Every year, I have the absolute privilege and pleasure of taking family photos at the beach for my dear friend and fellow photographer extraordinaire, Cynthia. Port Stanley is a meaningful spot for their family, and one of my favourite places to shoot—especially as the sun starts going down. These photos are from last year’s session, and I can’t wait to do it all again later this year!
I absolutely loved working with Jennifer and Ryder. Their engagement session fell on a gorgeous late Summer day. We started with a wooded trail walk and enjoyed the sun shining through the trees, and eventually headed to the beach for some sunset snuggles. If you’ve never enjoyed a wine bottle for two on a beach log at sunset, these two sure made it look like the perfect romantic date idea! What better way to end the night than with a sunset beach silhouette shot. Here are a few favourites from their Grand Bend engagement session!
I am so excited to share this beautiful sunset family session today. This shoot took place on a beautifully sunny, incredibly windy late Summer evening. There were actual wind warnings for the area, and the waves were unbelievably high. Nonetheless, after chatting about our options, we decided to go for it. And I am so glad we did. We mostly stayed away from the water’s edge to avoid the worst of the wind, and the beach was completely empty due to the weather conditions. The delicious golden hour light was to.die.for., and this gorgeous family put together the most beautiful outfits for their beach session. So many playful, snuggly candid moments. The whole shoot was a dream. Here are some favourites!
(P.S.: Johanna is a talented photographer herself - check her work out here!)
I so enjoyed working with this beautiful couple (inside and out!). Their Grand Bend engagement session was split between the woods and the beach - essentially my two favourite outdoor places to shoot - on a gorgeous sun-soaked evening. They brought their dog along for a few photos, which I always love, and we had a great time getting to know each other and capturing some beautiful candid moments. Here are some favourites from their session!
So many of my favourite things collided for this fun family beach session. An empty beach? At golden hour? With a friend and her gorgeous family? And so many fun, candid moments to document? YES PLEASE. Saleme is such a beautiful person inside and out. She has assisted me with weddings here and there and is an amazing photographer herself (her brand/product styling photography is perfection). I really loved photographer her family and am sharing some favourites on the blog today!
I can’t say enough about this beautiful day. Holly and AnnaLise planned the most relaxed cottage wedding with their closest friends and family that started with an outdoor ceremony overlooking the water and ended with a sunset swim and bonfire. There was such a deep sense of community and overflowing joy throughout the day, and I am so grateful to have had the honour of documenting it all. Here are some favourites!
Venue: Private Cottage, Grand Bend, Ontario
Officiant: Jodi Hall - Something New Officiant
Second Shooter: Melissa Pushelberg
Booking opened up to my advance notice list for this year’s beach minis, which means it’s the perfect time to reminisce about last year! We had SO MUCH RAIN last year. I don’t think I’ve ever had to reschedule beach minis so many times. I studied the weather radar like a hawk and despite that, got caught in the rain multiple times. But despite all of the weather frustrations, these were some of my favourite beach sessions to date. Here are some highlights!
I wish you could have seen me putting this blog post together. First of all, it took a very long time. But most importantly, I smiled from ear to ear the entire time. So many beautiful families. So many favourites. So many. Some obvious ones that I previewed on social media and were stand-out favourites from the very beginning, and some that I had completely forgotten about, that for some reason didn’t really grab me during the editing process but made my heart sing during this yearly review.
As always, I feel the need to point out that my initial selection was so large it was ridiculous. In fact, one might argue that this selection is ridiculously lengthy. But I can only narrow them down so much, ya know? At the end of the day, whether a session appears in this compilation or not, I am so eternally grateful to each family that trusted me with capturing their memories - some for the first time in 2018, and some for the 8th time. It sounds so cliche, and we photographers like to throw around phrases like “I want to tell your story” and “capture your milestones” and “document your real life”… but it’s the truth. It’s why I do what I do.
Looking through all of these images made me so excited about the upcoming shooting season. For now though, I’m still reminiscing about the incredible year that was 2018. Here are some favourites!
Lauren and Riley’s Oakwood Resort wedding was one for the books. You may recognize them from my promo video, as I was lucky enough to have Brian from Novelist Studios tag along with me that day to capture some behind the scenes footage of me shooting. I’ve said before that I love shooting at Oakwood for many reasons, but their gorgeous terrace for outdoor ceremonies and the proximity to their private beach is top of the list. Lauren and Riley said I do on a beautiful sunny day and snuck out to the beach for some breathtaking sunset portraits. Lauren wore one of the most gorgeous dresses I’ve had the pleasure of photographing, and the entire day was just so full of love and laughter. Lucky me, I will get to see many of these beautiful faces again when I have the pleasure of photographing Lauren’s sister’s wedding next Summer!
Florist: Lyric Flowers
Hair: Grotto Hair Studio
Makeup: Lyndsie Hinch Makeup
DJ: Music Central
Dress: Pearl Bridal House
Suit: Moores
Planner/Coordinator: Oakwood Resort
Decorator: Above and Beyond Event Design and Decor
Videographer: Rebel Hearts Photo & Film
Second Shooter / Assistant: Saleme Fayad
