Shawn Van Daele Photography

Three of my four babies...(left to right) Pixie, Rupert and Stewie. Pedro (my 14 year old Pit Bull) didn't feel like participating.

"Chaos is a friend of mine" – Bob Dylan Carly & Mike's engagement, co-starring their son Griffin and dog Tully. Shot on location in their home! More on Facebook!

"To draw, you must close your eyes and sing" – Pablo Picasso To learn more about The Drawing Hope Project: www.drawinghope.ca | donate at www.indiegogo.com/drawinghope 500px | Facebook | Tumblr | Twitter

Regret "Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so." – David Grayson www.ShawnVanDaele.com | www.facebook.com/shawns365

"A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” – Oscar Wilde

"Like gravity, karma is so basic we often don't even notice it." - Sakyong Mipham

"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone " – Joni Mitchell (Yellow Taxi Cab) My Dad was the biggest fan of The Drawing Hope Project. He passed away on Saturday Nov 17, after a 2.5 year fight with cancer. There were good days, bad days, really good days, and really bad days...but he never lost HOPE that a new treatment or new approach was going to make things better. I have never witnessed a more loving example of loyalty and strength than in my Mom, who held his hand and our hearts through everything. My Dad knew and loved every kid in the project, through their stories and photos, and my gushing about them to him. He'd ask in the mornings if a new photo had been posted...or what kids photo shoots were coming up. He loved this project, and he will live on in it. I would always look forward to his comments on each pic...overflowing with exclamation marks and excitement...and pride. I hoped that seeing what the warriors in The Drawing Hope Project were overcoming would ignite the same in him...and it did. This project has given so much to so many, and I want to thank every family, child and supporter that is part of this growing family for bringing smiles to my Mom & Dad's faces on the darkest of days. The Drawing Hope Project is only going to get better, and stronger, and will forever be dedicated to my parents; to my Dad who loved it so much, and to my Mom, who is the epitome of HOPE. This photo ("Got Til It's Gone") I did back in January 2012, and it was my Dad's favourite. For the last few weeks that he was in the hospital, it sat across from his hospital bed. He'd tell every nurse and doctor, visitor - anyone who would listen - about it, my photography, and the Drawing Hope Project. He showed everyone the calendar, talked about the kids, and handed out cards to anyone and everyone, since he believed everyone should know about it. I've never seen him more proud of anything ♥ The Drawing Hope Project on Facebook "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone " – Joni Mitchell (Yellow Taxi Cab)

"I think that people who can't believe in fairies aren't worth knowing." – Tori Amos

The Cold Room "So when you're cold from the inside out And don't know what to do, Remember love and friendship, And warmth will come to you.” – Stephen Cosgrove, Gnome from Nome Facebook | Website

“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.” – John Cage

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." – Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"Maybe everybody in the whole damn world is scared of each other" – John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men http://www.facebook.com/shawns365 | http://www.flickr.com/renaissancestudios

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear." - C.S. Lewis

Eventually, a good idea will hit you.

The Pursuit of Happiness "We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us." – Thomas Merton More on FACEBOOK!

"There is a silence where hath been no sound / There is a silence where no sound may be / In the cold grave, under the deep deep sea..." - Thomas Hood (The Piano)

"Some of your hurts you have cured, And the sharpest you still have survived, 
But what torments of grief you endured
 From the evil which never arrived." – Ralph Waldo Emerson Fine Art Prints & Canvases now available through ImageKind

"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone " – Joni Mitchell (Yellow Taxi Cab)

Gotta love Hitchcock!

Inspired by "Leaving My Body" by Florence + The Machine

Photo manipulation...made up 3 photos - an under exposed image of the entire scene, a properly exposed photo of the entire scene, and a 3rd image of Clint levitating above the bed.

I used the under exposed image as the basis for the photo (which was taken in broad daylight) then layered in the properly exposed image (by painting it in on the layers) to create the dramatic light on the subject in the bed and the bedside lamp. I darkened the window, and then layered in the 3rd image (levitating).

Dad's Dove "Life is rather a state of embryo, a preparation for life; a man is not completely born till he has passed through death" – Benjamin Franklin In tribute and memory of my father, Jerry Van Daele, March 25 1946 – November 17, 2012. Facebook

The Shepherd "When at night you cannot sleep, talk to the shepherd and stop counting sheep." – Author Unknown www.facebook.com/shawns365 | www.shawnvandaele.com

Inspired by the song by Yestyn Griffiths / Glass Pear

"It takes a long time to grow an old friend" – John Leonard My best friend Pedro, who has been beside me for 14 1/2 years. :) More on Facebook

In promotion of Earth Hour 2012

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde

Haunted (The Most Wonderful Time of the Year) "One need not be a chamber to be haunted; One need not be a house; The brain has corridors surpassing Material place." – Emily Dickinson Facebook | Website

"Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith." – Margaret Shepard

“We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow.” – Fulton Oursler

"You can kill a lifetime without feeling anything but skin.” – Chuck Palahniuk

"First we make our habits, then our habits make us.” – Charles C. Noble

"Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into" – Mohandas Gandhi

"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man." – Author Unknown

I can fly!

