Baby Shower Photography | Amrita and Manny Celebrate With Friends and Family at the Delta Hotel

Baby Shower Photography | Amrita and Manny Celebrate With Friends and Family at the Delta Hotel

Amrita and Manny are expecting a baby. They threw a baby shower at the Delta Hotel, invited their closest friends and family, and had some games and activities planned.

In fact, they worked with Heather of Bowtied with Love (my friend and event planner extraordinaire), so I was already excited for this.

I was asked to photograph the event, focusing mostly on candid moments, with a few group and family photos here and there, particularly as folks were arriving.

And that’s exactly what I did!

I wanted to capture a few details first, to showcase the lovely setting.

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Candid Photos At Lyndhurst Cottage | Mini Day In The Life With The Marcos Family

Candid Photos At Lyndhurst Cottage | Mini Day In The Life With The Marcos Family

Sarah’s mom, Ana, the matriarch of this family, approached me years ago to plan this photo-session, but because of timing issues (and later, Covid), it took us until this July to make it happen.

The idea was: document the family’s stay at their summer cottage, on Grippen lake.

I’ve been there before, because I’ve photographed their neighbors a bunch of times in years past. It’s a gorgeous place. Private, pristine, quiet…

And in mid-summer, that gorgeous green of the trees, couples with the deep blue of the lake…

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Awesome Candid Family Photos Without The Awkward Posing | An Hour In The Backyard With The Horner Family

Awesome Candid Family Photos Without The Awkward Posing | An Hour In The Backyard With The Horner Family

I’ve done more posey family photoshoots, and it’s been stressful. Stressful for the people involved, because they were too concerned about looking “just right” and smiling to the camera. But also stressful for me, because I knew that those smiles would never be as genuine as we could get if they just relaxed.

So over time, I’ve made it so that I mostly work with families who really and truly care about their real lives. Families who are not ashamed to post real photos. Families for whom family photos are not used to brag on social media, but rather - to cherish and relive, for years and years to come, with other family members and friends.

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Drawing at home, then catching crawfish at Babcock Mill, Odessa | "Day in the Life" with the Young family

Drawing at home, then catching crawfish at Babcock Mill, Odessa | "Day in the Life" with the Young family

Picking meaningful family activities to photograph

The first question we always discuss with families is: “what should we do during our photo-session?”

Lots of families already have pretty solid ideas of what they can do to spend some time together, while I snap the photos. Some families aren’t sure. That’s okay, too. This is why we have a fun consultation before even putting pen to paper (by which I mean… booking a session 😜 no actual paper is involved, it’s all online).

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"A Day In The Life" of The Tombeau-Cost Family | Toronto Documentary Family Session

"A Day In The Life" of The Tombeau-Cost Family | Toronto Documentary Family Session

Of course, a documentary session needs to capture the everyday moments. If every single day of your lives, you hop on the subway, then transfer to the streetcar, to get to your favourite place… then it would be a serious error not to include at least a bit of those moments in the Day In the Life session.

For some families, this is just as obvious as breathing. For other families, this idea is a bit more novel. They’re used to more traditional types of photographs, so capturing simple things like walking down the street seems like… photos you would discard.

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"Day In The Life" With Kelly, Ryan, and Their Kiddos: How You Can Combine Indoor & outdoor Activities During Your Session

"Day In The Life" With Kelly, Ryan, and Their Kiddos: How You Can Combine Indoor & outdoor Activities During Your Session

I got to see these wonderful children for a brief moment in time this year, whereas their parents get to watch them grow each and every day. Day by day, their hours are filled with fleeting moments. But the fact that I only get to see them briefly every year or so, gives me a distinct advantage. I focus on what few other photographers see: the fleeting, unorchestrated moments that make up a life.

This is the magic ✨

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