Vancouver Portrait Photography // New Years Eve with the Russians

To Russians, New Years is a very big deal. Growing up, I don’t remember Christmas being important. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it is a small religious holiday at best. New Years, that’s a different story. 

There are two childhood New Year's Eves that stand out to me. The first was in Moscow. As it usually is with childhood memories, the details are blurry, but I recall us having to bring along our cat Dasha, and keeping her in our room of the resort as we gathered in the main hall for the celebration. I must have not been much older than 6 or 7, and I can imagine that my parents eagerly awaited midnight, at which point I would ostensibly wander off to sleep, and they could really party. 

However, it looks like even at that tender age I was already deeply familiar with the concept of FOMO, because I refused to leave the party which was just getting started, and danced well into the morning. My parents always told that story portraying me as a trooper, the one child who did not succumb to sleep on this important night. Only now, writing this, am I realizing that my parents in their mid-thirties probably just wanted some time to be grownups by themselves. Whoops. 

The second NYE was in Poland, where we headed with my mom’s sister and her family. Again, the logistics are fuzzy, but apparently we arrived in our chosen town late at night, with no accommodations booked. I am sure pacifying 4 very tired children while simultaneously trying to look for an empty house was a time, but all I remember is our family dinner, and some kind of show that my mom and her sister put on for us once we finally found a place to stay. 

I can still clearly recall us walking down the street right before midnight, with fireworks going off all around us. One was so loud, and sent such a shockwave, that I saw the air around me vibrate in a wave. That was also the night that I stood too close to some sort of open flame, and singed my brand new winter coat. My mom did not let me forget that one, but I really think we should focus on how I did not catch on fire. 

These photos come from the 2019 NYE, back when 2020 was full of promise and the potential of hoverboards. Personally, I can’t complain that much, this is the year I got married and the year we got our cats, but overall, a C+ year at best. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Fiona and Andrey's 10th Anniversary!

When Fiona first asked me to photograph the 10th year anniversary party for her and Andrey, I imagined something simple. A few friends, some drinks and snacks, a typical gathering. What I did not expect was a glamorous winter extravaganza, but that is exactly what I saw when I arrived. The party was held at the Summers’ family home, and although I have been there plenty of times, the whole space was transformed. 

The rooms glowed with various shades of blue, and wintery decor was all around me. In the signature Summers fashion, no detail was overlooked. The living room, usually filled with couches, was transformed into a cozy banquet hall with the addition of round tables, each decorated with DYI crafting projects, no doubt a family effort. On the large flat screen TV in the back of the room, footage of their wedding looped, everyone looking so young and exuberant, a winter wedding with all the bridesmaids dressed in deep crimson. 

 Andrey and Fiona are witty, creative, hilarious people, and so it stands to reason that their friends would be the same. As I gathered everyone for photos on the stairs, I couldn’t help cracking up at everyone’s antics. One guy was teaching the others how to pose in a perfect imitation of a deep belly laugh, while a couple of the others were miming eating Fiona’s long-awaited gluten-free cupcake. 

What I will remember the most from this night is Andrey’s speech. I love, love, love speeches. Well, at least good speeches. As someone who hates smalltalk, hearing someone speak from the soul about what they feel is the perfect antidote to mindless half-hearted exchanges. 

When we heard Andrey speak about Fiona, the sheer passion of his love for his wife was enormous, and all of us in the room could feel it. The pride, the reverence, the joy he finds in her were so perfectly communicated by someone who just received his Masters in Creative Writing (or some such thing) were breathtaking. I wish I could remember the exact words that he said, because I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room when he was done. 

I wish them all the very best, and I look forward to photographing their 20th anniversary. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Lonsdale Quay with Hannah and Family

As a child from White Rock, North Vancouver was always a big mystery to me. It was fantastically far from my southern kingdom, and although I vaguely realized that we were in North Vancouver when we went skiing, the exact geographical details eluded me (much like they do today). When I got a little older, I braved the treacherous Sea Bus journey with my mom, and together we enjoyed the Lonsdale Quay market under the giant Q, with all its cute little shops and eateries. 

