My friend Diane

Next weekend, with a big group of friends, we will be at a lovely champagne brunch.  The occasion, is to celebrate Diane, and her last round of chemo.  

As I'm sure all of you know, October is breast cancer month.  There are so many ways to support the research for the cure, and you always see a lot of it in October (I even bought mushrooms the other day in a pink ribbon logo-ed package).  My friend Sharon does quite a bit better than me and raises money and participates in the run.  However you do contribute, bravo!  I'm not just writing about this today, though, to remind you of this worthy cause for financial support.  I'm reminding you to feel your boobs (or to talk to the women in your life about selfchecking).

Diane, first noticed something was wrong last fall.  Being only 28 at the time, her doctor kind of blew her off, she was too young to worry about this.  "Sometimes it can be normal" he said, "everyone's different".  Come December she knew something was wrong and insisted they check further.  January they started doing testing...  it was May before she was diagnosed.  By the end of June she was meeting with her oncologist for all of the results and a treatment plan.  The breast cancer had progressed, and they needed to start chemotherapy that day.  

I am so proud of how she has dealt with this, and the battles she has had to fight as she's gone through it.  Her strength, humour and grace have beaten out every little indignity that treatment has thrown her way.

Diane, far left, with her father and twin sister A.

She's still got a few hurdles ahead   (after her chemo, as she gets ready for family to come visit at Christmas, she will also be getting ready for her surgery) but I can't wait to celebrate this milestone with her.

So many people are affected by this, and I know there are many survivors that have faced this with the same strength and courage.  

We can beat this. Give what you can, and Ladies, Trust Your Instincts, and Check Yourself please : )

Learn more here: Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

There's nothing like sisters.

**Update:  Diane went in for her last session this week, and finished it off by ringing the 'end of chemotherapy' bell at the clinic.  Her adoring, devoted husband Ken took a photo of it, and I can't even tell you how great it is to see! 

I'm so glad for both of them.  This could have made anyone feel defeated but it's incredible to see their strength.  You can't help but see how much they adore each other when you're around them, and how deeply they love and support each other.   


Here's a favourite from this summer.

Thanksgiving

Usually these long weekends end up full of activities, catching up on chores or projects, or involve trip-taking and sometimes weddings.  Whatever it is that you have filled this weekend with, I hope you have time to take a breath, enjoy a few moments as they are, and be thankful.  And remind yourself to do this more often : )  

Wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving Weekend full of fun, good food and memorable time with family & friends.

The Weathermakers, Ottawa's Indie-Rock Band

Tonight, to much anticipation, the Weathermakers will have their cd release party at Maverick's.  Tickets are $12 at the door, with a great lineup, Young Rival from Hamilton and Abigail Lapell.  

I've enjoyed working with the Weathermakers, shooting them on their own, or at their shows, and working on their recent music video.  These are some very humble, super-talented people that are a lot of fun to be around.   We'll see you there!  They'll be giving out free copies of their CD to the first 200 people through the door!  (If you can't make it tonight, have a listen on CBCRadio3, their Myspace page or their site.)  

The Weathermakers are:  Matt Deline, Chuck Saso, Natasha Beaudin, Nina Langfield

Summer Days...

A short post of recent Bits & Pieces.

These last couple weekends have managed to be both busy and flexible enough to really enjoy summer.  We wrapped up shooting on a short film, and spent one of those Saturday nights watching Some Like It Hot with friends, and popcorn on blankets in a downtown park.

Darcy's music video for The Weathermakers took Third Place in the Ottawa International Film Festival last weekend and the screening was full with friends and laughs.  It was a really great evening and we're already looking forward to The Weathermakers CD Release at Maverick's on Sept 18th.  Here's a selfportrait we managed on our little camera at the start of the evening:

This weekend was busy as well.  It's the final weekend of Pride and downtown is full of energy.  I still spent some time editing, as always.  Here's a shot of my cousin's little boy I snapped while back home.  It looks like one of the best ways to enjoy the season.  With the lake nearby and watermelon in hand.  Enjoy!

Family session

Well, we're back from our trip to Dryden and Thunder Bay which was really great and felt like a three week trip instead of ten days, there was so much that happened. You can look for some details and photos to show up here sometime soon.  


As for the rest of the summer, it kicked into high gear before we knew what was happening.  I'm very glad our trip involved some camping and time with friends and family to help get us back into that laidback summer mode. With family shoots, lovely weddings, contributing on a short film, and finishing a music video all before the trip, we had been going nonstop!

Here are some photos from one rainy morning we spent with a few sisters, their partners, babies, and the lucky grandparents.  They were in Ottawa for their cousin’s wedding and took advantage of the fact that they were all together, to meet with us for photos.  It was a lot of fun for us to meet them and we were lucky that things cleared up in time for us to make use of one of Ottawa's great little parks.  They were so great to be with, genuinely enjoying each other’s company and goofing around.  Did I mention how adorable these little ones were?  All dressed up and beyond cute!  

Waiting for baby...

As we are heading off to Dryden, Ontario this morning, I just have to send out a photo of two of some of my all time favourite people.  As you can tell, they've got a little one on the way, who I'm sure will make that all-time favourite people list fairly quickly!  Today, in fact, is that little one's due date. (Yay!)  I am so excited.  

I don't make it to my hometown often, especially not with the timing that allows me to meet these little ones when they're so brand new.  So, this is great, right?  Well, we'll see if this is what she has planned.  I'm sure she'll have her own timeline, and we'll find out if I do in fact get to meet her, but if I do?  You can bet there will be some photos taken.  

Her momma-to-be has already been used as my official 'pinup girl', with much appreciation (see our facebook page profile photo, if you haven't seen last years Wedding Bells ad or some of our business cards), so I'm sure it will be hard to resist sharing some very special newborn photos.

Cross your fingers, I know her parents are very eager to meet her soon as well!

The Inaugural Post

Hello, and welcome to the blog (finally!)  Although I am an avid blog-reader (especially anything humourous, photo-related or DIY) I was very hesitant to start my own.  I wanted to, since it's a great way to share the recent activities of my photography business, which vary a lot and can be quite fun, but am not so sure about my own writing skills or finding the time for it.  So, I hesitated, procrastinated, and am always so busy that this worked well until I was really kicking myself for not having gotten around to it already.  

So, here it is.  Comments, critiques and handy tips will be appreciated, with a smile.  Especially the positive ones.  I'm starting it off with the first photo that went up on the first website for Natalie Lyle Photography.  It's missing from my current site (which is also in need of a few big changes)  and since it's a little favourite of mine, I thought it deserved the spotlight again.  

Enjoy!  The next post should be soon, before we venture off to Thunder Bay and Dryden to play with toddlers and newborns and newlyweds (currently soon-to-be-weds).  Thanks, Natalie