One Frame, Two Ways

Colour or Black and White? Which do you prefer? A sample of what's to come...from last night ;)

Motherhood

One of my favourite images from this fall and not a yellow leaf in sight. For me, though...it is a picture of what it is like to be a family welcoming a new one. It also represents the type of image that I want to take...I want you to see yourselves sitting in your living room and know that there is beauty in the chaos around you...because sometimes family life is chaotic, but it is always beautiful. And, it is easy to forget that. So, I want to take the pictures that remind you of that fact. The mother in this image wrote me the loveliest email after she received her images. She agreed to let me share some of it with you all:

"I just wanted to say how much I believe in what you do and your vision. I've shown these to some friends and family and it's so interesting to see people's reactions. Some really prefer photos of everyone lined up and looking straight at the camera, or in some cute pose. And some (but not everyone) really see the beauty in capturing a shared glance or a facial expression or a feeling of day (warts and all). I desperately want to save those moments because when you look at them later, they tell you so much about who we were then. Photos like these become more valuable as time goes on, and I can't even appreciate how they will make me feel in the future when I look at them through the glasses of all our experiences yet to be lived."

~ Jenn and Aric

What a lovely present that email was...I am grateful that this mother is open to letting me share it with you. This image is 'family' to me. Warts and all :)

~ Dana

New

This is one of my favourite newborn photographs that I have ever taken.

Newborn photography is what I set out to do when I started. Bet you didn't know that...I thought that it would be a wonderful job. Cuddling with babies, curling them into little balls and taking the photographs that you see so many photographers do now. But, something happened very early on in my career...I think of it as one of the first steps towards learning who I was as an artist. I took a photograph of a baby all by itself(I can even tell you the exact photograph when this lightbulb moment happened) and as I took the photograph a little voice in my head whispered 'that baby looks lonely'.

Since that moment, I have moved further and further away from traditional newborn photography towards taking more images like this...which was maybe the 10th image I took upon arrival at their home. I don't like photographs of babies by themselves, generally, so most of mine have other people in them....even if it is just someone's arms holding them. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule(even in my own work, but mostly in the work of others). My friend, Ashley Skjaveland, has a talent at making babies look like they are wrapped in cocoons of love even when they are all by themselves. Even when it is just a foot or an ear. Seriously. It is a gift. It is a gift that I see so many newborn photographers struggle towards achieving but falling short of the mark...and I know that it is a gift that I don't have.

And, so I strive for moments like this. Moments where there is so much love there that you can't help but feel it...where the world stopped for literally a fraction of a second and this two year old boy gazed at his new baby brother in wonder. In that moment, I got to see the impact of this new life for both of them. So, even though you can't see the baby's face...it is one of my favourite newborn photographs ever. I think it marks a step closer towards achieving exactly what I want from a newborn session...

Of course, I have pictures of just the baby, too...but, this one sings for me :)

Felt like sharing a bit about my creative process...thanks for indulging me.

~ Dana