Back in the spring I had the pleasure of shooting this fun engagement session with Annabelle and Zachary . . . !
I met Anna a few years ago through my cousin who spent time working at Camp Qwanoes in the summer with her. Anna ended up coming to visit a few times over the years at our family property on Gabriola Island where we got to know this lively, smiling "kiwi" with the cute accent! I had a great time meeting up with her and Zach at Fort Langley for our session, it was so fun to watch the two of them in love, laughing and smiling together . . . you can see in the following images that there were many, big, genuine smiles for me to capture! The day started off quite drizzly, so we tried our best to stay undercover and dry, but about half-way through our shoot the skies cleared and we were able to venture out and find some fun spots! We ended off our time down at the old ferry docks, this is where the two of them had really wanted to get pictures done because it is very close to the spot that they got engaged . . . ! Zach had convinced Anna to come on a canoe trip with him one day, despite that she wasn't feeling so well, but she agreed and off they went. The journey along the Fraser took a little longer than expected, and Zach began to worry that his special 'area' he had got ready ahead of time might be underwater shortly with the tide if they didn't get there soon! Thankfully, as they came paddling around the corner, the little tent on the beach with all the candles and everything were just safe from the waterline. Zach is a man of many talents and had sewn the tent himself by hand! Anna loved all the thoughtful details and the surprise of the special, romantic little set-up waiting for them at the end of their canoe adventure. (In some of the shots near the end, you can see the beach in the background!) She was thrilled to say "Yes" when he popped the question, and they are both so excited to tie the knot at the end of next month! Praying for a wonderful, blessing-filled future marriage for these two wonderful people!
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My older brother recently started a new project as an musician/producer called "Already Not Yet". Earlier this year he released a brand new EP, Hymnody, which is a collection of traditional hymns set to some great pop/synth/electronic sounds. This album really shows his immense creativity and skill in arranging and recording these tracks. You can preview and purchase it off of iTunes here! It's catchy music with meaningful lyrics, and a good way to introduce yourself to some old hymns you might not even be familiar with!
Back in March he was featured as a new artist on Relevant Magazine's "The Drop" - read his bio on the page here: And, here is the link to his Facebook page, and website! Check it out and give him a 'like': It was a pleasure to spend some time with these two, sharing in and getting to capture the joy of them expecting their first child! What an exciting season, when you are looking forward to the time to come when you will finally hold your sweet little one in your arms. Mark and Lauren had their precious daughter earlier this month, and I am excited to get to share with you these images of their lovely maternity session!
At the beginning of the new year we drove up to Alouette one morning for a little picnic together as a family.
I'm trying to get better at bringing along my camera for casual outings like this more often, instead of always just defaulting to grabbing shots on my phone. After all, in years to come I'm sure it will be so much nicer to have proper pictures to look back on to remember this season of our lives, as opposed to low-res iPhone images you can't really even print. For my daughter, I want to have the memories of her childhood captured in an special way....where she will know that mommy took the time to document our life too, not just other families! She is a treasure to me, and I want to be able to show her pictures one day that will be timeless, quality keepsakes to last for her to show her children even. Who knows what technology will be like years down the road, and if people will still use devices that can access all those files we think are "secure" in the cloud, or on hard-drives...?? (Just think of how the stuff we grew up with, like VHS's and tape cassettes, quickly became a thing of the past!) Nothing can replace actual images that you can hold in your hands, or put in a book. With this little 'shoot', nothing was posed . . . . it's just real life. But it's our life. Her snacks are half-eaten, her boots are dirty, she never even "smiled at the camera". Nonetheless, I still love these pictures! Sometimes I don't feel like I have enough time to do a proper "session" with my little girl. I would have to find, or make the perfect setup, deliberate over picking the perfect outfit, wait for perfect lighting, only to actually begin trying to take the pictures and find she is in a less-than-perfect mood, not interested in cooperating....! So, my camera usually sits away at home when I'm not using it for shoots. It doesn't have to be a big ordeal to capture your family life though! Not that I don't think photo set-ups can be super fun and cute, but if that's the standard that I have to set for myself to reach before snapping a shot of my daughter, I will miss out on so many precious images I could be capturing of her day to day life! Instead of striving to make a pinterest-worthy image, I need to remember that the ordinary can be special too. Because it's us. And that's what I want her to remember . . . .who we were as a family, what we did, where we went, how she played, what she was curious to run around and look at, exploring her world . . . . Not an artificial, manufactured scene just to look good for the internet audience. Doesn't it feel nice sometimes to just live in the moment? I've been reminding myself lately to put my phone away more and actually just enjoy whatever the day holds, instead of looking for what would be cute to take a picture of next. I've had an iPhone for not even 2 years, and have already taken over 4,000 photos with it. Whoa. Like, really, what am I going to do with those all...??! It's overwhelming to even try to look through, let alone begin to sort and organize! I'm grateful for the moments it has let me capture, but I would happily trade in hundreds of those shots to have a couple really nice shots with my dSLR instead. Definitely. #goalsforthisyear - Janessa |
Janessa PiresWife and mother, Archives
November 2017
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Matt, Sarah + Silas - Newborn
Kristine + Fred - Engagement
Mother's Day Thoughts - PersonalCoburn - Newborn |