An hour with the Castellanos family

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An hour with the Castellanos family

I made the trip back to Mississauga last weekend, during some kind of migraine-inducing pressure system that drove temperatures in mid-October to 24 Celsius. It was just as well, because Isabel's son was recovering from croup and the warm humid air was probably good for him. (Just guessing. I'm not a doctor.) They'd moved in to a new house only two weeks ago. Grandma and grandpa were visiting from Colombia, and they were hoping for some photos to take back with them. So, a busy time for them, and yet they made time for me.

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Paula Sara: Bark'n up the Green Tree & Earth Paw

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Paula Sara: Bark'n up the Green Tree & Earth Paw

Paula also has a sense of humour and a keen sense of timing: she was the lady who, at the Kingston Town Hall with the prime minister in January, after ‘tensions began to escalate' as she puts it, asked Justin Trudeau what he does with his old ties. After he fumbled for an answer, she told him, "The reason why I asked is because I’m looking at your tie and thinking it would make a fabulous dog collar"

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why do we party?

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why do we party?

Recently I photographed three birthday parties in nine days.

One of them was a surprise party. Two of them were 50th parties. Two of them had cats. One of them had two cakes. One of them: salami whips. One of them had a fully consensual boob-grabbing shot that I took in a dark room

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go bowling, my friends

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go bowling, my friends

When my "Year-in-the-Life" family took their two sons bowling, there were a few predictable glitches. Having an older brother and two parents who are bowling Gods (everyone looks like a pro when you first start bowling) does nothing for one’s ego. Will gave it a valiant effort, then there were some near-tears, then a change in strategy or five. Afterwards, he ate some fries and gave it another honest go. There were double underhand throws, and squat throws, and rotational slams, and anguish and thrill. It really doesn’t matter what the scoreboard ultimately said: the kid persevered, and that’s all anyone needs to know about that day.

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make time for the pit-stops (with the Millers)

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make time for the pit-stops (with the Millers)

I'm well versed in traveling with children, painful road trips, scrambling for ideas to distract the little people in the back, without being able to explain why it's taking so long, or tell a white lie like, "we're nearly there". 

But life is not a race. Make time for the pit stops. 

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