Tag: photography

I learned a new trick

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I have spent my last 6 years struggling to figure out HOW on earth I will ever have an easy breezy happy and sweet session with my own children (other peoples kids? no sweat!)

Then it happened….this spring….spur of the moment….I figured it out.

Early. Morning. That is the key! Evenings are when I shoot due to the light and it being hard to schedule early mornings for families (impossible through the week!) but on this day, or these two separate days, because I have found one more key ingredient I will share as well, I was up early and without any planning I asked Ki if she would want to pop out for some pictures, just a ten minute shoot before school….and she said yes! happily! because it was morning and kids in this house are always at their finest in the morning!

We curled the hair, grabbed an outfit I prayed she hadn’t outgrown yet (bought last year in last years size and sadly not used once!) and it did fit!! well, just barely, but it worked!

off we went to a spot I had been eyeing up for weeks just down the street from where I grew up. She loved it. I loved it. I am still loving it!

Early mornings for my own kids from here forth!

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P.S. it worked on Willow too!

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Grampy makes Unicorns

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Almost exactly done at the very same age, I have taken some fun photo’s that I LOVE of both of my girls on Ki’s beloved unicorn (It may be Ki’s but lets be real, it is a shared friend) made with love and painstaking craftsmanship by my Dad, also known as the world’s best Grampy, in our hearts anyway.
Each of the kids have their very own hand made rocking horse (or in this case Unicorn) and each one overflows my heart. I am very close with my Dad, and as it goes, with him living close by and being a devoted father and Grandfather…he is very close with our three kids as well. I won’t get all sappy (well…any MORE sappy) right here right now, I mean…there is fathers day for that! but I will just say that these gifts to his grandchildren mean a lot to me and I look forward to each of them finding a new home with my own grandkids one day, if I am so lucky to have any of course.

I took Ki out when she was three and a half and loved the photo’s I was able to capture with my barely willing subject and her magical friend. Fast forward three years later and I was out again, unicorn in the trunk and a brand new three and a half year old in her favourite pink smock (ahem….MY very own smock from when I was her age!! *swoon*)

I am so lucky that Willow finally came around to my camera this year, right in time for all the shoots I wanted to do!

First up is Ki, three years ago…

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EEEEEEEEKK that little tiny Ki face!! Oh my goodness….take me back to baby Ki! I want to do it all over again!!! Those cheeks! Those brows! That nose!!
well…okay she still pretty much looks just like this, but taller. Still though..*TEAR*
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Now Ki was merely going along with a theme and playing on her beloved unicorn, whereas Willow…our most recent toddler, believes herself to ACTUALLY be a princess in real life (we are going to try and reel her in before she starts declaring heads to roll, she is no shrinking violet!)

She had JUST outgrown the princess dress Ki wore for her pictures but I was delighted that she chose my old smock and her favourite purple boots, once again…..SWOOOON!

She came. She smiled. She gave me 10 golden minutes and a ton of sweet pictures. What more could a photographer mom ask for??

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I always know she is done when she turns abruptly into Gail the snail….
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Rainy Day Walking

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This spring we have faced major construction on our little street (well…little long street and all side streets attached to it…) and though it is still ongoing (now early October) we have been making the best of it from the start! I mean what is the other option?

One way we have found a reason to smile is that after a good heard rain a mucky gravol and dirt road sure beats the heck out of pavement! The big puddles, the newfound mini dips and curves to explaore, the digging there is to be had!

So after a long day of rain the girls and I ventured out to see how muddy we could get…

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Oh yeah, they found a deep one, nearly lost a few boots!
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Yard in bloom

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How have I lived in this home for nearly nine years and never noticed the beauty in each little corner until this year??

Well okay wait, before making it sound like I have taken it for granted far too long…I guess this whole place inside and out has been a work in progress and wasn’t just handed to us like this…so…alright I get it now.

Regardless, I am so glad that this year I searched out and used some spaces (others I will have to show in another post or two..or three…) this sweet and colourful nook drew me in many a time, I am already planning for some pictures there next year!

Willow was freshly three years old when these were taken and they are by far and wide the best bunch of pictures in every way that I had ever captured of her, so to give you a little behind the scenes….I was pretty much the definition of giddy and texted a back of the camera picture to my parents and a few close friends because I couldn’t wait to even get the images onto my computer!

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Ki was done on a separate day (and time of day) and was also very spur of the moment (more so as I recall…I believe I tucked her into bed, went outside, realized it was the perfect time….went back to her room, got her up and talked her into staying up a little extra late with me. She was happy to oblige.

I had to include these super sleepy yawning ones just to prove I really am a monster mom who kept her child up too late for pictures (or maybe it just proves I am a boring yawn inducing mother?)