I did not give North Vancouver much thought until I met Shane, for whom it was a hometown. Suddenly, I found us regularly crossing either of the bridges onto the North Shore for visits with his family. I became intimately familiar with the roads around the local ICBC as Shane’s dad taught me to drive, eventually leading to me getting my license. I still get kind of anxious driving around the test route, feverishly trying to remember all the tricky signs and rules. 

When Shane first floated the idea of us moving to the North Shore, I was not convinced. I loved our downtown flat, our views, our ability to get around without driving. Sure, the streets were a little smelly, and our loft was technically just one large room we constantly both occupied, but that was all good. 

Eventually, logic won out, and we moved into Shane’s childhood home, where in the pantry you can still find markings as their parents recorded him and his brother getting taller. I am proud to say that my height has now also been recorded on that wall, and I have apparently not grown since 2017. 

The dock where I photographed Hannah and her family is the same one on which a couple years back Shane and I celebrated New Year’s Eve with a handful of strangers. I remember us walking quickly in the frosty December weather, and finding a good spot along the edge of the dock. We wore our Christmas cracker hats, and toasted with champagne, and watched the fireworks across the water. This northern shore is still new to me, but with each new memory, I put down more roots. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Peachland Family Christmas

When the Austins first suggested having Christmas in the Okanagan, I was not convinced. I am a city girl, and I am used to spending the holidays in the city. For the past few years since I have been with Shane, we have done some sort of combination of spending time with my family and his, usually ending up with having Christmas dinner at the Austin house, and meeting later for Russian Christmas or Old New Year (yes, that’s a thing), with my parents in White Rock. That was the routine and I was pretty comfortable with it. 

Now that I am older, Christmas has lost a little of its pure unadulterated joy because instead of just excitedly waiting for Santa to come, I in fact have to keep working right up until the holidays, while also attending various holiday events, and somehow still find the energy, during what are short, dreary, rainy, Vancouver December days to find and wrap thoughtful gifts for the whole family. 

You can see how the thought of having even less time to get all of that done, so that we can be ready to go to the Okanagan a few days before Christmas, was frightening. But, my brother and sister in law do live there full time, and after some consideration, I came around to the idea. And I am so glad I did. 

First of all, leaving home and driving the few hours instantly put me into a holiday headspace. What also helped was arriving to a snowy Peachland, something I have not previously experienced as I am usually there mostly in the summers. Walking along the lake in the evening, with a foot of snow on the sidewalks, and more falling was so peaceful, with streetlights illuminating yellow pools of snow. 

Of course, the best part was just having the whole family together, as we ate lots and lots of treats, hung out  in our pyjamas, watched Christmas movies, and (unsuccessfully) attempted a puzzle. Christmas morning was grander than ever, and Christmas dinner, hosted by Dean and Fadrina, was a warm and cozy affair. 

My favourite memory of the holiday was playing Cards Against Humanity with everyone after dinner. Watching our parents come up with the most hilarious answers, sometimes not even realizing what they were saying, and then laughing so hard they were crying. This is a moment I will treasure forever.

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Mel, Jacob and Sadie

I was sure struggling the morning of this shoot. It was one of those mornings, where even though I planned ahead and left myself plenty of time to get ready, I still found myself rushing out the door with all of my gear. Luckily, I had the address of the family punched into Google maps, so I set out on my journey to this unknown destination.

I arrived on a beautiful shady street, but something seemed wrong. Instead of a house, the address brought me to a small commercial building, an art studio of some sort. This was the point at which I realized that instead of choosing the directions to the house of my clients, I drove to an art studio which my manager volunteers at, and where she invited me to an upcoming event.

Whoops, I definitely learned my lesson about actually being certain where you are going. Luckily, Mel and Jacob were very understanding of my directional struggles, and we jumped right into the shoot when I arrived. The first thing I noticed about their home is the mustard-coloured door. There is really something about a door painted an unusual colour that adds a lot of personality to a house, without an insane amount of effort. We keep meaning to paint our own door green, but it hasn’t happened yet. 

Turns out, mustard is Mel’s favourite colour, and I saw a lot of it around, including their daughter Sadie’s outfit. We started outside, but my favourite shots definitely come from Sadie’s sunlit nursery. Something about preserving the memory of the family hanging around in the nursery feels really genuine and important to me, and I know I wish I had more of those photos from my own childhood. 

