Hand over heart, the second I stepped into this house + met this family in person, I knew I’d be be tempted to stay so long, use every last memory card shoved in every spare compartment of my car + camera bag, they’d start to make curious eyes at each other, wondering if I’d be staying for dinner!! Or forever!!

The afternoon light in this place was to. die. for.

Based in the east end of Toronto — a trendy, vibrant, family friendly pocket of downtown — this mama was nearing the final days of her maternity leave + starting to transition her little guy, Sullivan, to daycare. Not having had a professional photography session since their wedding, they felt a draw to a ‘day in the life’ style session that was fun, personal + more focused on the ‘sweet’ part of the bittersweet days ahead. Plus! We managed to time it to coincide with dad’s daily return home from work, that magic time before bedtime’s round down where everyone’s together.

As the sun started to drop, we ventured out into the back alley where this garage had been offered up as a blank canvas for a local graffiti artist to work his magic on.

I minded my manners (you’re welcome, mum!) + didn’t end up inviting myself for dinner. *But* I did manage to fill five cards ;-)

from Nikki:

“I had a conversation with a friend who told me about something her family & herself do every evening.

It was called “Thorns & Roses”.

During dinner when everyone is sat down & eating, each person takes a turn telling one bad thing & one good thing that happened to them on that day. The term thorns & roses stuck with me & has made dinner time with my family even more full of conversation than ever.

Now I know you’re thinking dinner & convo? what’s this all got to do with photos? Let’s just say I’ve taken a whole new approach on the way I see things. Life’s short. Kids grow fast. Like WAY fast! When we are at home, I’ve started pulling out my camera when it just feels right. When The light is just right, when my babies do something that captures my eye (ok so maybe that’s like a GOOD percentage of the time) LOL. But no matter how much I want to capture moments & how important they are to me to have on photographs. They are WAY more important to me to “feel” the moments IN THAT MOMENT, So, I’m finding myself  trying harder to be there. To laugh hard with my kids, to play hard with my kids. To just lay with them & ask them what their good & bad things were that day. So although  my camera is never too far away. I don’t want to chase my kids around constantly with it in my hand. I’m becoming more of an observer. If I see something that is particularly special. I’ll grab it & take a quick shot. I’m starting to really feel like less can be more.”

That is exactly what I ask my kid at the end of  the day. the best thing and the worst thing that happened that day. Helps me stay connected.

have a great week,

xo

wendy

From Mandy ~ This is Elizabeth and her family, the Dunderdales! She actually owns a local wedding planning company in the area and I was so excited to be able to take her maternity photos with her beautiful little family. She was expecting a little baby boy, Henry, whom she just gave birth to. Big sister Delilah is SO excited and was so adorable for her pictures with her unborn baby brother. She lovingly dubbed her brother “Bob the Baby”, which stuck with all of Elizabeth’s family and friends.

–

“I rarely shoot maternities however when Jayme from Paper Deer Photography contacted about doing her families I knew it was going to be something special. She has been documenting the pregnancy with the help of her husband on her blog with the addition of comparing their little’s ones size with fruits. I drove to their home in Red Deer, Alberta were we shot in wonderfully decorated house and their 2.5 year old son. Afterwards we drove to a snow covered field outside of the city because nothing says winter on the prairies like this kind of scenery.”

1.  The snow… do you meter or expose differently for the snow?  And to catch the blue sky?
I spot meter for proper skin tones however if that causes the snow to be blown out I may underexpose just a touch as I want to insure the snow has detail. Thankfully the sun was partially blocked by some wispy clouds on this day so the snow kept its detail without many specular highlights. The wonderful thing about snow is it can act as a reflector creating awesome portrait lighting.

2. Your compositions are amazing.  How do you think of those negative space compositions?  What do you look at to inspire you?  
Thank you. I have always found myself drawn to work that effectively uses negative space. When I am at a distance I take my time in composing the images, I’m better waiting for those subtle changes. In addition it seems people act more spontaneously and themselves with a bit of distance. At a recent wedding I was a fair distance from the couple and she proceeded to tap him on the nose – a little endearing gesture that I got from afar but doubt would of happened if I was standing alongside them. I’m not sure where I draw information from in terms of those compositions however my favourite photographer is Emmanuel Smague. I hardly remember how or when I stumbled upon his work but I find his ability to capture people and the world around himself fascinating. http://www.smague.fr

3.  How long is each family shoot?
Generally they last for around two hours however depending on how the kids are feeling or acting, or whether we are moving locations they may go around three hours. I take my time with them and make sure no one is feeling pressured.

4. Also.. is this film or digital?
This is all digital work.

5. cameras, lenses?  film? or actions?
5D Mark II (primarily), 5D Mark III, 50mm, 35mm and a really modified VSCO.

