keisha, liam & ana | whitehorse children's photographer

While on my birthday ladycation to Vancouver Island at the end of March, I was fortunate enough to catch up with several friends (as you saw in the last post) and the weather couldn't have been more perfect!! For this session, I met up with a good friend, Shannon at the Comox Marina. She actually has four kids but Anthony (Keisha's twin brother) was away for the weekend at a Rangers event so we rocked it with the three superstars who were available!!

Liam, the youngest of the brood was the first in front of the camera, and of course he had lots of "cheese" ready for me!

Ana was pretty much game for anything we suggested. She's a full-fledged poser with all the moves! Get a load of those killer green eyes!! Wowzers!
Miss Keisha had a bit of a hard time relaxing in front of the camera but with a bit of patience and persisitence, she gave me exactly what I'd been waiting for! What fantastic kids. So cooperative and patience while waiting their turns! Thanks for a fun morning gang!!

rowen, abi & oliver | whitehorse children's photographer

Meet Rowen, Abi & Oliver. They are the kids of a very good friend of mine from my hometown of Courtenay BC. Actually, they live in a teeny town outside of Courtenay called Royston. I met their mama, Simone in grade five and we've been pals ever since (can you believe that's like, 25 years, Simone?!?!). She was the lucky winner of one of my session giveaways on my Facebook Fan Page before Christmas and so when I started planning my birthday ladycation to Vancouver Island, fitting in her session was certain to be a highlight!

At her request, we met up in Cumberland which is a quirky, sleepy little town in the mountains where all the buildings are colorfully painted and have more character than one short photo session could every capture.

There is something really special about growing up with someone and then seeing their children grow. I felt so blessed to be able to share my love of photography with such a dear friend and to create these images of her beautiful children. I know she's going to flip when she sees these photos since we had a broody teen, a disinterested middle sister and a very contrary 2 year old on our hands... which makes every mom worry about whether I'm "getting anything". Of course I did!!

Hope you love these, Simone. Thanks for sharing the morning (and those yummy Cumberland Bakery - formerly Auchterlonies donuts) with me. Love ya and I miss ya already. ♥

elias | whitehorse children's photographer

This is Elias. I have been secretly DYING to photograph him (for obvious reasons... hello blue eyes!!) and his mom & dad brought him out to my farm for a Valentines Mini session earlier in January. He was the sweetest thing... He was completely enamoured with this little red ukulele and was even playing us a tune!

He charmed his way through his session and I just know his mama is going to MELT over these darling images. Thanks for hangin' out with me, Elias! Can't wait to do it again :)

12 days of christmas - final day | whitehorse children's photographer

Right before Christmas, for the first 12 days of December, I did a giveaway on my Facebook fan page. There were different prompts for each of the 12 days which were all very hilarious. There were stories shared that talked about the worst office party Secret-Santa gift (hello, blue wrestling leotard!) and the Christmas tree full of baby spiders... but I had one very special gift to give which I saved for the very last day. That gift was this entire special package from my Black Friday sale. I wanted to give the gift of photography including prints.

The contest went something like this: Followers of the fan page were to email me privately with nominations of families who they felt deserving of a little extra Christmas magic. The response was pretty fantastic and the stories were told in such a sincere and heartfelt manner which made it really hard to decide who would receive this gift. After a few days of mulling over the nominations, I finally made a decision. The family had been chosen, but now I had to coordinate the actual suprise!

I called the woman who had nominated the lucky family to tell her that her entry had been chosen. She was a little emotional but was so excited for her friend. We had to keep it a secret for a few days until we could make the presentation in person. I asked my friend, Johanna from Birds on a Wire Photography to join us to grab a few photos along the way.

I was so excited to tell our winner about her being nominated PLUS I had another wee surprise planned for the nominator too!

I rang the doorbell and a very confused Rachel answered the door. She listened closely as I explained who I was and what the heck I was doing standing on her stoop on Christmas Eve with a photographer standing behind me! She quickly went from confused to excited when all the information sunk in. I told her that her good friend Ashley had nominated her for my contest and she said, "...and I won?!?!" as a huge smile spread across her face. It was such a fun moment!

Then I got to tell Ashley that I was giving her the very same prize for sharing the love on Christmas! I love kind heartedness and honestly, this was so much fun I think I could do it every day! These gals were so dang sweet and completely overjoyed to find that they both got this awesome prize, I knew I had picked a great family to give this gift to!

nominator Ashley Griffis on the left, me in the middle and winner Rachel McIntyre on the right

To all of those who nominated families who were not selected, thank you for being so selfless and for sharing your stories. They were all very touching and I know that they are all blessed for having such wonderful friends like you!

