Family is #1 + 60 years of marriage

60 years of marriage!

Family is and always will be number one to me. There are no exceptions and there is no other way I would have it. I think we all learn this at one point or another in our lives!

Recently, my grandparents celebrated their 60th anniversary… 60.. can you believe it? Better yet, can you imagine being married to your special someone for 60 years? I hope so. Marriage is about love, understanding and communication, but it’s not just that. It’s about building a community, a family and a bond with the others you bring into your life. It’s also HARD work. I think too many people bail on marriage too easily. They think it should be easy and should feel those sparks still flying 2, 3, 4, 5 years later but that’s just not realistic. You might lose the sparks, but what you gain is the comfort, security and ease of being yourself and knowing what you are coming home to.

I don’t consider myself the marrying type but if I was, I would look to my grandparents for inspiration. It has NOT always been easy for them. They have went through times of severe poverty, heart-ache, loss and tragedy. Throughout it all they have stuck together, stood by each other and came out on top. Now, even in the last 10 years I have seen their love for each other change! It used to be complacent, it used to be of responsibility and respect. It is still all of these things, but I now see a deeper bond that has developed between them in the last few years. They still have humor. They crack really corny jokes and share intimate moments. They understand each other more than anyone in the world and they can sense when the other is not feeling well or needs a nap. (To be fair I think that everyone needs a nap. In fact.. I should be taking one right now!). The point is, they have most definitely had struggles that could have torn some couples apart, but they persevered and now I believe they are happier than ever!

It seemed only natural that Grandpa’s guitar should come along. He has shared his gift and love for guitar with our family since as long as I can remember. It’s one of my favorite memories growing up. Not only that but he legitimately sings my Grandma songs with his guitar and that’s exactly what I asked him to do on the day of the shoot (which was the day of their 60th anniversary). Now that I think of it, I should have got Grandma to bring some buns and borscht and feed Grandpa because feeding people delicious food is most definitely her thing. I loved this whole shoot from start to finish and getting to see them in a whole new light with each other was refreshing. Their relationship and their testimony to marriage is constantly evolving and leaving the other marriages in my family a lot to live up to.

Love you Grandpa & Grandma!

60 years of marriage!

60 years of marriage!

60 years of marriage!

60 years of marriage!

60 years of marriage!

60 years of marriage!

60 years of marriage!

60 years of marriage!

Adventures in Jamaica Pt 2- My near (camera) death experience with waterwalls!

Jamaica Destination Wedding Photography

Ahhh finally I have come out of my coma of exhaustion and sickness! What a relief after over two weeks! So what have I been up to? Mostly editing, and also trying to clear out my house for a mega-sized garage sale. Time to clear out some of my hoarder style collections and some of my precious photography props. I hate to see them go, but I really can’t keep everything!

So I hope everyone in Saskatoon has been keeping warm, in this deathly horrid weather we have been having. It’s been … epic to say the least. It doesn’t help that my trusty old van left me stranded with the boys at Safeway yesterday and has basically been acting like a piece of junk for the last few weeks. Great.

So let’s talk about my experience with Dunn’s River Falls, which was where we decided to end our day taking photos in beautiful Jamaica! What a fun/scary time! Basically what happened was, I thought I could handle being in the waterfalls as well, with my camera around my neck. However, what I didn’t think about was, how slippery the rocks were, and how it might have benefited me to bring water shoes for this whole scenario. So a few minutes into our session, I stepped off of a log under water and realized that I was tumbling/falling/tripping/slipping deep into a rocky waterfall grave. As I sunk lower and lower and fell more and more I raised my camera higher and higher. Boy, it must have been quite a sight. It might be exaggerating to say that the only thing you could see out of the water was the top of my head, my arm and my camera… but no it was actually pretty close to that. The groom said afterwards he just wasn’t quite sure who to save; the photographer or the camera! When in doubt.. ALWAYS save the camera! I can definitely survive whatever outcome there is from a fall like this, but my camera would not be so lucky. We had a good laugh about it afterwards and we had a lot of fun! So it just proves to those of you who may think my job is all fancy and frills.. I am in the business of taking risks, putting myself in awkward and potentially dangerous situations (I have done everything from laying on my stomach in the middle of a highway, to getting knocked over by strong stormy ocean waves). Is it worth it though? 100% and I will only continue to push my limits AND my camera’s limits until one of us breaks haha hopefully it will be the camera.

I can’t wait to share more of my Jamaica adventures with you all and more great images from this fantastic wedding!

For tonight, I am going to cozy up with my book and maybe even make myself a cup of hot chocolate (if the boys haven’t completely raided the mix already). Get some good zz’s and work like a maniac tomorrow.

Love & peace – M

Adventures in Jamaica pt 1

Jamaica Destination Wedding Photography by Martine Sansoucy

Hey guys!

Well the last couple of weeks since I have been home, I have had a lot of time to think. Mainly because I am confined to being stationary with massive headaches, congestion, searing pain through my blurry eyes, hearing rushing wind through my ears (which isn’t nearly as romantic as it sounds), and coughing up a lung every few minutes. Yes, it seems I have come in contact with one of the worst sinus infections I have ever had and it shows no signs of leaving me any time soon. I know.. I sound attractive!

