Jen is one of my dearest friends. We met while working as early childhood educators when I first moved to London, before babies and career changes took us in different directions. But despite not seeing each other at work every day, our friendship has grown over the last 10 years - one of those friendships where you can not chat for 6 months and then pick up right where you left off and talk for hours. It was such joy to take these family photos for Jen and her beautiful family back in the Fall of 2017, and I’m so glad to finally be sharing some favourites on the blog today.
London Ontario Family Photographer | Golden Hour Maternity Session
I loved reminiscing about this woodsy maternity session. The sun was shining for us on this gorgeous Fall day as we documented this special time before this sweet family welcomed a new member. Have you ever seen a more excited and proud big-sister-to-be? Here are some highlights from our shoot!
London Ontario Family Photographer | Spring Blossom Mini Sessions
Booking for this year’s Spring Minis opened up this week and they are just about sold out! We can never predict what specific blossoms will be in bloom at any specific time, so it makes each year a little bit different. I always like to reminisce about the previous year’s minis on the blog during booking week, so here are some favourites from my 2018 blossom mini sessions.
Best of 2018 Family Sessions | London Ontario Family Photographer
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!
London Ontario Family Photographer | The Agyem Family
Sometimes family sessions with teenage/adult children can be a bit more of a challenge in terms of capturing candid interactions and real emotions. With little ones, there’s a lot of snuggling and ticking and playing and swinging that inevitably produces lots of smiles and giggles and moments. I know when I’m photographing a family with older kids that I will need to work a bit more to encourage natural, candid interactions. All of that to say that when I met the Agyem Family, I was blown away by the effervescent joy they exuded and the funny, sweet interactions they had with one another. We did not stop laughing, joking and playfully teasing throughout the entire session, which made it easy to capture their beautiful spirit during our session. I loved hanging out with them and am so happy to finally be sharing some favourites on the blog today.
London Ontario Family Photographer | Backyard Extended Family Session
I spent a lovely morning in this beautiful family’s backyard capturing extended family photos. I love seeing grandparents light up and interact with their grandbabies - especially that first grandchild that brings so much joy and totally changes the dynamic of the family. Here are a few favourites!
Stratford Ontario Photographer | Cutajar Family Lifestyle Session
It feels like a million years ago since I first met and photographed Nadia, and I have since had the pleasure of documenting her growing family here and there during her visits to Canada from Egypt, where she lives with her sweet little crew. During one of these visits last year, we choose an in-between spot for us to meet for a session, which just so happened to be the gorgeous little town of Stratford, ON (aka one of my favourite places to shoot!). The sun was shining and the kids were full of energy. We had a blast walking around and letting the little ones be silly and playful and snuggly, just capturing them as they were. I loved looking back through this session while putting this blog post together, and hopefully I’ll be able to see this gorgeous bunch again soon!
London Ontario Mini Sessions | Tree Farm Minis
I can’t believe it’s already time to start booking this year’s Tree Farm Minis, which means it’s also time to reminisce about last year’s sessions. I loved how cozy everyone got for these, so many knits and plaids and sweaters. I’m so looking forward to closing off another incredible season of shooting with these minis once again. Here are some of my favourites from 2017!
London Ontario Family Photographer | The Heidema Family's High Park Cherry Blossom Session
I first met Leili and Chris back in 2013 when they travelled to London from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories to visit family. Leili wanted maternity photos while she was here, and it was such a pleasure to document this special time for them. Fast forward to 2017, I was overjoyed to hear from Leili again and make plans to meet her in Toronto during her visit - during cherry blossom season! - and photograph her beautiful family of 4. It rained off and on all day, but the skies cleared just in time for their session in High Park. Even though it was unbelievably packed with tourists and cherry blossom enthusiasts, we managed to find a few quiet spots to enjoy the breathtaking blooms . Their two adorable boys were full of energy and personality, and we had so much fun exploring, playing and laughing through our session.
Leili, thank you for the honour of photographing your family during your Ontario visits. I hope to see you again soon! Leili is a photographer herself in Fort Smith, be sure to check out her beautiful work! Here are some favourites from our session.
London Ontario Family Photographer | Linda & Jamie's Idlewyld Inn Anniversary Session
The beautiful Idlewyld Inn is where Jamie and Linda got married and is where they returned to celebrate their 1-year anniversary with some exciting news - There was a baby on the way! I was so honoured when they asked me to capture a few photos of them to mark their 2nd anniversary in the place that has become so special to them, now with baby Emma as part of their family. We started with a few lifestyle images in their room before walking around the snowy grounds and warming by the fire. Here are some favourites! :)