I am inspired by the fact that Mel and Jacob managed to stay interesting, outgoing adults, even with a new baby. I know the two of them through my friend Nina, and a couple of months ago, we were at a karaoke bar for her birthday. My favourite memory of the night was looking over at Mel, who was doing a spirited rendition of an early 2000s hip hop song, and there was Sadie sitting beside her in Jacob’s arms with her noise-cancelling earmuffs on, happy as a clam. That is definitely #parentgoals.

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Marie on Granville Island!

Marie is back on the blog, and today she is on Granville Island! 

Granville Island is probably my most favourite place in all of Vancouver. When I was a kid, I would come here with my parents, and while they were enjoying the Granville Island Brewing Company, I was being enchanted by the Kid’s Place. Everything about that place is amazing, from the special child-sized door, to the indoor playground, to the arcade and candy shop, and of course stores selling anything and everything a kid would want, from puzzles to princess dresses to magic kits to stickers. I was particularly into the velvet-covered pencils they had in one store, to little Nadya they seemed like the utmost luxury in graphite products. 

When I was a teen, and there was still a bus that would take you straight from White Rock to downtown Vancouver, Granville Island was a place I loved to visit with friends, because there was so much to see and do, but it still felt safe to my sheltered small-town self. We would people watch, buy cool stickers, and enjoy all the amazing food from the market. 

Those were also the early days of me bringing out what was at the time my dad’s DSLR, and I thought I was getting some pretty incredible shots. But hey, that’s the way it goes with learning. If you’re doing it right, your best work this year is kind of hard to look at in a few years’ time. 

Now that I am a grownup, I am on Granville Island the most in September, during the Vancouver Fringe Festival. For a couple of weeks of the year, Shane and I turn into theatre nerds, and see around 10 independent plays. Being the scheduling aficionado that I am, I try to pack two to three 1-hour plays into an evening, so we often go over to Granville Island right after work, and stay there until bedtime, trying to fit in a meal somewhere in there. Fringe plays are just so fun, because if it’s a good one, you will talk about it for a couple weeks, but if it’s a bad one, you will talk about it forever. Either way, it’s a win-win. Last year we saw one about Josephine Baker that absolutely blew our socks off. 

On this day with Marie we were planning to see my last Fringe play of the season, but figured we could squeeze in a quick shoot beforehand. Marie, being her bewitching self, showed up in this colourful outfit that I would never have considered putting together, and yet, it works!

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Nathan, Jyoti and Nash!

As promised, this week on the blog we have baby Nash, with his adoring parents Nathan and Jyoti. We know these wonderful people because Nathan used to work with Shane, and frankly, I am pretty bummed that he doesn’t anymore. I am of course very happy for him and his flourishing career as a geologist. I used to visit Shane’s office because we both work downtown, and inevitably, Nathan would be sitting there in his office, probably doing something very important, but always making time to chat and shoot the shit and catch up. Nathan has this unique combination of being super chill while also somehow being really caring and attentive. He is a zero-judgement kind of person, but genuinely seems to want to know what’s going on in your life. 

Soon after I met Nathan, I met Jyoti at their company’s annual Christmas dinner, usually held at the Keg. It’s a lovely time, we rent out the private downstairs room, and get all dressed up, and enjoy lots of wine and appies and surf and turf. Most of the other attendees are 30 years our senior, so Shane and I strategically sit with Nathan and Jyoti. One year, we managed to both attend the dinner, and sneak away to a Canucks game. Now that they have moved to Calgary, Shane and I will have to reconsider our whole Christmas dinner strategy. 

In Shane’s office hangs a photo of an alpaca that I took in a petting zoo in Victoria. Nathan always admired the photo, and one year for Christmas, Shane got him a huge print of it on aluminum. Not sure if Nathan was really gunning for that statement art piece, but now he has it. 

When baby Nash was born, we were dying to meet him. Unfortunately, once we finally found a window of time that worked, Shane was away racing, so I went over on my own, with our gift of a llama baby onesie in tow. Their apartment was in the middle of being packed up for their move, so we went out on their balcony, and this is where I took these photos. 

I love the intimate and relaxed feeling of these shots, no posing, no special outfits or makeup, just new parents and their little one. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Dustin, Taya and Ryder!

