Happy Portraits Of The People You Love By Rob & Lauren

We love meeting amazing people. We love doing new things with our photography. And we love having fun. This session with Sayler and her kids was a perfect combination of all of those things!

When Sayler’s daughter contacted us to suggest a surprise photo shoot for her mom, we were excited. When she requested that it be styled like The Quick And The Dead, and held at Fort Edmonton Park, we got downright giddy. We knew we were in for some fun times. 

But we really had no clue just how much fun was in store for us. From the get-go Sayler had her guns a-blazin’, was doing drop-rolls in the dirt, jumping into horse enclosures, and keeping us all laughing every single moment. This is a shoot that we will remember for many, many years to come. Hope you enjoy a few of our favourite images!

Thank you guys for the amazing experience. You are all so wonderful, and it was truly our pleasure to take these photos for you!

Lots of love,

Lauren + Rob :) 

Last fall (please don’t laugh at how far behind I am here!) we went to Prince Edward Island for my cousin’s wedding. PEI is such a gorgeous place, we just had to head out the day after the wedding to take some portraits of the newly married couple! We found an amazing little fisherman’s wharf, and frolicked around at sunset. So today I’m going to share a few of my fav images from our time together! 

Please note that Bogart, their adorable little pup, seriously knows how to pose.

Hope married life is treating you two well! Thanks again for the awesome evening, can’t think of a better way to take in a perfect sunset on PEI. Well, chowing down on a lobster supper would come close. ;)

Lauren :)

Surprise! We went on a road trip!

We try to travel during the winter to get away from the cold (we’re big wimps when it comes to that!). More importantly, however, the trips are a time to shoot for ourselves, and have a chance to think about the year ahead.

This time around we flew into Las Vegas for a photography conference, then hopped in a car and spent 10 days on the road. We toured around Arizona and New Mexico, and still can’t believe how much we saw in such a short time. Here’s a little peek at some of the sights we took in.

The Hoover Dam. 

Cacti.

The Grand Canyon.

Tons of neat little detours like this “Rock Shop”.

Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

An Antique Gas Station Museum.

The Very Large Array.

 Roswell.

White Sands National Monument.

(Note: While that wipe-out may look totally gnarly, it was actually the slowest, wimpiest tumble ever. Sledding on sand is not as thrilling as you’d guess!)

More cacti.

Sedona.

We saw tons of amazing stuff, and had some great adventures along the way. Now we have hundreds of photos to go through!

While the sights were incredible, I think what we both enjoyed the most was a chance to plan out what we want to do this year.  We have some big ideas for this site, so stay tuned! We’re really excited about 2012!!

Lauren :)

Time flies when you’re having fun and when you’re busy. It flies faster when you’re doing both!

Rob and I have been as busy as ever this winter. Probably more than ever, in fact. We shot well into the fall, and even snuck a bunch of sessions in after the snow set in (despite our extreme aversion to the cold!).

And then, in the midst of it all, we’ve been putting lots and lots of time into our educational website, Photography Concentrate. Seems like folks are enjoying learning over there, and we definitely enjoy teaching, so it’s a good time! 

These days we’re spending our time brainstorming, writing, planning, researching, shooting, and sneaking in time with friends and family. We have no idea what the year will bring and we’re taking it all a month at a time. It’s kinda crazy, but really wonderful too.

So, with all that, hopefully you can understand why I haven’t been the best blogger! There is a lot I need to catch up on. But for now I present you with a few teasers from our most recent sessions. Hope you enjoy!

I’m pretty certain this is one of my favouritest photos that I’ve ever taken.

Rob. And Fawn and Troy. We have fun.

Got something pretty rad for you today! The Bourdeau Family photos! They are definitely the most super family we’ve ever met. Make sure to scroll all the way through to see what I mean… :)

Can mere words even remotely match up to how epic these guys are? I don’t think so. But I’ll give it a try :)

When the mom of this gorgeous family told us halfway through the session that she brought costumes I bet we looked just like kids on Christmas morning. We LOVED it. Suddenly the boys transformed. They weren’t kiddos anymore. They were Batman, Robin and Bat-Mite (they taught us about that character!). 

And then we were running, jumping, flying, and saving the world. How fun is that??? There’s nothing better than getting to photograph people who are having a blast. 

Thank you guys, for sharing an absolutely perfect evening with us, and for just being yourselves. You are truly super. 

Rob + Lauren :)

The morning we spent with this beautiful family was so peaceful. I hope you feel that from these photos!

