Victoria Baby Photos - Little Victoria Family Photography

D & R contacted me earlier this year to let me know they were expecting a little one and I couldn't have been more thrilled to come and photograph their little family. I loved seeing D & R with their little one, the way they would talk and sooth her was so adorable. I'm really excited to share this session as it is special for me. See my brother is friends with this little one's parents and her father knew me as a kid. It was really amazing to see him being a dad to his little girl and so sweetly. Wishing this family all the best!

Beauty Portrait: Jacalyn

Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, a Rosewood Resort is beautifully opulent. The dark woods embrace you when you enter the grand entrance of the lobby. Stones, golds and dim lighting create warmth and comfort while keeping the glamorous feel. It was the perfect fit for some non-traditional portraits. 

When I think of ways to describe Jacalyn the first words that comes to mind are sophisticated, beauty and eloquent in the suburbs. Not only is this blonde bombshell gorgeous, but she is one of the sweetest women I've met and created a new friendship each other. Not only was she ready for whatever I brought on and has this incredibly intense beauty look but completely softens when she smiles. 

A beauty portrait session is ideal for every women do to at least once. Not only can it boost your self-esteem and confidence but its just plain fun. If your a student, mother, professionals - doesn't matter it's always nice to have photographs of where we've been so we can always look back and appreciate the person that got us to our future. Your children will appreciate such beautiful photographs of their mother. Everyone deserves to see themselves as beautiful and I would love to be able to provide you those photographs.

I'm so incredibly excited to share some of her session photos on the blog. This fashionista has also started a blog of her very own and you can check it out here 'The West Coast Suburbanista' .

Vancouver Wedding Photography Promo Video - Thank You

Thank You.

Let's just say this was completely unplanned and unexpected how it came to be...

Breanne Jansen, of Fancy Feat Studios who is currently attending Vancouver Film School helped me put together an exciting promo video for this year. I wasn't thinking 1.) - I would take the video super deep, or slow - I was thinking "happy go lucky" 2.) - the insane amount of comments/reactions/private messages on Facebook. Thank you to everyone for your tremendous amount of support!

About the video -
Breanne said "tell a story" and I said "I'm not good at it and my voice sounds icky". Okay, I didn't say "icky"but that's not the point. While I stared at a blank note pad on my laptop initially I thought of what got me into photography, blah, blah, blah. Slightly different story from every other photographer and I yawned. I kept thinking "Congrats, you went to school, bought a camera, and ta da magical photographer". Okay, well that's not even the whole story - but does it really matter how I got here? Maybe the story would be better with who helped get me here...

And then it hit me, the flash of light - an idea. What really helped me, and got me into photography was 'passion' and drive. The working hard didn't scare me, it thrilled me. And I learned how to work hard from my parents. They came from nothing. My parent's never had indoor plumbing till they were adults and they slept on sacks of wheat for a mattress, this was during the dictatorship years in Portugal. Their homes were made of plaster and had dirt floors. When I was in Portugal last, I had a chance to speak with my aunts and uncles about their upbringing and quite honestly, they may have had less 'stuff' but they had so much more. They were constantly unplugged and connected to their family. In many ways, it made me jealous. I heard stories of how my grandfather use to play guitar and they would all sing together in the evening or dance around the house. How there was time to bake in the kitchen together. Time. Time, to enjoy each other's company without being constantly on the go.

 I just want to put this out there - in no way are my parents the perfect role model of what a marriage should be. It was just the most exposed marriage I've witnessed. I believe there isn't such a thing as the perfect marriage. A perfect marriage is much like a unicorn, disney creates a movie about it, a princess sings and a prince shows up to save the day... somehow princes' naturally "save" us poor lost princess' from our 'towers', or evil 'insert anything here'. Even still... I love disney.

My parent's simply showed me that marriage takes a lot of work. It's a full-time job that you choose and you can't slack at it. As much as they do have faults (as we all do), I really appreciated how incredibly hard they both worked and sacrificed to make things work and put my siblings and myself first. My father worked very long hours to try to give our family everything so we would not 'want'. And my mother was a stay at home mom, who tried her best at raising us and giving us quality time when possible. I feel like the video isn't about being inspirational but more as a thank you to my mother & father. Without your help, cracking the whip when I was younger to work hard, constantly challenging me to succeed and support - who knows if "Dragonflight Photography" would be here. By witnessing my parents it taught me to work hard at what matters and not to assume how things will be. I learned from their mistakes, because let's face it our parent's aren't always right. I saw how honest open communication with friends, clients and spouses is essential to have strong relationships with people we care about. Things aren't always going to be easy, and there will always be challenges ahead - the key is not to give up and keep pressing ahead. I feel we can apply that to all aspects of our lives from work, home, marriage and friendships. It takes work to keep things growing in a garden. So I'm going to try my best to remember to "water my garden".

Special thank you to Breanne for putting the video together and tolerating my outbursts of 'Mother Mother' lyrics. Thank you to Ben & Jolene for letting us film your engagement session last summer! And Thanks to my parents for not flipping out when I showed them the video.... last week.... after it went online..... and being ok with their faces being on the internet.... Love you....

please picture my parent's harsh accents saying "We're on the in-tar-net-e Maria! We be famous on de you-tubed!" ;-)

Boudoir Photography: Vancouver, Langley, Victoria

bou·doir 

n.

A woman's private sitting room, dressing room, or bedroom.

Whenever I've been commissioned to take boudoir photos the first thought I have is how honoured I feel to be chosen to document something so personal and private. The confidence that these ladies show is unreal. First choosing to do the shoot is a brave and courageous move. In a society where there is such an emphasis on 'how we look', 'what is beauty' and all the other pressures of being a woman - these women confidently choose to take intimate portraiture of themselves and feel good in their skin. Embracing yourself and your beauty to show it in front of the camera is hard and these women that I've photographed confidently went forward and I'm so grateful to share some of their images with you. With the ladies permission - here are some of the photographs from the recent marathon.