The Twelve Days of Muskoka - Christmas & Holiday Local Gift Guide :: Day 4

We really dig living in Muskoka. The area is home to many beautiful iconic features and creatures that have come to help symbolize Ontario and Canada as we know it. But one of features that we like the most is how inspiring it is to live amongst the many artisans and crafters - that have made this land of rock and water their home - as well the smaller businesses that have come to be part of the personality and character of the Muskoka we have come to know and love. Thus Twelve Days of Muskoka, inspired by Suburban Tourist's Twelve Days of Holiday Gift Giving, is meant to celebrate these people and their businesses as well as introduce you to some new gift giving ideas and remind you of some old favourites.

The Fourth Day of Muskoka Christmas & Holiday Gift Giving Guide

Screen shot of the Shutterbug homepage.

Shutterbug Gallery

Kelly Holinshead

Kelly Holinshead is a professional photographer and the owner of The Shutterbug Gallery.  Her gallery showcases brilliant examples of her truly exceptional photography. She is one of Muskoka’s leading photographers with a strong reputation for excellence in fine art, wedding, portraiture, and commercial photography.

As described on the Shutterbug Gallery website: "Kelly’s signature fine art images incorporate a technique where she overlays various photographs of similar or varying subject matters, creating interesting and unusual textures and colors.   By implementing various photographic techniques, and shooting from unusual perspectives and angles, Kelly continually offers her viewers fresh views of iconic images."

Kelly photographs Mike in one of the Badger Shops

In all honesty, her artwork is enough to take anyone's breath away and make for excellent gifts for those on your list who are appreciative of fine art or photography.  Her line of "Shutterduds" clothing would fit the bill for many too. And her photography services would make for an excellent gift idea as well. We can personally vouch for her amazing abilities. Kelly was the photographer for the Muskoka Magazine feature done on our family business this past summer.

For those of you who do not know, our son Makobe has severe autism and it is hard to get a nice photo of his handsome face as he has a hard time posing naturally for the camera. He is also usually quite uncomfortable around strangers. But Kelly immediately put us all at ease with her lovely nature and personable manner. She took such wonderful photos of Makobe and our family, that we were quite (pleasantly) surprised. {See thumbnails of the pages of the magazine feature about Badger Paddles above} Kelly also made the experience so fun and positive that we will be sure to cherish the memories forever. Truly, when you thing about it, what better gift can you give than cherished memories?