"One's mind once stretched by a new idea, never regains its orginal dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

“We must look for the opportunity in every difficulty instead of the difficulty in every opportunity.” – Unknown

"You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run." – Kenny Rogers, The Gambler

...just how I feel on most days...

"You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself." – Alan Alda

That about sums it up!

Me, myself, and my childhood toy! A coming to terms with growing up and aging.

...where I'd like to be...right...NOW.

This one is about what you leave behind on your way to the top...pieces of yourself, for better or worse.

"Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light?" – Maurice Freehill Inspired by...daylight savings time.

"Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships." – Charles Simic

I'll get it if you need it, I'll search if you don't see it, You're thirsty, I'll be rain, You get hurt, I'll take your pain. I know you don't believe it, But I said it and I still mean it, When you heard what I told you, When you get worried I'll be your soldier. - Inspired by the song "Soldier" by Gavin Degraw

"The best way to get something done is to begin." – Author Unknown

Celebrating Earth Day!

(inspired by the song by Yuna) "Find your light Don’t hide from what you are And rise before you fall And hope for something more Live if you really want to All my life I’ve been looking for something amazing It’s almost like I’ve been stargazing The sky is right above me We were meant for something bigger than this Don’t ever try to dismiss yourself cause you don’t have to All my life my dreams just seemed so far away And now it’s like they’re here to stay I hold it close to me We were meant for something bigger than this Don’t ever try to dismiss yourself cause you don’t have to Live if we really want to" – Yuna http://www.facebook.com/shawns365

"If heaven and hell decide That they both are satisfied Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you When your soul embarks Then I'll follow you into the dark" – Death Cab for Cutie, from the song "I Will Follow You Into The Dark Buy Prints & Canvas at: www.imagekind.com/GalleryProfile.aspx?gid=8605b268-510e-4d4f-82bd-56c5178d4fdb www.facebook.com/shawns365 | www.flickr.com/renaissancestudios

“We must look for the opportunity in every difficulty instead of the difficulty in every opportunity.” – Unknown PLEASE READ! This photo was just chosen as a 10 TOP FINALIST in The Getty Images "This Is Canada" Photo Competition. I would LOVE it if you'd take 2 seconds to vote for it (for the People's Choice Award - the grand prize and runner up winners are being chosen by the judges at Getty Images) Here's the link - just click "LIKE" on the image on the Getty Facebook page. Thank you! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150839109926297&set=a.10150839109156297.397126.59323386296&type=3&theater

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope or confidence." – Helen Keller My father has been courageously fighting cancer for over a year now and is bravely starting a new course of chemo treatments this week. Keep him in your thoughts for me :) This photo is dedicated and inspired by my parents, constantly humble in the face of challenges, eternally supportive, and the most amazing examples of courage and strength. ♥ Learn more about The Drawing Hope Project on Facebook or the official website...turning the drawings dones by children with health conditions into magical photographs for a storybook filled with hope. Buy fine art prints and canvas of my work: ImageKind 365 Days on Facebook

"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." – Anais Nin Facebook | Tumblr | Twitter

More pics on Facebook!

Lean On Me "We must be our own before we can be another's." – Ralph Waldo Emerson More pics on Facebook!

"When there is nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire" – Unknown Facebook | Website Inspired by the song with the same title by "Stars"

Modern day Marie Antoinette

Part of my Famous Creatures series...modern day renditions of famous people who have helped to shape our world culture.

This is an older photo I did last summer as part of a "fairy" themed engagement session for a couple! Shot on location at Rattlesnake Point, in Milton Ontario Canada.

And now...for something COMPLETELY different! "Seed Girl and The Suit" - a promo team pic for some friends entering a local "Amazing Race" for the United Way - their team name is from 'Seed Girl' being a local 'farm girl' and 'The Suit' being a local municipal official. Creative and fun - I'm pretty sure these superheroes will do wonders to raise tons of funds for the United Way, while defending their community one challenge at a time! xo

From Carly & Mike's engagement :) More on FACEBOOK

Enjoy the Silence A fun and spontaneous photo shoot I did with my friends Amanda and Luke for her birthday :)

Boardwalk Empire Inspired photo shoot (as part of an engagement session) for a New York styled wedding.

If you love something...set it free.
Part of a vintage New York styled engagement shoot!

Part of a vintage New York styled engagement shoot!

An engagement photo / save the date shot for a couple about to "take the plunge" - they used the image for the front of their save the date postcards :)

As part of a "fairy themed" engagement session. Shot on location while swinging from the moon :)

From Jeremy & Elizabeth's "Travel" themed wedding; North by Northwest inspired. More on FACEBOOK!

"Few friendships could survive the moodiness of love affairs." – Mason Cooley Facebook | Web

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." – Corrie Ten Boom Facebook | Web

Hello, December

"A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” – Oscar Wilde Website | Facebook