Kayley D Photography

... golden hour sessions (were already a fav of mine) but are FoReVeR tHe DrEaMiEsT tHiNg I’lL eVeR dO Like... guys swipe to the end and soak up all the freakin magic that was made in this session!!!!!... Also Shae and Nicholas were the ABSOLUTE CUTEST COUPLE EVER! This was their first time ever getting couples photos and I’m pretty sure they are ready for a vogue debut like I am for reals obsessed with these two and their photos and CANNOT WAIT to finish editing this session Stay tuned cause I’ll probably be drenching your feed in their pics for the next bit... Has this convinced you to do all future photos during sunset?!?!?

This mama to be is carrying my smallest nieces and I am SOOOOO out of this world stoked to meet them!!! And the best part is Alex and I are temporarily moving back to the family farm (where he works) for the summer which means I’m gonna get oodles of quality time with this house of 6 You can most definitely say that I am relying on this little ones to settle my own baby fever for a while ... Anyways please swoon over my gorgeous sister-in-law as much as I do looking at these. 30 weeks with twins and SHES A FREAKING GLOWING BOMB SHELL I’ve been LOVING capturing maternity sessions so far this year and have already had two more inquiries for this spring Needless to say if any of you were keeping busy pro-creating to add to the covid boomers and are almost ready to pop, you know who to call Which shot from the greenhouse is your favourite!?! Ps: huge thanks to @countrybloomsyql for letting us in to capture these they have incredible blooms right now and I would highly recommend them!!!

So stoked to shoot their wedding this summer! These two are so much fun

Let’s talk about this business of... COMMUNITY COMPETITION... That’s right folks... THE NEEDED MINDSET we all need to have! This is a huge concept that’s risen up in the last bit, especially in the creative community but also just kinda in general, as people have started to realize success isn’t worth it if it means you gotta hate on your fellow industry peeps to get there! But I realize without sometimes being in it, you could definitely wonder why I (or other entrepreneurs) give shoutouts and support to the people that should be our competition!?! You must think, doesn’t that hurt your own business... And my honest answer is no it doesn’t! I genuinely am stoked for my fellow photographer friends if the same client inquired with both of us and ended up going with them because each photographer I know (and the ones I don’t) offer something unique and different from me, just like I do from them! And you are a unique individual who isn’t going to feel comfortable with every photographer out there. It’s 9/10 likely you’ll find one or maybe a couple, but out of all of them, those are the ones you’ll vibe with!!! And that’s so frickin awesome! As a creative I find this mindset essential because it can be awful lonely out there if you choose not to make friends and I also just have no idea how you’re supposed to learn anything that way it gets selfish and sad! I’m so grateful for some of the awesome other photographers & wedding industry vendors I’ve had the privilege to meet or work with or become Insta friends with I’ve learned SOOOOO much from this community and am constantly encouraged by it and am forever grateful that when I started, they welcomed me into the club and now I am where I am with lots of new photog friends that I genuinely love and know that I also have their support! So to spread some community love today Tag some of your other favs photographers or small business owners below and I’d love to give them a shoutout on my story after!

I feel like you should know this LOOOOONG before you ever book me you should know my style. And not just my editing style - but my style If I had to pick 3 words to describe me & how I work: quirky, wild, fast-paced... No, I don’t expect you to match me 3 for 3 on those for us to work together, or even 1 for 1! I simply want you to have a heads up about the crazy lady you’re giving permission to lead you around and take pretty photos of you I don’t usually like to go with the flow. I like to try exciting things and when I do I usually go all in. I like to experiment and take your experience as my couple to a new level in whatever awesome ways I can! And I talk & think fast. Again.. not things I expect you to be, but rather to potentially expect from me. This is how I will work to capture who YOU two are even if you guys are totally different from me in that regard. I adapt these style characteristics of mine to serve yours in every way I can and that’s where all the funky creative goodness comes from What 3 words would you have used to describe me or my business based on how you know me here!?! ? @ Lethbridge, Alberta

Had so much fun shooting this EPIC engagement session in the mountains this weekend with Giselle & Ethan! Absolutely cannot wait to share more

Looooved this cozy at home winter session!

