Tot Shots

Newborns!!!

I have had a few newborns come through recently and a few more coming over the next couple of weeks!  Fun!  You may remember this maternity session...the serene image of mom - one of my favourites!  I knew that the newborn session was going to be a good one!  And to top it off mom and dad show up in awesome rock n' roll shirts - LOVE it!!  VERY fun punch of colour!  (I have now realized that I have chosen mostly B&W for this blog...so the images do not always tie well to the text...).  The little guy does not have a consistent wardrobe yet so most of his shots were in the buff (they are for newborn anyway).  He was SO good and adorable.  Thankfully dad made it through the session despite being pooped on - you know I am going to make you hold baby a TON when you tell me that you have not yet changed the little guy:).

I will try to have a couple of sneak peeks out this week but I will be behind on galleries...I was not thinking when I said this week would be better...this is birthday week for all of the boys in my house!!  There are a couple I want to get out but I can't promise anything!

Studio vs. Location

I have had a lot of inquiries lately and clients are wondering whether they should do studio or location.  I LOVE both but they do have a different look and it comes down to what you prefer.  The last couple of posts have been on location and it is a location I like a lot.  I love the colour and textures.  

In this post I have a client that I get to shoot a lot and we decided to do a studio session this time.  We shot at Sandy beach last year and we are planning a fall session there later in the year.  I loved these studio shots.  The girls are wearing awesome colours, they interact together and they are adorable!  

Now having said all of this, location sessions take more time on all fronts for me and I am getting quite booked through the summer.  If you would like to take advantage of the nice weather, it is best to book in now.  I am not taking vacation for the summer but I am limiting my sessions in order to spend time with my children before my son goes to school full days next year and I get into my crazy busy season beginning with fall pictures.

Holy smokes!

June is busy once children are in school!!  And many of the activities were just communicated last week!!  So I am behind!!  Way behind!  Things will begin to return to normal for me as of next week.  I wanted to get this post up as this is the second family from the extended family session that I did over a week ago.  These girls are fantastic to shoot - not only are they full of personality but they are gorgeous!  I still get compliments on one of the first pictures that I took of them over three years ago!  J, it is always a pleasure working with you and your family!!

 

Family Fun!!

I did a session last week for two awesome clients (who happen to be related).  The session was a gift for Grandma!!  I love these sessions - I think that they are extremely important!  I am going to share each family separately because otherwise this post is going to be massive!  I could not help but keep shooting, the little ones were doing hilarious things...fruit treats on their fingers, money in their toes, cuddles, sticking out tongues and lots of giggles.  L, I had as much fun as you guys did...thanks for the note!  I will have your gallery up soon!

As you can see in the background, one is escaping and the one in the forefront is making faces at me.  Love that!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, J!  

Little Miss Fitmom is 8 Months!

Wow they grow so quick!  Look at her adorable rolls!!!  I have a bit of a soft spot for rollie babies.  My son was particularly rollie!  I was just pulling pictures for my son's birthday celebration at school and reminiscing over his rolls (he is the "little" guy on the front page of my website - at 3 months...21 pounds!).  So at this session, we also got to capture the milestone of big brother losing his teeth and the little one teething!!  FUN!

I love the way that kids hug!!

I have to mention...the Coldplay concert was AWESOME!!!  It is so fun to watch people who are completely passionate about what they do!  My husband leaned over at one point and stated that he thinks that they might love their jobs more than I love mine.  Clearly we were sitting too high and he was not getting enough oxygen!  

I have a few more sessions to share before the week is out...

COLDPLAY!

Yippee!!!  It is finally here!!!  Coldplay is in town tonight.  If you follow my blog you know that my family is a big fan of Coldplay.  There is a often a dance party in the evenings to Chris Martin (imagine my two year old daughter getting a smitten look on her face when she says his name!).  As I have mentioned before, we are in trouble!  Anyway, when my children and I were dancing around to Coldplay last night, I mentioned that I was going to see Chris Martin tonight.  My son then asked if Chris Martin was coming to the house.  Unfortunately I had to say no.  And sadly I am going to be in the second balcony - unbelievable as we had three computers working to get tickets even on the pre-sale day.  Whatever, I will still have a blast!  I will try to have some more of the weekend shots out today (but it may be tomorrow).  Here are a couple of my kiddies though!

Happy Belated 1st Birthday

We had to reschedule this little one's 1st Birthday shoot a couple of times because she could not shake a bad cold.  Glad we waited as she is one of the happiest little ones I get the pleasure of shooting - and fortunately I get to see them a couple times a year!!  These sisters are going to be so much fun to watch grow up together.  Their mom is a good friend of mine and has three sisters and they are all very close - it is definitely a neat bond!  

Gratitude project

As I mentioned last week a bunch of photographers and I decided to take on a challenge for the weekend.  The topic was gratitude.  I was particularly interested in the topic as it is something that I think about a lot - both personally and from a business standpoint.  I am extremely lucky to get to own a business where I passionately LOVE what I do, that allows me to express myself creatively, that gives me flexibility with my family, that captures treasured moments for others, and provides the means to be able to give back.  I decided to take a different spin on this and document expressions of gratitude rather than things that I am grateful for (you get to see pictures of them all the time!).  So here we go...  When I saw the topic this was the first image that came to my mind.  Both of my children wave to the cars behind us when we are merging.  I love this and have been wanting to get a picture of it for awhile - not the best picture but I know what it is about.

Good friends!  

The little ways our kids say thank you.

The final image for now was originally of my children holding hands at the park because I thought it was cute.  It has a different meaning to me after this weekend.  We ended up at the Children's Hospital this weekend with an allergic reaction and so the maple leaf is what now catches my eye.  I am extremely grateful to live here!

From a business standpoint, I can't help but mention being thankful to my clients and in particular my connectors.  I happen to have shot 4 of the families this weekend that have made a huge impact on the success of my business!  You will be seeing their sneak peeks all week.  I hope that everyone had a fantastic weekend in the sun!  

The other photographers that were part of this project will be placing links to their blogs in the comment section.  Thanks for the great idea for some personal shooting this weekend!

All in the eyes!

I love uniqueness!!  Whether it is the amazing colour of someone's eyes, the dimple in their nose (my daughter has this), they unique things that they do with the people that they love!!  This is the main reason that I do not do props or a lot of posing...I absolutely do not want to distract from what makes everyone unique!  These little guys are neighbours and attended the birthday party last weekend.  I wanted to get mom's consent before posting pictures of them thus the reason they were not posted with my children.  These guys both have the most amazing eyes - one son has more colours in his eyes than I think that I have ever seen and the other has the darkest, dark brown eyes!  LOVE it!

So I am coming into a busy weekend of shooting.  Not only do I have a ton of sessions scheduled but I also decided to take a bunch of other photographers up on a challenge of capturing "Expressions of Gratitude".  This topic is incredibly important to me for a lot of reasons (I will dive into that more on Monday).  So on Monday I will post my 5 images of Gratitude and post links of the other photographer's captures.  Have a fantastic weekend...I know I will!

Growing families

I love watching my clients' families grow.  I had the opportunity this week to update a client's family photos with their new addition.  It was so neat to see how big sister had changed and how awesome she was with her baby sister!  Look at the shot where she is helping with the diaper - I am always amazed at the maternal instincts of little girls!  K & R it was great to see you again.  I will have the rest of your gallery up soon.