a splash of colour

Our yard has exploded into an autumn colour wonderland.  The little fella walked down the trail with me yesterday collecting the prettiest leaves we could find and his big brothers followed behind on their bikes.  On feet or wheels, fall is certainly here - you can smell it in the air and see it blazing in the trees.

Time to head back.  I'm not sure why the big boys opted for their snowmobile helmets instead of the bike helmets?!

Taking a short rest... those little legs get tired after all of that running!

summer mode

July has come and gone in a blink ... practically every single day was filled with some place to go or something fun to do.  I am a summer girl to the core and have been basking in the summer heat in between working, celebrating birthdays, roadtrips, camping, celebrating our anniversary, a wedding, and keeping my little guys busy.  As a result, there's been very little time to blog.

I'm excited to see where the second half of Summer 2012 takes us...

together at sunset | Engagement Session

This is my best friend's little sister and her hubby-to-be who I will be seeing again in a few weeks as their wedding photographer! We had a fun evening along the tracks with a gorgeous sunset for their engagement shoot in beautiful Beeton, Ontario. These two lovebirds are so silly and the fact that they completely adore each other shines right through these photos.  I'm looking forward to seeing you both again on your big day!!

It's not very often I get the opportunity to capture a silhouette here among the tall pines and towering poplars, yet Beeton is the perfect spot for the creativity to flow at the end of a session.  :)

NOTE: train tracks are normally a dangerous location to photograph clients, but this particular line is completely safe -- the local steam train only rumbles into Beeton on Sunday mornings, much to the delight of my three boys! ;)

little sis has a new house | Ottawa Valley Child Photographer

And a big yard for peeking through the grass.  :)

Or running around... that works too.  Either way, their new home is lovely and the property is equally beautiful!!   (Not nearly as beautiful as my niece though!)

saturday night after sunset | Children Lifestyle Photos

It's been rainy all weekend which is a very welcomed thing for the dried out flower beds and gardens, even better for my avid fishermen.  We had won an awesome Fishing-themed gift basket at the kids' school fun event on Thursday and the boys have been begging to go down to the river ever since and test out some of the new gear.  It cleared up late in the day and made for a perfect evening with my boys at the water's edge.

These images also go to show that if you want great photos of your kiddies, get them involved with something they love to do. I'm all about letting life happen and capturing genuine moments; plus, I figured out long ago that my boys are much more cooperative when I have the camera out when I just let them do their own thing.  They were overly cooperative last night ... and I did happen to hear 'take my picture mom' a few times too.  Sometimes waiting around to catch fish isn't so bad!!  :)

Little Dude can't get there fast enough!

Loading up the lines.

Who's going to catch the big one??

Wilderness Chic (and one of the prize items).  Now I need to find at least two more of these stylish chapeaus because he was the only one who wasn't batting away the mosquitoes all night.  I wonder if they make them in pink?

My sweetie is in his happy place.  :)

R had caught a big sucker fish before his dad got this one, but we were able to reel this guy in pretty close to the shore and then let him back into the Madawaska.

Some of us get bored of fishing really quickly.

But everyone had a really fun night and a great sleep after all of that fresh air!!!  

just one.

One little guy with many different expressions... and I treasure images of my youngest's silly grins along with the more serious, soulful gazes.  Mr. Personality will turn five years old just over a month, so I'm trying to savour every moment with my little dude before he's a real 'big boy.'  

Radiant mom-to-be | Ottawa & Ottawa Valley Maternity Photographer

A very close friend of my sister-in-law and I spent a bit of time together last Sunday to capture her in all of her belly bump glory. I am fortunate to know the current owners of the farm where she grew up, so we were able to stop by and use the fields, barns, and beautiful country landscape where she used to play as a young girl as the backdrop for most of our session.  Thank you to the R family for being so kind and inviting A back to her 'home' for these special images.  :)

There happened to be some baby chicks (just born that morning!) that we got to cuddle... practicing up for the little one who arrives in a couple of weeks!

green thumb

One of my fellas has joined the Garden Club at their school and came home last week with a tiny pot of pea seeds.  He was very excited to wake up this morning and see the shoots stretching over the top of the container.  Normally he isn't so compliant when I have my camera out, but tonight he proudly showed off his beautiful little green plants.

Now, if I can just teach him how to weed my flower beds, I'd be all set.

tough guys

Another unusually warm April afternoon causes my children to abandon the majority of their clothing and soak up some sun.

It was back to rubber boots and warm coats today, the craziness remains.

Lost in thought...

On a gorgeous summer-like evening there's nothing like taking a moment to stare off into the wilderness.

sweet little nieces

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Weekend!  On the heels of my big boys' birthday is usually Easter, and it always works out well for us to have both sides of our families here to celebrate another year with twins and stash a few of those foil-covered eggs around the house for the boys and their cousins to find on Easter morning.  Usually our yard is full of mud at this time of year, but Saturday and Sunday we soaked up a ton of sun, the kids (and my brother & brother-in-law) burned off the extra calories while making good use of our trampoline, and there may or not have been a camera-toting auntie who couldn't resist these adorable little girlies.

This is what photographers would call a technically imperfect photo, but I love it.  My sister's youngest is as rough and tumble as her older brother and her three boy cousins, yet this shows her soft girly side (and a glimmer of her mischievous personality lurking behind those stunning big dark eyes!).

And this pint-sized bundle of cuteness is my sister-in-law's youngest (but only for another three months!!).

celebrate!

It's hard to believe but my first born(s) turned eight years old yesterday.  The twins were thrilled to have eight of their friends over to play and eat cake!  Their dad & I set up a fun treasure hunt for them through the meadow and it was really tricky since the clues were written on the same colour paper as the brownish leaves and grass.  They took a little break from the cleverly-hidden Clue #3 to do a group shot.  There's actually 11 kids in this photo - the eight friends, plus our three dudes.  And yes, we did survive a house overflowing with little boys.  No one was hurt, nothing got broke, my boys were spoiled rotten with all kinds of cool new stuff from their friends (thank you again!!).  All in all, a very successful party.  Let's all do the birthday jump!

almost eight

Ain't it great?

all of the light

A warm Sunday evening.  Golden Sun.  Long curly scattered locks.  I have three boys, this kind of beauty is not something I get to see very often.  ;)

sit sideways

He sits sideways all of the time, always at a good arms length from the table.  Many crumbs (or pieces of mandarin orange peels in this case), and no one has to question where the little squirt sits at our dinner table.

welcome!

I'm someone who finds a whole lot of inspiration in the most simple of moments, or things that most other people would overlook.  In my eyes, the little details of life deserves to be photographed too.