I’ve fallen WAY behind on sharing recent sessions, but I was so excited about this one that I dropped everything as soon as the gallery was ready and started writing.
When Renée and Patric expressed interest in doing a documentary session for their Cornwall fall family photos, I was over the moon. They wanted to combine two of my favourite things about photos: fall colours and honest family portraits. Needless to say, I was immediately sold.
They decided to do some pumpkin carving and then head to the playground and see where adventure would lead. Perfection. Loïk wasn’t too sure about being photographed for, oh, maybe the first 10 minutes. :P When he realised that all he was going to have to do was play with his parents, though, this little man really came out of his shell. From drawing on pumpkins and painting on his hand to playing hide & seek and baseball, we had a ball (literally AND figuratively)! We even threw in a handful of super casual family portraits, which can always be done as part of any documentary session.
One of the things that stood out most about this session was that the language barrier between Loïk and I was anything BUT a barrier. My French skills are more than adequate for understanding 4 year old conversations, but I need to be actively listening to what’s being said and am most comfortable responding in English or basic French. Loïk couldn’t have cared less. Off we went!
What I love about these portraits is that they show how engaged Renée and Pat are during their time with their son. They play with him. These photos are exactly what I want to give each family I work with: evidence that they shared time together in meaningful and engaging ways. Proof that family time existed. Proof that this child was part of a greater story.
When you think back on your childhood, what sorts of things make you smile? One of the things that does it for me is thinking about traditions – however informal – that were repeated regularly. My memories of Hallowe’en activities are (maybe unusually) fond: going to the costume shop and trying on ridiculous outfits; choosing a themed Hallowe’en costume with my sisters; making a mess out of the pumpkins; having a trick prepared so that we could perform on command in exchange for sweets. All of this from just ONE annual event, and it’s not even a major holiday – but these are all memories that come up often in family conversations and moments from my past that I remember happily. I’m already booking Christmas and winter sessions so that I can hopefully capture some of these types of traditions for other families. If you want photos of your family decorating your home for the holidays or hitting the back yard rink this winter, let me know. I’d love to make it happen for you.
The photo above of Pat on the slide instantly brought a smile to my face, as did the others shared here. Want to see the whole set? Check out the video below. I promise it’ll be worth two and a half minutes of your time.
I’m Ang – a Cornwall, Ontario-based photographer with a passion for capturing light and photographing natural moments in life as they happen. My goal is to capture memories that you will cherish once your children have grown out of this phase and moved onto the next. I love meeting new families in their natural environment and getting in amongst the bedlam so that I can document the perfectly imperfect realities of daily life, wherever that may take use. Please explore more of www.momentusstudio.com to see more examples of my unique approach to candid family photography, whether that’s through a rural Ontario family photography session with your threenager or documentary Cornwall fall family photos.
