There are few things more beautiful in life than the way a baby grows in a womb for 9 months with little to no help from us at all. I truly believe that entire process is one of the best pieces of evidence for the existence of a God so, when I was asked to photograph this beautiful baby belly I jumped at the chance!

Kaelynn was 37 weeks pregnant at the time and, lucky for her, still nice and small – a fact I’m sure she appreciates on those hot summer days. From the minute we met, we hit it off and had a great time chatting on our way to the shoot. We headed to Derby Reach Heritage Site and, even though I’ve been there before, we found some new spots and the summer morning sun was good to us!

Kaelynn, I know you’ve been waiting patiently for these so, I’m happily taking a break from a movie I rented, to satisfy your curiosity. Enjoy!

Kaelynn was so easy going the entire shoot and moved from sitting to standing to lying pretty easily for being 9 months pregnant! Her co-operative nature and ability just to have fun during the shoot sure made my job easy and we got some great shots!

Sometimes the best shots happen when the subject doesn’t know they’re being photographed, I think I was just testing the light out in these locations with these shots but they ended up being some of my favorites! She has such a peaceful look on her face. I love it.

Just as Kaelynn was willing to do anything to get a good shot, I think I was lying on the grass at one point for some of these shots as well. Totally worth it

Now for wardrobe and scenery change #1. It was great to have a few wardrobes to choose from and I applauded Kaelynn for finding 3 great outfits so late in the pregnancy as I know what it’s like when you’re down to the last few things that fit and you’re wondering if the baby will come or if you’ll have to buy some more clothes to tide you over. I think she looked great in all her choices!

The long-awaited belly shots. These were some of the ones that Kaelynn was looking forward to!

I love her expression in the bottom photo. It speaks volumes!

Being a farm girl herself, it was great to be able to get some shots with the whole barn in focus.

These sillouhette shots turned out wonderfully – something I haven’t done before but would do again – they really show off the belly!

Out of the uncomfy jeans and into outfit #3. We decided to do a few more shots by the barn and then head down to the water!

The photo on the left below might be one of my favorites. Kaelynn, you are truly glowing!

Kaelynn was really hoping for some shots with her feet in the water so down to the water we went!

I always say how much I love it when clients come ready with ideas of what sort of shots they want and Kaelynn was super creative. She wanted to do some shots with the name of her soon-to-be baby girl, Cierra, in the sand and we made it happen. A great idea and beautiful name!

I love these ones – so natural and such gorgeous scenery too!

Finally we went right into the water for these last few shots. It was perfect weather down by the water and the wind worked well for us too.

Kaelynn, it was such a pleasure meeting you. I’m so glad April put us in touch and gave me this opportunity spend an afternoon with you and your baby to be. That little girl of yours is going to be well loved by you and so many others and I look forward to hearing of her grand entrance into this world. God Bless you and your baby belly!

Here are some of my favorites pics of her gorgeous little family! They picked some beautiful colors for the photos and had a great home with just the right amount of natural light.

Logan was amazing for the entire shoot and, it definitely helped that he could settle in with dad and watch some Nemo while Lily had her photos taken.

I absolutely loved the light in this particular spot and the way in which Lily looks so little when held in her mom and dad’s hands. She’s so precious!

Father & Daughter.

Some more shots of this beautiful family. I love the colors in Lily’s dress and how she’s just sleeping so peacefully through it all.

Now for the star of the show. She was so amazing throughout the whole shoot and endured a number of wardrobe changes. I had a bunch of new fabrics to try out and she was happy to oblige

Lily has such beautiful hair for a little newborn – hair that a lot of kids don’t even have at age 1 or 2!

I got some gorgeous hats from a store on etsy, KnitWitWoolies, and had a lot of fun trying them out on Lily. I love how the pom pom on the bottom rests on her little bottom. So cute. Richard and Logan were enjoying some movie time while Lily was getting her photos taken and I love that you can see them blurred out in the background of the bottom photo!

A few of mom and dad with their little princess. Check out her smirk as she lays in her daddy’s arms. Love it.