To everyone, Happy New Year!
♥ Vanessa

introducing avery & isaac | whitehorse children's photographer

If there's anything I love, it's photographing kids. Honestly, this is one of the things I was put on this earth to do! Especially when I'm buried alive in a sea of half-filled orders and my office is shrinking for all the giant shopping bags stuffed with tissue (waiting for delivery to my amazing clients!) Just when it was feeling like packing bags and filing paperwork was going to last forever, the time came for me to be pulled away for a few hours to get silly & creative with these two sweet kidlets! Yay for me :)

braeden & robyn | whitehorse children's photographer

I love it when my friends ask me to photograph their children. As though it weren't enough of a gift to have these remarkable women in my life, they then invite me to be a part of archiving their family's history in images. I know they feel like I'm giving them something but when I walk away from a session having created images like these, I know that my life is richer for having the opportunity to stop time in such a beautiful, magical way.

This is the lovely Robyn. She's graduating high school this year and leaving to very broken-hearted albeit proud parents behind to go to University in Ottawa. Big ambitions and an exciting life lay ahead for this stunning young woman.

This handsome young man is Braeden. From what I understand from his mama, he lives for hockey. He plays hard and makes those who know him proud of his commitment to his sport. He graciously agreed to having his photos done (to make the aforementioned mama happy, I suspect) and wasn't giving away smiles for free but I do think I managed a rather accurate representation of the broody teenager, don't you think? A charming guy who clearly would do *almost* anything to make his mama happy :)

eban & kaelan | whitehorse children's photographer

After a whirlwind September, thankfully my October has been a little quieter (well, things only LOOK quieter... don't even get me started on the busy-ness that's happening in the studio!) but with the quiet comes fewer sessions... Luckily these guys were on the calendar to keep my mojo flowing behind the camera. They came out to my farm with their mama & dad as well as with their Nanny and Grandpa from back east. We trekked out into the wee skim of snow for some fun (but slightly chilly) photos in the full bright afternoon sun.

This handsome fella is Eban. He was preparing to turn six (actually, today's his birthday) and he was givin' me all his 6-year old awesomeness!! Happy Birthday, Eban!

And this curly haired charmer is Kaelan. The eyes are just killin' me!! I know I say this all the time but it's photographing kids like these guys that makes me LOVE my job!!

What a fun afternoon! Thanks so much for coming out to the farm, guys! I hope you had as much fun as I did...but I'm betting you did because I know I wasn't the only one cracking up laughing at all the silliness that was going on! Can't wait to see you all again :)

nathan & quinn | whitehorse children's photographer

It was a Sunday much like any other Sunday except for the part where I get to photograph hilarious, busy boys like these two! Big brother Nate and little brother Quinn came out to the farm in the afternoon to explore, run, climb, and oh yeah... get photos done! They were awesome cooperators, charmed their way through the entire session and finished the whole thing off with a trip out to the cow pasture to visit, pet & feed "the girls". The wind started picking up toward the end of our session but these two were absolute troopers. What a fun time!

danica | whitehorse children's photographer

Sometimes I get super lucky and have the chance to photograph babies who possess a timeless, classic type of beauty... just like this sweet darling, Danica. Her mama brought her out to the farm yesterday and even though we had to work our butts off for each and every smile, they weren't the expressions that were making me melt as I picked images for today's sneaks.

I love it when cautious babies take their time to warm up to new people (like me)...they give me such an honest look at how they percieve the world and those expressions are such a gift because upon second and subsequent meetings, I'm no longer a stranger and therefore cannot ever grab these thoughtful looks ever again.

