I loved spending time with this fun-loving extended family for their woodsy session in the Westminster Ponds conservation area back in 2019. My favourite with these sessions is always documenting cousins playing and grandparents loving on their grandchildren. Lucky me, each of these individual families has since gone on to book family and newborn sessions, and I’ve had the joy of staying in touch and continuing to document their growing families.
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!
This was such a fun family session. With family sessions involving adult children, it can sometimes be challenging to draw out candid expressions and help clients settle into unfiltered interaction. You’re not going to have dads swinging kids around and moms scooping them up to smother them with kisses. It’s a different type of dynamic, and often the adult kids feel a little uncomfortable, at least at first, posing and emoting with their parents in front of a photographer. It can be tricky to take these sessions from the “stand together, look and smile” starting point into more meaningful territory. Over the years, I’ve learned how to connect with adult families on the fly through conversation, and how to identify their unique dynamic - all of which leads to capturing more natural interactions.
This family in particular was extremely close and comfortable with each other, and as a mama of two girls I was particularly inspired by the connection between sisters. I had a blast getting to know them as we walked through the woods, and they’ve since gone on to print a whole bunch of these images to hang on their walls, which makes me the happiest photographer. :) Here are some favourites from this family session!
I had such a lovely evening hanging out with Jeff and Holly in Medway Heritage Forest on a crisp Fall day in 2017. Here are some favourites!
I have such incredibly fond memories of this day. I knew Emily and Mike’s wedding would be special just from having photographed their engagement session. These two have such a beautiful connection and are full of life and joy. But when I showed up to their ceremony in the woods, I was blown away. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of private property weddings with lots of character, but this magical clearing in the woods with the sun streaming in through the trees literally took my breath away. My pal and second-shooter-for-the-day Lea and I looked at each other like, are you kidding me? As if a fairytale-like setting wasn’t enough, their ceremony (and entire day) was full of deeply personal touches. I can still hear Neil Young’s Harvest Moon every time I look at these images. It’s the song Emily’s brother played during Mike and Emily’s ceremony while all of their guests sang along in unison. An enchanted forest acoustic sing-along? Yes PLEASE. This day was one for the books, and I’m so excited to finally be sharing it on the blog.
Ceremony Venue: Private Family Property
Reception Venue: Rosehill Farm (Permanently Closed)
Florist: Twigs floral design
Hair: Chelsea Geerlinks
Makeup: Inspired Beauty by Laura Schell
Live Band: Andre Bisson Band
Dress: Sophie’s Gown Shoppe
Bridesmaids dresses: David’s Bridal
Suit: Moores
Catering: BBQ Feast
Second Shooter: Lea Legg
While I’m not quite up to blogging my 2018 sessions, I’m so thrilled to be sharing my best of 2018 this week - a collection of favourite images from the past year. Today I’m pulling from my 2018 engagement sessions, which spanned every season and so many different locations. I always have such a terrible time culling favourites, because I have a special attachment to each couple, each session, each location. But I based these selections on things like emotion, light, composition, and the feeling that each image elicits in me as a photographer. More than anything, going through these photos made me so thankful for the opportunity to work with so many amazing people, and so excited for all of the upcoming weddings I get to document!
I've been wanting to write about the benefits of booking an extended family session for awhile, and I had these three awesome extended family shoots due to be blogged. I decided to combine the two and share a few thoughts along with the highlights from these three sessions.
Extended family sessions are great for so many reasons. First of all, if you are able to get everyone in one place at the same time looking even mildly put together, that is a huge accomplishment that simply must be documented. ;) In all seriousness though, as families grow and kids' activities begin taking over everyone's schedules, it becomes trickier to gather as a complete group. There's something so special about capturing grandparents with their grandchildren and seeing cousins run and play together. Setting aside an hour or two for photos during your next family gathering will ensure that you have photos to look back on and remember these special moments and relationships.
These sessions make a great group gift for grandparents who already have everything, and as a bonus, the kids paying for it get something out of it, too. We always do mini family sessions for each individual family in addition to capture all of the large group combinations. Are you wanting a handful of updated family shots, a few individuals of your kids and a couple photo that's a bit more recent than your wedding photos, but you don't want to invest in a full family session just for your little crew? An extended family shoot gives you all of that in addition to photos of you with your adult siblings and their spouses, your parents, and everyone together.
Often after extended family sessions, everyone heads off to a big group meal and makes a family day of it. Life can be so busy, why not slow down a bit, capture some memories before all the kids are grown, and then do what families do best - eat all the delicious food (bonus: you're all already dressed to impress.)
Here are some favourites from the last handful of extended family sessions I had the pleasure of photographing in 2016. Enjoy! :)