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING It is time to get on the wedding booking train I know it can seem crazy to think/talk about this, whether you just got engaged and are aiming to get married this year (especially summer) or even next year ... Now is 100% the time to be booking your bigger wedding vendors: aka. Venues, caterers, planners, videographers, photographers ( oh hello there) or whichever one’s you’re wanting to include for your wedding! June - September are like the craziest wedding months of the year for those bigger vendors and often book up 1-2 years in advance so once you have your date it’s time to start even just connecting with vendors you’re interested in to see if they have your day available! And on that note I am booking weddings for June-Sept 2021 up quickly so if you haven’t reached out yet, I would recommend it right away! Especially if you’re looking into July, I’ve only got 2 weekend dates available!! That being said if you’re interested in picking a weekday for your wedding than we can definitely talk about the options! As for this winter - if you’re looking to book an engagement/couples/anniversary session I’ve got limited availability for the rest of January and February! So whatchu waiting for friend if you’ve got a wedding date you’re wondering about, shoot me a message to see if I’m still available or head to the link in my bio to inquire!!! I can’t wait to hear from you @ Canmore, Alberta See more

HERE’S A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA FOR YOU Turn your next couples photo session into a full on date or... ... Turn your next date into a couples photo session Who knew eh Well in case you (or let’s just be honest) your boo aren’t 100% convinced yet I MADE A BLOG POST FOR YOU Not only is it packed with ADORABLE photos from Eli & Gwen’s engagement session ft. a hot choccy picnic in the mountains but I’m sharing a few ideas with you that I had up my sleeve!! So stop your scroll. Go to: https://kayleydphotography.com//how-to-make-your-couples-/ Read up on what might just be the perfect covid/Valentine’s/winter date idea for you two!!! Aaanddd... if you could do ANYTHING for your photos what would you do!?! Theme park? Helicopter? Zoo!?! What’s your bucket list session look like!? See more

What a year it’s been and I’m oh so grateful to be celebrating the best time of it next to this sweet man! Merry Christmas from us to you and I hope that however you end up celebrating this year it can still feel special and full of love! To all my couples/families that I got to work with this year! THANK YOU and I hope the memories you got to make this year are something you can cherish as things come to a close - especially despite such a upside down year!... Sending big hugs to those who don’t get to be surrounded by the usual friends and family and big prayers out to everyone that you can still feel the love and peace of Christ as this year comes to a close! Cheers - the van der Stoel’s

Giveaway closed GIVEAWAY TIME Thats right, just when you thought all your hopes of winning the 5000+ giveaways before Christmas were over... one more just popped up! Lol ... So here’s what’s I got for you!!! a FULL 2 HOUR COUPLES PHOTO SESSION (over $450 value ) with snacks + drinks of choice and the whole thing planned around an adventure organized by me! (Snowshoeing, hiking, kayaking, skating, etc!) Now I wanted to be intentional with this giveaway as it starts off the new year for me! I truly have loved the community I’ve been able to form through this industry and this app and have felt so loved by those who have shown me community over competition... which is WHY I want to extend that same invitation to you!!! So what does that mean? It means you don’t get to enter yourself in this giveaway! Instead I want you to nominate someone or lots of people that you think deserve this giveaway or just someone you love! And I want you to share ONE of the following when you tag them: - why you think they deserve it - what’s something you love about them - what’s something you’re thankful for about them - or just some kind words from you to them! My goal is that this will encourage you to look around at the awesome people in your life and consider how you can bless them with something special! And even if they don’t win, I hope y’all get to feel all the love circulating with all the kind words you can share with each other I truly hope this inspires a lil extra love, kindness, and generosity as we head in to 2021 So to enter a friend, here’s what you gotta do: Like this post Tag a friend (or lots) in the comments with your sweet words to them in the same comment! Tag as many as you want! Like this page @kayleydphotography 3 bonus entries for each person you tag if you share this post and MAKE SURE TO tag me! Giveaway ends next Monday, January 11 at 11:59pm (MST). Winner will be announced Tuesday, January 12 at 12pm (MST) * Remember the person you nominate must be able to redeem the session! So someone local to Southern Alberta or planning to come to Southern Alberta in the next year! And must be over the age of 18. See more