I love the little one-eyed look in the bottom photo. She looks so happy to be hanging out in that bucket

Becca shared with me that their beautiful little girl is named after the flower that Richard always buys for her so she had a few on hand for the shoot. I love it when clients come with creative ideas like that – it makes my job even more enjoyable than it already is. As you can see she wasn’t too into this hat at first (another etsy find!)  but, a pee and a poo later and she was good to go All in all, considering that was the only drama of the photoshoot, I’d say we fared pretty well!

I know from experience that, when the older sibling is only 2 and a bit, it’s hard to get a good photo of baby and big brother but we got a few in this spot and then some more later when we were outside. Logan did really well and Lily looks so contented with him snuggling her.

A few more faves of this little beauty.

While Lily got a bit of a milk break, I headed outside with Rich and Logan for some father/son time. I love how much air Logan is getting in the top picture!

We even took some at the park right across from their house where Logan loves to play. What an awesome place for a kid to grow up and Logan was so good about coming back into the house. Such a great little guy.

A few of Lily and mom and dad. Have I said yet how amazing Becca looks? Such a beautiful mom.

Such a fun family. I love how Lily has her eye on the camera in a lot of these pictures.

Becca & Richard, thank you for inviting me into your home to photograph your beautiful family and precious new addition. I had such a great time and it was wonderful to reconnect with you, Becca, and meet your other half and kidlets! I hope you enjoy your photos and maybe we can even find a time to get our boys together while we’re off on leave together

It was so hard for us to leave Blue Mountain when we moved to Langley so we were thrilled when a little piece of Blue Mountain came to us and Mike and Kim started attending Jericho Ridge as it provided a chance to reconnect.

I was so excited when Kim asked me to do an extended family session for her side of the family in honor of her mom and dad’s 41st wedding anniversary. Mike and Kim arrived first so here are a few shots of them to start things out.

I love this photo on the right – such a beautiful couple!

The next family to arrive was one of Kim’s sisters and her brother in law and their 3 adorable kids. I love the boys matching shirts and we all had a good laugh at the men of the family who were apparantly sore from some recent adventures involving lazer tag

Kim’s other sister and fiance arrived next and you could tell they are very much in love! I love extended family shoots because I get to meet so many new people but it turned out that I actually knew Kim’s sister, Dawn, as our kids had the same daycare provider when we lived in our townhouse. Such a small world!

Kim’s main request was to get a nice family shot of the whole bunch so we made sure to get group shots in a number of locations all around the Derby Reach Heritage Site. Looking through them after, I couldn’t believe how many shots we got where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. What a photogenic bunch!

Kim had wondered how well the kids would fare for the full hour and a half so she came prepared with goody bags to give them when the shoot was done but they were incredibly well behaved. They were even acting as my artistic directors, setting up all of the shots you see below so instead of just one ‘cousins’ shot, we have quite a few to choose from!

So much love! You can tell these cousins love hanging out

We couldn’t go without getting some shots of the ‘original family’ so here are a few of the ‘sisters,’ Glen & Sharon and one of just Sharon and her girls!

Three generations of boys & three generations of girls!

Second most important on the list was a shot of Glen & Sharon with their beautiful grandkids. I couldn’t have asked for more co-operative subjects and smiles on Glen & Sharon’s faces say it all. They are definitely proud grandparents!

Some more shots of the original ‘Forresters!’

We were approaching the hour+ mark and decided to add some fun jumping shots in.

Some sibling shots – gotta love the ‘headlock’ pose in the bottom right photo. I’m pretty sure half of the photos of me and my brother growing up display that pose.

The cousins!

We were almost at an hour and a half now but were able to squeeze a few more combinations in before the end of the shoot!

And now for the long-awaited goody bags! Kim, you are one smart aunty

And, last but not least, one of my favorite family shots!

A huge thanks to Kim for setting this up with your family and including me in this great celebration of love and commitment. Your parents are such an example to those of us early on in the marriage journey. You have a wonderful family and, Mike, it looks like you inherited a great family-in-law. Enjoy and God Bless!

