had to reschedule her session that we had originally booked…..  Oh you smart people. If you guessed rain, then ding ding ding!! You’re right!! Arrgh.  But the day she came was beautiful, though the ground was still a little wet.  Tea towels come in handy for sitting on, but if you don’t tuck them under the bum enough, you have to spend a little time photoshopping them out, somewhat like the mosquitos I had to photoshop out of the last grad sessions!  Anyway, back to the subject.  She was stunning, and had the prettiest eyes and I really enjoyed our session. Thanks for coming!!

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Trash the Dress

Get ready for a HUGE post!!  I did my first “Trash the Dress” session. :)  I’ve been wanting to do one of these for years, and when this former bride contacted me, I was pumped. She’s an awesome chick, and kudos to her hubby, who went along with it! That’s a good man.  For those of you who might not know what a TTD session is, it’s a fun shoot, after the wedding day, where you go out and do pictures just for fun, not worrying about getting dirty. It’s also waaaay more relaxed than a wedding day session, because there’s no time contraint, and no nerves!  Some TTD sessions are super crazy, where the bride actually ends up ruining her gown. This wasn’t like that at all. We didn’t even really get it all that dirty (just wet, as you’ll see further down).  We just had soo much fun doing this.  They were both such good sports, doing whatever I asked them to do.  I’d love to do more of these, so if you’re interested, let me know! I’ve got another one lined up at the end of august near my hometown of Meadow Lake, so after doing this one, I can’t wait to do the next. And at the risk of giving away my approximate age , the next bride I’m photographing is a girl that I used to babysit when I was in high school.  Yeesh. That does date me a bit!!

And an action shot of me, courtesy of the groom.  Thanks Ryan!

Friday’s grads

Last friday’s grads….  the rain broke just in time!!  You wouldn’t believe how many red mosquito bite blotches I had to remove from these poor girls bodies!!  I even have a series of shots of the one student with a GIANT mosquito on her arm.  Thank goodness for photoshop! :)

Don’t feel bad that the boy only got one image posted. He was  there as an escort for his girlfriend, but he’s also graduating, so we couldn’t let him away without snapping a couple quick ones.

I don’t normally put family pictures in with the grad posts, but I just loved how these two family shots turned out. In a year from now, you’ll be seeing the youngest daughter’s grad pics on here too!

Autism

I recieved an e-mail link from a friend this morning, and I was so moved to tears by it, that I wanted to repost it on here. This is a video clip from Medical Mysteries about a girl who has autism.  Her parents were relentless in pushing her to excell, despite her illness. They are now seeing how all their efforts with therapy and love have benefitted her and improved her quality of life. It’s an incredible story, if you have 9 minutes to spare….

http://www.wimp.com/autisticgirl/

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