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.
Read MoreHave you ever wished you could have an authentic, all-encompassing photographic story of your family’s life?
Not a last-minute portrait session before the holidays, or a mad scramble to don matching outfits and smiles in front of a curtain, but a real, honest-to-goodness portrayal of the crazy, quiet, cozy, obnoxious, loving, warm, or plain inexplicable moments your family burns through in a single year?
Read MoreToday it snowed again. It's still not officially winter, but I've got a roaring fire going and some light music, too much coffee, and two sleeping dogs. Lots of inspiration for this blog post, a collection of my favourite images from 2016 depicting snuggle and smooch moments.
Read MoreIt's fall and I'm lighting fires. [DIGRESSION: A couple of years ago, I was so bad at it, I actually had to watch youtube videos on how to do it. I'd let in so much smoke we needed to air out the room for hours, and even had the chimney and stove inspected lest the problem lay there. Maybe it partially did, but anyway, I'm better at getting a good fire going now... What I learned from those youtube videos only very loosely applies to the metaphor of love I'm about to make. (Metaphors are my thing, so either hang tight with me on this journey (wink wink) or ignore this blog.)]
Fire reminds me of love. That's what I'm talking about today. Bear with me, we'll get there shortly...
Theodore Roosevelt said once, Comparison is the thief of joy (or maybe he said it more than once, who knows?). In the spirit of the quote, I gotta tell ya: all families are different. And there're multiple ways to be a great family. Shocking? I hope not. So number one thing - stop comparing yourself to others. Stop comparing your family to others. Simply don't do it. Just stop it.
I've had a short career as a photographer thus far, but a longer one studying families before that. I've seen it for myself: all families do their family thing their way. The way they enjoy their free time, the hobbies they partake in, the way they spend a 'lazy' Sunday afternoon. The way they decorate their homes, the pets they snuggle with, the food they cook, and the way their calendars are filled. It's all different. No two families are alike.
But most families are united by one thing: love. How they express it might vary. Some families are huggers, kissers, pinchers of cheeks (ahem, my uncle), yellers, whisperers. But it's there. Underlying every fight or hug, every tear or smile, even every tantrum. Love unites family.
So, here is a collection of photos I've taken over the past year, which show the love between family, in sadness and in joy, in quiet moments and in excited ones.
While blissfully immersed in my stolen slice of time-space at Toronto Pearson Terminal 1, I was perusing the shelves of a bookstore, looking for a quick and painless read (I sometimes like my literature to be like my photography). I picked up a book called Dirty Rowdy Thing, by someone called Christina Lauren (actually two people), and bought it without hesitation.
I consumed it while on the plane, and that, my friends, was the beginning of my love affair with contemporary romance.
Read MoreSometimes I feel like I've been walking blind for years. Especially at this time of year. Has fall always been this beautiful?
Read MoreThe mare curls her lip and butts the Kid in the face. He falls backwards, lands on his butt in the wet grass, starts to cry. There's no blood, no scrapes, no bruises, but the Kid's heart hurts. He's lost his surety, maybe his trust. Some horses are like that, Kid, I tell him. You gotta be careful. But some horses aren't. You just can't know it on the outside.
Read MoreI was always hoping. I was taking the "fake it till you make it" adage for a decades-long test-drive. Maybe if I spent enough years, published enough papers, made enough friends in the field, took on enough students... maybe then I'd begin to be truly into it. To dream up grant ideas in my spare time. To write papers just for fun. For the love of it.
That day never happened.
Read MorePhotography shouldn't be like going to the dentist. Whether you're on the front or back end of that lens, it should happen painlessly.
Read MoreI’m not worried about what lies above,
I am concerned with what emerges.
How meaning comes to be.
How lines and dots and shadow
come to resemble memories
that fade
and are extinguished once you’re gone.
Read MoreMaybe it's ironic that toward the end of my academic career, I was fighting tooth and nail to dismiss with subjective rating scales of parenting quality, and focus on the moment-to-moment behaviours, without judgments or messages. Or maybe it's telling.
Read MoreWhen I shot on auto for years, whether I got real good stills of motion or blurry ones kind of depended on external factors. How much light was coming in, mostly. I'm into limitations, so it was a little bit neat to wait and see what turned up.
Read MoreOn 500px.com, which is where I frequently post my photos, each spring there are a kajillion photos of dandelions, of kids blowing dandelions, of dandelions being blown in the wind, you name it.
Read MoreYou hope for drama and impact, and it might get messy, and maybe that's what makes it in an imperfect way, great.
Read MoreI'm guessing social media is here to stay, because it's an extension of our social selves. And sociality is key to humanity, no?
Read MoreI have tremendous respect for photographers who are good at posing their clients, getting the best angles of their faces, and achieving beautiful portraits as a result. It's hard to do it well, so it earns a huge tip of my proverbial hat.
Me? I'm maybe not one of those photographers.
Read MoreWhen it was time to end the journey, we had a similarly limitless amount of possibilities to come home to. Canada, the vast.
We chose a place close to my family. A place we could pursue another dream: living on the land, having sheep and chickens and all the rest, and green fields for the kids to thread their bare feet through. There was never really much of a question. Even if it meant walking away from academia.
Read MoreJust because there are arms and legs flailing doesn't mean there's real good action worth photographing. Or so I am told.
Read MoreThere's a reason we as a species have miraculous in-built cognitive adaptations that blur reality: to cope with life.
Read MoreI am a modern documentary family photographer in Kingston, Ontario. I photograph families, weddings, people, life. On-location, unposed, effortless, candid photographs. Also serving Toronto, Ottawa, Belleville, Mississauga, Oakville, Hamilton, Prince Edward County and beyond.
Love the life you live. Invest in photographs that mean the world.
