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We Love Being Family Historians

Awhile back I was verbally processing whether or not we should be making it a "thing" to always be bringing our cameras and taking photos when we go back to the states to visit my family, for holidays and such. Not to mention our photojournalism -ing all of Luke's Canadian family gatherings here in the GTA. "Do they really like getting their photos taken or should we back off a bit?" and Luke's response was steady and moved something inside me. "I think it's important for us to be our own family historians", he said. He went on to talk about beyond our professional portfolio and our personal photo projects, this is something we can bring and invest in our own families, as important and valuable work. And it built up a new anchored and meaningful purpose for me in approaching taking my family's photos whenever I get the chance. Photographs are special and if you can capture the expressions, emotions, and subtle looks that make someone who they are - those in between feelings that you have when you get to know somebody for who they are and what makes them beautiful and unique - that's when you have something to remember and make a beautiful artifact. And it's a gift that will continue to give many generations down the line through family photo albums and keepsake prints.



So this maternity shoot with Luke's sister and her husband was the first family-filled shoot we have done since sharing this shaping conversation around photographing our family, and it was special. We shared inside jokes, dreamed about the little boy who will be joining our family very soon, and celebrated this season of sweet anticipation together.


In preparation for this shoot and what we hope for many more to come, Luke painted a canvas backdrop using Bauwerk lime-wash paint and it was a project we have been wanting to do for awhile. It didn't disappoint. This art project has really inspired us to make more painted backdrops and play around with deeper textures and new shades of colour. The paint is so lovely and the chance to be tactile and creative and use a physical medium to create art makes our imaginative hearts sing, and our cameras love it too. We took turns shooting both film and digital and Anne and Irving were all in for some creativity, which made it more collaborative, and extra fun. We shot them in our office turned studio space downtown, and the light was pouring in our front windows, it was a calm Saturday morning, and some mellow french tunes filled the air. Rain was in the forecast for that day, and we were all at ease because we chose an indoor studio setting to take the photographs - always a nice plus because it can happen without rescheduling or the extra weather-centric stress. We initially thought we would dress Anne in light coloured clothing, but her black dress turned out to be our favourite look - elegant, beautiful, timeless. Anne and Irving are a power couple for sure, and I think this shoot captured that mood well. It's a characteristic that I have no doubt they will carry into parenthood as well.


What an honour it was to step in and capture just a glimpse of this beautiful season of parenthood, and be our family's visual historians! One thing we love doing no matter the shoot is capturing standalone individual portraits. Something not only your media profiles crave, but an important documentation of you at this age, in this season, whether it's your annual childhood portrait, a sweet season of engagement, your wedding day, or the journey to parenthood. Here are just a few of our favourites from this session, captured on our favourite film stock Portra 400, and processed by the talented team over at The Canadian Film Lab. And needless to say, we cannot wait to meet you, little one! Your mama's maternity shoot was one for the books.



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