Hailey & the Tulips | Shiverz Designs | Chilliwack Tulip Fest

I’m home from a wonderful (re)craft retreat at Tullstarr! More on this soon, but for now,…

Over a month ago I went to the Chilliwack Tulip Festival at dawn, which is a great hour to shoot for photographers. I packed the experience - meeting up first to shoot a family session, and then finishing up the hour by shooting with Hailey Hanson and Siobhan from Shiverz Designs. It was INTENSE, but we did it!

It was so interesting to see so many varied photographers in one spot, all shooting different things, all politely avoiding each other (haha) and doing their thing. It really drove home for me the fact that all of us - every single photographer - will always look at the world through their own lens - and we’ll always shoot a bit different from one another - and that’s beautiful.

Here are just a few images from our morning, on what was possibly the brightest possible morning of the year. Not pictured: the epic pancake breakfast we had afterwards with Kristina Little and her crew.

Designer: Siobhan D’Souza | Shiverz Designs

Model: Hailey Hanson

The Raphael Family

I’ve been wanting to share this session with all of you for such a long time, and I haven’t quite known the words to use to tell the story of it. I think the best way I know how to share all of this with you is to let the photos tell the story of this wonderful family.

I feel honoured to have done this shoot with Rochelle and her family. I’m so grateful that Gabriella, her daughter, reached out to me way back last spring - and the careful consideration and love Gabriella poured in to coordinating and choosing every outfit is so evident in every frame. Steve, Rochelle’s husband, supported behind the scenes (I snuck a few frames though), and what struck me shooting this with all of them was how much love, care, and support they had for one another - and especially, how very strong Rochelle was. My dear friend Siobhan from Shiverz Designs created and designed all of the floral crowns, using flowers from her own garden.

I am finally making this post knowing that Rochelle very recently passed away and I know how very deeply she’ll be missed. I want to let you all know about a gofundme campaign started to help with funeral costs and any other needs. Donate to the GoFundMe here.

Welcome to the 60s with The Maybelles

I was able to spend some dreamy golden hours with Chilliwack’s The Maybelle’s, a 1960s inspired music group. They’re putting on their annual event Welcome to the 60’s on March 29 & 30 at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre Rotary Hall Studio Theatre. These ladies are TALENTED, and I’m so excited to see what they put together this year!

While I don’t offer professional graphic design, I do the Maybelle’s poster every year and it’s one of my favourite things to put together. Below are a few images from our little sunset walk session & the final poster - get tickets soon, I hear they’re going fast!

Maybelle Amber Bergeron

Maybelle Katrina Barson

Maybelle Brittany Sovereign

Maybelle Alexis Beer

Deanne | Chilliwack Beauty Photography

YOU GUYS. THIS IS DEANNE AND SHE IS AMAZING. 

Doing more film photography again is on my (long, long) list of things to do one day, but in the meantime, using old cameras as props is pretty rad. 

Do any of you remember using rotary phones? Both my grandmothers had one, and I remember how frustrating it would be when you missed a number and had to start all the way at the beginning. They're so PRETTY though, it's hard to pass them up when I see them around town. I'm also working on a portrait project series with old phones - it'll be in the works after I finish the 24 Hour Portrait Project & Guys and Flowers, and I'm stoked to get started. 

The 24 Hour Portrait Project begins June 22-23, you can follow along on Facebook or Instagram - and I'm still allowing some last minute entries! We have a couple more spots I would absolutely love to fill, so please don't hesitate to put your name in if you're interested and want to help support the project!

Anyways, Deanne and I had an awesome time as spring came to the valley, wandering around gardens with a bunch of retiredish fabulous technology.