We started out near Bridges and made our way around Granville Island finding some awesome locations.

Here are some of my favorites!

Sarah brought along this red balloon and I love the touch of extra color it adds in a lot of these photos – I love creative clients

Such a cute couple

I love this bottom sequence because it’s kind of like the ‘photo booth’ style where they are just being themselves and I get to capture it on camera.

We were fortunate enough to have partly cloudy conditions for the first little bit of the morning and a fairly quiet Granville Island as well so we took advantage of it and got some great shots overlooking the water.

I had so much fun with these two and they were so natural with every pose and expression – it makes my job easy!

I really wish I lived closer to this location because it certainly has a lot to offer!

At this point we were probably already an hour into the shoot and still having a ton of fun.

I love the non-chalant-ness (that’s a word, right?) of Ben’s pose in the picture on the right. He’s playing it cool but you can tell by his expression that he’s aware he’s got a great girl!

A few fun ones with black & white & color!

Another fun sequence totally inspired by the wonderfulness that is this couple. Notice Ben’s ‘class picture’ pose in the bottom left hand photo

Love these ones

An attempt to get a few down by the beach but the sun was starting to mess with our plans at this point so it was back to the shade

Being a fan of shoes myself, I love their shoes so I had to showcase them in a photo!

Almost to the end of the shoot and having a bit of fun with the poses!

Now the real fun begins – Sarah had suggested doing some jumping shots but I never imagined that two people could get so much air and still look so great. Nice work!

Yep – these photos below need no explanation. Those are melons

We entered the underground parkade to get a particular shot that Sarah wanted and I found a nice yellow backdrop so we made a quick pit stop for a couple photos and then off to our last pose.

Sarah had seen shots like this online so we tried to recreate it and the traffic actually co-operated with us

One final shot of Sarah’s gorgeous ring (and beautifully manicured hands )

Sarah and Ben – I had a fantastic time spending the day with you guys at Granville Island and I have no doubt that your wedding day will be even more fun. You are a great couple and I”m so happy that you found each other and that I get to photograph your special day in September. Can’t wait!

I headed out to a new location – Britannia Heritage Shipyards in Richmond and, even though the sun was blazing that afternoon, we found tons of awesome shady spots and so many great backdrops that it was incredibly hard to narrow down my choices for the blog but here they are! Thanks so much Alison and Bob for letting me be a part of documenting this awesome but, I’m sure exhausting, stage of your lives as a family! (It was good preparation for the three year old stage that’s coming quickly for me!) I had a blast!
I was super impressed with both kids ability to keep their eyes fixed on the camera – definitely not an ability all kids possess!

These siblings are so cute together I love the protective, loving older brother look that Colton is sporting in the bottom left picture. Reminds me of my brother! Fast forward 12 or so years and that’s going to come in handy!

As we wandered through the Shipyards we found lots of great shady spots for photos and both kids were super patient and willing to smile in almost all of them! I was definitely able to capture a lot of different looks from Sidney – the joys of being 3

I definitely recognize the ‘headlock pose’ in the top right photo – classic big brother

I absolutely love their co-ordinating outfits! The bright colors worked so well with the backdrops at this location. I also love Sidney’s pose in the top right photo – for a 3 year old who moves around a ton she sat still super well in the family shots!

Love the kids expressions in the kissing photo below!

Some more of the handsome Colton and funny sibling interactions

A gorgeous family and a gorgeous day

Time for some individual shots – Alison and Bob, you have gorgeous kids!

Being 3 years old, Sidney loves to move around so I figured this little sequence would work best for showing off some of her best shots. She was such a ham for the camera and I LOVE the dress!

A few more of the kids At this point we were probably an hour into the shoot and they were still hanging in there!