These lovely bouncing curls stole my heart from the very second she arrived at my door. A sweet, sweet character who was a tough nut to crack but a joy to meet & photograph. Thanks for coming to my farm and spending the afternoon with me ladies!!

hunter & jaxson | whitehorse children's photographer

Wow, this weekend is just bursting with awesomeness. These guys were my subjects this afternoon and I can't get over the killer light & mood of the day. We did some ridiculous fun stuff and also this serious (delicious!) stuff. It was one heck of a full day but these two totally rocked it! Thanks for a killer afternoon guys!

t & c | whitehorse children's photographer

It was yet another bright, brisk fall morning and I was super excited to photograph these guys. We did photos earlier in the year when it was still snowy outside so we were indoors the whole time last time. It was WAY more fun to work outside. These guys LOVED all the space, the straw bales and after our session wrapped up, we piled into the truck to go visit our cows. It was a complete trip to the country for this family.

matthew | whitehorse children's photographer

Months ago I was asked to photograph these guys. My business was brand new and nobody knew me from a hole in the wall but this mom, Elke wanted to book me for fall photos as soon as possible. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage. They wanted a couple of family images which made me a little nervous because I really only photograph kids & babies but I figured if I can rock a maternity session, this isn't a whole lot different. The part that intimidated me the most wasn't the fact that the dad, Gerard is a Harley-ridin' biker...nope, that wasn't it. It wasn't that they are a French family and my French SUCKS... nope, that wasn't it either. Both Elke & Gerard are non-hearing. Their darling son, Matthew is a doozy of an interpreter! PHEW (plus Gerard is a rockstar at lipreading!! PHEW again!)

When I arrived at the Harley dealership, I was greeted with smiling faces (on all the burly biker men who all stuck around to watch the goings-on, I might add!), beautiful weather and a very charming & funny Gerard. Elke arrived with Matthew and we got right down to business. The temps were a bit chilly but the sun was warm and so was the company. We laughed lots, made some super fun photos and enjoyed a day in the sun downtown at the Harley dealership and also up at Fish Lake. All in all, it was one of the funnest (yep, that's a real word...in my world it is, anyway) days I've had in a long time. Thanks for a great time guys :)

asher, kiran & aidan | whitehorse children's photographer

There's something extra, extra awesome about being given the opportunity to photograph the children of friends. One of my besties in the whole world is Tara and these three turkeys are her boys. I love these guys like family and photographing them was busy (because that's just how they roll) but I think I managed to grab a wee morsel of their personalities.

This session has been a long time coming and we waited patiently for the beautiful fall colors and boy, they didn't disappoint.

Sweet, sweet Ashie being his usual, charming heart-melting self... *sigh*

This would be Aidan pretending he's not SUPER excited about having his picture taken!

And really, what is there to say about this. This is Kiran being Kiran. So stinkin' cute.

And last but not least, we have Ned. He's the family dog and he is loved so dearly. He's a massive, hairy, sweet & affectionate (did I mention massive?) dog. I think Neddy is pretty great. I love dogs and taking his photo was the cherry on the cake of my day.
♥ Thanks gang!

jack & haiden | whitehorse children's photographer

The last time I photographed these two, it was FREEZING outside and it was the first time we'd met... which often means that I only get a small fraction of who each kid is in their session. This time, however, they let 'er rip and brough the crazy in a wonderful, wacky way. There is a sweet bond these brothers share that makes me wonder if my kids are the only boys on earth who scrap like sworn enemies... Never mind that, can we all agree that Jack (the wink-er) is a silly goose and big brother Haiden is a sharp looking young man? Yeah, I think we can.

Thanks for a fun and busy session guys!

jenna, hannah, meghan & matthew | whitehorse children's photographer

I ♥ morning sessions! The light is just dreamy and everyone is full of what my granny would call "vim and vigor".

Back in February, I met this family to photograph their newest addition (Jenna) and her next-in-line big sister, Hannah. It was a fun & entertaining session which included loads of laughter so when they booked another session for all four siblings in the fall, I was pretty tickled. Four kids is a pretty decent sized group to wrangle and well, if you know me at all, you know I LOVE a good challenge.

We got the group stuff outta the way before social politics started to interfere but shortly afterward, we got some doozies of each sibling on their own. This lovely young man, Matthew is the oldest of the four and the only boy. Sorely outnumbered but charming as heck anyway!

This little Miss Hannah was having the best time EVER with the dandelion puffs. Favorite toddler/preschooler and overall kid thing to do in my fields :)

Even though at the early hour we were shooting, this tractor wheel was CHILLY (and her biscuits were freezing) Meghan rocked this shot and I think that this has got to be one of my most favorite shots of the day.

and finally, we have the darling Jenna. The baby. I photographed her when she was only a few weeks old and now she's such a big girl!

I must say, this job is so fulfilling. I love watching my clients' kids grow up and blossom into their own unique personalities. It's so fun capturing their own magical sparkle and creating images like these for their families to enjoy forever. Thanks so much for coming out to my farm, guys!