Beautiful Belly; Maternity Session @ Derby Reach Heritage Site

There are few things more beautiful in life than the way a baby grows in a womb for 9 months with little to no help from us at all. I truly believe that entire process is one of the best pieces of evidence for the existence of a God so, when I was asked to photograph this beautiful baby belly I jumped at the chance!

Kaelynn was 37 weeks pregnant at the time and, lucky for her, still nice and small - a fact I'm sure she appreciates on those hot summer days. From the minute we met, we hit it off and had a great time chatting on our way to the shoot. We headed to Derby Reach Heritage Site and, even though I've been there before, we found some new spots and the summer morning sun was good to us!

Kaelynn, I know you've been waiting patiently for these so, I'm happily taking a break from a movie I rented, to satisfy your curiosity. Enjoy!





Kaelynn was so easy going the entire shoot and moved from sitting to standing to lying pretty easily for being 9 months pregnant! Her co-operative nature and ability just to have fun during the shoot sure made my job easy and we got some great shots!





Sometimes the best shots happen when the subject doesn't know they're being photographed, I think I was just testing the light out in these locations with these shots but they ended up being some of my favorites! She has such a peaceful look on her face. I love it.





Just as Kaelynn was willing to do anything to get a good shot, I think I was lying on the grass at one point for some of these shots as well. Totally worth it :)




Now for wardrobe and scenery change #1. It was great to have a few wardrobes to choose from and I applauded Kaelynn for finding 3 great outfits so late in the pregnancy as I know what it's like when you're down to the last few things that fit and you're wondering if the baby will come or if you'll have to buy some more clothes to tide you over. I think she looked great in all her choices!




The long-awaited belly shots. These were some of the ones that Kaelynn was looking forward to!





I love her expression in the bottom photo. It says it all!



Being a farm girl herself, it was great to be able to get some shots with the whole barn in focus.







These sillouhette shots turned out wonderfully - something I haven't done before but would do again - they really show off the belly!




Out of the uncomfy jeans and into outfit #3. We decided to do a few more shots by the barn and then head down to the water!




The photo on the left below might be one of my favorites. Kaelynn, you are truly glowing!




Kaelynn was really hoping for some shots with her feet in the water so down to the water we went!




I always say how much I love it when clients come ready with ideas of what sort of shots they want and Kaelynn was super creative. She wanted to do some shots with the name of her soon-to-be baby girl, Cierra, in the sand and we made it happen. A great idea and beautiful name!



I love these ones - so natural and such gorgeous scenery too!






Finally we went right into the water for these last few shots. It was perfect weather down by the water and the wind worked well for us too.




Kaelynn, it was such a pleasure meeting you. I'm so glad April put us in touch and gave me this opportunity spend an afternoon with you and your baby to be. That little girl of yours is going to be well loved by you and so many others and I look forward to hearing of her grand entrance into this world. God Bless you and your baby belly!

A beautiful Lily: Ladner Newborn & Family Portraits

I was so excited on a somewhat cloudy morning to head to my old stomping grounds for a newborn photoshoot right near my old high school. Becca and I went to high school together and, funny enough, are both teachers now only Becca teaches at our old high school and, after having her second little baby, is on maternity leave again. Her oldest, Logan, is just a bit younger than Ben and I was so excited to have a chance to photograph their newest addition - Lily!

Here are some of my favorites pics of her gorgeous little family! They picked some beautiful colors for the photos and had a great home with just the right amount of natural light.

Logan was amazing for the entire shoot and, it definitely helped that he could settle in with dad and watch some Nemo while Lily had her photos taken.

I absolutely loved the light in this particular spot and the way in which Lily looks so little when held in her mom and dad's hands. She's so precious!

Father & Daughter.

Some more shots of this beautiful family. I love the colors in Lily's dress and how she's just sleeping so peacefully through it all.

Now for the star of the show. She was so amazing throughout the whole shoot and endured a number of wardrobe changes. I had a bunch of new fabrics to try out and she was happy to oblige :)

Lily has such beautiful hair for a little newborn - hair that a lot of kids don't even have at age 1 or 2!

I got some gorgeous hats from a store on etsy, KnitWitWoolies, and had a lot of fun trying them out on Lily. I love how the pom pom on the bottom rests on her little bottom. So cute. Richard and Logan were enjoying some movie time while Lily was getting her photos taken and I love that you can see them blurred out in the background of the bottom photo!

