Boutique Rouge Blog

Valhalla Montreal

Posted by Stephanie Admin On September 4, 2015

“Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.”

That particular quote kept cycling through my mind when my Fiancee Nick and I make a trip out to Valhalla Montreal. Their mission (which I hijacked from their Facebook page) is simple: Valhalla Montreal builds and develops a practical educational site focused on sustainable solutions relating to human needs such as food, shelter, water, energy and social structure. Nick discovered this place and given that it was a gorgeous day, I decided to tag along; camera in tow.

In a day and age where we are spending excessive amounts of time behind our various types of technology, coming to Valhalla is a literal and figurative breath of fresh air. There’s a completely different vibe when you step on the grounds. Every Saturday at 10 am, they invite everyone and anyone to the land to come take a tour, help out, plant your own garden space among other things.

Added bonus: They make some of the most awesome pizza I have ever had. Which is saying a lot since i’m a retired Chef.

I encourage you to go check it out if you’re able, I could write a number of things about how peaceful this place is and how there’s no ego’s, just a like minded group of people who all have a common goal.

As an added bonus, you might get to hang out with Bear the dog! Did I mention how good the pizza is yet? Check out the Valhalla website for more pertinent information.

*DISCLAIMER* Boutique Rouge Images has no direct affiliation with Valhalla Montreal or Valhalla. This post was not endorsed by them.

Miss Rosalia

Posted by Stephanie Admin On August 5, 2015

She is my favorite little miss! So full of sass, she’s quite the character with a broad range of facial expressions. I love photographing her when she’s unaware.

Mel & Leo

Posted by Stephanie Admin On June 6, 2015

Talk about your dream couple! This was not a real wedding, it was actually shot for a project that I had for school. I just wanted to show them off because they photograph so well!

Miss Tiffany

Posted by Stephanie Admin On June 1, 2015

A spur of the moment improv shoot. She’s such an animated, good natured baby!

Remnants of a fire.

Posted by Stephanie Admin On May 30, 2015

Disclaimer: This was my families property at the time these images were taken (the house has since been sold). As much as I love urban exploration, buildings such as these that have been severely damaged/compromised by fire can be dangerous. Since I know that this building was structurally sound, I took the opportunity to grab some final images before the renovations commence.

Many years ago, on my nephews second birthday, I got the call that no one wants to get. My family home, a semi detached duplex, had caught fire on the one side. The side that my sister shared with her family, my parents lived on the other side. Their dryer had caught on fire and it had almost wiped out my entire family. The damage and devastation was mind blowing and after the initial shock wore off and the clean up commenced there wasn’t much money left over for renovations (well over 100K just to get the basics). So there is sat, all these years untouched save for some basic safety measures to make it safe to walk through. It eventually became a storage space of sorts and after my father passed away and the house sold soon after, it was emptied out. So when I went to Cambridge Ontario for my fathers memorial service, I did what any self respecting photographer would do; I took lots and lots of pictures!