Some shots of mom and dad – such a great looking couple

Love this blue backdrop! At this point, Ben, Jon and Jacob, who had come with me as we were off to a BBQ afterwards, had found us (even though I tried to run past them so Ben wouldn’t cry) and Ben started inserting himself into some of the photos of the kids. I left those pictures out but it was pretty funny! He and Sidney were becoming friends

A few of the kids just being kids – Colton got some pretty great air

As we headed back to the entrance to the shipyards we got a few more family ones in front of the boat and I snapped a few quick ones of Alison and Colton just to make sure we had all possible combinations!

Thanks so much Howard family for a wonderful shoot! I had a great time getting to know your kids and I can tell that they are so loved! Alison, it was so great to reconnect with you after a number of years and I wish you and your family all the best! Hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed hanging out with your beautiful family!

We headed to Derby Reach Heritage Site – a first for me – and I was so pleased with the venue. Beyond the awesome scenery it was an absolutely perfect day for photos considering the forecast was for rain all day. As I waited there for the Lungs’ to arrive I couldn’t help but praise God for the beautiful place we live and for granting me just the right amount of picture perfect cloud cover!

Here are a few of this gorgeous family!

I love the bottom photo and think it will be particularly special if Kara ends up having a girl

With Jonas turning 2 on Friday, I couldn’t believe what an awesome listener he was the entire time! Way to go little guy

Being a mom of a 2 1/2 year old myself, I’m learning to come armed with some toys to help ‘encourage’ participation amongst the little ones and the Thomas the train worked fantastically for Jonas!

Kara looks just gorgeous, especially for someone who is only weeks away from giving birth!

Such a beautiful family!

Even though there were plenty of backdrops at the Heritage Site, we headed across the street to get a few pics overlooking the water and, again, I was so amazed by this beautiful spot and, on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon we had it mostly to ourselves. I love the way that Howard and Kara are looking at each other in the bottom right photo. Such a loving couple!

And Jonas was still happily co-operating – kind of a dream kid from a photographers’ stand point.

We were trying to get Jonas to kiss Kara’s belly but he wasn’t into it. When I suggested that he and Kara both show their bellies, he started to perk up

Quick wardrobe change in honor of our Stanley Cup finalists and there were just too many to share here so I had to share a handful!

Kara had mentioned that she had some photos taken when she was pregnant with Jonas like the ones below so we decided to recreate it. I can totally empathize with other moms who are trying not to shaft the second child simply because they’re the second child

With the end of the photoshoot in sight, we decided to get a few final ones of Jonas and his mommy before he has to share her with another little one and the end product was adorable.

The love this family has for one another is so evident in their interactions and you can see it in every photo. Jonas was such a great sport, Howard, you had such an awesome attitude throughout the whole session and, Kara, I can’t say enough how amazing you look!

Thank you guys so much for letting me get to know your family a little more through this experience. I am really looking forward to the arrival of your little one (though probably not as much as you’re looking forward to not being pregnant, Kara ) and getting to know your family better in the years to come.

I have had the absolute privilege of getting to know Val Zacher and her family over the past 5ish years and have had the chance to photograph them as a family since Daniel was born It’s crazy to think that I knew Daniel as a little baby and now he’s a full blown 3 year old! Since then, they’ve welcomed Bridget Ann into the family last April and I’ve had so much fun watching these beautiful kids grow!

Last time we did a photoshoot, we were trying to avoid the snow/rain and ended up only being able to get a 30 minute session in so, when I saw that the weather was going to be perfectly cloudy for our shoot, I decided to try to get as many combinations/locations in as possible and we had a great time.

We started out at the trains in Fort Langley and here are a few of my favorites. Daniel is definitely screaming ’3 year old’ in these photos and I was happy to capture it as I’m on my way to that stage in just a few short months with Benjamin
While I was taking some pics of Val and Bridget the train went by and I was able to snap a few of Daniel and Ed. He just loves his daddy! I also love the bottom photo because it captures the unposed reality of what it’s like to try to get a 3 year old to pay attention in a photoshoot for almost an hour and a half. Daniel was kind of getting sick of it early on but, with a few breaks to allow him to burn off some energy, he got right back into it and stuck it out for the whole hour and a half – pretty awesome, I’d say!

The fam!

