Whitby Santa Claus Parade 2024

Whitby Santa Claus Parade 2024

The Whitby Santa Claus Parade is a project near and dear to my heart not just as a resident, a parent of three boys and not just as a Rotarian in charge of making the float shine for the big Santa Claus himself (and Mrs. Claus).

Here are some memories we captured from the 2024 parade which we shot from the four corners as my knee is causing some issues with long walks/runs backwards for 10 km! I am pretty sure these are not in order so enjoy the community spirit regardless.

(Shown above our Rotarian crew and volunteers from Father Leo J Austin Catholic Secondary School)

 

Above (L) Whitby Fire – through the window of Aerial 35 | Above (R) And Elf and her grownup

Above (L) Comets Baton crew at the four corners  | Above (R) A wee Vickery Electric Truck participant

Above (1) Dashing along the parade route | (2) Marine Rescue | (3) Dance crew piggyback

Above (ALL) By far the cutest dog in the parade supporting Durham Muay Thai & Kickboxing 

Above (L) Air Cadets Band | Above (R) Girls Inc bringing the Girl Power Spirit

Above (L) Rotary Reindeer | Above (R) Deidre Newman is a tireless Rotarian and community volunteer, she will also be our 2025-2026 Club President

Above (L) Reindeer Energy | Above (R) Carrying on the tradition of marching and weilding the sucker props (which I love)

Doing double duty as Mrs Claus has a family emergency to cover – the one and only Santa Claus with an audio set this year so his HO HO HO energy can be heard loud and clear

Above (L) The joy of finally seeing Santa | Above (R) More Rotarian reindeer spirit.

Interested in joining our Rotary Club of Whitby? Visit here to learn more: https://www.rotarywhitby.org/

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Kirsten McGoey | Visusal Storyteller (and sometimes reindeer)

What to Expect: Holiday White Box Experience

What to Expect: Holiday White Box Experience

So you booked your Holiday White Box Experience 2024 and you are wondering how to prepare this is the article for you!

Get ready for FUN with your humans.

The White Box is fun, we have done over 100 sessions and by far it is the favourite session of most of our family clientele. They are a chance to get a reluctant partner or child excited because they are quick, allow for creativity and are full of laughter. Yes, you actually sit inside a 4x4x4 box.

 

What to wear and what not to wear.

The White Box is “white” so it is what we call an alternative universe to regular family photos. The white means leave your dark and black clothing at home and embrace colour. A lot of families like to do christmas pjs – we only ask not to all match, because you all get mixed up. Instead pick coordinating outfits, so we know who is who by clothing as well as the “story” in each box.

These images show you how they all look the same until you focus on the face.   

upside down child in a box in christmas jammies
White-Box-Large-Collage

Many of our studio items are shown in this version from faux snow balls, head pieces like antlers and so many Santa hats, too many to mention!

How to plan your boxes.

We encourage you to bring items from your own Christmas celebrations to use in the box. While we do have a HUGE choice of items here for you from books, signs and other holiday items – your own adds that personalized storytelling.

See images for a sample of items we have in the studio for holiday sessions, the collection has grown so you are welcome to have use of anything we have in the studio.

 

upside down child in a box in christmas jammies
upside down child in a box in christmas jammies

We did this amazing card for the ladies of Elm Law group – each session includes a 6 image collage 5×7 .jpg to create Christmas cards (actual cards are not included).

During the session.

Here are some more handy tips:

+ Arrive 5 minutes ahead, no sooner please as we have back to back sessions all morning/early afternoon.

+ A session is 15 minutes with 5 minutes buffer between sessions.

+ Come dressed – there is not room for changing when we do this many experiences in a row – there is however a bathroom and in studio mirror.

+ Work with us to plan the 6 images for your card and then we also shoot as many other options for larger items which you can order at your in person review.

+ We cannot go past your 15 minutes, if one of your humans is not cooperating we can sort out another option at a later date. 

+ If you are a glasses wearer put in contacts or remove them, our light set up will show light reflections and impact the image. If you are okay with that then we will do our best to reduce the impact glare.

+ Let us get your littles to look at us, I will have an assistant on that day and we know how to get a child’s attention.

+ Worried about your weight? We have poses that work well for all body types and sizes. 

+ We have fit four grown men in the Box at one time, it is strong and can hold a lot more than you think. It is also reinforced with two by fours and raised off the ground – which all our knees will be thankful for.

Shown above is a styrene mounted print on a wood block (blocks are no longer sold) – but we have lots of great products for you to choose from to gift to family this holiday season.

Reveal and ordering session.

 We host all sessions in the studio for an in person reveal to accomplish a few things:

+ We review your images in proof form and make your collage for your card – 6 images in total. This is included in your session – a 5×7 .jpg (no physical cards are included).

+ Then we determine if there are any other products you wish to order from prints backed with styrene, to mounts and a few specific items that work well with this type of session. 

Note – ordering additional products is not mandatory. We do need to order them before mid November in order to get them by the holidays as our provider gets very busy.

Have to book yet?

