For years now, Carol Anne has been saying to her children, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have family photos done here at the cottage?” As summer 2015 began to wind down, her youngest daughter (who happens to be dating my brother) organized just such a shoot as a surprise for her mom’s birthday. I put together a pretty gift certificate and all three of Carol Anne’s children and their partners drove to the cottage especially for an afternoon of fun family photography.
(Plus a pizza party.) 
We decided to shoot in the yard at their cottage in Grand Bend, and at the beach just a few minutes walk away. Our theme was simple beach chic with classic neutral outfits so that their portraits will be appropriate to hang on the walls of their homes and the cottage for many years to come. Luckily, the weather was very pleasant for the end of September. As an added bonus, including lots of blacks and whites and stripes in their outfits like they’ve done here means their images will look great in black and white as well as in colour. I brought along one blue vintage suitcase full of props for sitting on, one folding chair and some marquee lights that spell LOVE leftover from our wedding last June, plus my camera bag, of course. That’s all it took for a great shoot!
As I suspected, this family was game for every silly suggestion I flung at them, and we managed to do a family shoot with 8 people plus four mini couples shoots in just over 2 hours. They’ve yet to pick out their favourite shots, but I got all excited by the sand and sky and the smiles and edited up a big teaser gallery right away to get their order started. Here’s a wee sneak peek for you, happy birthday Carol Anne!
P.S. I captured the MOST amazing Ontario sunset on my drive home from this beach shoot. More on that later.
Hello dear readers, and welcome to the next chapter of EBI! That’s right folks, Mrs. Lister is in effect. My name has changed, but my vision hasn’t. I’ve been slacking in the social media department, but I’m here to tell you that ends now.
I didn’t shoot anybody during July. And that for me, is a big deal. It was a decision I made many months previously, a decision to slooooowww things down and get my bearings. For awhile there you see, I was charging forward, camera in hand, digging myself deeper and deeper into a pile of projects I couldn’t begin to imagine my way out of. When Todd proposed, all of a sudden my creative to-do list doubled. I guess you could say I spent the majority of the past year in over my head. Thank goodness I had my mom and my sister and my partner’s fantastic family keeping me organized and focused when it came to planning our big day.
Worst summer storm in six years. Perfect day to get married. Our devoted friends and family members pulled together to throw us the garden party wedding of our dreams in teeming wind and rain that never once let up. The party was confined to a tent in my parent’s backyard, but oh the marvels we had crammed into that tent! At the end of the night we were all very cold and wet, very tired, and very glad to be married and moving on from all the matrimonial mayhem that had dominated the last year of our lives.
I’m so glad I had the sense to step back and enjoy the bridal period of my life. It was a whirlwind that I was thrilled to revel in at the time, but now I’m more than ready to get back behind the camera where I belong. To kick off this new era in my photography career, I challenged myself to put together a self portrait featuring as much Emilyness as I could pack into one small faux-wallpapered square. This was also my first attempt at making floral crowns with fresh greenery, and I have to admit I’m rather pleased with the result. I think I see more DIY tutorials and more self portrait projects on the horizon. After all, I’m the only model I know that works night shifts for free with absolutely no prior notice, and the crafty component is something fun and unique that I can bring to photo shoots. Its worth all the effort, because nothing feels as good as capturing an idea out of thin air, translating it with a camera, and eventually watching it roll out of my printer in real life. At long last I feel recharged and reinvigorated to pursue my passion: connecting with awesome individuals by photographing life’s best moments in vivid colour. 
Thanks for sticking with me!
