Baby Shower for Gabriel

As a present to Jamie and Cory, who are family, I took photos for their baby shower for Gabriel. It took place at the Northend Recreation Centre and it ended up being the perfect location. Apparently, the centre double booked which meant Jamie had to have the shower outside, which was perfect. There was great lighting, the kids had more room to run around, and I got lots of great shots at the playground as well.

Anytime I get the chance to take photos of family I get super excited. Of course, when kids are involved, that makes it even better! You can view all the photos from the shower below!

Eden + Chris Portraits - Current River Park

Back in 2015 I photographed Eden and Chris's wedding at Current River Park so it was only fitting that Eden suggested we do the portrait session there. This time around they had a new addition to the family and they also brought their dog as well. I had my hands full for sure but it ended up being such a fun and spontaneous session. The weather couldn't have been better and Eden and Chris where completely natural in front of the camera. I'm very much looking forward to a future session in the near future!

An Afternoon with Lukas

My family and I recently had a short road trip to Ottawa to visit our friend Amy and her family, including their 1 year old baby Lukas. We all couldn't get enough of him and his awesome personality. Being a professional photographer I always carry some sort of camera with me, and I knew I would be visiting with a couple different families throughout our trip so I decided to do a little photo session with Lukas. 

My wife Anne and I took him outside and let him crawl around, sit by himself and a variety of other poses. He was so easy going and was essentially smiling or making faces the entire time. We only spent about 15 minutes with him outside, but the photos below just go to show you, that it doesn't take much to get some really candid photos if you know what you are doing and you work fast. 

I could have easily spent another hour with him outside taking photos, but we didn't want to take steal him away for too long. Plus, I think it was about time for his meal if I remember correctly. If I learned one thing about Lukas over the few days that we were there, it's that he loves to eat, anything, as you can see from the last photo I included below. 

Jamie + Cory + Sophia + Teagan

My latest photo session was a family affair with Anne's cousin, Jamie. She recently gave birth to her newest addition to the family, Teagan. Along with her slightly older sister, Sophia and of course the man of the family, Cory. Instead of your typical 'newborn' session where we spend an hour or two putting the baby in different positions with different backdrop and outfits, I wanted to treat it more like my wedding photography which leans towards a documentary style. Not to say we didn't pose the baby a few times, but the majority of the shoot was me simply sitting back and capturing normal moments with no direction. I wanted it to be like I wasn't really there, just an observer, with a camera of course.

The results were amazing to say the least. There were so many natural moments and interactions that it was difficult to select the very best photos, because there were so many. It also helped that Sophia was not phased at all by me or Anne. She went ahead and played like she normally would. And of course, Teagan was just fantastic. I think she only cried once, but with that being said, I made sure to get a photo of that. With this kind of photography, it's important to capture the happy, sad and in between emotions. Just like a wedding day.

By the far the highlight of the session was when we just finished wrapping Teagan in a scarf to do a few posed shots. She ended up having a little accident. Not missing a beat, we continued to take the photos as it didn't seem to phase her at all. She was a real trooper. 

After spending some time downstairs, I made sure we got at least a few photos upstairs where the crib was. Throughout the session, I also tried to get some detail photos of personal belongings. After all, all these little things add up to create their beautiful home. We only had an hour or so to work with, but in that time frame, I was able to tell a short story through photos and show just how much joy and love Jamie and her family have for one another.

Thanks for letting me into your home and be a part of it, even for just an hour.

Some highlights from my time spent documenting Jamie, Cory, Sophia and the newest addition, Teagan. John Stockton Slow Drag by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/uvp/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Baby Levon

My wife's friend Amy recently had a baby and his name is Levon. He is probably one of the most easy going and calm babies I have ever met. This made the photo session with him the other day pretty easy. Our biggest challenge was just keeping him upright for some of the photos! I admittedly don't do too much newborn photography but it is definitely something enjoy and am currently looking at adding on to my existing services. 

The good thing about newborn photography is that you really don't need that much space. We had a few backdrops and some various props. Amy brought a few different outfits to the shoot along with a couple of different objects that were special to her and her family. From there we just had fun dressing Levon up and taking photos. At one point, our one cat decided to investigate and I think I think it ended up being a great spontaneous photo. 

Of course, because Christmas is just around the corner, we made sure to get a few decorative photos in there was well. All in all it was such a fun session and I'm glad we were able to squeeze in this session before Levon grows anymore! Thanks to Amy and her family for letting me photograph the little guy.

Jen + Baby Felix Newborn Portraits

When one of my good friends Jen asked me to photograph her and her 3 week old son Felix, I jumped at the chance. Newborn photography is something I want to start specializing in. So what better way to get started then by capturing photos of little Felix. 

After arriving at Jen's house we quickly set up a little area where the photo session would take place. The good thing about newborn photography is that you don't need a lot of space. We came with a few different backdrops and some props and this allowed for a variety of different options. We only had about an hour to work with so we only did a few variations but in the end it resulted with some truly great photos. 

Felix was a real trooper. He was very patient and only had a few moments where he needed to be fed or changed. But other then that, there were really no problems. One of the main things I learned from this session was that you have to be really patient and just go with the flow. In other words, Felix kind of dictated what shots we were going to come away with, which kept the photos natural and spontaneous. 

Thank you to Jen and of course my lovely assistant Anne. I absolutely love how the photos turned out and I hope this is the start of yet another facet of my photography business!