What I love about maternity sessions is that through the photos, you are transported outside of your own discomfort and fear, and are somewhere on the outside, looking in at the most glorious parts. The way you grew that baby. The way your body grew the eyes you are yet to know, the feet that will touch the earth, the hands that will draw all over your bathtub with crayons, the mouth that will say the whole alphabet at 21 months. The way you didn’t know how to grow vital organs, but you did it anyways. The way you did your very best, even when you were convinced that you weren’t.

The thing I love about a maternity session is that it is true love, struggle, devotion and unconditional love… celebrated.
All you ladies growing people… You go girls. You grow those babies, you eat that chocolate, you cry, you laugh, you pee 25 times a night, you online shop, you cut your hair, you get a pedicure, and you celebrate you. Because you are awesome. Growing people is no small matter, and YOU should be celebrated.

Can’t wait to share Bridget and Jeremy’s beautiful baby photos {check back on Monday}.
Their New Years baby Ben, has already arrived. {and he is INCREDIBLE}
for now… here is their maternity session with their gorgeous Newfoundland pup Maggie.
xo

Kim W asks…
What kind of camera do you use? I currently use Nikon D700′s
What is your favorite lens? my 85mm 1.4 It’s dreamy.
Do you shoot in raw? No.
What post production program do you use? Adobe Photoshop CS4 (I need to upgrade just haven’t gotten around to it yet) and Lightroom (mainly photoshop)

Suzi asks…
What is your favorite type of photo: studio, outdoors, wedding, engagement, babies…..all? I can get jazzed up about all of the mentioned shoots. Lately I have been really excited about newborn shoots. I mean… come on. I love babies. I am the self proclaimed baby whisperer (of other peoples babies) and there is nothing more beautiful than brand new life. I love that weddings allow me to be more journalistic, however, I find that my approach is similar with family shoots as well.
Do you do any rituals when you edit (ie: cup of tea, certain music, comfy jammies…what gets you in the “mood”)??? I can edit anytime, anyplace. No joke. I’ll edit on my laptop anywhere. I instantly zone out everything around and I’m like a ravished animal. I’ll ignore everyone and anyone around me (Bryce hates it). Ideally however, I’m at my best if I’m tucked away in my studio surrounded by my favorite old fashioned images of my family (I’ll do a post soon of my studio office), and listening to a few songs on repeat. Yup. Repeat. Generally one or two songs repeated. I can be found listening to the same song for 5 or more hours. No joke. Drinking Genmaicha Green Tea or red wine. Depending on the time of day.

Katie asks…
Do you have a favorite picture? Many. If we were asking if I could only save ONE image…. I’m not sure I could come up with an answer. I have favorites for sure. Too hard. Can’t answer…

Kim asks…
How did you learn to shoot? My parents bought me a camera for my grad present. I took photos of everything. I was excited to shoot anything, fairy wings in the graveyard with Heather I photographed my friends, my sister (a lot) and a lot of native art work too. I then ventured to Vancouver to gain a diploma in photojournalism from Ampro Photo Workshops. It was pretty run down at the time, but I spent hours tucked away in a dark room and gained a lot of insight to photography from the program. (I’m pretty sure the school is no longer running). After completing the Photojournalism program I was hired by Princess Cruises as an onboard photographer. The actual photography that you are hired for on ships isn’t terribly inspiring… however, I met some of the most talented, inspired and incredible photographers from all over the world. I believe they made me a MUCH better photographer.
Take a look at a few of the inspired friends I met at sea…
Dave, Stan, Kobi, Kimmie, Kim I, Abri, Irene, Lucy, Caro, Kerry and Paul.

How did you learn photo shop? Courses at school as well as experience on board ships, and self teaching.
How did you start your business? Slowly. Almost painfully slowly. I would shoot one or two weddings between contracts at sea. I would shoot friends and family members. When I finally made the choice to say farewell to my days at sea, I contacted a good friend Jeremy. We got my website, logo and business cards rolling and then I started the real work. I photographed a lot for free, to generate some word of mouth, then I charged a bit more. Then I got to work on marketing myself (pre-facebook days) a lot of talking, a lot of business cards dropped off at local businesses where photography would make sense. I dropped off framed prints at the local midwife office, coffee shops, I went out and sold myself. I was always working.

Kacy asks…
Do you use the auto focus on the lens or do you shut it off and use the manual focus? I mainly use auto focus, but there are certainly instances where I turn it off and use manual (low light, tricky lighting etc)

Rebecca asks…
‎1. When you’re taking photos do you know this is going to be a special moment and a must edit? Usually yes. I tend to get a little excited during the shoot and if I wind up in tears, or close… I know I’ve got something special.
2. Any photo shoots have some funny moments that stand out or special moments that you have been fortunate to share in? Many funny moments!!! YOU BLOWING YOUR FLIP FLOP in the weeds was pretty hilarious !!!! I was fortunate to share Landon’s birth. I feel incredibly fortunate to share pretty much every session I shoot. Cherished moments at weddings, family moments, personal moments, people that I’ve photographed who have since passed away remind me how important photography is, and push me to treat every session as a true honor.
3. Do you edit right after a shoot or wait to go through the photos at another time. I download and back up the files right away and then usually start editing right away. I am impatient and excited and always need to see results immediately. It’s the best part of the shoot. I love editing photos.

Suzi asks…
How do you store your photos? Back them up? Do you store backups at a different locations? I’m curious on how to save my digital files incase something happens and my computer dies, etc.??
I use external hard drives. (nothing is saved on my computer) I have one that I work off of “Main”, and a back up hard drive in the house, and one backed up in the studio. Ultimately I also like to have a back up at another location as well (because I’m paranoid and stuff happens).

Until next time!

Shannon said to me today, “there is patience in creativity”. Patience up to a point. It was 11.11.11. It doesn’t happen often, in fact, only once every one hundred years. Today was that day. The weather way grey. There was a scheduled shoot that needed to have the time changed, there was our window. Of course, Shannon was up to it and off we went, armed with canvases and driftwood easels and a laundry basket full of clothes and cameras. It was pouring. We sat in the truck for an hour. Both somewhat resigned to the idea that the shoot wasn’t going to happen. I was discouraged, but it was ok.

She got out of the truck to take her dog out for a minute and the next thing I knew, my door was flung open and she was yelling at me “this is our window! Louise! Get out of the truck.” She was pulling canvases out of the truck and within minutes we were on the beach in the first dry 10 minutes out of hours of rain. These images were created in 15 minutes, and then… it started to pour again, and us… as always dragging sandy canvases and gear off the beach laughing trying to keep everything dry. I will treasure them always, for the memories and for the painfully inspired manor in which it always comes together.

A few days ago I was feeling disheartened. Uninspired. Just a tiny bit.. blahhh about photography. I shot two amazing sessions yesterday and two again today. My advice to anyone who feels this way, is to keep working. Keep creating. Push through the uninspired and reach through and be inspired again. Don’t sit around and wait for it. Just listen to your muse, and carry on. Keep shooting. Keep creating. Keep going. I choose painfully inspired any day.
Thank you Thelma for always being ready for anything.
Friends, I promise…. Anything is possible.

I loved her from the first email. Sweet, charismatic and outgoing. Awesome.
Jacquie and Pat are warm, fun, engaging and they just make you want to be around them, not to mention both totally gorgeous.
You two make my job so easy!
Being together twelve years has created an amazingly effortless connection between the two of them. You take one look at them and instantly think….of course they are together. They should be together. They are so natural, so comfortable. A beautiful thing.
Now you love them too, don’t you. I can’t wait to photograph their Pacific Shores wedding this summer. Admit it, you can’t wait either.