I had a very quick session with Calum and Niall on my last day in Halifax. Their mom Chrissy, is one of my oldest pals. We played in the pipe band together and were always roommates on band trips, and together we had an acronym-based code language. Our session was the day before Halloween and by the time I arrived at their place, Calum had already been a Clone Trooper at his school party and had consumed enough sugar to turn him in to a tiny human tornado. He gave me my workout for the day as I tried to keep up with him through the piles of leaves, up and down the ladder to the tree house, and in and out of the house. Niall, on the other hand, was freshly changed out of his Darth Vader baby costume and was pretty chilled out…too tiny for candy this Halloween.

Grace contacted me to take some family portraits during my stay in New Glasgow. They had a beautiful barn in their back yard complete with a collection of homemade bird houses.

Shoshanna Fraser is a Cape Breton photographer who contacted me after I returned to Victoria last fall from my visit East. She was pregnant at the time and was hoping to have some maternity photos taken and since I usually head home for my annual visit in October, that shoot wouldn’t work out. We managed to make plans for a shoot during this trip and planned to shoot rain or shine. Her daughter Finley (in Shoshanna’s words), is a ‘tough Cape Breton girl’ and at 7.5 months old, she tolerated the wind, rain, and chilly temperatures on our early morning shoot at Little River Wharf. Thanks to Merrill’s shack, we were able to still shoot and get some shelter from the elements.

It makes sense to put the past two blog posts back to back. Not only were they shot on the same morning, the moms in these two families are sisters. Kelly’s sister True contacted me to take some photos of her two kids, Owen and Olivia during my visit home. We met at Petersfield Provincial Park on the Northside and Kelly and her family met us at the end of True’s session for a few photos of the cousins together.

I have been coming home for three consecutive years in October, and each year Kelly is the first person to book her portrait session. It has been pretty special for me to see her daughter Drea grow up and compare the photos year to year. This session turned out to be a bit different since it was the first time I was able to convince Kelly and Michael to hop in front of the camera with their girl for a few frames….it’s pretty clear that Drea loved that idea! We lucked out with sunshine for their session, lots of wind, and even a heart-shaped cloud. Quite suitable if you ask me!

There’s just something about kids from Cape Breton that make me laugh…I guess we just ‘get’ each other. Roblyn contacted me a long while back about taking photos of her 5 year old daughter Erin. As soon as I arrived home on the Island, so did the rain…and the freezing rain, hail, and snow. With a few tweaks in our schedules, we managed to arrange a session for Erin on the only day the sun came out from behind the clouds. Roblyn went to great efforts to find some really super locations and Erin did the rest. She had me in stitches the whole session and is quite possibly the funniest 5 year old I have ever met.

I had a session with Regina and Troy and their two active boys yesterday at Cuthbert Holmes Park. The boys are pretty comical. Ethan was inviting everyone we met in the park to his birthday party while little Beckett had probably the coolest and most contagious laughs I’ve heard from a kid…straight from the bottom of his belly! Hard to believe we’re nearing the end of September with this fabulous weather we’ve been having. I’m heading home to Cape Breton for the month of October so here’s hoping this good weather blows East for all my sessions there!

After the Sound Advice school in Regina this July, I stayed a few extra days and spent the weekend with the MacDonald Family. I’ve already taken photos of Barb and Eilidh during their time in Victoria at the Canadian Highland Dancing Championships, but it was time to take some photos of the whole family together. Iain organizes the Sound Advice school and Eilidh (also a piper) and Ruaridh (a tenor drummer) both attended. After catching up on some much needed sleep, we had a quick visit with Iain’s mother then made our way out to a great red barn for the rest of the session (as recommended by Eilidh).

I was hoping to get these images edited for this week as Iain and Eilidh are over in Scotland to attend the World Highland Dancing Championships in Cowal where Eilidh will be competing…best of luck!! You may recognize superhero expert Duncan from my blog post a few weeks ago over on the Photographer Network blog. The entire family plays in the City of Regina Pipe Band, and they’ll also be part of the upcoming installment of Photographing the Art for pipes|drums. Stay tuned!

What a wedding! Donna and Karri came from Arizona to get married at the Delta Ocean Point on July 5, 2009. They contacted me at the beginning of the year and we first met while I was shooting Chris and Rebecca’s nuptials the weekend prior to their wedding. I arrived to the hotel room excited as they had told me about their footwear and the friendly rivalry they have in regards to their sneaker loyalty! Karri wears Vans and Donna is a Chuck Taylor gal all the way….just like me! The ceremony and reception were a wonderful display of love and great storytelling and Donna and Karri were an absolute joy to photograph.