Today on the blog I have Dustin and Taya, at their wedding reception, along with their little baby girl Ryder. Have you ever experienced all the newfound excitement of a crush, but in a platonic way? That was Shane and Dustin. They met at one of the US motorcycle races, and quickly realized that they are somewhat neighbours, with Dustin living in Bellingham. From then, it was a whirlwind friendship. I could tell Shane was smitten, from the way he found everything Dustin said either hilarious or fascinating, and I knew that if I saw him smiling down at his phone, it was most likely at something Dustin had said. 

When I finally got to meet him at an awards banquet (where they had neither a fish or a veggie option, so I ended up just eating a really big plate of mashed potatoes), I understood what drew Shane to him. For one, he looked like a mini Shane, with a body size suitable for a gymnast (something he used to do at a highly competitive level), but with very similar facial structure and hair & beard combination. On top of that, he was just straight up bubbly and hilarious.

Dustin was at our wedding, and he is just the kind of guy who is easily loved by all. He was constantly cracking jokes, and always down for anything. He was the first one in the ocean to play in the waves, and I know Shane really appreciated having a riding buddy for all the awesome motorcycle trails around the house. One evening, I got on the back of Shane’s bike, and Marie got on the back of Dustin’s, and we went to visit Colotepec at sunset. The views, the ride, and just the general vibe of that outing is one of my favourite memories from our trip. 

When Dustin and Taya had Ryder, her birthday just happened to coincide with the birthday of Nash, who is the son of our friends Nathan and Jyoti, and who you will see on the blog next week. Ryder was a great choice for a name because on one hand, her dad rides (rydes) motorcycles, and on the other, Taya is a world-class golfer, and I am told that the Ryder Cup is a kind of golf tournament. But don’t quote me on that, I am just the girl with the camera. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Stella!

Guess who is back on the blog! It’s Stella herself. I took these photos during Canada Day weekend, hence the fully red outfit. Sadly Stella will probably be appearing on the blog less frequently, as she, along with her parents, has recently made the move from the Sunshine Coast to Nelson. I’ve been to Nelson once, and I absolutely fell in love with the feeling of this town, so hopefully we will be able to visit every once in a while. 

A little while ago, I got to babysit Stella for an entire weekend. I was so excited, I pulled out of my paints and paintbrushes, and planned lots of fun activities for us. On Saturday, I took her to the Capilano hatchery to see some salmon up close. Apparently we were not the only ones with that idea, so I had to park pretty far away. It was a cold fall day, but as much as I tried to convince Stella to put on her coat, she refused, because she was a princess, and princesses don’t get cold. This is what happens when children watch Frozen. (Frozen: not even once). I ended up having to carry her to the hatchery, but she perked up when she saw all the salmon. 

Next, we went over to my friend Amy’s house to decorate some cookies. Luckily, auntie Amy loves to bake, and she had all sorts of fun icing and sprinkles, and that occupied Stella for a while, and also had the added benefit of distributing the sprinkles all over the floor of the apartment. I am sure uncle Bruce was simply delighted. 

On Sunday, it was all about Science World. Stella had never been before, and she was mesmerized by all the activities and experiments. I saw a lot of little Nadya in her, as she approached each station with the intention of bringing it to order, like collecting all the purple balls in one area, while other children just ran amok. She also made auntie Nadya proud with her great listening skills during all the demonstrations, she sat in a safe area, and politely raised her hand when they needed a volunteer. I haven’t visited Science World with a kid since maybe the time my brother was little, and it made me realize how perfect it is, with so many things to do, you never need to worry about short attention spans. 

Most recently, Stella was the flower girl at our wedding. She took the job very seriously, and her mom Melissa even got her a flower girl activity book to prepare her for her big day. The one hiccup we did not anticipate is that little girls love flowers, and throwing them on the ground felt sacrilegious, and required some convincing. I was not surprised to see her later on, picking up the flowers and returning them to her basket. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Brendon and Ashley Engagement Party

 guess I am officially at that age now, because all our friends seem to be getting engaged, married, and having babies! I have definitely seen a shift on my Facebook feed from posts about how hard university is, and all the parties, to parenting memes, and wedding photo albums, and of course, a daily onslaught of baby photos. I can’t judge that hard though, because I am sure I will also think that my babies are the cutest babies to have ever been made, and that the world needs to see them doing everything from eating breakfast to going for a walk to napping with our future dog. And luckily (or not, depending on how you look at it), I will have gathered all this equipment to turn any ordinary family situation into an impromptu photoshoot: “honey, hold the reflector right there please, the light is perfect on the baby’s mashed peas.” I’m kidding, I hope. 

