stacey van berkel photography blog

 Well, I love dishes but Dynva Edens is an incredible collector of the Spode Christmas china.  I have never seen so much china in my life!  Dynva is charming and worked so hard to pull out her pieces from storage for this shoot.  She believes in using china not just storing it to look at.  I like her style!  We could have stayed for days to photograph all the pieces she has but we were really happy to have met her and spent a lovely afternoon together.

I’ve included a photo of my sweet 1st assistant & studio manager Maria Arce and a few other favorites.  

So sometimes I am faced with very difficult lighting situations and I wanted to show how I handled this one.  In a small room that was filled with stuff I needed to photograph the creamers.  It was difficult to pare down the background so I decided to backlight the pieces - I was really pleased with the result because it made it very graphically simple and highlighted the beauty of this collection. 

Maria, my trusty assistant - always smiling and always a joy to work with.  I count my blessings that she works for me!

Can you notice the subtle difference in the next two photos?  In the first one I found the hallway dark so I added a light and the second photo is much more pleasing, don’t you think?

I just loved shooting holiday stories for Style at Home magazine last year in Toronto!  Christine Hanlon produced and styled this shoot - isn’t she amazing?  After seeing the pink ruffle pillow I went straight to Home Sense to buy one for my mother - they didn’t have pink but a lovely champagne colour instead and she loves it!   We were so busy shooting this day I didn’t really take any out takes but I’ve included a fav shot of the chandelier and a wider one of the chair and presents.

The Biltmore Estate is beautiful any time of year but they certainly do put on a grand show at Christmastime!  Here are a few more of my favorites from the shoot.  The only behind the scenes photo I took was the one of Maria & LeeAnn waiting on me outside by the lights . . . 

This story was such a joy to photograph!  How could it not be with so many beautiful things styled by the very talented Lara McGraw … . Doesn’t it just inspire you to throw at party?  Here are a few behind the scenes photos plus a few favs that didn’t make it into the story in Style at Home’s December issue. 

  Excited to have another cover of Our State magazine & a 20 page story on the Biltmore at Christmas!  Maria and I loved every minute of photographing at the Biltmore during the holidays - the trees and the lights were magnificent!  Thank you to LeeAnn Donnelly, the senior public relations manager, who hosted us for our Biltmore shoot!  Check back this week for more images from this shoot and a feature on an amazing collector of Spode china.

Style at Home editor Erin McLaughlin & I drove to Ottawa on a cold snowy day last December on our way to a shoot in Canada’s capitol.  As we drew closer the snow got worse and worse & the next morning we woke up to sleet and ice.  We were determined to make it to the shoot so we drove verrrrrrrry slowly through the streets of Ottawa.   And what a lovely surprise it was to have Chip Hamann & Alain Doom welcome us into their cozy and stylish house.  We also met the gracious Irene Langlois of Irene Langlois Interiors who helped make this home charming and ready for entertaining.   

Alain & Chip prepared the food, lit the candles while Irene hung the last of the holiday decor.  And despite the ice & snow, good friends arrived, champagne was opened and the lovely party went on into the evening.  .  . 

A little Swiss twist on some holiday raclette … .Alison Lovell of Lovell Designs grew up in Switzerland and shared her love of raclette with Style at Home for the November issue.  It was so great to photograph Alison & family - aren’t they all so photogenic?  The very talented Lara McGraw did the styling and my ever faithful assistant Mun helped me shoot this very fun story.  I have posted a few behind the scenes of Lara overseeing the details, Mun making sure we have correct colour and a few other favorites that didn’t make it into the magazine story.   Mmmmm now I wish I had a raclette machine! 

What a fun shoot in a modern condo in the middle of downtown Toronto!  I am so lucky to work with such talented people:  Erin McLaughlin & Sara Cation from Style at Home & Jessica Kelly of Jessica Kelly Design.  At the end of the shoot - we didn’t want to let that amazing sushi go to waste - it was delicious!

I am very excited about the November issue of Style at Home!  Finally all the shoots we did last fall are coming out & it is wonderful to have another cover … Thank you to Margot Austin who styled this story and to my amazing assistants Mun Wai Chau & Jordan Fretz.  They went far above the call of duty to light some of the last shots from outside (and it was VERY chilly).  See if you can pick out the shots that were done in complete darkness . . . 

Check back this week for more stories and behind the scenes shots …and go get a copy of this issue before it goes off the stands!

After seeing the pear orchard near Fenwick, Ontario I was longing to do a little shoot there amongst the striking red leaves and greenish yellow pears.  My cousin Sylvia volunteered to be my model and she even had a retro red bike.  We had lots of fun running around the orchard - I even forgot to ask permission but no one seemed to mind.  .  . I have been encouraging Sylvia to do some modeling - she is so naturally beautiful, don’t you think?