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BUT she really did have fun too, in these pictures of her laughing and smiling I was embarrassing her by being too loud (“the neighbours will hear you!!!!”) and she loved it 😉

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and of course we got plenty of her just being her more serious smiling self, with one of her BFF’s, Princess ButterCups (unicorn extraordinaire)

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The one little thing was….although we were only outside for ten minutes, Willow very quickly followed us out, too lonely to sleep without Ki (her words) so she sat patiently then of course slowly worked her way in front of the camera…

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Fairy tale cottage

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This year my vision is changing. Not my eyesight (I hope) but the style vision I have for my sessions. Setting is a HUGE part of what will “make” your pictures as well as a huge part of “who you are” as a photographer. You can’t expect to throw your all into this business and not make it your own. My personal taste is going to start showing through this year and this may not quite be it JUST YET, but I feel confident I am headed in the right direction…and if i get some fun pictures along the way to really finding ME than it is all a win, right??

This adorable little house has been oogled by me almost daily (look, I walk by it each day okay? I’m not going WAY out of my way to see it….) and I nervously dared myself to knock on the door for MONTHS before finally doing it. Turns out I had nothing to fear and the owner was very flattered by my adoration of their home and VERY welcoming of my request to stop by for pictures with my girls! *phew*

So the day finally came in early June, it was time…we prepped the night before and come 6:30 the next morning we were in the yard playing!

Now these were MY kids so of course….it was not all fun and games, but am I ever happy I tried something new, I love these pictures and the setting is just so pretty (to ME anyway)

I learned one thing for CERTAIN this day. I know what I want to do, I know what I should be specializing in and I am ready to shout it from the rooftops!
I love working with kids. Styling them, finding perfect locations and playing!

Bring me your children, take a nap in your van, and let us have fun!!

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Being Mom

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Twelve years ago I never would have imagined that I would be a mom, let alone to three beautiful people .

Quintin changed the course of my life, having him at a very young age (for who I was at the time) was beyond scary. At the time I never would have thought that BECAUSE of him my life was not ending but rather beginning. Because of Quintin we brought Ki and Willow into our family (and if he had it his way we would be welcoming at LEAST one more, which is why he gets no say in this department!) and because of these three people counting on me I have worked hard to grow as a mother and as a person.

Every day I ask myself what I can do better, how can I make our time count, how can I teach them and guide them to be good, kind and confident people, how can I give them more good memories of their childhood than bad, how can I show them how much they are loved and wanted in this family.

Motherhood, to me, is a work in progress, some days just GLOW and refresh and make me swoon for more, others I hide in the bathroom for a few minutes to myself. I can honestly say though that the good always seems to outweigh the bad and the more I push myself to do better the happier I am and the more I can see my “work” in raising these people paying off.

I don’t question (as I used to) if I am a good mom, I know in my heart that I am a great mom, even on my bad days. I love these kids beyond measure and know that our time is short (unlike this post!)

I hope that all you great moms out there are able to sit back today and let yourself feel proud of the huge job you are doing each and every day as a mother.

Whether you are spending the day immersed in your children or taking time for yourself to catch your breath, I hope you all have a beautiful day .

***I will be the first to say it, these pictures are not great. They ARE however, the best we could do this time around! They feature my kids with me…so in that sense…they are perfect.

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The plans I had…

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My youngest child, my greatest challenge, right here.

When I was expecting her just over three years ago, I was so excited, I was absolutely BUZZING with the joy of soon having a new baby girl to not only love but to photograph. Oh the plans I HAD! 

Her closet and dresser were STOCKED. Cute hand knit newborn hats? my drawer was brimming with them. Photo ideas? the list was endless!

Then she was born, with a personality as fiery as the hair on her head.

Immediately she made clear who she was, what she wanted and what she absolutely without a doubt wanted NOTHING TO DO WITH.

Photo’s topped the list. Followed closely by clothes, hats were a definite NO and of course…being out of my arms.

To accurately describe just how challenging she is would be a book in itself, so I will spare you, but rest assured….this last child of ours has been no walk in the park. She is a tough nut, not about to be cracked by anyone (which in the long run could result well for her!) BUT we love her with all of our hearts. She has been the addition we needed and the crazy wild spirit we didn’t know we lacked. You truly never know what you will get when you are expecting a new little life, but it is a gamble worth taking.

After three years of resisting my camera VERY well, earlier this week she agreed. Happily agreed. She got dressed in actual clothing that I picked out (!!!!) and hopped down the street eager to have her picture taken.

Shocked and thrilled doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt.

Maybe this year my dreams of photographing her will start coming true and in the grand scheme of things…..it only took a three year warm up period.

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Beloved blankets

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Well playing with my youngest in her room the other day she picked up one of her beloved blankets (or as she has always called them “babies”) and I thought about putting the camera down and waiting for her to go back to what she was doing before, what I was happily photographing. I am so glad that I decided to keep shooting. This kid was born with a personality that I have never experienced and never expected (isn’t that the way of life?) and one of her many “things” is her desperate and passionate love for her blankets. I’ve heard of little ones being attached to lovies but never could have imagined such a fierce NEED to have one in her arms at. All. Times. ALL TIMES. Recently though I’ve noticed a slow decline…she can leave a room or even the house without one. They are not in her arms at every moment of the day. It hit me when I found this image that sooner than later she will yearn for a blanket in her arms for the last time. Eventually these will be washed, folded and never picked up by her again. If I had put my camera down when she picked that blanket up I could have missed a real moment, one that speaks volumes to her first three years. A meaningless snapshot to most people, this is a real and cherished memory for us.

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