London Ontario Family Photographer | Comparing Beach and Downtown Locations

I have the pleasure of photographing this beautiful family every year. Natalie is a dear friend and fellow photographer, and her twin boys are just the sweetest. When the Young family's Summer beach session came up in my blogging queue, I decided to blog both of their 2015 sessions together and include their downtown Fall photos as well. From there came the idea for this post - comparing two very different locations for a portrait session. Same family, two very different styles. The possibilities are endless when deciding on a location for your family session... beach, woods, field, downtown, in-home, outside your favourite ice cream shop... It all depends on the overall style you prefer and the type of setting you feel will be the best fit for your family. During their beach session, Natalie's boys had the freedom to play and explore, and the location offered more opportunities to capture candid interactions. During their downtown session, no one had to worry about outfits getting covered in sand and toddlers falling in the water. During their beach session, it was barefoot and carefree attire. During their downtown session, everyone got to dress up and wear amazing shoes. There really is no right or wrong answer when trying to pick your family session location, but if you really can't decide between two options, just do like this beautiful bunch - try both! :)

London Ontario Wedding Photographer | Jay and Sarah's Wortley Village Engagement

When I first "met" Jay and Sarah via Skype I was immediately struck by how kind and genuine they were, and I so hoped that I would be given the honour of shooting their wedding. Lucky me, that wedding is coming up this weekend and I couldn't be more excited! We explored Wortley Village at sunset for their engagement session and had so much fun. Scroll down and check out their adorable dog. Melt my heart! <3

London Ontario Photographer | Magnolia Blossom Mini Sessions

This is the first year I've decided to do three rounds of mini sessions, and to open them up to everyone - families, couples, maternity, you name it! The first round was in early May under a beautiful blooming Magnolia tree, and it was a perfect way for me to kick start my photography season after a short (but very sweet!) maternity leave. :) Here are a few favourites from those minis. They were taken throughout the early morning and evening, and it went from cloudy to sunny to cloudy to sunny... so the lighting in each set is a bit different.

Can't wait for the Summer Beach Minis and the Fall Wild Field Minis coming up!

London Ontario Family Photographer | The Doyle Family Downtown

I loved meeting and photographing this adorable bunch! We started out at the Covent Garden market to capture one of their favourite things to do as a family - shop for specialty cheeses! We then explored the downtown area a bit and captured their sweet interactions in front of cool buildings, busy streets and ivy covered walls (my favourite!). Here is a peek at our downtown family session.

London Ontario Family Photography | The Young Family

And the cutest family award goes to... No, but seriously. How adorable is my gorgeous friend Natalie's little family? Love these guys so much and am so privileged to call them friends and almost-neighbours. Natalie (the photographer behind Mint Photography) and I have been enjoying conversation over warm drinks and muffins and swapping photos since before the twins came around. I still remember the post-ultrasound text letting me know that there was not one baby but TWO. Now it's hard to remember life without them! Skyler and Bryson are the sweetest pair of boys you'll ever meet, and it was such a joy to photograph this beautiful family this past Fall. Shoutout to my 3-year-old daughter Neve who spent most of this photoshoot "assisting" me and hanging out on a quilt nearby. Here are some of my favourites from our session!

London Ontario Family Photographer | Darcy, Jessie & Max

I love this family! I've had the honour and pleasure (and workout, haha!) of photographing them many times now, and it's been such a joy to get to know them and watch Max grow up (how cute is he!?). What I love the most about them is their desire to have their family's true personality captured candidly, which means lots of laughs and playing and running around. Here are some of my favourite images from last Fall's sunset park date!

London Ontario Family Photography | Lindsey and Aubrey's Mother Daughter Sunset Session

I first met Lindsey, a photographer herself, at my Mother's Day Minis a few years ago. Naturally, I was so excited when she contacted me again to capture some candid images of her and her beautiful daughter Aubrey. The golden pre-sunset light was perfection, and we had fun playing and dancing in a gorgeous wild field. The relationship between a mother and her child is so sacred and sweet, and it was an absolute honour to help Lindsey document her special bond with her girl. I just loved this session - here are my favourites!

London Ontario Family Photographer | The Sommerville Family

When another photographer contacts you about photographing their family and is willing to travel to make it happen, it is the hugest compliment ever. I was so thrilled and honoured (and a little nervous) to be able to meet and photograph Michelle and Jake (from BODH Salon & Photography) and their sweet family. The setting sun was glorious, the mood was light, and the mosquitos were CRAZY. But despite the bugs, I had such a fabulous time with these beautiful people, and am so thankful I was given the opportunity to capture their love through my lens. Here are some favourites. :)

London Ontario Wedding & Portrait Photography | 2014 Favourites

I've so enjoyed looking back on 2014 over the past few weeks and highlighting some of my favourites over on the Raw Footage Photography Facebook Page. Today I'm compiling those 20 images into a blog post and resisting the urge to add 20 (or 100!) more to the list. I am notoriously terrible at narrowing things down, and in the past my "yearly favourites" posts have included a ridiculous amount of images. I love all of my clients and feel attached to every session or wedding I photograph, so picking just 20 photos from the whole year was so hard. But I tried to pick the images that really speak to me as an artist, images I'm especially proud of and really represent my style and vision - either because they capture incredible natural light or raw, genuine emotion ... or both (my two favourite things to photograph!). Here are my 20 favourites from 2014 in no particular order!

London Ontario Family Photographer | The Belangers' Port Stanley Beach Session

It was such a pleasure to finally meet Shannon, a talented photographer, and her gorgeous family. The weather was perfect and the beach was quiet. We played, we laughed, we posed a bit and played some more. Snuggles and smiles and sillies. My favourite kind of session. I'm so happy to finally be blogging the candid images full of sweetness - Here are my (many) favourites! :)