trash the dress!

i'm blessed to know not one but TWO amazing photographers. one is my sister in law, melanie. and the other is my good friend, charmaine. i'm lucky enough to take pics with both of these uber talented and gorgeous women. they are amazing. really. remember that post i wrote about 10 months ago on our 10 year anniversary? well, in honour of our decade long marriage (and still going strong!!) we took some pretty unusual but incredibly fun pictures with one of these said photographers, charmaine. she had taken similar pictures last summer with her husband for their 10 year and wanted to do some, where she was behind the lens, to generate some more business. and lucky me, she asked if i would like to do a session for her to use as 'advertising'. it didn't take me long to say, "YES"! we discussed the 'look' we wanted to achieve, which was edgy, sexy (yes i DID say that), almost an america's next top model photo shoot idea, and taking all these pictures in locations where you probably wouldn't take your regular wedding photos. we took these pics on two different evenings. the first night we were rained out. taking pictures in the pouring rain is fun for only so long. plus, runny mascara, although very haute, wasn't in my plans. we got a few great shots that first evening (the pictures with the wood piles and umbrella) but the money shots were taken the second evening. on the second night of shooting, we headed to charmaine's parents yard. full of old farm machinery, old vehicles, metal junk and overall, a fantastically AWESOME place to shoot! it was so fun! i just took her lead and went where i was told, channeling my inner blue steel! ha ha! we had a great time and i almost fell in love with M all over again for indulging me with these pictures (he doesn't like this kind of stuff as much as i do, but how many men do?). the night ended with pictures taken in a local gravel pit. and the entire shoot was capped off with me laying out on my back in the water. it was cold, don't be deceived by the angelic look on my face in some of the shots (photoshop/lightroom does wonders). if you are that curious, look closely at my arms and you'll notice many goosebumps! all in all, a fanastically fun experience that i would recommend to anyone. 1 year, 5 year, 10 year, 20 year, etc anniversary... heck, even the in between ones like lucky #7 and #13! just go for it! have fun and enjoy your partner! just think, there's no stress of having to entertain for 200+ guests at the reception!

without further ado, and without further novelas written, here are the pictures:

for more photos, check here.