Amidst my sleepless nights (due to interruptions alarming me to the fact that I can not breath), I have come to the following conclusions.

#1. The Biggest Loser makes me cry.

#2. I have so many books in my library that I have a mental break down trying to choose just one to read.

#3. My boys know that my defenses are down and therefore are ready to take full advantage in any way possible

#4. I need a new oven, because currently mine is caked with 48 butter tarts that when being taken out crashed face down into the depths of the bottom (don’t ask, it was tragic)

#5. Jamaica was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

So naturally I feel like talking about Jamaica. It has been on my mind since the day I came home. Despite having two very unfortunate incidents in this magnificent country, I really do love it. In fact it’s my favorite of all of the countries I have been too so far (including Canada). Honestly.. I don’t know why anyone lives here. -40’s with the windchill, are you kidding me!? Unfortunate incident #1 was the loss of my luggage which was snatched up at the airport by another lady from Saskatchewan who didn’t bother to report it as the wrong bag until TWO DAYS later! So quite honestly I was freaking out… My camera bag is so heavy that they won’t allow me another carry on, so EVERYTHING I had was in the bag. Hard to feel sexy on the beach in 3 day old black pants, a black shirt, no deodorant, un-brushed dry frizzy hair and the knowledge that I may never see my makeup again. I spent the better part of the first couple of days holed up in my room locked on the Jamaican music channel waiting for a phone call about my luggage. Finally, with enough pushing on my part, another rep stepped in and made some calls to locate it. Thank goodness for that!! It felt great to be in some fresh clothes again!

Incident #2 happened on my last night in Jamaica and honestly… I don’t want to go into too much detail because I fear it will paint a negative picture of the time I had. Really it was one bad situation amongst 1000’s of great ones. I will say though, I did at one point fear for my life a little bit, and I do urge anyone to be aware of cabbies anywhere…because honestly I have had more than one horrifying situation with cab drivers even here in Saskatoon.

What can I say about Jamaica? If I had to use just one word to describe it, I would have to say SEXY. I was thrilled by the music that seemed to be everywhere once you hit the streets of Montego Bay. Especially at night when the streets are lively with speakers on almost every corner pumping out Kartel, beat infused reggae, hip hop and my new favorite tune (which shall not be mentioned for fear of offending anyone). I happened to stop at a couple of different places downtown during my stay to buy some burnt discs with collections of some pretty rad music. I will admit, I listen to them quite a bit and it still makes me feel energized and alive. Music was definitely one of my favorite parts of Jamaica. You may ask why I use the word sexy. It’s hard to dodge around the subject without saying both the men and woman are absolutely without a doubt freaking gorgeous! I felt a little bit obnoxious because I couldn’t help but check out the wonderful curvacious and booty-delicious bodies of all of the beautiful women, and the smokin hot muscular but lean builds and seriously awesome dreadlocks, cornrows and braids of the men. To top it all off, they all seemed comfortable with their bodies, sexually aware of themselves and above all friendly.  I felt comfortable and welcomed everywhere I went. There was always someone smiling at me or wanting to get to know me.. and heck I even got a marriage proposal haha!

I was so fortunate to have such amazing local friends in Jamaica. I was super excited to meet two of the girls that I met over Facebook close to a year ago for some fun photo-shoots, which turned into drinks, chatting, nights out and many many little adventures I would not be wise to share 😉 I can honestly say, I know I have made some friends for life and I can’t wait to start planning my next trip to Jamaica to see them again. I miss them dearly! I am so thankful for the great times they showed me and for making me feel so at home!

One of my first nights out I was invited to a local fashion show with Nicole (an amazing model & one of my local friends), who led me to one of her friends who I fell in love with instantly! The fashion show was amazing and I sat with my drink transfixed on the vibrantly colored skirts, tops & dresses, the heels, and of course the totally rad music accompanying it. The whole experience was surreal. The night continued on until late hours and I blissfully ran back to my room after being dropped off to sink into my bed and a field a music infused dreams.

I also was pretty blessed to have the opportunity to see my amazing new friend Anjaine sing in their local Karaoke joint “Mobay Proper”. She was… AMAZING. If I closed my eyes and listened to each and every one of the singers who got up to preform I swear I could have been listening to Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Rihanna…. WOW. The talent in there was off the wall! I told Anjaine they definitely needed to video this stuff and post it on YouTube. It was a great night of music and dancing and drinking and I was able to see my wonderful model and new friend Walleisha one more time before I headed off back to the icy coldness that is Saskatoon.

Ahhh just talking about it is making me so euphoric. What can I say, I soaked up every opportunity to be out in the community, meeting people, getting three random braids done in my hair by a nice old lady who told me her life story and welcomed me into her home. The experiences I had were bar none some of the best ever, but the people I met… hands down the BEST part of my trip.

Nicole & I in Jamaica

Well folks.. the other best part of my trip is yet to come. Because I am a photographer, I am hoping you can guess that it was the wedding, the photo-shoots, and the photos! I can’t wait to share some of my amazing experiences with the bride and groom and also some of my fun experiences photographing my gorgeous new friends & models!

So with that being said, I hope all you lovelies out there have a great night..

XO- Martine