Continuing my catch-up with the portrait sessions squeezed in between the weddings, here is a sneak peek into a session I did with the Lo family at their house.  Evelyn and Chung Yung had recently just welcomed their newborn son into their family, and with her parents and her brother’s family in town to visit, we managed to get the whole family into the pictures.  It was an interesting shoot in that it felt like we were switching gears every second shot – from serene newborn pictures at one moment, to hustling and bustling candids of the adults chasing after the toddlers the next!

Again, the great thing about shooting on-location at someone’s home is being able to capture some of the details and context of their lives.  Some of my favorite shots included the rocking horse that Evelyn’s father had hand-built for his grandchildren.  Another whimsical favorite: the newborn baby unintentionally striking a kung fu attack pose.  A quick handful from the session:

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Every spring, I look forward to the opportunity to work with the wonderful Sareen family and their two little ones: Mya and Aidan.  It was a bit of a revelation when it occurred to me that this was my fourth annual portrait session with them – how time flies!  With last year’s shoot taking place in the studio, we changed it up this year and I eagerly headed over to their home to chase after the kids with my camera in their own environment.

While there’s the usual surprise in seeing how much they’ve grown every year, the signs of change were rather apparent this time: you know time is passing when they’re out of diapers and have moved on to losing teeth.  But some things remain the same and as always, the kids were super excited, falling over each other to show me their latest toys, and all-in-all just a blast to be around. I spent some time following them around the house as they showed off their rooms and newly found piano skills (I don’t recall my kids being quite so focused as Mya was on the keyboard).  And with it being a bright and sunny afternoon, we headed out to the park, running after them as they pedalled furiously away on their little bikes.

Always a joy and a pleasure to work with – thank you to the Sareens for sharing your lives with me!  And some of my faves from the session:

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For a couple of years, Tim & Tara were the newest parents on the team with the arrival of Analeigh.  It seemed they were destined to pass the torch onto Jacq & Will when those two announced they were pregnant (see the previous post).  But apparently Tim & Tara weren’t ready to relinquish their claim to fame, as it turns out they were pregnant at the same time.  It occurred to me one day at a frisbee game that when Jacq and Tara were on the field at the same time, our team technically had a 9 to 7 player advantage over the other team (although I’m sure neither of them would have considered lugging an extra 20-30 lbs around an “advantage”).

And thus arrived little Sidonie.  Just like her older sister Analeigh, Sidonie is a little precocious fireball.  The two girls were squawking away in the studio, and it won’t be long before the two of them will be chattering away in complete sentences – in between squabbling for toys of course…

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Go Canada!  That was a most satisfying way to cap off the Olympic games.  And now that that’s over, it’s time to catch up on some of these shoots.

This particular one was about, oh, 5 years in the making.  Living on the same block, I can’t remember the number of times we’d talked about doing a shoot – while passing each other shoveling our walks, or mowing our lawns, or picking our kids up after a play date at the other’s house.  Well the stars finally aligned and Christina, Anya, Big Thomas, Little Thomas, and I managed to make it down to the studio together.  Each of them is such a distinct personality and hopefully I was able to capture some of that…

Leanne and Brent are wonderful wedding clients of mine who recently added a new member to their family: baby Ella.  It’s always nice to photograph people in the context of their own homes – the sessions always have a bit of a “day in the life of…” feel to them.  Plus, Leanne and Brent have a beautiful house with great lighting, so that’s always a bonus for shooting.  Ella was a little restless at first in her Christmas dress (she was more interested in trying to eat it), but with the “formal” portraits of her and her cousin out of the way, her playful little personality quickly emerged.  She seemed to quite enjoy romping around with mom and dad, and had GREAT interest in the cat who seemed quite intent on being part of the shoot too.  Some faves from the session: