Thanks for coming to check out our first Two x Fifty-two Blog Circle! There is some amazing talent in this group, from all over the world. Please click through the circle to see some serious eye candy!

Because Ali and I started 2 weeks later than the rest of the group, we only have 2 images to choose from for our first blog circle. But as soon as I saw her first week image I knew it was going to be a favourite. Some photographers shoot for the light, but Ali shoots for the shadows, and it gives such depth to her images. I love this shot of the vines out the windows with the light coming through, and the texture from the glass gives it all an element of mystery. Plus those tiny little sunbursts? Perfection! This is the stuff I always see, but can never capture quite right.

Click through to Claudia’s post to see her partner’s work, and from there you can head over to Ali to see which of my images she liked best!

Happy Canada Day weekend to all of you in Canadaland! 🙂

Week two of my Project 52 with Ali was, again, somewhat of a struggle for me. As you can imagine, our mornings aren’t very calm or smooth around here right now. I am not a morning person what-so-ever, so finding inspiration so soon after I wake up is not an easy task. I had an image in my head of me laying snuggled with Gryff while Archer climbs in from the foot of the bed like he does most mornings. Unfortunately, I am usually delirious at this point in the morning and don’t often notice him in bed with me until he has already started talking (read: yelling) about breakfast/having to pee/dinosaurs, etc. This is usually followed with some frustration on my part as I try to bargain with him to quiet down and exit the room smoothly before Gryffin wakes up. Not usually my finest moment of the day.

Occasionally my brain is alert enough for my tactics to be successful, and Gryffin is able to continue his slumber while I get up with Archer. Doesn’t he look so peaceful in that morning light? And check out that ginger hair!

Click here to check out Ali’s interpretation of MORNING, and come back tomorrow to check out our first months blog circle!

I think at 8 weeks out, we are finally starting to find a groove with this whole ‘two kids’ thing. I say that now, and in about 2.5 minutes things will change and I’ll be trying to stay above water again. But in all seriousness, the newborn fog lifted around 5-6 weeks and my body has officially adjusted to the sleep deprivation, and I feel like I have a handle on things. Getting out of the house is easier and staying home is easier, and we have had less tantrums and tears (these are not exclusive to the 2 year old). Why am I telling you this? I don’t know…. on to the eye candy!

With summer in full swing we are spending a lot of time outside, and when we are inside you can almost guarantee someone is in just their underwear.

You might have already seen these on my Facebook, but I can’t stop gushing. I left the room one afternoon and came back to see Archer holding Gryffins hand and chatting away to him. I obviously sprinted for my camera, and boy am I glad I did. I know their moments together won’t always be so tender (why are boys so rough?!), so I am happy to have this memory in the bank.

To get my creative juices flowing one afternoon I thought I would do a little mini lifestyle shoot with the boys (story of their life), so we went outside to do our favourite things and I tried to get a few more details than I normally would.

Gryffin blowing his own bubbles 😉

The week ended with some Father’s Day festivities. Believe me when I say we have some pretty awesome fathers in our life – Eric, of course, and both Papa and Pepe are strong influences in our life. I am thankful everyday to not only have these men for our boys, but also for me.

Meme and Pepe couldn’t bring a gift for Eric without bringing one for Archer. He has barely let Optimus Prime out of his sight since he got it.

I can’t leave this post without saying how great of a father Eric is. I have never been more proud of him and the way he continues to rise for us. He is the most hardworking guy I know, and he is already instilling that into the boys. I knew on our wedding day that I was making a good decision, but never did I expect this much good to come of it.

Happy belated Father’s Day to all the great Dads out there!

B.

Well I have another fun series starting for you all this week. Through the photography community I have met a ton of amazing people, many of which inspire me and are constantly pushing me creatively. For the next year I have teamed up with the talented Ali over at Smith & Archer Photography (How’s that for a coincidence?!) for a 2×52 project. Each week we have a theme and we both blog our images, and at the end of each month we will choose a favourite from each others set and hop in a blog circle with a few other pairs doing the same project. The best part about this is that we are spread out all over the world! Ali lives in Melbourne, Austraila, and works as a science teacher and photographer. She also has 2 kids, so I am excited to see some parallels in our lives even though we are on opposite ends of the Earth.

Our Week 1 theme is LIGHT, and I have to admit I struggled. It was such a broad theme that I couldn’t decide how I wanted do it. Finally on the last day of the week I spotted a few baby dinosaurs sitting in this perfect pocket of light on our dining room chairs.

Click over to Ali’s post to see how she interpreted this weeks theme.

I’m sure all of you stay at home moms out there will completely understand the feeling when your partner finally comes home at the end off the day. We are ALL always very excited when Eric gets home from work, and in the evenings Dad often trumps Mom (as you can see!)