Luckily, I love taking family photos, so this time in my life means I get to capture even more tender moments for the people in my life, and in the process, get to know the people who are important to them. 

This set of photos comes from the engagement party for our friends Brendon (or as most people call him, B-Ray), and his lovely fiancee Ashley. The party was held at B-Ray’s grandmother’s house, and it is a home that is built for big family gatherings. There was a piano in the living room, and a tiny dog that you can cuddle. The tables were full of amazing food, and there were margaritas galore.

I had some great chats at this party, at one point getting some gardening tips from a fellow avid gardener, and learning more about the shenanigans of B-Ray’s dad, Wayne. He has more wild stories than I could possibly fit in my blog post, but one of my favourites involves him riding his motorcycle down to Mexico, and coming back with a chihuahua, also via motorcycle. How exactly he packed him is unclear, but that same chihuahua appears in these photos. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Fiona's Baby Shower

Without much family in Canada, the Summerses have definitely taken on the roles of aunts and uncles and cousins in my life; people whose house you feel as comfortable in as your own, people who have seen you grow up, and people you know will be by your side to celebrate important occasions. When I was younger, our Russian community was maybe 10-15 families strong, and we would celebrate major Russian holidays all together in local parks, with food and games and sometimes even traditional costumes. There are definitely some photos out there of preteen Nadya in dresses and traditional headwear. Hopefully those photos continue to stay buried in the sands of time. 

But, as life went on and kids grew up, our Russian community dwindled to a few core families, one of them being the Summerses. There is no one I know who throws a party like Vera and Vera Summers. They are a mother-daughter pair, and they are so incredibly creative, hardworking, and overall inventive, that every time I walk into their home for birthday, New Years Eve, or in this case, a baby shower, the house is transformed with lights, photo collages, streamers, balloons, and of course all kinds of amazing treats. 

On this occasion, we gathered together to celebrate a baby shower for Fiona and Andrey, and their brand new baby Theodore, or Teddy. The shower was fairytale-themed, and the Veras really outdid themselves. All around us were toys and flash cards on which we could write well-wishes for the new mum, the drinks were Alice in Wonderland themed, the snack table was straight out of a child’s imagination, and on the wall there was a giant page from a book, beginning to tell the story of Teddy’s life. Perhaps the most whimsical part was the dessert table, where one of the attendees crafted a cake shaped like children’s books! 

It was such a bright and happy day, being able to celebrate this new baby, and just being surrounded by so much love and support. I was glad to have been there to capture all the moments for the sleep-deprived parents to enjoy in 18 years, once they finally have a nap. 

Vancouver Portrait (and Floral) Photography // Easter Portland Family Trip

These photos come from a family trip to Portland that we took last Easter. It’s actually the first time in a while that we all did something together, and although we are four people who know the precise ways to best drive each other crazy, this was a great trip, and I am remembering it fondly. 

Our first stop was to see the tulip fields, which bloom in Washington every year. Mom is absolutely obsessed with flowers of any kind, and in the spring and summer, I get at least a couple of texts a week of the prettiest flowers she has seen on her walks. In the fall and winter, sometimes she spends her lunch hour in a garden store, so then I still get my fix of her flower photography. Needless to say, she was thrilled to look at all the different colours and varieties, and I enjoyed experimenting with shooting straight down into the tulips. 

We spent a night in Aberdeen, visited the Kurt Cobain memorial, and continued on our way towards Portland. Shane and I have visited the city a few times before, but it was fun showing my favourite parts to my family, and together we discovered a botanical garden I did not know about. Everything was in bloom, and we even saw a bunch of Canadian goose eggs. 

At some point we also stopped at Cannon Beach, and I took them to my favourite place for grilled oysters called River View Dining. The couple who run it have been at it for over 20 years, and their grilled oysters “with everything” are one of the most delicious dishes I have had in my entire life. 

