{vancouver couple's photographer} - cheesy cheesy love

I loved photographing these two.  Henrique is my husband Jorge's coworker at Giant Ant, where they create really cool moving things on screens.  (That's the simple definition, where I describe what they do and forget to describe almost everything that they actually do.  Ask Jorge if you want to get more technical.)  Fernanda also works in animation (talk about a creative couple!) and paints adorable illustrations as well.  For Fernanda's birthday, Henrique asked me to photograph a morning in their lives - and we happened to choose a sunny Saturday!

Henrique & Fernanda are Brazilian, and Brazilians have invented the most delicious food: Pão de Queijo.  That means cheese bread, but the name is such an understatement.  It's delicious and chewy and very very cheesy and I find myself craving it at the most inconvenient times.  (It's also gluten free - using tapioca flour - which is cool.)  So when I was in Brazil recently, I bought some tapioca flour and managed to get it home without any customs officials getting suspicious (it looked like white powder in an unlabelled plastic bag, so that was a relief) and made pão de queijo myself.  AMAZING.

Anyways, that was just to let you know the identity of those little round biscuits they are eating in many of the photos, and partly just because I wanted to talk about cheesy bread because I'm craving it yet again.  Also, Henrique & Fernanda's apartment is so awesome and unique and so very "them" - filled with art and light and delicious food and quirkyness.  I had so much fun this day - thank you again, Henrique and Fernanda, for letting me document a tiny moment of your lives :)

    {vancouver love story photographer} - ger & amanda in brazil

     I just returned last night from Brazil, where I photographed my dear brother's wedding.  I'm so thankful God brought together Ger & Amanda, and their wedding was so beautiful.  Here's a tiny little sneak peek that I put together as I quickly went through the photos :)

    P.S. You can see their engagement photos here.

    {vancouver lifestyle family photographer} - marshmallow morning

    The first time I met this family, this sweet little girl was just on her way, and her sister hadn't yet figured out what being an older sister was all about.  It's been fun to see them both through my camera lens, growing up and changing and (quite possibly) becoming even more adorable.  The one constant in all of our sessions over the past couple of years has been their favourite stuffed bunnies - they always make an appearance, looking even more "loved" than the time before :)

    We decided to do a lifestyle session at their home, which is lots of fun - especially when the home is full of windows and streaming natural light.  So this is their Saturday morning, filled with love and everyday life and big blue eyes and marshmallow bribes, and I love it.

    & this was 2014

    What happened last year?

    Everything blurs together and then suddenly focuses.  Our son was born, and that was the end of life as we knew it and the beginning of something full of blessing.  This is our Matthias, our gift of God, a few hours after he was born.  Every time I look at this picture, I remember the pain and exhaustion of standing up, of holding my camera steady in the low hospital light, but the knowing that I would want to have taken this photo.  And every time I look at this picture, I am so glad that I did.  He's not wrinkly anymore, or red, and his hair is much lighter and he's twice as big, and sometimes this photo makes me want to cry.  So maybe this is my favourite photo of 2014.

    But that's not it.  In 2014, I met so many amazing people, so many happy families that laughed together.  I captured so much joy, and that is what I want to share with you below.  

    (Disclaimer: I tried to choose just a few favourite photos of 2014.  Truly.)

    {vancouver engagement photographer} boy meets girl with big brown eyes

    I'm trying to update my blog more frequently.  I really am.  And I really thought I was...until I looked at the date of my last blog post, and it was October.  

    October was when I photographed this engagement session.  I love it very much, mostly because I love these two people very much.  (Also because Vancouver is spectacularly beautiful on moody autumn days.)  Ger is my brother & Amanda is the Brazilian girl with big brown eyes that he fell in love with; I am so thankful God brought them together, and I can't wait to photograph their Brazilian wedding at the end of January!