Ottawa Food & Wedding Photographer – Christian Lee

We had an unusually warm Thanksgiving weekend in Ottawa this year, it was simply gorgeous.   We had some friends over for brunch, and it it was so gorgeous outside that we stayed on the deck all day!  Since Annie & Shane were here with Liam, I had to steal him for a few minutes between feedings to get some pictures.  He was a great model, and hardly fussed as Shane and I wrangled-him into various outfits & positions.

His big, watery eyes really catch all of the light in the room – he’s going to be a lady-killer when he’s older!  And although he looks like an UFC fighter with the claw mark on his cheek, don’t let it fool you – it was self-inflicted.

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Here’s another overdue blog post….but not quite as late as the others.  I’m getting there!

I got together with Eric and Sabrina for dinner & some maternity photos a while back – these were about a month before her due date.  I’m always a little nervous when it comes to maternity shots, because, while I do like some, I’m not a fan of what I’m going to call the “pregoire” photos (half-naked & very pregnant women).

I’m not sure what it is.  I do think pregnancy is a beautiful thing, and I think pregnant women have a gorgeous glow, but I’m just not into the Demi Moore thing.  Call me old-fashioned, I guess.  We had a lot of fun making these pictures and I think Sabrina looks gorgeous!  We were very excited for the arrival of the little dude.

The upside to my slow blogging is that I can provide updates.  Between the maternity shoot and now, and about a week or so late, baby Mason finally decided to join the world!  On September 21st at around 10pm, after a REEEAAALLLY long labour for Mom, Mason was born.  The handsome lad is now at home, chillin’ with Mom & Dad.

I received an email from Nat & Louis a little while ago, to share the great news that they welcomed a tiny new addition to their family….baby Caleb!  I have gotten to know Nat and Louis pretty well over the last 2 years, as I photographed the weddings of 2 of Nat’s 1st cousins.  I feel like I’m slowly becoming part of the family!

They asked if I would come over to do some baby portraits in this newborn stage – Caleb was a fresh 10 days old when I shot these.  Who could say no to an assignment like this?

Addie came along with me for the drive out to Rockland to be my ‘assistant’.  I’m sure it had nothing to do with an incredibly cute baby that would be there to play with.  Caleb was a fantastic model – allowing us to change him, move him around, poke, prod & just about everything else you normally try not to do with a newborn.  What a sport!

This picture above is especially meaningful to the Michauds.  Louis is quite the talented (and patient) handyman, and restored this gorgeous wooden rocking chair from a previously sad state.  It looks beautiful now, and Caleb seems to love it.  We won’t mention that he pee’d a little on the cushion while I shot this.   Sorry.  :)

Here is Caleb (obviously getting bored of us) with his his proud parents.  Congrats, guys!

Saturday night was the official “Deck Warming” party at Nuevo Rancho Relaxo.  For a very long time now, I have wanted to try to make Peking Duck.  I’ve only had the opportunity to try it once, since it normally requires ordering 2-3 days in advance at Chinese restaurants (and I’m not much of a planner).  Addie and I decided that our house warming would be a great excuse to try this delicacy, paired with some Moet & Chandon champagne.  We can’t really call it a house warming since we’ve been here for 3 months now, so we settled on ‘Deck Warming’.

The process started early in the morning, with preparing the birds.  I had to make a paste that goes into the cavity, along with some green onion and cilantro.  The next step is to ‘scald’ the ducks, ladling boiling hot water with vinegar over the skin – to seal the pores.  The last preparation step is to ladle a syrop (secret) over the surface of the ducks, before hanging them to dry in front of fans for 6-8hrs.

Once the ducks are dried, it’s as simple as roasting them in the oven for about 1.5hrs, with a couple of flips along the way.  Serving comes 2 ways.  The first (and most special) is the skin alone, served on chinese flour pancakes, along with Hoisin sauce, sliced cucumber and scallion.  The 2nd course is the duck meat stir-fried with veggies, served in a crisp iceberg lettuce leaf.  YUMM!

We had a great time, and everything turned out as planned.  Well, everything except for the Chinese lemon ginger candies, which, as you can see from Eric’s reaction, weren’t the best.  Hey – the packaging looked cool!