We were so happy to be able to create a Moving Portrait as well. 

Photographing newborns is always a joy. Meeting them, and seeing their little personalities, even at only a couple weeks old, absolutely fascinates us. And there’s something really fantastic about shooting first borns. Specifically, it’s seeing brand new parents. Every moment is a new experience for them, and they just soak it up. Their eyes are bright with joy and love, they smile so easily, and there are so many simple, quiet moments that are truly and utterly beautiful.

Thank you guys for letting us photograph you. It was such a wonderful experience, we’re so happy to have met you!

Tons of love,

Lauren + Rob :)

If you’ve been following our work for a while you’ll recognize these beautiful people. This family is so special to us, and we’re incredibly lucky to have photographed them many times. Right now they are mere weeks away from adding another member, and we are ridiculously excited to get to meet the little monkey!

This is a pretty special time for them. Still three. Becoming four. A perfect time to capture with a Moving Portrait and some stills. First up the photos, and then make sure to scroll all the way through to see Rob’s latest Moving Portrait!

And last, but absolutely positively not least, Rob’s video.

Hanki family, what can I say? We love you. All four of you. 

Lauren & Rob :)

In early September my niece turned one! (Yeah we’re a bit behind with our blogging!) It’s a weird feeling when you first become an uncle, and to be honest I think I was in denial for some time. Obviously there’s the typical “I must be getting old!” internal dialog. That goes away (or maybe I’m still in denial). What comes next is the realization that you’re going to know this person for the rest of your life, and that you have this wonderful opportunity to build a relationship from scratch! After that you can’t help falling in love with them.

Another thing that hit me is that my sister is now a mother! It’s pretty incredible to see how much she has changed, and how much she loves her daughter.

Anika is our niece. My sister is Tammy, and Cory is her husband / my brother-in-law, and these are their photos.

Another thing that really rattles me is the way young kids will look at you. They’re not afraid of making eye contact, and they so easily show their emotions through their expressions.

We brought her back a lolly pop from our vaction in Prince Edward Island.

She gave it a taste.

And then decided to see what it looked like whacked against the floor :)

Cute chubby legs.

Thanks so much for letting us photograph you guys! Can’t wait to see you grow together as a family.

- Rob

The Girards are an incredible family, so full of life and love. Dig right into these photos, because there are guaranteed smiles and laughs ahead!

First off was hair and makeup. Two wonderful ladies from Mousy Brown’s Salon were on hand to get the family all prettied up. Keira, the star of our shoot, got right in to help out. 

Then it was off to shoot! You can see Ronald McDonald House in the background there. Jaime, the beautiful mom of this family, describes it as their “second home”. It’s truly a special place.  

These guys are fantastic at snuggling and playing together! It was a joy to photograph them. :) 

And this next photo I just had to include, because it makes me laugh my head off!! Keira’s brother Keely is the funniest, sweetest big brother in the world. 

We absolutely love letting the kids try out our cameras! Keira really took to it right away, and looks like a total pro! (And no, it doesn’t make us too nervous, but it really freaks the parents out, which we think is pretty funny ;)

Another hilarious shot. These two are just too funny! This was “Give your brother a big hug”. Yep, that’s how kids give BIG hugs. :)

Keira was ready for her close up. Maybe a bit too close though… :)

And then, of course, the highlight of the shoot is always getting to play in the park!!

Now, as you saw, we gave the cameras to the kids and let them shoot. Here are a few shots by Keira + Keely!

And finally, another huge thanks to Lauren and Megan from Mousy Brown’s for styling the family, and making them feel like true rockstars. 

This was yet another amazing shoot with a family from Ronald McDonald House. I’m constantly overwhelmed with the love that pours out of these people. 

The Girard’s are from Peace River, Alberta. Chuck and Keely, the dad and big brother, drove all the way in (4 hours!) just to be together for some photos. Photography is something that we do every day, and it’s all too easy for us to take it for granted. These guys really reminded us of the power of images, and how capturing these amazing relationships and moments is a privilege.

As I’m sure you could see in the photos, this family is amazing. Keira is such a strong and beautiful little girl, always wanting to help out. And her big brother, Keely, has the biggest heart. He loves his family, and was so happy to just get to hang out together. Not a lot of young boys would be eager to have a photo hugging their mom, but Keely just does it naturally. And Jaime and Chuck are amazing parents. They just jump right in to play. You can see why the kids adore them. 

Girard Family, thank you. It was completely our pleasure to photograph you. 

Tons of love,

Lauren + Rob