I am about two months late in capturing Philip as a two year old, but I grabbed my camera on my way out to play with him this morning in the hopes that I would capture a few moments of him being himself.  I already attempted this once during Christmas while the kids were all decorating their gingerbread house.  I grabbed the camera in hopes i would catch Philip unaware.  Well, I am not sure that is possible with a large SLR in your hands, to go unnoticed that is, and as soon as he saw me he started yelling, “no take picture me mommy…. I mack you” .  Note that mack is not a typo, but smack in his two year old english.  And when I didn’t put down the camera, smack me he did.

Today he started to protest his picture being taken again, but I did what any good mother would do in that situation….. I promised him candy!

When I first got an inquiry for Renee and Adam’s wedding I was excited for two reasons.  First of all, I had once before driven through Laurenceton and knew what a beautiful community it was, and secondly, since I didn’t have any winter weddings booked for this year, I thought that there might be the possibility of some snow.  Although that makes for a cold photo shoot for the bride and bridesmaids, the scenery would be lovely.  To my surprise, when the morning of November 28th arrived I was very grateful that the temperature was forecast to go up to 14 degrees celsius.  It was a beautiful day, warmer than some of my summer weddings in fact.  The light was also gorgeous that day.  Renee could not have asked for   better weather that November afternoon.  Renee and Adam had started dating one year ago to the day of their wedding and the love they share for each other and their families was evident.  Their ceremony was beautiful, and this was one of those weddings where I found myself tearing up along with the family members.

Before the holidays began I had the pleasure of photographing baby Rylan as well as his big brother and sister.  I have photographed this family since big brother Nolan was all on his own, and have enjoyed watching this family grow.   I hope the sleepless nights don’t last too long for his momma!  Although I wouldn’t wish away the days when they are so tiny and precious…. they grow so quickly right before our eyes.

I have a student who I teach at school who has a wealth of knowledge about nature, wildlife and especially.  We get to talk about his hobby quite often, and Travis has been giving me tips for how to photograph  these feathered beauties.  He spends hours osberving, photographing and learning about all species of birds.  His photographs are quite lovely as well.  On a number of occasions he has carted his binder full of captures to show myself and some of the other teachers. 

As I was walking through the Corduroy Brook Nature Trail during Christmas with my family, I heard the call of this little guy, observed some seed that another trail user had left for the birds, and waited for him/her to land.  He/she was quite skittish, as I am told that birds need time to get use to your presence, and I was clearly an intruder, but for my first try, I am pretty pleased.  Now as soon as Travis reads this post, I can identify the species and perhaps the gender.  I still have a lot to learn about that sort of thing.

I hope that everyone is enjoying this wonderful Christmas season.  After a week of pure relaxation I am popping back in to continue blogging sessions from before Christmas.

Casey’s mom and dad came to my home for her session.  Without batting an eyelash they entered into renovation chaos.  The few days prior to their session was spent watching my father and father in law lay hardwood floor and paint our family room, and when they arrived, my father in law was literally with paint brush in hand painting the baseboards.  And since that was the room with the best light (now that we were rid of the old dark blue carpet) I ushered him out so that we could have our session.  Thank you guys for your patience that day!

Two month old Casey was absoultely adorable and so pleasant.  Her momma brought along a few accessories and the cutest that I believe she purchased on etsy.com.  Casey didn’t even seem to mind her wardrobe changes, and was the perfect little model throughout the shoot.

This was my last session of the busy holiday season, and what a great way to end the year.  Winter is one of my favourite seasons, and I was so happy that there was snow on the ground for this session in Gander last weekend.  Photographing older children is also quite enjoyable for me.  Especially when they love the camera as much as Madison does. 

I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog posts, so I thought that I would post something older and something more recent until I get caught up. 

I first photographed this baby when he was still in his momma’s belly, and returned when he was around 2 weeks old.  He was so sweet and sleepy, and he seemed to be right at home in my beanbag.  I absolutely adore photographing newborns (I feel like I have said this before), this stage in their life is so short and they change so quickly, and I am happy to preserve this for new parents.  Meet baby Luke.  Love his squishy lips!

It is hard to believe that it is December already, and the snow if covered in a blanket of white 9at least for the time being).  Looking back on my fall sessions (which I have been meaning to post, and will!) I realized how quickly Autumn has come and almost gone.  It seemed like the weather was not a cooperative this year as in other years.  I didn’t even get my own children out in the leaves as I often do for some photos.  This day, however, was one of the exceptions to our unusually cold and wet fall.  This was a glorious fall day.  So gloious that even the mosquitos joined us for this photo session.  It will be months before we see these beautiful colours again, so here are a few to mark the passing of Autumn into Winter.

This family was a lot of fun to photograph, including their brand new puppy.  I love how he tagged along as the family wasled down these adandoned streets in gander.  And I love the two older boys reaction as the puppy tried to get a grip on their little brother.

My baby boy turned 2 today.  It is hard to believe how quickly 2 years can go by, and now my youngest is not so much a baby anymore.  He had a little party yesterday afternoon, with the neighbourhood children.  He loves Elmo, so I figured he would love an Elmo themed party.  I spent the last week, however, telling him about his party, and his response everytime i asked him what kind of party he was having:  “Dora!”  Even at the age of two he has a sense of humour. 

He was very excited to pick up his cake with me on Saturday morning (made by the very talented Kim Best in Botwood).  When we got home with it, there were still two hours until the party, and keeping him away from the cake was not easy.  At one point, while it was still in the box we caught him on the dining room table with his hand in the box (even though it was taped up) and one of the stars in his mouth.  He spent the next two hours asking if he could jsut eat Elmo’s nose, or perhaps his eye.   Of course that was the first thing he ate, after the pizza.   He was tried to trick me into playing hide and seek.  Knowing what he was up to I hid in the kitchen where I could still see him “counting”.  When he thought I was out of sight, he went immediately for the cake.   Once he knew I was watching him, he covered up his eyes and went back to counting.  All while yelling at me to go hide.  What a great day!

Adrienne and Josh were married on a beautiful Sunday in October.  Well there were a few showers here and there, but we were still able to to get outdoors for some great photos.  We were even basking in the glow of a rainbow for awhile.  The location for their ceremony and later that evening their dance was the Humber River House in Nicholsville, Newfoundland.  What a beautiful spot.  A great place to rent for the weekend, complete with hot tub and an indoor pool.  The huge living room window offered a gorgeous backdrop to this lovely ceremony.  I could even get a bird’s eye view from the balcony.  Here are a few for now.  I will have to return with more photos as I get them completed.