I decided to try to do something fun out of the house one day when Archer was home from daycare. I thought since he is really into dinosaurs right now we would check out Stones N Bones in Sarnia, then have a picnic in the park for lunch. For the record, I was pretty impressed with myself for giving this a go – it was pretty ambitious with both boys on my own. As it turns out, Archer did not care for the museum, and it was much too cold and windy in Sarnia for a picnic. So, we came home and had a picnic in our living room! And because I don’t always have these fun ideas (or the care-free attitude to eat on a white blanket in the living room), I propped my camera up on a chair, grabbed my remote and hopped in the frame.

Archer loves to go wake Gryffin up from his nap, sometimes he sneaks in the room quietly and uses his best baby talk to wake him up, and other times it goes a little more like “raawwrr long-neck eat your head!” …

I finally remembered to take a more appropriate lens to Archer’s lacrosse, and even though it’s still not ideal, I had fun finding a big enough hole in the mesh to fit my lens into. #noshame

Gryffin and I tagged along for a little field trip to Greenview Aviaries with Archer’s daycare and we had a lot of fun. There were 3 daycares there all together, and ohmygawd those women are saints. Those kids are busy! Archer absolutely loves Kylie, and we are so lucky to have him in such a great home daycare, something I appreciate even more after spending the day with all of those toddlers! All of the kids with the daycare left early afternoon at the same time as all of the school groups, so we were suddenly almost alone in the zoo that was PACKED all day. We took advantage of the emptiness and took our time leaving.

Who cares about the monkeys, look how I can fill my shoes with stones!

For the record, there is a reason these are only for children. I could barely walk coming off of this thing! But after seeing a few friends play with slow shutter speeds, I had to give it a try. 

And a few more of my boys to finish off the week. I can’t believe how fast Gryffin is growing. It is hard to believe he has only been here for 8 weeks. In some ways it is like he has always been here, and yet I can’t believe he is already 2 months old. He is officially full of smiles – especially for Daddy and Archer. He currently hates tummy time, still nurses non-stop, and is sleeping well. I am one happy Mama!

Phew, that was a heavy week! Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,

B.

Week 22 has come and gone, and just like the rest, it was busy, fun, exhausting and so full. Full of activities, full of work, full of laugher… the list goes on. I started another personal project to keep me shooting daily throughout the summer, so if you follow me on instagram you will have seen some of these images in my 100 Days of Summer posts. I am loving the flexibility of this Project 52, but I miss the challenge of shooting daily after completing the 365, so I thought this might be perfect! Plus, it will make a great album at the end of the summer! Follow the hashtag #one2summer to see myself and some of my friends doing the same project.

This guy goes between diapers and big boy underwear every day. I can’t wait for it to click for him. He is a very strong minded little dude, so he is resisting us a bit, but we know he can do it so when he decides he wants to, it will happen quickly I’m sure.

Some baby toes and some ginger hairs. Who knows if it will stick around, but the Gryff man is a little ginger (and I couldn’t be happier about it!)!

Timbit dates in the park after daycare…

…and watching the sun go down behind this clubhouse of imagination make for fun evenings together.

A watching our friends do awesome things (like learn to walk!!) makes for fun play dates. Go Stewie, go!

Is there anything better than big man hands and arms surrounding a baby? I didn’t think so!

And finally, after a rough day with Mr. Attitude, I wasn’t keen on taking him to watch Eric’s baseball tournament, but he  surprised me with his good behaviour and we had a great day at the ball diamonds. Eric was having a great time playing catch with Archer, and Arch loved sitting on the bench and watching him at bat. Gryffin slept through the whole experience, obviously!

Cheers!

B.

I am here today to share some images from one of my all-time favourite sessions from last summer. Working as a lifestyle photographer in Chatham-Kent allows me to see so much of the beauty in peoples lives. These sessions are not about the smiles and the poses, they are full of real, raw moments that are so personal for each family. I love taking a back seat to your day and watching the way your family moves together, interacting in the most natural way. The smiles are real, the laughs are genuine, everyone is comfortable, and it shows. Lifestyle sessions allow personalities to shine as everyone has fun doing what they normally do.

Brent and Jess are some of my closest friends, so when they invited me out for an evening boat ride with their boys I knew it was going to be a great time. This is where they spend their weekends making memories and soaking up the sweet summer sunshine. The session was care free and easy, we all laughed together, and I got to sit back and watch them all of their thing. Both boys were full of energy when we arrived, and ready for bed when we left. Thanks again Brent and Jess for having me, it is to this date still one of my favourite sessions to look back on.

If you are interested in learning more about lifestyle photography or scheduling a session for your family, please fill out the contact form below. I am offering discounted sessions until July 1st, 2016, a one hour lifestyle session with me for $175, including digital files and a print release.