S Family: Beautiful Fall Colors

When we first moved to Langley during our Teaching degrees, little did I know that I would get a dream job at a great school with great staff. I get to work so closely with all of the resource staff at LSS and, Nicole Salmon and her sister, Monique, were some of the first colleagues I met and connected with at this school. Monique has since moved on to a different school but, over the last 6 years, I have been able to get to know Nicole better, both at school and outside of school.

I was so honored, when she asked me to take some portraits of her and her girls this fall and the weather on this particular morning was incredibly co-operative. Perfectly cloudy with hints of morning sunshine and three lovely ladies with such fun interactions. I thoroughly enjoyed my morning with you ladies and hope you enjoy the final product!



Gorgeous girls!









These two girls are not only beautiful but, they had so much fun and it showed!



I love the one on the right - candid moments are some of my favorites :)






Sisters :)



Nicole was hesitant to get in the photos but, I think you can agree, that she is far more photogenic than she gives herself credit for and I'm so glad I was able to capture some of her with her girls. They all have such gorgeous smiles!


We found a beautiful spot in the trees with some beautiful light and spent a good deal of time there :) I love this sequence and the interactions between sisters. I may have two boys but I can only imagine the sorts of moments I'll be capturing in 10 or so years. Watching these two made me look forward to it :)






I asked the girls to squat down for a few shots and it proved to be far more challenging that I expected and took a few tries but they got it and then their mom showed them up by making it look easy :)





A few shots of Nicole on her own. Pretty photogenic, eh?



The girls were still full of crazy creative ideas so, as we headed back to our cars, I snapped a few more :0



Nicole, thank you for introducing me to your two girls and for being such a great friend to me at LSS all of these years. You have such a passion for the students you work with and, I have seen you go above and beyond for them time and time again. I saw glimpses of a deeper version of that passion as I watched you interact with your daughters and, it is so evident that they love and respect you so much.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and thank you again for allowing me to be a part of capturing your family at this stage of life. Many blessings to you and your beautiful girls!

M Family: Ladner Newborn Photos

I must say, first of all, that, beyond being incredibly happy for this family and their beautiful little girl that  they've welcomed into their family, I'm also selfishly happy because it has meant I get to spend a lot of time with them over the past few weeks.

I did some maternity portraits for this couple back in October and then, when Addyson made her appearance I was more than happy to come back and spend the afternoon with her and her awesome parents and capture this beautiful girl at just under a week old.

She went through the whole range of awake/dozey/sleepy and never really fell into the grumpy phase so we got a lot of shots in our afternoon together. The light was being a bit tricky as there was bright sun for a 10 minute window and then we had to rearrange a good portion of their dining room/living room to find the one patch of natural light but Steph and Eric were super accomodating and I really hope they love the results. Here it goes....We'll start with the cutie herself...







Look closely at the photo on the left and you'll see the fourth member of their family :) Love you, Maggie!



Let the 10 minute window of gorgeous light commence... I think Addyson is even smiling in the one on the left!



Father and daughter... Eric was so patient as I made him scoot around the floor until I found the light I wanted. You're a trooper and you now officially get a break from photos (at least for a little while!) :)



We took a quick break to take a few outside before Eric had to head off to work and then it was back inside for some more pics of this beautie and her momma.



Love these ladies!



I got this prop awhile ago from an online store and was so excited to use it for the first time! She looked SO cute!






I can't believe how strong Addyson is already. Love that she could just hold her head up and look right at me for these ones!



Steph and Eric, you already know this, but you have a beautiful little gift in your arms and I have been so blessed to watch you transition effortlessly into becoming her parents. I can only imagine life will get better and better with each coming day, as has been my experience, and I look forward to watching you experience blessing after blessing from having her in your life. Love you guys and God Bless in your journey as a family.

Loyal Customers: The Follett Family

Ever since I started this little venture, there have been two main families, the Folletts and the Zachers, who have supported me year after year. Mark and I work together at Langley Secondary and our classes make us neighbors. In addition, having our first boys, Greyson and Benjamin only days apart, made it easy to connect with them as a family and, every time we get together, there is always so much to talk about!