The best part of the trip for me was getting to spend time with my brother. We shared rooms on the trip, and it was probably the most uninterrupted sibling time we have had for years. It was nice to just hangout, I introduced him to Portlandia, and we watched a bunch of it together on my phone. When we got bored, we would go on late night food runs, and crack stupid jokes over burgers and milkshakes. Overall, 10/10 sibling bonding time, would recommend. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Svetlana in White Rock

My mom has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders. She has also always been down to be my model while I try new photo techniques. That is obviously because she is a smart woman who knows that she will end up with a bunch of awesome new photos of herself. 

For this shoot, I wanted to play with my different reflectors, so after I came to visit her in White Rock, we went to a nearby park, and set ourselves up. It was a bright sunny day, and I was able to get some different effects from the light and the reflector. 

However, my mom is not one to accept a passive modelling role, and insisted on photographing me as well. Thus, today’s blog post is a collaboration between my mom and I. You may be able to guess the photos taken by her because I am in them. 

Interestingly enough, I recently saw a baby photo of myself, it’s black and white and kind of blurry in a dreamy way, and I am laying in my bed. I went to ask my dad who he thought took it, because back in 92 it was obviously a whole process to take and print non studio photos. And to my surprise, my dad told me that maybe it was him who took it, because he was into photography as a young man! This totally blew my mind. I have been taking photos on anything I could for as long as I can remember, and somehow I didn’t know that this was my dad’s hobby as well. He told me about the darkroom he set up in his bathroom, and all the processes you had to complete to develop your photos. I really want to try this myself one day, just to understand photography in another way. 

This conversation was a good reminder that just because I know them as parents, doesn’t mean I necessarily know them as people, and it might take extra effort on my part to find out these things about them. I guess part of this realization comes from coming to an age where my friends are starting to have kids, and knowing that one day, trivial things about their lives could be important and formative to their offspring. So, next time I see my parents, I will ask them: “What is one thing I still don’t know about you?”

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Seymour

I will confess: I am writing this blog post ahead of time. Right now it’s late March 2020, and we are in the middle of the COVID-19 response. Shane and I have been social distancing for the past couple of weeks, and it’s definitely been an adjustment. One of the things we’ve done is move out of our own house, and into our in-laws’ place, while they are waiting this out in the Okanagan. This means much more space for us, but it also means I no longer get to spend time with Seymour, and I am definitely missing him a lot. So today, along with these photos I took of him, I want to share some of the things I love about my favourite fuzzy boy:

  1. He loves sitting on windowsills and looking out at the birds, especially if the window is open. One of his favourite windows faces the hummingbird feeder, and when he spots a hummingbird, his fur stands on end, and he makes this unexpected chattering noise. I think he really wishes he could eat those birds. 

  2. When he gets to the narrow part of the windowsill, he can no longer turn around, so he has to awkwardly back up until he reaches the wider part. I love that he has a goofy reverse mode. 

  3. I have never seen a cat that is this good at playing fetch. He’s got these little yellow rubber balls, and when he wants to play, he will bring the ball near you, and make little attention-getting meows until you throw the ball for him and he runs after it. Then he will trot back, carrying the ball in his mouth like a little puppy. 

  4. He is not the cuddliest cat, but he loves giving headbutts, especially in the morning, and especially when you are sitting on the toilet and he can reach your face from the nearby counter. 

  5. He is secretly a circus cat, and once in a while he will jump on top of an open door. Can you imagine that?! It is such a skinny surface and it is also wobbly. Then he tries to walk from there to the door frame. 

There are many more things, but I will save those for another day. In the meantime, enjoy these sunny kitty photos. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Daniel on Okanagan Lake

Do you ever see something so beautiful that you just want to shove it into your eyeballs and into your heart so that you can remember it forever, because even an iPhone 11 panorama won’t do it justice? The Okanagan Lake is like that. We have done the drive to Peachland dozens of times, and every time I catch my first glimpse of the lake from the highway, I am filled with awe and joy and just a general appreciation of nature for being so freaking majestic without even trying. 

I love this lake. I love to swim in it, and boat around on it, and look at it, and of course, photograph it. I took these photos of Daniel on a cool fall evening. I love the dreamy peach light, and the meditative mood it sets. 

