Wanders in northwestern Ontario... | Chilliwack Photographer

Friends, I left the province for the first time in 6 years a couple weeks ago and it was so needed. There’s something about dipping your feet in Lake Superior, seeing fireflies under midnight skies, and sticking buttercups under your chin that just makes you feel like coming home to yourself.

I did so much - I’d forgotten the glow of country stars, how these little copper moths line the gravel roadways of Murillo and Conmee and spring up around you with every step, how Robin’s Donuts makes chocolate and coconut Robin’s eggs and they’re delicious.

And out in the family orchard, we spread some of my dad’s ashes under a red atlas apple tree. He would have loved that so much.

I took his luggage along with me, too, with a luggage tag proudly saying he’d visited Hawaii and his name and address spelled out in block capitals. I miss his writing. I miss his words and wisdom. Grief is something you always carry - even if it gets less heavier, sometimes, over time. I felt my dad with me every step of the way - but that’s like here, too. I don’t think those we love are ever far.

It was such a healing trip, and there is so much I’m healing and have been for so long. The last 5 years have passed like a blur and they’ve carried so much heaviness, so much loss, both for my family and for Jamie’s. We’ve lost 4 family members in 2 years, cancer, the pandemic, health. I felt something heal in me when I put my feet into the lake, when I travelled the old pathways me and my best friend Melissa struck out on 20 years ago. When I lay on the rocks and the gravel and felt so supported by the earth. What a beautiful thing to experience nature in these ways. I am so grateful I was able to do this.

The rest of the summer is stretching out before me and I have so many plans - mostly on healing & new projects. Sometimes that intersects. Often it does, because photographing & sharing things in these spaces is therapeutic for me, too.

I’m still taking submissions for Sourcing Joy and Grief Houses, you are so welcome to participate and there’s no fee to do it - these will be photo essays as a heart project of mine.

The pathway I’ve walked on for 20+ years, Lowkey taking a cozy snooze, feeding chickens, a butterfly with a broken wing, “Pride Lives Here” on my cousin’s house, a field of purple clover

The spot where we laid my dad’s ashes, and my cousin Melissa wandering her garden during golden hour, and Lilia and Lowkey in the field at midnight under a full moon

The Murphy House, my old dream house, as seen from the laneway, a copper moth resting on a wild daisy, my cousin planting marigolds at our grandparents’ grave, my goddaughter holding a small bouquet of wildflowers, making prints in the sun with Frankie and yard blossoms.

Sourcing Joy | Photo Project | Chilliwack Photographer

A frame from the “How We Self Care” series with Brenna Vink, 2019

I've been thinking a lot lately about how much I loved my "How We Self Care" series in 2019. Following people sharing stories around how they cared for themselves was beautiful and soothing and I loved every single moment of documenting these sweet lives living, even while recognizing that self care exists within a privileged space - it's not accessible to all. Between dealing with illness and then the pandemic, along with questions that were rising up for me around accessibility and the term "self care", this project kind of fell to the wayside. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about the term "glimmers", it's kind of in the neurodivergent wheelhouse - instead of focusing on problems, focus on the glimmers - what shines, what invites, what works. Joy feels this way to me - I think, maybe especially as a neurodivergent person, that I look at joy in these layered ways. I feel joy when I look outside and see a storm rolling in, the wind picking up, the leaves on the trees swaying. I feel joy when I connect with other humans and make art with them. When I see a great wildflower patch. When I get into flow. When I can be cozy, piled up with blankets, watching terribly good scary movies on my couch. When I'm photographing something that just feels like MAGIC with every button click. The list goes on and on and on. In the same way that you can train your brain to look for glimmers, the same can be said for joy - the more you look for it, the more you find it, the more space you make for it - even when joy itself can be complex and sometimes challenging to source. 

This new photo project focuses on that, on joy and how we find it. Sometimes we make it. Sometimes we engage with it. Sometimes it stumbles across us, flies through us, in a random moment of the day. 

I'm looking to create a series of photo essays this July onwards around sourcing joy - what brings you joy? What feels joyful? These will be photographed at a go with the flow pace and work best around a process or activity - something that can be documented in a number of frames. Submit your idea through the website here. I'll respond to every submission, whether or not it's been chosen, within one week so check your junk mail! If you don't hear back from me reach out again as I won't have received it.

This project is open to all - LGBTQia2s+ welcome. If you’ve participated in How We Self Care, 24 Stories, or other photo projects you’re absolutely welcome to participate with this as well. This project is also very attuned to accessibility - please let me know how I can support you & assist with any potential barriers around participation.

The project is free to participate, you can support this and projects like it by becoming a patron.

Come As You Are Portrait Party | Chilliwack Photographer

Friends! I’m so excited to offer this limited time portrait package! I was thinking the other day of “Come as You Are” parties - these parties don’t seem to happen much anymore, but if you do some Internet digging you can find black and white vintage photos of people gathering in all kinds of dress, showing up in the middle of doing something. The goal was to just be there, arrive, be who you were - and I love how inclusive & spontaneous that idea is. Just show up. Be present. You’re welcome to be here, regardless of how you come. I also love how every gathering would then be different - the group that showed up and how they showed up would shift with every meet up (which also falls in line with why I love Recraft so much, too - the act of just showing up will always make a difference to a space, and that’s so beautiful.)

To celebrate my birthday next week, I’ve decided to throw a Come As You Are Portrait Party for the next little while and I really hope you’ll join me! Here’s how they work:

1. PACKAGE: Portrait Sessions are $100, and include 1 digital file. 5-15 minutes. 1 person. *Inquire for more than 1 person, or for travel beyond Chilliwack.

2. BOOK LAST MINUTE: These can happen fairly spontaneously. Have an idea Thursday morning? Reach out to me asap and we could potentially shoot in the afternoon. Payment is due once booking is confirmed.

3. ADD ONS: You get 1 file of your choice (if multiple files are available), but you can add on additional files for $25 each if you’d like to.

4. These are VERY different from full sessions (like family, portrait/headshot, or beauty sessions). They’re unconventional, collaborative, and quick - posing is done very lightly, and you don’t need to look at the camera - the goal is to get one photo that captures a feeling, narrative, creative concept without any extensive editing and focusing on one person. Always wanted a photo in your garden? A picture in front of your favourite blue wall? Your favourite bookshop? With your pet parrot? Want to wear a bathing suit in front of your vintage car while holding a unicorn pool toy? LET’S DO THIS! These sessions give room to creating movement, playing with focus, expressing emotion, thinking outside the box and exploring space.

Ready to book? Fill out the form here!

Just a reminder: Flowers are coming

PS: I’ll be announcing a small Chilliwack local workshop for Recraft THIS WEEK! Details coming.