It’s the holidays which also usually means it’s peak ________???? ENGAGEMENT SEASON WOOP WOOP WOOP (but imagine that in a more air horn kinda way)... That being said I want to encourage you, whether you are just recently engaged or might be suspecting the exciting question coming soon - ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS WITHOUT GETTING STRESSED ABOUT YOUR PLANS! Obvsiously when there is more gatherings you end up with more people asking you how the wedding planning is going, but don’t sweat it if you’ve got nothing planned or if you have all but 5 things done! Take this time to rest, enjoy the company of your fiancé and yes you get to say that now, and enjoy the season of Christmas while being engaged and not needing to be stressed! My recommendation would be to try doing something specific to take your mind of wedding planning even if just for a day or two by planning a date to go exploring somewhere that brings you peace or have a snow day (you might be forced to if you’re where I’m from) and watch Christmas movies and make hot chocolate and cookies or your fav foods and just enjoy your time! This year has brought enough stress, so don’t forget to enjoy the bit of celebrating at the end of it that we can and hold onto the feeling of being engaged! It’s such a fun season of anticipation that after the wedding you almost miss a little bit! So make it count! What’s one thing you and your partner/fiancé are going to do over the holidays together?! If you need an idea head to my date guide on my profile! I just added another adventure date idea guide just for you so if you’re stumped look no further Venue: Ambleside Lodge Canmore Florals: Flowers on 9th Lethbridge Charcuterie Boards: Gather & Graze YQL Cake: @prettysweetyyc Suit Styling: @natashasfinery Suit: Gentlemen III Men's Wear Hair & Makeup: Makeup by Kristyn Earrings: Tonya Spears Art Stationary: @kathlynjarvis (kathlynjarvis.com) Nails: Kayla's Nail Loft

It’s the week before Christmas anddddd.... I’m here to let you know you’ll be seeing a little less of me in the next week as we take some time to rest and enjoy the holiday! So if you message me or email me, I do see it and I will respond to you but please give a little grace on time! We are going to enjoy some ski days in the mountains and unwind! And personally I’m quite stoked about the progress I can make on my crotcheting this week How are you planning on unwinding this next week?!

WHAT DID 2020 LOOK LIKE FOR ME!?! Speaking specifically around this biz, 2020 started out with me getting my hands on every learning opportunity that came my way - both with sessions and with business education and I would defs say the education took me wayyyy further than I would’ve thought. And then out of the growth came a surge of trying to master what I was learning. Not at all saying that I’ve mastered photography or business but I worked my booty off to better... what I already had going... and then I almost got a little worn out when finally I hit myself with a creative brick I realized that instead of trying to just make my work amazing I needed to keep all my original passions for photography and business in everything I did. Because having passion behind what you do is always more amazing then the work you put out. And I know that as soon as I feel more passionate about creating through photography I recognize how that transforms into my work and it makes me wanna go so much further with it. This fall I realized that I can’t just book a session. Take photos. Edit photos. Repeat. And I don’t think I was that bleh about it by any means but I felt like I was very slowly tipping that way before I remembered that the whole reason I started this was to create. To capture joy. Tell a couples story. And create memories with incredible people by finding what makes them and their love unique. That’s what’s so frickin awesome about my job. So here’s to another year...a new year!!! A year I’m genuinely excited to kick ass at! A year I’m stoked to meet even more incredible couples. And a year full of more learning, growing, trying, failing, trying again, and creating from the heart Is there a part of your life you feel that you grew in this year? Or maybe realized a passion you wanted to take action on?! I wanna hear from you See more

LAST WEEK TO SIGN UP FOR CHRISTMAS MINIS And if you’ve still been on the fence, swipe through these shots from Courtney, Ross & lil Knox’s Christmas Mini Session this past Saturday These guys were so stinking cute and then Courtney’s sister and husband and mom joined for their own mini session after this and it was so awesome to get them some Christmas Card content on a perfect winters day!!!... This weeks mini session will be indoors @studiotr on this Saturday, November 21 I’ve still got spots from 12:20pm to 2:50pm open so shoot me a message today so you don’t miss out I created these sessions to capture ANYONE wanting some Christmas Card magic for this season! And even though we are going to be inside a studio this next time, I’ll have you guys moving around and getting way more than just a basic portrait shot because thankfully the studio has lots of space for us If you have a friend or family member who might be interested in these, tag them below or send it their way Can’t wait to meet ya See more

