What feels like ages ago I did this beautiful shoot at Cultus with Siobhan D’Souza from Shiverz Designs, Audra and makeup artist Kayla Marie. This was just before the flooding started - we shot this on the day the rain began and editing went to the wayside as everything unfolded over that tough time for so many - I love going back through shoots like these and trying new things with them, so here are fresh edits! This shoot was such a bright spot in that time - it was also right around the time of the eclipse, so we named this series, “Eclipse Goddess”.
Creative
Amber | Chilliwack Portrait Photographer
I think this was in June, and one of my first sessions after lockdown. It was so good to get back and shoot while also figuring out how to create in my style and keep a distance. There’s this abandoned house a few blocks away from me that I’ve shot with before - we shoot from the empty lot beside it or the sidewalk - but it’s such a sad & fascinating little house. I’ve always had a soft spot for abandoned spaces: why are they abandoned? What are their stories? They’re places where the layers of years seem to exist over top one another simultaneously - where you can imagine how they were while processing the state they’ve been left in.
I feel so lucky to still have had opportunities this year to get out and shoot - there is a connection in photographing others, a care spent in creating, and this year more than ever every minute spent making art was a gift.
You can follow Amber’s work here.
Model: Amber McGregor
Happy New Year's: Grow Your Goals in a Field of Self Compassion
2019 is a year I’ll process for a long time. It’s contained some hard stuff, self-exploration, beautiful friendships, creative magic, and pathways of healing. I think the end of the year can come with an immense pressure - to be different than who we are, to change our bodies, redefine success - the new year is an uncomfortable place, as we try to shed our skins and replace them with who we feel we should be. We can eat well, exercise, be more organized, set goals, - all of this or none of this - but we do not need the shadow of shame. Grow your goals in a field of self-compassion.
As the year draws to a close, I celebrate my body for carrying me here. I thank my past self for making difficult decisions that continue to help me grow, heal, thrive. I thank my heart for pursuing love & empathy, and my hands for making so much art. I thank this year for knowledge and strength.
I created this image earlier this month and as it took shape I thought of pathways, of choices. There is this notion that we walk a pathway forged upon decisions, that our choices have black and white options: one right, one wrong. But, there is a third pathway - a pathway of our own making, one that is continually made and remade, one that isn’t good or bad - but one that supports us every step of the way, every decision we make: organic, movable, changeable, beautiful.
As we go into the new year, I wish for you all self compassion, kindness, & creative magic, and that you feel that path beneath your feet - thriving & supporting you, even when you aren’t sure where it leads, even when you’re unsure of your step - even into the quiet ending of a long year.
Happy 2020, friends!
Wild Mountain | Chilliwack | with Inhale Floral Designs, Montana's Bridal Hair, and Joelle Marks (Family Management)
This day was cold, and awesome. I pretty much drove into the ditch, but I pulled myself out (through strength of will and only small, well hidden moments of panic) and the sky was blue and perfect and Chilliwack Lake was like a storybook winter wonderland. It was freezing. Like, it was really really cold, which makes model Joelle even more of a champ - she braved that cold in a dress and fur blanket and never complained once.
We shot quick, we shot cold, and I feel really lucky to live in this lovely place surrounded by such awesome creative people.
Beautiful floral creations by the talented Haley Marks for Inhale Floral Designs
Hair (I am in love with that braid) by Montana Bullied (Montana's Bridal Hair)
Model: Joelle Marks from Family Management
Assisted by super champ Audra Coton, and Utah Jack