Miranda had to have a c-section since the baby turned breach about a week before her due date. So I was there to capture all the moments leading up to and right after the c-section. I loved how peaceful everything was. Sometimes at births there can be quite a bit of anxiety, but that didn’t seem to be the case with Miranda. And oh how sweet it was to see their older daughter with her new baby sister.

nothing fancy.

a simple 35mm camera, 1 roll of film,  and drugstore scans.

10 minutes with the camera.  the rest of the time playing with the kids.

a perfect day.

xoxo

wendy

From Marina ~ attached are images from a recent maternity session I photographed on the cute streets of Bend, Oregon. The future mom and dad Majell & Dave run two amazing local coffee shops (Backporch Coffee Roasters) where Dave roasts some of the best coffee in Bend. They are excited to meet their first baby and find out if its a boy or a girl!

Shot on Fuji 400h, Contax 645, Mamiya RZ, dev and scanned by PhotoVision.

See you all tomorrow!

xoxo

wendy

From Alana: I really like documenting families at home–in the space they’ve created and live so much of life together. it was my privilege to get to photograph this beautiful family on a Saturday morning in their darling home. the mama hand-painted the boys’ room and designed her daughter’s nursery!

“i have said to myself, at my son’s bath time, hundreds of times: “i wish we had pictures of us here.” because here is as close as it gets, as full of comfort and longing at once. here is where we live. this is the feeling of us, the feeling of the memories on my skin, tattooed in my heart, with pictures like dense spirals of smoke.….i love these because they are true. they are not a set up. they are instant nostalgia. i took a picture of it, instead of waiting, or lamenting the passing of this time later. he is wading the waters between baby and boy, and i am holding his hand, helping him find his balance. he helps me find my own too. the antidote to the dark and twisty parts of me still trying to find their way out. and when they do now, they are met with this crazy light of a boy. ”

“the thing that i would tell a new mother, right before her baby was born, would be how insanely close and physical it is to love a child. the heat, the hugs, the weight of them, the incense smells they give off, the perception that they are of our own skin, long after they leave it. and so this is what it looks like as that feeling wraps around my heart like a wave, curled and forceful and unstoppable.

it is important to find your way to the pictures you really want to take. the personal work that is so personal, it is as sharp as it is gentle. it can be so simple, and it may even help to close our eyes. start with a feeling and see yourself from the inside out. it is what i see here; the roots, then the branches reaching to the light.

these are all shot with my d700 and 35mm. and so much love for this kid.”

My interview with Amy:

1. i do shoot clients, though sporadically. but i LOVE it when i get the chance to say yes. i am a one woman village for my kids right now. we are far away from family, and my husband travels during the week. right now i am trying to find a way to fold client sessions in naturally, to the rhythm of my family life, aiming for once a month, so that i can really give my all to a person, a family, and to my own. connection is the reason i love photography. i don’t just like making pictures of people, i love knowing people, i am moved by people. getting to witness what they are made of is an honor that i take seriously. every new person is a new world. i am slowly learning to show people the naturalness, the love, the movement that gives me chills from my own kids. i think when everyone is themselves, photographer included, you can feel it in the images. i would love to take more sessions in the future, as well as work on some personal projects outside my home, and for charitable organizations. i am fascinated with stories of survival and redemption, and so many of us have them.

2. writing is who i am. it is a direct line to my feelings, my memories, the making sense of things that is so important. the layers unravel, i can see the arc of our lives. it is work, i take it seriously; it is worth it. the pictures and words go together for me. they are born in the same place. even though i have only been taking photographs for about two and a half years, i have had this whole lifetime of practice seeing, feeling, paying attention. words, playing music, a camera – they are different ways to get at the same things. the weekly ‘motherhood with a camera’ started a crack that has opened up everything in me. writing about the beauty and pain at once, the pull of motherhood, the challenges, the pure light, the hard road to right now, i think about it all the time. it is an arrow pointing me where i need to be. it is my dream to be able to turn these stories into something more. connecting to other people, being our own beautiful messes together, finding meaning in photography, buried in the mundane, shining through, it is truth for me. so yes, i am writing all the time, taking notes, building on personal essays, looking for a place for them to live together. i have also been lucky enough to contribute to a few publications recently, but my soul is in this personal work.

3. my instinct tells me that my style may be a little too messy and raw for some of these other blogs. there are so many gorgeous sites out in our little universe. yet, so many of them are rooted in style. my work is emotive, my house is pretty dark, cluttered, filled with art and music and loud voices and unmade beds too many days. i’ve found myself moving farther away from the polish, the pretty, in my pictures, and closer to our truth. and this so mirrors my own life, the way i choose to live in my own skin. so i think it may be best to leave the styled shoots to the people who do them best :)

4. the 35mm is new, and amazing for capturing things in our tight house. it feels cinematic. it somehow captures the way i see more naturally than any other lens – like still frames from a movie. i have a huge crush on it right now, and it is helping me to see bigger, more of the scene, the context. without it, i could never have captured my little boy in the bath like i did in this set of images.