what to wear: family session

Sunday, October 9th, 2022

It is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and families are gathering together to baste the turkey, get the pie in the oven and enjoy some flannel-wrapped merriment. Autumn is always a busy season for family shoots and what better time to get around to this blog post of what to wear- the family session edition.

If you read my earlier post about maternity shoots, many of my general rules overlap. I still favour natural fabrics (cotton, linen, wool) in neutral colours (earth tones, pastels, grey, cream, navy). And I still advocate for comfort… always…ESPECIALLY when there are toddlers involved.

But with family shoots, there are just more bodies to dress. Often, families want to look like a cohesive bunch, while avoiding the 1990’s Gap-ad pitfall of clones in white t-shirts and blue jeans. And I agree- the goal should be to coordinate, but not to match exactly. I think this is most easily done by sticking to the same colour palette, while finding different clothing pieces for each person- maybe your family looks best in earth tones, but Dad is rocking the dark brown chunky knit, Mom is in a cream sweater dress, and little Timmy is in a striped beige onesie. Or maybe, it is the summertime, and you and your daughters all want to wear white linen dresses (…my absolute dream), but you decide to add some variety and choose a different style for each dress. Allowing the pieces to be similar in one way (tone, texture, fabric) and different in another way will help you look coordinated enough. But also, if it is the morning of the shoot and your toddler insists on wearing their bright pink princess dress, that is cool too.

If we are shooting in the fall and winter, layering knits will be your best friend- texture photographs so well! I love adding wool coats, chunky scarves or an extra cardigan- it gives you some variety in your photographs without even changing your outfit. If we are shooting in the summer, less is more and remember that sweat often just looks like a *glow*on camera. No matter the season, bring a cozy blanket (or two) with you because the shots of you sitting all cuddled up together are often the favourites.

And since pictures are worth a thousand words, here are some of my favourite family looks…

the day we met

Sunday, August 21st, 2022

Very nearly one year ago… August 22nd, tomorrow, to be precise…

I drove to the airport to pick up a handsome American boy who was flying in from Ohio, through Chicago. He was coming to stay with me for twelve days, and even though we had spent over eight months talking every day, I had never actually met him.

Our friends and families found this all a bit surprising- perhaps a long weekend visit was more reasonable? But, we had waited so long for the border to reopen that both of us quickly agreed, twelve days just made sense.

I did my hair (it fell flat right away in the summer humidity), sprayed myself with a perfume I bought when I lived in France (reserved for only the most special of occasions) and was on my way. My friends were texting me excitedly, asking if I was nervous. Somehow, I wasn’t at all.

I parked the car just as he was crossing over from the terminal to the garage. He found the wrong floor, walked down a flight of stairs and finally emerged from the stairwell to see me standing there, waiting. He was tall and his smile was warm and he was wearing a brown button-up that now hangs in my closet. He dropped his duffel bag to the ground and for the first time, we kissed. I remember feeling how fast his heart was beating through his white t-shirt and thinking how sweet that was. It was surreal, sure, all at once confronted with the physical realities of each other. But, it was also calm and inexplicably familiar and the next twelve days flew by so fast that we only wished for another twelve.

This summer has been hectic and demanding and life has a funny way of making the distance feel even more unbreachable at times. Nevertheless, August 22nd is a special day and as I sit here in his brown button-up, smelling of French perfume and ready for tomorrow’s date over FaceTime, I think of the two people we were that day. Fearless and unwavering in our belief in each other, giddy and excited. Ready, for the first twelve days of many.

what to wear: maternity session

Sunday, July 24th, 2022

One wildly popular question I get asked before any shoot … but, what do we wear?!

As someone who creates a detailed outfit list before any vacation, I deeply understand these desires to look your best and plan ahead. Eventually, I will be doing a post dedicated to each type of shoot and first up, one of my favourite shoots of all- maternity!

