Portrait Session with Coco Cake!

JOY OF JOYS!!!!!  My dear friend, Lyndsay, Queen of Coco Cake Land, received her last of her 17 Herceptin IV Treatments at the Cancer Agency last week!  It was heartbreaking to watch this wild spirit be kicked down so hard, but you can bet she fought back as hard as she could.  In her lowest of lows, whether feeling physically ill from treatments or feeling insecure and vulnerable in appearance after shaving her long dark locks, she wrote honestly about her experience complete with her hilarious sense of humour.  And if you don't already follow her, she also kept up this silly cake business...  As a creative soul, this doesn't surprise me.  Now, at the end of what has been a nightmare of a year, things are looking up.  She made this cake in celebration of her freedom and wrote a beautiful entry to go with it which you can find HERE.

Lyndsay called on me last month for some new headshots and decking-the-cake shots.  As usual, we had a fun time joking around as we moved from room to room, trying out different ideas.  I feel so humbled and undeserving to be called on by such an amazing person whom I idolize in an entirely new way.  Not only was she born a super cool dude, but she is now one badass mutha after this last year and a half of living with cancer.  Lyndsay you are truly one-of-a-kind.  Aside from your effortlessly cool style, your sense of humour always has me doubled over and plays perfectly into your creative work, you are so very kind and generous, and you have a mouth almost as bad as my own.  (I also feel like we are perhaps drawn to one another by our love of bright crazy lipsticks and blunt bangs... maybe?)  Thank you for being you.  It is so good to have you back and I absolutely can not wait to see what you've got up your sleeve for us!


 

come as you are | Joon + Callum

i just could not be happier about these sessions.  i knew i would be providing something special for these mothers, but the impact it has had on me was unexpected.  i could say that it's been an honour to photograph the most deserving moms, but the truth is that each one of us is so very deserving in our own way, each session serving as a reminder of the grace and love we are capable of providing for our children, especially on our worst days.  we all have our story and our challenges that deserve reverence.  no matter what our journey has been, what we lack, what we yearn for, these photos prove without a doubt that our daily toils are not in vain.  there is beauty in the ordinary of the day to day. 

i am so grateful to have Joon be part of these Come As You Are sessions.  first of all, they are moving and it would be such a shame to not have some fond memories to take away from this beautiful home.  second, and more importantly, the heartache and hell she has gone through for and with Callum deserves to be recognized and celebrated.  it's been a long journey with health challenges many of us take for granted everyday.  whether you were born to be a mother or not quite so confident in this new and terrifying role, we can all agree that the adjustment period is difficult enough without the universe throwing your 3.5 month baby a curveball in the form of a rare congenital liver disease.  after his first surgery, Callum would suffer liver failure at 18 months and would require a transplant.  nevermind the typical worries of whether or not you are capable of breastfeeding or going back to work in a year, suddenly having to worry if your baby is going to receive an organ in time (or at all) or survive the surgery puts everything else on the backburner. 

today, you wouldn't be able to tell from the beams of sunshine radiating from his face, but 4 year old Callum has been one of the lucky ones to have received a successful liver transplant.  he has gone from 14 medications a day down to just 1 with monthly bloodwork to monitor his new liver.  you also wouldn't know Joon's heartbreaking struggle from her confident smile and dry humour, but you probably know now that you'd probably lose to her in a fight!  these stories are a perfect reminder to be kind to all we meet because we don't always know each other's story and the struggles we've had.

i'm so happy i managed to get Joon to do this session!  she was worried it might be too cheesy, as well as too vain, but that is neither my style nor the intention of these sessions!  after the battles you two tiny warriors have fought through, your love, your courage and your perseverance absolutely deserves its spot in the limelight.  you both are going to look back on these through the years and love me, HA!

Click Here to read more about Callum's story.
You might even recognize his sweet little face from on the back of Transit busses around the city encouraging all of us to become Organ Donors!