Daniel just celebrated his 18th birthday, and soon it’ll be time for him to graduate high school, move out, and begin his independent life. When Shane and I first got together, Daniel was just starting high school, and university seemed like forever away. And yet, five years later, here we are. Time, you can’t explain that. 

Daniel probably has more quality portraits of him that most of his friends combined. That’s what happens when you have a sister who takes a camera everywhere she goes. I think someday he will appreciate being able to look back and see himself growing up. These days he looks so much like our grandfather Valentin. 

Having such a big age gap between us has been a unique experience. For most people with siblings, your time before them was kind of hazy, or, if you are not the firstborn, simply nonexistent. For me, I had almost 10 years as an only child. Which was pretty awesome, because I got to just exist as a little princess with all the attention, and no need to compete (which explains why I am pretty competition-averse as a grown up). And then one day in February, I found myself at the Peace Arch Hospital, staring down at a wrinkly little baby (no one told me they’re wrinkly when they come out!). 

Now, only a few years later, that wrinkle is surprising me with his own adventures and plans and insights. It’s been so cool watching him grow and develop and form opinions, and I am grateful that no matter what happens, we will always have each other. Thanks mom and dad. 

Santa María Colotepec

Today’s photos were all shot in and around Santa María Colotepec. When we are riding from our house to the center of Puerto Escondido, at some point there is a pink gateway on our right, with the name of this town written across the top. On our first visit, we noticed it, but never found the time to go explore the area. Naturally, it was high on our to-do list for our second visit. 

The first time Shane and I rode the bike up there, we knew right away this was a good idea. Soon after the gateway, we came across a beautiful cemetery. The cemeteries I have come across so far in Mexico are much more ornate and involved than the ones back home. Almost all the plots consist of a concrete slab, and by my understanding, some of these concrete slabs are actually coffins. Many have little structures on top of them, with pictures, and candles, and covered spaces to leave treats. 

Once, during our time in a different part of Mexico, Shane and I came across a cemetery that was right at the edge of the ocean. You could see that erosion was slowly clawing the cement coffins into the water, and some of them barely hung onto dry land at awkward angles, with lids that cracked or shifted open. I half expected to see a skeleton foot hanging out, but luckily I did not witness anything scary. 

Anyway, back to Colotepec. The road there is one of my favourites in the area, sweepy and smooth, with views of the river and the jungle as well as fields on either side. As always, you have to watch out for those speed bumps. At one point we came across an unfinished bridge over the river, wide, and concrete, with no railings or barriers. That’s one thing that we love about Mexico, they trust you to not do things like fall off bridges. 

The town itself was full of children playing, and they all waved and stared as we rode by. One enterprising teenager approached us, and sold us a jar of honey. We wandered around, totally falling in love with the super old church that was slowly being destroyed by the trees that grew out of it. We also visited the newer, freshly painted church. We finished off our visit with a dip in the river, which was clean and warm and shallow. Now this little town is one of our favourite places to stop by. 

Vancouver Portrait Photography // Sergio and Family

This set of photos is really special to me, because I got to go outside my white tourist bubble, and see how the local people live in the town that I love to visit. A part of visiting poorer places is being forced to confront your own privilege which is easy to ignore and forget about when you live in a place like Vancouver, and think that privilege starts when you can afford a mansion in Point Grey or a Lamborghini. So with sharing these photos, I want to acknowledge my deep gratitude to Sergio for showing me his home and his family.

One of the reasons we love Puerto Escondido so much, is that it is not a town built solely on tourism. With no direct flights, there is not a single all-inclusive resort in town, and that means that for the most part, the kind of tourists that come here are surfers, or at least adventurers of some kind. Not a lot of “spring break” vibes over here. 

One day, Shane and I were riding the motorcycle around the area surrounding our house. Just across a highway, you immediately got onto this dirt road, that lead through fields and then came to a small settlement, with a few houses, a church, and a school. There was also a small lake, which we later found out housed a crocodile. On our ride, we saw a little girl at one of the houses, who waved at us as we went by. 

The next day, Shane’s mum, who is our primary Spanish expect, having lived for a year in Mexico City as a teenager, told us that Sergio’s daughter saw us in their village yesterday (Sergio is one of the staff who works at the house we rent). Looking to shoot more portraits on my trip, I asked Sergio if we could visit and photograph him and his family. He agreed, and a plan was made. 