During a shoot, you will have the opportunity for two, maybe even three outfits in total. I do recommend taking advantage of this, not only to incorporate more of your favourite outfits, but also to give some variety to your final images. Most of the women I shoot do not wear maternity items per se, and judging by my own closet of flowing floral dresses, I understand how. I have compiled my favourite options below, but no matter what you choose to wear, my advice always reverts back to comfort- your outfit should allow you to move, to walk with your partner, to lay down and close your eyes, feeling the soft kicks inside. This shoot is also a celebration, and what better way to honour the body than allowing it to just be.

1) The Flowing Dress

Given my overall aesthetic and life ethos, it is hardly surprising that this is the first option (and likely my favourite). The flowing dress, made out of soft cotton or linen, falling over the curves of the body in a delicate drape. It is flattering, beautifully timeless and the perfect way to romanticize this chapter. Opt for soft neutrals, pastels, a classic white … or maybe even a floral print to make this photographer’s photo dreams come true.

2) The Form-Fitting Dress

A dress that we avoided during all other times of adult life- the form-fitting, or “body-con” dress. It is truly perfect for showing off the bump, and particularly awesome for silhouette portraits, and more minimal portraits taken at a distance. I personally love this look in combination with something a bit more flowy to have the best of both worlds.

3) The Slip Dress

Another romantic option I love! The way the silk falls along the body, sensuously kissing each curve. Magic. And quite frankly, pretty sexy. Pair it with a draped cardigan and some amazing jewellery to complete the look.

4) The White Shirt

Hello, old friend. The classic white shirt- something we all have in our wardrobes already, or better yet, borrow his for an oversized look. I love this undone completely, tied up, buttoned strategically for some coverage, you name it.

5) The Robe

The robe, the shawl, the kimono, the cardigan- a layering piece worn about a hundred different ways. Pair it with a form-fitting dress or a slip dress as an easy way to “switch” your outfit without even changing. Or, layer it over your underwear to add some coverage, while still showing off your shape. It is easy, lightweight and so flattering in the way it delicately covers.

6) … Nothing!

The final option… and one that truthfully, I hope more women choose! I get it- it is innately uncomfortable to have a woman with a camera come into your home and photograph you at your most bare. Totally strange. BUT, I promise you, you are in good hands. I will honour your best angles, find some ease in the situation and help you feel your most beautiful. One of my clients even told me afterwards that her nude portraits were some of her favourite of the whole shoot! And in the end, to quote the legendary Moira Rose, “Take a thousand naked pictures of yourself now. One day you will look at those photos with much kinder eyes”.

Well, I am the kinder eyes taking your photo today, and I can’t wait to document this chapter for you.

why I photograph love

Sunday, May 29th, 2022

Photograph by Madeleine Dalkie

To me, love is everywhere.

Romantic I know, but let me elaborate.

Love, for me, is rooted in observation, in curiosity. In acceptance. In gratitude. Love is being present enough to notice the thing, to celebrate it for exactly what it is and to thank it for its unique presence in the world, for simply existing in all of its perfect and brave authenticity.

I pass a flower blooming on the edge of the city sidewalk, its delicate roots intertwining with concrete. It is alone and already I wish it had friends close by, but in this moment it has me. The pale yellow petals fold into an intricate maze, holding bees like pillowy clouds as they drop in to say hello with a kiss. How it shares its sweet gift with another so generously. I smile at its beauty, at the way it allows the warm breeze to rush across it before setting into stillness once again. Even though a hundred dirty shoes pass by and threaten to crush it in their hurriedness, it has bloomed where it was planted (nature forever teaching us about resiliency). I feel happy even though this flower has not done anything for me- it has not given me a present on my birthday, nor ran an errand on my behalf during a busy time. It has not complimented me on my new haircut. What I feel for it doesn’t really have anything to do with me at all. It simply exists, as it is, and my day is made all the more wonderful for it. An act of love.