After doing numerous shoots for this family, I love that now, when I get together with them, that I know a lot of the ins and outs of their kids, what Greyson and Pierson call their grandparents and all sorts of other tidbits that make me feel like, on those days, that I'm a part of their beautiful little family. These two are amazing parents and I am truly grateful to have been able to follow this family as they've gone from a family of 2 to a family of 4 over the past few years. Mark and Lindsay, as always, it was a pleasure and I hope you enjoy :)

 

The shoot started out a bit frantic as my child care plans fell through so I packed Benjamin and Jacob into the van and headed out to Derby Reach Heritage Site. By the time we got there Benjamin was fast asleep so, I parked right by a grassy area, left Ben sleeping in the van and brought Jacob out onto the grass in his car seat while I snapped the first few pictures. Funny enough, the light was great in this spot and my mom came and met us there to save the day and drive my boys home while we continued the shoot. A bit hectic but it all worked out!






At this point, we already had about 100% more shots with Greyson looking than our photoshoot at this time last year so things were going well!



I have a photo like the middle one of Greyson when he was about this age, which is fun and, having two boys of my own similar ages, I know that the photo on the left is a rarity - two children looking at the camera at the same time and looking somewhat happy ;)















These smart parents came prepared with toys etc and it worked like a charm. Nice thinking :)







A few of this beautiful couple - I love the shot on the left!




The photo on the left was only acquired via bribery - I gave each of the boys one set of car keys to play with and then quickly took them away and asked them to smile. It worked!



We headed across the street and, Mark and Lindsay had brought Greyson's bike with them which made for some great photos and entertainment for Grey!



Some more photos of this couple :) You guys are looking fantastic!




One last one of the family!





Mark and Lindsay, thank you again for making me a part of documenting your family as it grows and changes. I feel privileged and honored and must say your family keeps getting better and better, year after year :) I hope you enjoy and I look forward to many more great afternoons spent together and many more smiles from those beautiful boys of yours!

Love the Fall: Morin Family Session

It certainly is a small world and, even though Dustin Morin and I had been on worship team together numerous times at Jericho Ridge, I had no idea that he was Mike Olnyk's cousin. I did an extended family session for Mike and his wife, Kim's, family back in July and was excited when Dustin's wife, Christina, contacted me for a family session of their own this fall. We have had such a gorgeous fall and, this particular day was no exception.

This beautiful Sunday afternoon at Campbell Valley Park was perfect for photos and, even though it was pretty chilly, the kids managed incredibly well and kept their eyes fixed on the camera nearly the whole time - most of the time with gorgeous smiles on their faces! Christina brought along her sister to help make the kids smile (an awesome idea for any families booking with me in the future!) and it worked like a charm. Jon also came along with me so I had a great time playing around with the reflector and adding just those little extra touches of light when necessary. All in all, I had a great afternoon with this family and hope that they enjoy the results :) Here it goes...

 

As you can see, smiles were not in short supply from these gorgeous little kids!




Their daughter Savannah (I hope I spelled that correctly :) ) is about the same age as my youngest, Jacob, and she is ADORABLE! I couldn't believe the smiles she was giving out! The picture on the right is particularly special to this family as apparantly they have one just like it of Josh when he was a baby. Now they can do some side-by-side comparisons :)



This little man has a name that is close to my heart, Joshua. My brother, Josh, passed away in 2003 but our oldest son, Benjamin, has the names of both of his uncles, whom we miss dearly, in his name. Whenever I meet another 'little Josh,' it makes me smile. This little guy had so much energy but was SO patient with the whole photo process and, as a result, Dustin and Christina, you're going to have a few photos of him to choose from ;) Here are some of my favorites!









It can't be fall without at least one photo of leaf throwing!



This little girl has an irresistable smile!



A few classic brother/sister moments :)












A few of mom and dad while Josh burned off some energy and Savannah spent some QT with Aunty :)






As we ventured out to some new spots, the light in this particular field was gorgeous so we got a number of combinations here and this one of Josh and Savannah is one of my favorites. I love her little booties!






And last, but not least, a few more of Christina and Dustin :)



Dustin and Christina, you have such a gorgeous family and such an appreciation for life that is evident in the way you interact. Thank you for sharing this beautiful afternoon with me and, Amanda, thank you for coming along and helping entertain that awesome neice and nephew of yours.

I love meeting other people who understand my incessant need to document as many moments as possible with the people you love and, knowing what you've been through recently and your appreciation for life and health, it makes it that much more exciting to share the results of our afternoon with you.

I truly hope you enjoy the photos and that they serve as visual reminders of the things that are clearly most important to you both in life. Enjoy :)