A few of mom and dad with their little princess. Check out her smirk as she lays in her daddy's arms. Love it.

I love the little one-eyed look in the bottom photo. She looks so happy to be hanging out in that bucket :)

Becca shared with me that their beautiful little girl is named after the flower that Richard always buys for her so she had a few on hand for the shoot. I love it when clients come with creative ideas like that - it makes my job even more enjoyable than it already is. As you can see she wasn't too into this hat at first (another etsy find!)  but, a pee and a poo later and she was good to go :) All in all, considering that was the only drama of the photoshoot, I'd say we fared pretty well!

I know from experience that, when the older sibling is only 2 and a bit, it's hard to get a good photo of baby and big brother but we got a few in this spot and then some more later when we were outside. Logan did really well and Lily looks so contented with him snuggling her.

A few more faves of this little beauty.

While Lily got a bit of a milk break, I headed outside with Rich and Logan for some father/son time. I love how much air Logan is getting in the top picture!

We even took some at the park right across from their house where Logan loves to play. What an awesome place for a kid to grow up and Logan was so good about coming back into the house. Such a great little guy.

A few of Lily and mom and dad. Have I said yet how amazing Becca looks? Such a beautiful mom.



Such a fun family. I love how Lily has her eye on the camera in a lot of these pictures.



Becca & Richard, thank you for inviting me into your home to photograph your beautiful family and precious new addition. I had such a great time and it was wonderful to reconnect with you, Becca, and meet your other half and kidlets! I hope you enjoy your photos and maybe we can even find a time to get our boys together while we're off on leave together :)

Celebrating 41 Years of Marriage: The Forrester Family

Jon and I met Mike Olynyk right after we were married and had started attending Blue Mountain Baptist Church. We got involved with the youth group shortly after we started attending and enjoyed working with Mike and seeing his passion for youth.

It was so hard for us to leave Blue Mountain when we moved to Langley so we were thrilled when a little piece of Blue Mountain came to us and Mike and Kim started attending Jericho Ridge as it provided a chance to reconnect.

I was so excited when Kim asked me to do an extended family session for her side of the family in honor of her mom and dad's 41st wedding anniversary. Mike and Kim arrived first so here are a few shots of them to start things out.

I love this photo on the right - such a beautiful couple!



The next family to arrive was one of Kim's sisters and her brother in law and their 3 adorable kids. I love the boys matching shirts and we all had a good laugh at the men of the family who were apparantly sore from some recent adventures involving lazer tag :)

Kim's other sister and fiance arrived next and you could tell they are very much in love! I love extended family shoots because I get to meet so many new people but it turned out that I actually knew Kim's sister, Dawn, as our kids had the same daycare provider when we lived in our townhouse. Such a small world!

Kim's main request was to get a nice family shot of the whole bunch so we made sure to get group shots in a number of locations all around the Derby Reach Heritage Site. Looking through them after, I couldn't believe how many shots we got where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. What a photogenic bunch!

Kim had wondered how well the kids would fare for the full hour and a half so she came prepared with goody bags to give them when the shoot was done but they were incredibly well behaved. They were even acting as my artistic directors, setting up all of the shots you see below so instead of just one 'cousins' shot, we have quite a few to choose from!

So much love! You can tell these cousins love hanging out :)

We couldn't go without getting some shots of the 'original family' so here are a few of the 'sisters,' Glen & Sharon and one of just Sharon and her girls!

Three generations of boys & three generations of girls!

Second most important on the list was a shot of Glen & Sharon with their beautiful grandkids. I couldn't have asked for more co-operative subjects and smiles on Glen & Sharon's faces say it all. They are definitely proud grandparents!

Some more shots of the original 'Forresters!'

We were approaching the hour+ mark and decided to add some fun jumping shots in.

Some sibling shots - gotta love the 'headlock' pose in the bottom right photo. I'm pretty sure half of the photos of me and my brother growing up display that pose.

The cousins!

We were almost at an hour and a half now but were able to squeeze a few more combinations in before the end of the shoot!

And now for the long-awaited goody bags! Kim, you are one smart aunty :)

And, last but not least, one of my favorite family shots!

A huge thanks to Kim for setting this up with your family and including me in this great celebration of love and commitment. Your parents are such an example to those of us early on in the marriage journey. You have a wonderful family and, Mike, it looks like you inherited a great family-in-law. Enjoy and God Bless!