Emily and I briefly worked together back in my Early Childhood Educator days, and I'm so glad we have been able to keep in touch since then. It was such a pleasure to meet and photograph her family awhile back. Here are some favourites from their session. :)
I love this family. I say it every time I have the pleasure of photographing them, and every time I blog their sessions. They've been with me since my very early days as a photographer and lucky me, they keep coming back! This session is from 2016 - not my most recent session with them (I have a lot of blogging to do) - but one of the most memorable. We headed to the beach in Port Stanley on a chilly Fall day for something different. They played, laughed and snuggled, and I just tried to keep up - documenting all of those candid moments that I love so much. Here are some favourites from this playful lifestyle beach shoot.
It's no secret that I absolutely love in-home newborn lifestyle sessions. - capturing babies in their own environment, cozy and comfortable and surrounded by their adoring family. This sweet session was no exception. Baby L was just as precious as can be, and I'm so happy to finally be sharing my favourites from this lifestyle newborn shoot on the blog today.
I have the privilege and pleasure of knowing so many wonderful photographers here in London, ON. I strongly believe in community over competition, and being a one-woman show with no colleagues means things can get lonely if I let them! But thankfully, my circle of photographer friends is always growing and adds so much richness to my professional and personal life. Many of these women have become dear friends, and we are always sharing tips, enjoying food together and in this case - trading photos! Cynthia from One12 Photography is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, and it was a joy to photograph her with her babies - fur and human! - on this beautiful early Fall afternoon. Cynthia's adoration for her dogs is so special and I love that they are always included alongside proud brother Lander. What makes these photos even more special is that Cynthia's baby girl had just started growing on the inside when these were taken. The next time I had Cynthia's gorgeous family in front of my lens, almost a full year after this shoot, sweet baby Adellaine was in her arms.
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! :)
Reconnecting with wedding clients after their wedding is one of the most special parts of my job. When I found out that Christina and Justin were expecting, I was so thrilled to see them again and photograph their early days in this new phase. Documenting new families at home is my favourite way to capture newborns, and I'm so glad to be sharing some favourites from this session on the blog today.
I had a blast photographing this beautiful family a couple of Summers ago (Yes, I'm behind on my blogging... but I'm getting there!). It was a quiet day on the beach and we had so much fun playing and going between sweet snuggles and complete silliness. They even managed to coordinate an outfit change halfway through, which is amazing to me as someone who can barely manage to get my own crew organized with one set of outfits for family photos! So glad to finally be sharing my favourites from this session. P.S.: If you've ever wondered what the difference is between a full family session and a mini, this is it. We had so much time - time for outfit changes, time to be silly and playful, time to try different parts of the location, time to get lots of different combos and candids. Minis are wonderful, but if you're looking to really capture your family's spirit, have time to relax in front of the camera and just capture your interactions organically without feeling rushed and have waaayyyyyyy more than 10 photos to show for it, consider a full shoot for your next family photos! :)
As I prepare to book this year's tree farm minis, I thought it would be the perfect time to reminisce about last year's event. What a wonderful day I had photographing families in their furs and plaids against the beautiful backdrop of Pedde Tree Farm, where my own family cuts a tree down every year. Here are some favourites!
I'm getting ready to open up the booking for this year's Fall minis, so what better time than now to reminisce on last year's sessions? We had beautiful weather and gorgeous light for the Fall minis last year and the wild, overgrown grasses with colourful trees in the distance provided such a lovely backdrop. Here are some favourites! (If you'd like to get on the advance notice list for the next round of mini sessions, please email me at sophie@rawfootagephotos.com, subject line "Advance Notice Minis".)