The next day we made the trip back to the house where we saw the little girl. She was there, along with her younger brother, and Sergio’s wife. We spent the next hour or so trying to communicate in broken Spanglish, and I got a lot of photos I really love on that day. One of my favourites is Sergio’s daughter holding my diffuser. It was not planned, but I adore the way it turned out. 

The Sights of Puerto Escondido

The other day someone asked me about my happy place, and my mind immediately went to riding through Mexico on the back of Shane’s motorcycle. Before I get too far into romanticizing the whole idea and start convincing people to go out and buy their own bikes, let me warn you, think carefully about the seat. Shane has made friends with a local motorcycle rental shop, and they have been very generous with us with the bikes they have lent us. The first couple of times, it was a bike that was not particularly powerful, but comfortable. The last two times, it was the exact opposite. 

When I say the opposite, I mean that this was a dirt bike, which had decent power, but which was built in such a way that it somehow crushed Shane’s genitals while also forcing me to sit on hard plastic, causing my butt to fall asleep while also being in extreme pain. This was most drastically felt when Shane and I, on a solo trip to Puerto Escondido last November, decided to ride to Cascadas Magicas, the beautiful waterfalls which we have visited before and really enjoyed. (Note, on previous visits we got there by car). 

At first, we enjoyed a nice smooth hour long ride on the highway to Pochutla, where we stopped for lunch at our favourite spot, Esmeralda’s. This was the point at which Shane said “hey, do you want to ride to the waterfalls?” We consulted Google Maps, which informed us that it would be another two hours until we get there. Shane was confident that he could get us there in under an hour, and I reluctantly agreed. This was a mistake. 

What followed was a big more highway riding, until we exited, and found ourselves on a more and more deteriorated first road, with potholes, and unregulated speed bumps around every corner. You can imagine how much fun it was bouncing around on what was supposed to be a seat, but what was in fact just hard plastic. And the whole time, all I can think about is “oh my god we have to do this all again on the way back.”

And do it all again we did. We somehow made it back onto the highway, and then rode until one of us simply had to take a break and walk around for a minute because our bodies were screaming in protest to this cruel and unusual treatment. There were times on that ride when I wasn’t sure we would ever get home. When it was finally over, Shane vowed to trust google maps, and find us a bike with a comfy seat in the future. 

Anyway, stories of butt pain aside, the flora in Puerto Escondido is incredible. There is a big lagoon in the area, and you can see how this place quickly goes from jungle to desert and back. There is no doubt that there are snakes, alligators, tarantulas, and other scary things all around us. But hey, it’s worth it for these views!

Mexico City

I’ll be honest, for a long time I didn’t really care about Mexico City. I knew it existed, I knew it was big, but I really wasn’t looking to ever go there, so when Shane’s family decided to spend a couple of days there on our way to Puerto Escondido, I was pretty indifferent. Man was I about to be shown how wrong I was about this city. 

When our plane started descending, it really sank in how big this place really was. Without a lot of mountains to stop the sprawl, the city just grew and grew and grew. Later, when we checked into our hotel and looked out the 42nd story window, I realized that I could see all the way to the horizon, but the city was still going past it. It’s such a busy, vibrant place, and we had a fantastic time exploring it. 

What really helped is the fact that one of Shane’s closest friends, Mark, someone who he used to bartend with back in his Earl’s days, moved to Mexico City after falling in love with Paulina, who is from there. Now they are all set up in a lovely apartment with a dog. Having some locals take you around really gives you a whole different feel of the place. 

The very first day, while I was super jet lagged, they took us to La Condesa, which consists of wide streets with all styles of buildings bunched up against each other, and a wide park-like walkway in the middle of the street. A little hard to describe, but the effect is that you are both in a park and in the street at the same time. This was the neighbourhood our friend Mark was in a couple years ago when Mexico City was hit by a big earthquake, and he pointed out the clearing where him and a bunch of the other people waited while everything around them was shaking and falling. 

We did a lot during our short time in Mexico City. We experienced the local metro system, checked out the anthropological museum, saw lots of art, met a real life alcohol elf who made us amazing bespoke gin and tonics, and of course, ate lots and lots of tacos. I can’t wait to be back, and experience this city all over again.