macey | whitehorse children's photographer

Meet Macey. She is one heck of a remarkable girl. She came out to my farm earlier this month for her session and boy, did we ever have a good time! While Macey is not verbal, she sure can sign with vigor and does a great job of communicating in some very inventive ways. She's a seriously girly-girl but on the other hand, she really likes all the best parts of the farm...particularly the straw bales (and we had a super fun ride on the tractor which was SO fun!!) We had a blast exploring the fields and I know she had as much fun as I did! Here's a bit of Macey's story in her mom's own words...
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Macey was born prematurely, at 26 6/7 weeks gestation weighing on 380 grams (approx. 3/4 of a pound). To date, Macey still holds the record for the smallest surviving baby born at BC Children's Hospital. Macey spent the first 10 months of her life in hospital due to the complications of her prematurity and extremely small birth weight. At age 6 months Macey had a tracheostomy (breathing tube placed in her neck) and the trach remained in place until July 2007. Macey's continues to have a compromised airway and will require a second reconstructive airway surgery in the future (her airway is approximately 65% blocked).

Macey is followed closely by our family doctor as her compromised airway poses severe and ongoing risks. We also visit BC Children's Hospital for follow-up and planning 1-2 times a year and for emergency trips as required.

Macey's current diagnoses are:
-restricted airway (subglottic stenosis with 65% blockage)
-open neck stoma (remains open due to risk of needing to be re-trached)
-asthma
-feeding aversion (g-tube dependent)
-cerebral palsy
-non verbal (uses signs and basic sounds)
-developmental delays

But of course, Macey is much more than her disabilities. She is a funny and sweet young girl who loves being a princess and has a passion for books. Macey has a fabulous sense of humor and is the joy of my life! If you would like to learn more about Macey's story (or at least the first few years) you can visit her webpage at:

www.trachkids.org/member/macey-hangartner




If you know of a family whose child is living with a life-altering illness or disability, please put them in touch with Helping Hearts where they can apply for their own complimentary portrait session. This service is available across the country.

reading list | whitehorse children's photographer

Okay, I admit it. I'm a chronic book buyer. I have multiple shelves crammed with books but I can honestly say I've ready most of them... however, I buy them more frequently than it seems like I take the time to actually read them. I am a big fat book nerd. I really love marketing books and other kinds of business oriented non-fiction! So much so that the other day, while picking up a copy of the newest Artemis Fowl book for my oldest son, the man behind the counter asked me if he was allowed to sell me this children's graphic novel because I'm only a non-fiction customer.

But while I love business & marketing books and other non-fiction (don't even get me started on DIY and other how-to publications!) I do adore a good, effortless novel. That kind of read is akin to a vacay for my brain.

As you may or may not know, I love my birthday and just so happen to celebrate it for an entire week. I have a girlfriend who does likewise and her birthday isn't long after mine. So for the last few years, we've been helping each other celebrate birthday week with boxes full of gifts - one for each day of birthday week including a traditional birthday book. Her criteria for a birthday week book is based largely on cover art. My criteria tends to only require that it be an autobiography of a celeb...and the trashier, the better.

This past year, neither she nor I really needed any more stuff so instead (while home on Vancouver Island for birthday week) we visited the Chapters in Victoria BC and bought each other a stack of novels. Oh, and we threw in cook books for good measure but that was just a means of manipulating her household rule of "no more buying cook books" (this was a gift so she's okay!)

This particular title ONE DAY by DAVID NICHOLLS was one of the books in the stack and I have to tell ya, I read half of it in one day (almost in one sitting!). It's being made into a movie but I'm a strict "book first, then movie" kinda gal. So far, this novel is easy to follow along, the characters are satisfyingly complicated without being confusing and the pace of the story line is adequate to keep my tired mommy/entrepreneur brain pleasantly engaged without it feeling like work. Perfect. So far I give this four out of five stars... I save the decision regarding the potential for a fifth star on the ending which I hear is pretty good. I'll get back to you on that.

my life | whitehorse children's photographer

Okay, so don't pay any attention to how MESSY my kitchen is but rather, find yourself in awe over the incredible transformation of my kitchen. I live in my husband's childhood home here in beautiful Whitehorse Yukon. Our house is super funky. It's an octagon log home with an 8-panel peaked roof so it's kinda like living inside a giant crayon. We have windows on almost all sides of the house and one (leaky) skylight - but that's another story altogether. So our walls, being log are obviously BROWN. The ceiling is natural wood so again, BROWN. My flooring,as you can see is laminate and yep, you guessed it, BROWN. My countertops are BROWN and the cupboards, despite that weird tint that heavily verithane-d wood takes on (yeah, orange) they're a version of brown too.

