{Engagement} Tara & Dave

I meant to post this session quite a while ago...I say the twins snuck their way up the priority line. BUT I am very excited to share this post because it is another one near and dear to me; it is my (younger, and only) sister, Tara and her fiance, Dave.

Tara and Dave began dating...well, last summer, shall we say? I think I may have been privy to a little more information than my parents were, but only at first. It was very exciting and fun to hear Tara get excited about this guy from Alberta and to see how their relationship grew. I was going to comment on how quickly it seemed to grow, but then I think back on the fact that my husband and I met, dated and were married in 13 months and they are not that far off of that. So just like I knew my husband was the one for me almost right away, so it was for Tara and Dave!

We got to meet Dave in the Fall and through the winter as he flew out very regularly to see Tara. When he came out for Christmas, we were all waiting for a proposal...but he held off until he moved to BC in January. So he proposed while they were on a hike together, with a beautiful rainbow topaz, and a week later we went out to the Vedder River on a beautiful winter day (and quite warm!) to do their engagement pictures.

The wedding is coming up at the beginning of June and we're very excited! Our daughter is a flower girl and that is the extent of our 'official' involvement though the wedding prep will really start next month when Tara graduates from her RMT program (YAHOO!!!).

Tara and Dave, thanks for letting me do your engagement pictures...I had a blast with you two and am looking forward to celebrating your wedding soon!

{Newborn} Alex & Chloe

Oh my goodness. This is a very dear-to-my-heart session. These beautiful girls are my nieces, Alex and Chloe, who were born on February 15th at 11:08am and 11:30am, respectively. These fraternal twins were born naturally (as in, not a c-section) at 5lbs each. My husband and I were able to go in to meet them when they were two days old - it was the longest wait ever, but so worth it! And I've seen them every weekend since, which is not super typical as they live an hour away.

So a week after they were born, I went in to their little 1-bedroom sauna apartment to do newborn pictures; my first twin session ever. Space was tight, light was limited, and there were two babies to settle and keep happy. Chloe was a champ. I could do anything with her, move her, position her, and she would just keep sleeping and be super pliable. Alex, on the other hand, was far more sensitive to movement, temperature changes and positioning. So I definitely had my work cut out for me!

I allowed over 3 hours for the session and while Chris kind of laughed about it at first, by the end of it, he totally understood why it took so long. Since the girls were so little and new, they had a hard time regulating their temperature, especially Chloe, so even though the apartment temperature had me wearing shorts and a tank top (and still feeling super warm), we needed to take some time to make sure they were warm. That was also part of the reason we didn't take their diapers off until the very end.

Twin shoots are really not at all like a single newborn session. The focal points are different, the positioning is different, the whole thing is just different. But now I have a lifetime of developing my twin photography skills!

Chris & Shereen, we love you and your beautiful girls and look forward to helping you survive the first 6 months as much as we can, holidaying with you after 6 months, and supporting you as you raise these two beautiful gifts!

I'll identify the girls by name in each picture; first will be the top picture, then bottom left, then bottom right.

{Alex, Chloe; Alex; Chloe}


{Alex, Chloe; Alex; I can't identify them by hairline in this shot.}


{Alex, Chloe; Alex, Chloe; Chloe Alex}


{Chloe, Alex; Alex, Chloe; Chloe}


{Chloe; Alex; Alex, Chloe}


{Don't know; Chloe, Alex; Chloe}


{Chloe, Alex; Chris feeding Chloe; Chris with Chloe, Shereen with Alex}


{Chris & Chloe, Shereen & Alex; Chloe, Alex; Chris, Alex, Chloe}


{Don't know; Alex, Chloe; Chloe, Alex}


{Chloe; Alex}


{Alex}




{Alex, Chloe; Alex, Chloe}


{Alex on the bottom}


{Bottom: Alex, Chloe}


{Top: Chloe, Alex}


{Chloe}




{Alex, Chloe in both pictures}


{Time for you to start guessing who's who}


{Do you know?}






{Favorite of Chloe; this is amazing as a video!}

{Maternity} Chris & Shereen

I'd like to introduce you to some very special people. My brother-in-law, Chris (that would be my husband's younger brother), his wife, Shereen (fellow Dutchie - yeah!) and my two nieces! Yep, they are expecting twin girls in a few weeks and so I assigned myself to the task of their maternity and newborn sessions. Well, let's face it, I will always be snapping pictures of them as they grow, but these are two special sessions and I told them I was doing them. Well, they had the option of hiring another photographer if they didn't like my work but that I would still be doing them. Thankfully, to my knowledge, they're letting me be the sole photographer.

We went out to see them on a very sunny, blue-skied, cold Saturday. We walked down to Granville Island and then around to Kits Beach. By the time we hit the beach, the sun was nearly down, the wind had picked up and we were half frozen. Huge kudos to Shereen for taking her jacket and gloves off every time I asked, and Chris for taking off his toque and gloves at my every request.

As much as I wish we had more time to fully enjoy the process (and get a few bare belly pictures), I don't think any of us would have enjoyed being that cold for much longer. I love how they turned out and I simply can't wait to meet our new nieces (affectionately named Honey and Racey by our 4-year-old son. It's changed a few times, but these were the most recent names).




{Clearly, I need to spend some time working on my collage sizes as it practically cut out those two pairs of cute Toms!}

{Such a fan of Padraig Cottage booties!}



{Bottom left: I love their casual arm placements...so cute! And bottom right: HA!}

{Babies} Lauren

What a fantastic, special session this one! Remember when I posted their first session (albeit significantly long-after the actual session)? Well, sweet little Lauren had a big heart surgery, so when Wendy emailed me asking me to do a session documenting her "badge of bravery," as they call it, I was so excited!

We also did some family pictures, but the star of the show was Lauren. This is such a great age, when they are sitting but not crawling, because you can get so many shots of them! She was straight-faced for most of the session, but between Mom, Dad, Grandma and another friend, they did get some smiles out of her.

It was an incredible honor to photograph this beauty and her badge of bravery. May she continue to be healthy and live a life of bravery and strength!













{Wendy brought all these paper cut-out hearts; what a fantastic prop!}




{She also brought this Tiffany & Co. necklace that she had engraved, which says, "Lauren 02-08-12" on one side, and on the other, "I love you"}


{She's a wide-armed smiler! I love it! And yes, that is Wendy's wedding dress she's in!}






{I hope they redo these two pictures like this when Lauren gets married. Of course, she'll be standing in front of Chad instead of on his lap, but you know what I mean!}