I think I found love everywhere starting at an early age because I needed to. I couldn’t find it at home, no matter how badly I wanted to. Instead of comfort, I found fear and instead of acceptance, shame. Instead of love, my heart broke about a thousand times. I was told, often, that there was no love to be found in me either, that I did not possess anything lovable in my small innocent body. I was told that I would have to try really hard to become someone different, someone that could earn love one day, maybe. This person who was supposed to love me before I even entered this life could not see all the love around her and blamed me for its absence. So I found love everywhere else to remind myself that it existed, and I let it surround me. I would run barefoot across the grass, reaching the pond with wet cheeks, the quiet of dusk wrapping me up like a soft blanket. I would watch as a fish leapt fearlessly into the air for the mosquito hovering above. And if the mosquito escaped, the fish would leap again, trusting in itself, believing in its ability to survive. An act of love.

Over the years, I reassured myself that I was worthy of love. This was harder to believe at times, or with certain people. People that want the rose but not the thorn, so to speak. People that want the ease of loving the pretty thing without the effort of loving the thing that truly needs the love. I tried to show only my pretty things and although my soul was craving love, my behaviour was merely seeking approval, something that very weakly resembles love. It took me many years to be brave and to show another the cracks, the darkness, the still open wound— and ask, “but can you love this too?” For me, bravery was knowing that while not everyone would be able to answer “yes”, I would still be okay in the end because I answered “yes” to myself. An act of love.

They say what you do is not who you are and while I tend to agree, I find those things inextricably linked in me. Photography is what I do, but love is who I am and love is there in every photograph I take. Capturing everyday moments of love has become my career, but observing them was always my passion, my reason to hope, my lifeline to joy. I am so grateful for all the couples, families and souls who have welcomed me in to see them, to get to know them and to let them shine exactly as they are. It has been my greatest act of love to believe in its very existence and when I am behind my camera, I see that it is possible, that it is abundant, and that it is more wonderful than I ever dreamed.

a warm welcome to rose and sunday

Sunday, May 1st, 2022

A few years ago, I had wrapped my third wedding season. Seemingly overnight, photography had gone from a beloved hobby to my career as I was plucked from obscurity onto a team of wildly talented photographers. I was busier than I had ever envisioned, so grateful for the opportunities and fabulous events that I was a part of…. and burnt out. I was completely and utterly burnt out.

My apartment was a cluttered mess, my body was so run down it was turning against me and emotionally, I was overwhelmed. I desperately craved an escape and if I found one, I didn’t want to come home again.

That was January 2020.

I didn’t know what my next step was going to be- I only knew that what I had been doing was not sustainable. I thought, perhaps photography was better suited to something part-time or even a passion project on the side. A hobby, just like it had been since I was a child.

And then came March. And with it, a global pandemic.

“I thought, perhaps photography was better
suited to something part-time…”

It was a time of such collective heartache, separation and fear as we watched the world screech to a halt. I was without work and wasn’t sure what a career, or life for that matter, would look like under these new circumstances. But, I was able and blessed enough to hunker down. I watched movies, read books, and rediscovered cooking- a passion of mine that also fell by the wayside in all of the busyness. I bought plants and watched them grow. I built a gallery wall in my living room and shed tears as my long-awaited visions of home finally came true. I didn’t pick up my camera for a while, but when I did once again, it was for me…only for me, to explore and to express all the complexities of what I was feeling.

And in that time, healing.

“I didn’t pick up my camera for a while, but when I did once again, it was for me….only for me.”

A little over two years later, I am here. I am working full-time as a photographer once again, though this time around, it is nourishing. Inspiring. Filled with moments that make me want to pick up my camera again and again and get closer and closer to the well of creativity inside.

I never dreamt I’d have a website of my own, but I am so proud of it. Proud of this place that feels like me and represents what I want to create in this world, for the people around me. A place filled with softness and intention, warmth and love. A place for everyday magic, untouched and unbothered by the hectic world outside. A place to sit down for a little while with a cup of tea and a biscuit.
A place with books and laughter and the smell of roses and Sunday mornings. Like the best kind of home, maybe.