Recently, we finally got rid of our leather sofa set which was also brown. I traded it for a chenille fabric set which is a delicious warm and comfy shade of GREY! But the kitchen can feel terribly dark in the winter so all that brown was not helping the situation. Two years ago, we picked out hardware but we never did anything with it. It sat in a bag in the bottom of my closet largely forgotten about and buried under giant dust bunnies. This summer, that bag was rescued from dust bunny hell and finally opened up with REAL intentions of being used. Now truth be told, it wasn't exactly a wave of DIY inspiration that finally kicked my ass into gear. No. It was the fact that the kids actually pulled one of the upper cupboard doors right off the wall and I figured one door down, twelve more to go (and four drawers!).

So after puttying old hardware holes (because standard sizing has changed a little since the 70's which is when the kitchen last received an update), scrubbing fuzzy grease accumulation (you know the stuff, it's always and only found in kitchens!) with TSP - bless the inventors of that stuff!, and a little sanding wherever necessary, I got to priming and weeks later, paint & new hardware. I feel kinda like I just climbed Mount Everest but I have to admit that even though I'm nowhere near done (upper cabinets & a new tile backsplash, baseboard trim too) I feel like my kitchen is my favorite room in the entire house!

I can't promise when this will be completed but I do feel proud of the work done so far. I definitely don't love renovations on any scale but this was certainly worth the trouble. Phew. Now I need another rest after reliving that experience in writing...

keelan | back to school mini sessions | whitehorse children's photographer

Here's my new buddy, Keelan. We had a super fun time at his Back to School session and there was a lot of chatting and very impressive spelling going on. He's a super confident and friendly young man. I sure had a fun time photographing this fine fellow!!

kennedy | back to school mini sessions | whitehorse children's photographer

This is Kennedy. She came down to the studio to take part in the Back to School sessions and I can't tell you how fun this session was. She's got ridiculously cute pigtails and dark brown eyes that would melt anyone's heart. Check this little sweetheart out!

my life | whitehorse children's photographer

If you have been watching my Facebook Fan Page lately, you will have noticed that I posted a few snapshots of my new tattoos. I waited a long time to finally get another tattoo - TEN years!! And while these two pieces of body art were a little impulsive, the reasons behind them are nothing new.

While I was at the NAPCP retreat in Vail, Colorado earlier this year, I participated in a class that encouraged us as artists to really look inside ourselves to find where our inspiration and style come from. I didn't think I would gain anything from this workshop and I was a little skeptical. I wondered, "how is someone else gonna teach me MY style?"... well, I could not have been more pleasantly surprised. Not only did the instructors, Deb Schwedhelm and Leah Zawadzki not even try to teach me my style, they knocked my socks off by opening my eyes to where it comes from within ME. Most of the women in our group (who were brave enough to share their stories with the rest of us) were in tears - it was like being on Oprah! and I was one of them. I felt a connectedness with my own inspiration and for the first time I had looked it square in the face and could explain, describe and articulate where my "stuff" comes from. I felt liberated, renewed and unstoppable!

Since returning home from the retreat, I have approached every day in my studio with a different kind of confidence and a sense of being super "tuned-in". My clients are benefitting, the mundane administrative functions of my business are benefitting and I personally am benefitting. I could not be in a more powerful creative position. So this tattoo speaks to that. It illustrates how I express my love for my art and for my job by using my camera, it embodies the purpose for using the tools that I do - to celebrate love and it is a reminder to me for why I do what I do. (fyi - that's on my forearm, where I can see it every day.)


This little guy doesn't have nearly as deep a meaning. It's just cute and fun and I can't imagine one single person not enjoying the silliness of it. That one is just because it makes me happy.

noah & payten | whitehorse children's photographer

A few weeks back, just after the nasty rains were just beginning to think about giving us a break before the snow started to fly, I had scheduled a session with this fantastic family at Fish Lake. Unfortunately, not long into our session, we realized that the post-rain climate had made for perfect conditions for insane black fly breeding! The swarms were unbearable and after a whole-hearted attempt to create fun and relaxed images (with not a lot of success), we decided to wrap up for the time being and reschedule our session another day - away from buggy Fish Lake.

So this past week, we met up along my favorite stretch of the Millennium Trail in Whitehorse along the Yukon River. We walked, we picked flowers, we blew dandelion puffs and we even spotted a few sunflowers that some kind soul had planted along the trail. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing (which meant NO BUGS!) and we enjoyed a wonderful stroll through the trees.

Occasionally, when the forces are working against us (like bugs, rain, cranky kiddos), we just finish up and continue the remainder of the session another day. I have incredibly high expectations for the variety and quality of image options for my clients to choose from in their session so sometimes, that means we get to hang out together one more time. That's always fun!! I love knowing that my clients are flexible and I do my best to be also, that way there's no pressure and everyone is relaxed and enjoying themselves. Plus everyone's confident that we're getting amazing captures from the time we DO spend together!

So without further ado, here are the images from both sessions with big brother Noah and his little sister, Payten.

Be sure to leave 10 comments below so this family can receive a special prize!!