This past Sunday Zach, Gussy and I headed to Tobermory in hopes of finding snow and some picturesque landscapes to photograph – a rather spur of the moment and short lived trip, but honestly, I didn’t think I would make it up to Tobermory this year, so it was a very welcome trip, no less. If you’ve been a long time reader, than you know I annually camp in the Bruce Peninsula and always make a stop in Tobermory. However, this past Summer, because of Gus’ back surgery I wasn’t able to make it up there for camping, which left me feeling like I had a pretty lackluster Summer. And while it’s been a couple years since I stepped foot on Flower Pot Island (praise that glorious place), I was able to see it, way in the distance, from the tower we climbed, that uncharacteristically made me feel a little nervous, which I’m hoping doesn’t mean I have developed a fear of heights.
Outfit: Invisibility Coat
I had just recently been thinking about how little I feature the coats I own on this blog. Regardless of how fond I am of my coats, for some reason I always felt like they took away from my outfits in the winter, so whenever I would take photos, I’d treat my coat like some annoyingly practical accessory that needed to step out of the way for the real star of the show. But obviously I do wear coats and I own an embarrassing amount of them if I’m being honest, so really, there is no excuse for the lack of outer wear around here. This year I feel like making a true effort to always have a coat on when it is necessary to be wearing a coat in my photos. While I do sometimes feel like I am in pursuit of some sort artistic vision with the images I shoot for this blog – which can often mean no coats allowed (remember when I did this? holy wow, my photography was cringey though!) – if I am sharing my outfits just for the sake of sharing an outfit, I want to be real with you. It’s bloody cold here in the winter and a coat is absolutely necessary. The clearer the image has become of what I want this space to look like, the more I feel the importance of sharing outfits that are true to the time of year. Ya’ll know how I am though, I feel both practical and impractical in many aspects of my life, and I always aspire to share both those sides with you. So here’s to coats in the blistering cold and reptilian ice princesses who frolic in wintry wonderlands.
Blouse: F21 (similar)
Skirt: vintage via Common Sort
Coat: vintage
Scarf: thrifted
Tights: old pair ballet tights
Boots: Samantha Pleet x Wolverine
Photo Diary: Six Mile Lake / 2
Monday mornings fog in Six Mile Lake was really something spectacular to behold. Some of my favourite images that we all shot are from that morning navigating (I say navigating as if I was any help at all…my canoe partner was the only one with a paddle, so, you’re welcome for nothing) through fog so thick it was difficult to find our way back to the cottage. Kira and I were also instructed on how to shoot stars in the night sky (where else would they be?), but mine were pretty unfocused, and look more like a really grainy painting, but hey, at least I tried.
This will be it for the images from Six Mile Lake. I hope you like them, and let me know if you want me to share more stuff like this in the future. Love you all!
Photo Diary: Six Mile Lake / 1
This past weekend me and some of my best pals headed to Six Mile Lake to spend the weekend at a cottage celebrating Meaghan’s 30th birthday. I had actually been to this cottage two years ago, celebrating another friend’s 30th, so it was kind of strange to be back here and noticing how different and yet the same my life is. We got pretty lucky with some choice weather, and some eerily foggy mornings, that we certainly took full advantage of both mornings we woke there with sunrise canoe rides and a lot of laughs. I’ve decided to split this post into (most likely) three posts so I don’t bombard you with a big ol’ photo dump all at once, but I can’t wait (well obviously I can) to share the rest with you. It has been quite awhile since I posted a photo diary, or really, since I posted photos of anything other than myself. I’m still sticking to my wits that I don’t want to photograph a ton of my personal life like I used to when I first started this blog, but I do want to get back to sharing a bit more of my life, when it’s worth documenting, and the people that fill it with happiness.
*photo of me by Zach Rose and edited by me
Outfit: My Little Sidekick
Having a deaf dog does have it’s share of challenges; it’s far harder to train a deaf dog, eye contact and hand signals are your only form of communication, and being unable to call to them when they are out of sight can be a bit annoying, if not kind of stressful. Honestly, it’s never been that much of a problem in my life. There are not many instances where I wish Gus could hear, the only ones are when we are spending a great deal of time outdoors, he’s off leash and I need to keep on an eye on him in case his nose leads him astray. He’s never been the type of dog to run away off leash – I trust him wholly in that respect – but his sense of smell leads him to wander and that’s when I wish he was able to hear. So naturally, I have never actually done outfit photos on my own with Gus and I. Any time Gus has been featured with me in photos, it’s because someone else has taken them. When I’m taking my own outfit photos, I’m pretty focused on what I’m doing, so having Gus wandering around me off-leash and sniffing his surroundings while my attention is elsewhere seems pretty unsafe for him. But my relationship with Gus has changed quite a bit since his back surgery and since being left to look after him on my own. I bring Gus with me to a lot more places now so he’s never alone for too long and since he’s a bit slower than he used to be because his back legs aren’t in the best shape, I’m less worried about him getting too far ahead of me off leash. Building a bond with a dog can take awhile, I think. Gus and I were bonded pretty quickly, mostly in the sense that he knew I was his person and he wanted to be around me all the time, but it definitely took awhile for Gus to understand what I expected of him and for me to learn his little quirks and what situations he is good or bad in. All this to say, a year ago, I probably wouldn’t have tried to take photos with just Gus and I, but it felt right this time around, and my intuition didn’t steer me wrong. He stuck by me most of the time, and if I did notice him wandering off it was pretty easy to catch up to him and bring him back. I feel lucky to have such a funny and easy going dog. Obviously everyone is biased when it comes to their dog, but I really believe I got pretty damn lucky when this little cloud showed up in my life.
Pinafore: Miss Patina
Blouse & beret: thrifted
Tights: H&M
Shoes: Sylvie and Shimmy
Bow tie: handmade
okay andie 