 We would love to have you at the studio – click here to book:

Join us for the return of a day of limited edition Holiday White Box experiences.
+ Shot in our home studio in an actual box.
+ 15 minute time slots.
+ Up to 6 persons (due to time constraints).*
+ 1 collage included – 6 images in a 5×7 card format
+ In studio reveal to build card images AND order additional items such as larger collages, mounts and more.
* If you have a larger group we can book a solo session for you.

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller

Graduate Photography in Durham Region (Whitby)

Graduate Photography in Durham Region (Whitby)

Trinity Design Photography in Whitby is a small, scale boutique studio and it may just be a better fit for you than the normal volume studio graduate experience. We service a small number of clientele who want a little more from their experience and expert photographic skills.

As a smaller studio we put together for our client a quality experience. We buy the best stoles we can stock with matte textures and have a variety of gown/hat/tassel combinations for your graduate to borrow. From black, to navy and even Trent Green is now in stock in the studio.

NOTE: We just can’t have all the vee stoles and colours. Some universities may have over thirty departments all with different colour schemes. We do our best and often times clients will purchase the specialty stole for their photos and use our gown/hat/tassel combinations.

Over the past 9+ years we have built a strong reputation for more than just our photographic skills. We have many amazing clients who do not do well in volume studios and experience with kids who may not like to be touched or are triggered by busy or loud situations.

We support kids who are transitioning or perhaps are in the middle of a journey to the person they want to be. Our studio is a safe space for you and your kids. Owner Kirsten is a experienced mother of three, has a background in childcare and herself understands how anxious a photo experience can be for anyone at any age.

We are adding new vee stoles and gowns as time passes – we did this cute Tik Tok featuring rising country music star Riley Wheater (see below) showing the ones we had as of the beginning of April. Since then new ones have arrived and more are coming in matte fabrics which look amazing on camera.

Our new 2022 packages offer you a “One + Done” option and a larger session. We do both studio and our signature lifestyle sessions. Show your graduate some of our blog posts to see which kind of look they prefer.

https://trinitydesign.ca/senior-kindergarten-graduate-whitby-durham-region/

https://trinitydesign.ca/notre-dame-css-ajax-graduate-experience/

https://trinitydesign.ca/graduate-photos-durham-region/

The pandemic has taken enough away from the experience of education and we want to ensure they have the best graduation photo experience possible.

If you’re looking for a talented and professional photographer/storyteller, I highly recommend Kirsten at Trinity Design Photography. She goes above and beyond to capture the best image. Her patient and lovely personality make her a joy to work with. Thank you!

Kay Di Visio | 2022

Kirsten McGoey | Storyteller | Connect

Senior Kindergarten Photos for your Graduate

Senior Kindergarten Photos for your Graduate

The world for a Senior Kindergarten student has not been easy in Durham Region or across the world. School has been online, masked and unlike anything we experienced whether we grew up in the early 1900s or the late 1900s (yeah I feel old just writing it). Kids have gotten a rough start to their education and if there is something we can do with our services to make that a little easier we would be delighted to be a part of their journey.

One thing we did during the pandemic was invest in new gowns with the idea that when we opened up we could again offer studio mini sessions for SK gradates. Our two newest gowns are gorgeous matte navy and red with matching hats and tassels. We work with a solid backdrop in our mini sessions to capture three images of your child. 

When dressing for your graduate photos it helps to have either a shirt with a collar for under the gown or a rounded neck shirt or sweater. This will allow for the things you are wearing to exist comfortably under the gown.

We create a safe space for kids to be kids. We do short sessions that will not overwhelm them. The connection comes from 9+ years working with kids, years before that running a home daycare and wrangling three of my own spirited boy humans.

To book a spot simply connect with us for more information on the packages and booking dates (the event was cancelled due to our own bookings overflowing in May and June 2022). We still have room later in June and into July for your little ones.

 

Images do not have to come with the SK text – we love to play with the images when we test them out. But we provide our images as you would like them – plain for with the fun underlay text.

For more information connect: https://trinitydesign.ca/connect-2/ 

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller | Trinity Design Photography

Family Photography – Aravinda

Family Photography – Aravinda

In our studio we created a series of portraits for this family in traditional Indian dress, formal and casual western wear. Each family, each story is unique and we work with you to create that special session.

durham-region-graduate-1

Capturing a family in studio often comes with myths. Dad won’t want to be there, teens will be sullen and so on. Dad brought such a special vibe to this session and the teen rocked his session – even doing a model pose. I come to each session without preconceived notions and let the dynamic unfold. 

I loved every minute of the traditional outfits. The patterns, fabrics and the cuts were so lovely.

More familiar are the western suits I grew up with in church and weddings. I love the juxtaposition after the formal Indian outfits.

Mom went all out and even had these great shirts made for a casual studio portrait.

Mom looked stunning in her sari – she is so beautiful and if I can a solo portrait of each parent is added to every session. We are in so few of the images we take for our family.

At the end of the day we ended up a a great range of Indian formal wear, western formal and casual portraits for this family. I can imagine how gorgeous this would look in a fall setting in the future.

To book a session with us please fill out our Connect Form and we will send you information and follow up with a phone call to review.

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller | Trinity Design Photography (Whitby)

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