I’ve got a question for you...? But first I gotta tell you that I got to spend Sunday with very cold fingers but a very warm heart cause these two were STRAIGHT FIRE So thankful I got to follow them around and capture them in love at the place they call home and I can’t wait to share more from their couples session ... Okay... now for the question... I was listening to The Heart & Hustle podcast by The Heart University yesterday and was super challenged on the topic of authenticity on here! Honest moment with Kayley: I LOOOOVE creating, designing and putting together spaces and things that look nice and homey... and I TO THE MAX want my instagram and business in general to reflect my personality, how I rock and roll... and to be perfectly frank, I’m not messy... but I love full spaces. I’m so far from a minimalist... I’m not a hoarder but I like a wall that’s full of frames and designs, or a room with lots of patterns and textures. To me a full well put together space is homey! And I think I naturally lean towards that in everything I put together. However lately, I’ve noticed myself striving to curate my feed in a more clean, less busy look and stressing and comparing because it’s not totally there... so when I listened to the podcast last night I was like dang... why am I trying to curate something that doesn’t reflect me if I want this business to reflect me!? not to say I won’t make it look pretty... but I’m drawn towards something that feels homey... You know when you go into a house that smells like fresh baking and has tons of pictures and blankets and neat trinkets all over the place and you just feel like maybe it’s not out of a magazine but it’s homey? Well that’s what I want my feed to be, my business to be... because that’s what I do! My feed may never be the most aesthetically pleasing, but it will be full of real love, real people, and hopefully a sense that you’re welcome on it So I’m curious to hear what you prefer when you check out a page... even if it goes against my thoughts: an aesthetic/coordinated feed or a full of life and memories feed that maybe has lots going on but emulates joy?

Ahhhh these two are so stinking cute and we had so much fun at their tree farm/Christmas couples session this weekend

THE DAY IS FINALLY HERE Okay so you’ve probably seen me OBSESSING with these photos on here because I mean like how could one not Annnyyywhoooo!!!! Today is finally the day the blog is UP and READY TO VIEW on these two fine looking folks (Also lolz to Cam’s face as these two braved the water )... Anndddd as an added bonus I give you my 3 ideas for how to get the mountainy photos you always dream of, without breaking the bank paying for a tip top mountain wedding So if you’re a curious beaver and are wondering how you can come out on top in this situation, head over to the top link in my bio to check out these mega-babes!!! Or head to: kayleydphotography.com/blog/ Check it out and comment below what kinda location you’d have your dream wedding in!!!! @ Kananaskis, Alberta See more

Here’s a few more tid bits if you’re on the fence about Christmas Mini Sessions Use the link below to sign up or message if you have questions!!! https://www.honeybook.com///cf_id/5fa0428a590b1d205f116d38

HERE’S THE TEA ON CHRISTMAS MINI’s + 5 REASONS NOT TO MISS OUT WHEN: THIS SATURDAY, November 14, 2020 or... next Saturday, November 21, 2020 WHERE: Indian Battle Park, Lethbridge (14th) Studio Tree 432 13th Street N, Lethbridge (21st) COST: $175 for 20 minutes and a minimum of 15 edited photos delivered within 1 week WHY!? 1. If you have a family this is your chance to sneak a session in with me as I no longer offer family sessions 2. You’ve been hidden away because of COVID so it’s time to update your people with your friendly face on a Christmas card 3. If you want couples photos but can’t splurge on a whole session, this allows you a chance to! 4. With all the snow on the ground, it’ll make for perfect Christmassy photos for an outside session 5. Make it a fun little date with your sig. other or your kids and take advantage of being dressed up and out of the house! If you’re ready to book, message me today or click the link in my bio for Christmas Mini’s! Swipe to see the times still available as some changes were made!