I probably got about a dozen hilarious ones of Daniel and Ed like this one below on the left but just picked one for the blog. Daniel was totally not prompted to pose like that but came up with it on his own and I love it

Next we headed down to the water and took advantage of the fact that Bridget is walking now so we could get some good ones of her and Daniel by the logs. I love getting shots of the siblings. It also makes me excited for when Jacob can start to walk and I can see my own boys interact. Daniel is such a good big brother

At this point we started to lose Daniel’s attention again so we gave him a little break to practice his sweet jumping moves!

Bridget needed a break too so Daniel planed himself in the middle of the sidewalk and gave me an awesome action sequence Thanks Daniel!

Yep, he’s a boy

More of this gorgeous family down by the water. At this point there may have been some threats that Daniel might not get his promised treat of ice cream if he didn’t start looking at the camera so you can see that he’s looking quite reformed in the top left picture As a parent of a 2 1/2 year old I fully support the ‘bribe them with a treat so they’ll endure family photos’ method. I use it all the time!

A few more sibling interactions

I’m pretty sure they couldn’t get any cuter

A few of the lovely couple just by themselves!

Finally, we had joked earlier with Daniel that, for the last picture, Val & Ed were going to throw him into the water so I figured that’d be a fun way to end off the shoot!

Thanks so much to all 4 of you for such a fun afternoon! I am so happy to call you guys friends and be a part of your family memories. Looking forward to watching those beautiful kids of yours grow as long as your Ontario family lends you to us here in B.C

We headed down to Fort Langley (such a beautiful location!) and I was a little nervous at first considering Greysons’ reaction to our last photoshoot but, it seemed clear, after the first batch of photos that he was ready to co-operate!

Here are some of those first family shots!

From this spot we moved on to the big orange and black trains that were a highlight for Greyson. We did some smaller groupings here and tried not to overstay our welcome with Greyson! Greyson & Piersons’ Aunty Kim and Christoph were in town so we got some shots of the two of them as well!

They are such a beautiful couple so I had to post this one as well!

Aunty Kim had just met Pierson for the first time so I made sure to snap some photos of her with her beautiful nephews!

We were also happy to get some of Grandma and Grandpa with the boys and Pierson was SO smiley!

 It was so great to see Lindsay with her sister and parents so we made sure we got some of the 3 lovely ladies of the family and some of just the four of them! Such a nice memory

These ladies are so beautiful and it was fun to watch the ‘Brownlee’ family interact!

On our way to the next location, we saw the train go by and I was able to snap some pictures of Greyson as he was fully enamored by it! What a cutie!

We headed down to the water but snapped some pics at another great location along the way and Greyson was still participating! At this point, I think we’d already been shooting for an hour and I was amazed at how well Greyson did!

Here are some more of my favorites down by the water!

And some more!

At this point we were getting close to the two hour mark but all of the family was doing a great job of keeping Greyson entertained!

It was finally time to let Greyson call it a day but, before we did so, I was able to get some shots of him and his mom!

What a great day! Beautiful weather, co-operative kidlets and a wonderful family to work with.

Thanks Follett & Brownlee families! It was my pleasure

Here are some of the adorable little man!

Greyson was super excited that I was coming over and was great during Pierson’s photos but, once we went outside he decided that he was deathly against having his photo taken so I had a challenge in front of me

We ended up getting a few of Mark and  Lindsay separately with Pierson and then just tried to give Greyson some time to warm up to the idea!

Thank goodness for favorite stuffies and little tricks like that or we may not have got any photos with Greyson in them this time around! Here’s one final family one and I’m looking forward to getting Greyson back on my side for future photo shoots!

Just a new family of 4, here are some of the family shots we were able to get:

Their youngest, Juliet wasn’t very old at this point and I was amazed at how well she fared in the particularly cold weather!

Both girls were amazing at looking at the camera the whole time and I barely heard a peep out of either of them! Here are some pictures of the beautiful Lafleur girls!

I had such a great time photographing this family and I hope to be able to do some more shots for them in the future! Thanks Lafleur family