Enjoy!

come as you are | Sarah Jack + Eli

i really would have loved to start this series off with this session but it was a few days following the other two and i really needed to jump onto editing them before getting too overwhelmed.  Last year, I booked a session with Jayme Anne Photography for Mother's Day.  I loved them so much, I am booked again for the end of May!  I was so inspired by her Project Motherhood series to get MOMS in front of the camera, I decided to also contribute to getting more Moms in front of the camera.  Sarah, however, was the one that pushed me to really focus on the real deal, the maybe-not-picture-perfect-enough-for-Instagram deal.  her words, which i wrote down were:  "meeting moms where you are at, we don't need you to get dressed, clean the house or put on make up..."  this spoke deeply to me because, honestly, that is the photography i started out with.  ithe introduction of Instagram and Pinterest really changed our perceptions of normal as we were suddenly being inundated with everyone's highlight reel and strugginlg not to compare it to our normal.  we are expected to do EVERYTHING, be EVERYTHING, and never falter, never sweat, never show weakness.  that kind of expectation is debilitating and unrealistic.   

...so!  i'm trying to get back to that rawness and honesty, and what better time than in celebration of Mother's Day!  the rawest of the raw.  it has truly been a breath of fresh air!  in spite of how these first three sessions differ SO GREATLY from one another, i love how they still manage to praise the Mother and her story with equal respect and recognition that she, indeed, is doing her best to selflessly love her kids no matter how insecure she may be feeling, no matter how tired she is from whatever issues she may be losing sleep over, no matter what her current struggles may be...  i love that by showing a variety of Mothers in their everyday environment, moms will be able to relate in an honest way with one another and close the gap created by the highlight reels of social media.  by recognizing and exonerating the beauty of Motherhood's everyday imperfections, i hope to encourage a greater sense of empathy and support within community.  we have lost the village mentality.  we need to rebuild that!

this session was awesome because Sarah wanted to capture her morning with the boys.  it was an early wake-up call to arrive at 7am, but it was absolutely worth it.  as it was a Sunday, they were able to enjoy a slow quiet morning without the hectic chaos of the school routine.

eventually, as you will see, Sarah will get to enjoy her cup of tea.

enjoy!

Sarah, what a treat to spend the morning with you and your boys.
Thank you for welcoming me into your home and life.

xo


come as you are | Saara Leila + Millie

 

These are the most beautiful pictures.
You captured every mundane moment and pulled every ounce of beauty from it.

Nick and I both got so emotional over these.
It's like, all the worrying and sleeplessness and feeling pathetic ARE worth it
when I see it from your eyes, from their eyes.

This is beyond anything I could have imagined.
You just gave me so much.  Again.  To be able to give these to the girls one day.

You've seen me at my worst.  And now to see these moments, to share them with you.
Thank you from the deepest part of me, with so much joy and gratitude.


~ Saara C.


It sounds like I did my job.

This session was very close to my heart.  There are so many women that I have become friends with in our little town, all of which I would love to honour with these sessions, but I have to admit that receiving the text request to do Saara really made my day.  She was the first Mom I met when we moved back here in 2009 when Moses was 5 months and her daughter Leila was 11 months.  We were both first time moms, desperate for company, visiting one another's homes numerous times a week for sanity.  In the last 7 years, I've witnessed her struggle as a single mom, seen her through many ups and downs.  To see her now, remarried to a truly wonderful kind-hearted soul and blessed with another gorgeous little child, it means the world to me that she has found happiness.

At the end of this session, I acknowledged all this, and we both had a good cry and a hug on the bottom of her stairs in her new home.

I love you, Friend.
You deserve every last drop of this love + happiness.

xo

 


come as you are | Mother's Day Mini Sessions

 

recognizing + honouring
the everyday beauty of motherhood

no need for make up, dressing up
or cleaning up the house

just you, as you are
with the ones who call you Mom

This Mother's Day, my heart would like to honour + celebrate the truth of where you are at, right now, in your life as a Mother:

YOU, in your home, going through a few of your everyday routines with your little ones.

Nothing posed and nothing to hide, just the real moments: from the overwhelming mess + impressive tantrums to the intimate snuggles + whispered I Love Yous.  Let's document your Motherhood in all of its chaos and beautiful imperfections for you and your kids (and their kids...) to hold close, relive, and share for many years to come.

We are beautiful and we deserve to be remembered!

_________

$250 |  30 Minute In-Home Session
8 Spots Available for the month of May