What a little stunner Oliver is! Bright eyed, so lovable and oh so soft.
Just look at these little hands... so sweet...

There are some obvious guidelines to being a Patterson.

It seems you must be:

extremely approachable
quick witted, with a bit of fast thinking sarcasm as the icing on top
naturally stylish
good at communicating
ridiculously talented
and really darn nice

I personally, was just thrilled to be able to photograph them.
a few fave's:



and this one, because Claire was just telling me how much she adores her husband, and well, look at the way she is looking at him:




And this one, because the Patterson's, lead by Dean, have their own special pose, the single armed, arms crossed pose.

I always get a little anxious about photographing friends, you would think I would be more relaxed, but nope - I get a little knot in my tummy. I figure they know my work well, and I really want to bring them my best each time.
Bevin had a family photograph schedule awhile back, but had to re-schedule. For a darn fine reason though. Her family was about to grow.

This was the way the session was suppose to be.




Bevin, although I know you aren't feeling like it right now, you are glowing.  We are all so excited to welcome your little one into our community and to celebrate with you Reza, and Aryo.




Thank you to our generous friend Melanie, for allowing us to play on her property.

Last week, as part of some of the volunteer work I do, I spent the day at Children's Hospital in Vancouver with Gabe and his mom Genie.
I created a day in the life documentation, which I have to keep under wraps for now.

Gabe is fighting Leukemia, and he is strong, playful and as healthy as one could be in this situation.
It was an inspiring, emotional and interesting day.

I don't think I have to explain why it was emotional. Life isn't fair, we all know that, but sometimes it just smaks you in the face as you try to make some sense of why this little beauty has to fight for his life.

Inspiring, which for me, also goes with emotional. We live in a big world, with many injustaces, but goodness is everywhere. On this day, it came in the package of a mother, Genie, and the staff and technology that Children's offers. I look at Gabe, and I see a boy, who yes, has been given the challenge of fighting leukemia, but, he has also been blessed with a mom who loves him so much and knows how to care for him. He has been blessed, with living in a first world country that is going to do everything to stack the odds in his favor and a community that is assisting him and his family. Goosebumps.

Interesting. In 2006 my step-daughter Maggie was diagnosed with Leukemia, she walked the same road as Gabe. So, although I have photographed at Children's many times since then, this day stood out because it was 100% the same as one that Maggie would have had. . This experience brought some interesting and challenging deep emotions and thoughts to the forefront for me. Ones that will most definitely take awhile to process.

Hug your kids.

Love one-another

 

Shar, a classic beauty, who smiles so sweetly, shares so easily and manages to be both a calming presence and an energizing one