family photographer Archives - Boakview Photography

Fall High Park Mini Sessions

December 4, 2020

Fall High Park Mini Sessions: 2020 has not been exactly what we expected! In fact, I would wager that it’s been a lot more of the unexpected! But, hey, that’s okay – we make the best of it and we keep on keeping on! Am I right? That being said, this was a year of learning, reflecting, and adaption. It was also a year of the minis – mini weddings, mini ceremonies, and, of course, mini sessions! For me, it was so lovely to revisit more intimate ways of capturing love, happiness, and families! That is why I was so excited to do something this year, that I was too busy to do in the past: Fall High Park Mini Sessions!

High Park has always been a place close to my heart! I remember visiting it with my family when we first came to Canada. I marvelled at how such a beautiful natural space was just minutes away from the busy city. Now that I am lucky to live so close, it just made sense to capture some memories surrounded by High Park’s natural beauty!

This year, my fall High Park Mini Sessions were a lovely combo of family, maternity, couple, & newborn photos. It was wonderful to re-connect with past couples & families, but also to connect with some new clients. I included some snaps from the session along with some great suggestions for what to expect during a fall High Park Mini Session. Enjoy!

Beautiful fall leaves during fall high park mini sessions

Maternity High Park Mini Sessions

Maternity sessions are some of my fave sessions to capture. I love immortalizing those moments right before a new human comes into its new family. The happiness, anticipation and love is so beautiful and palatable – this truly is a magical time. I usually have clients asking me what to wear & what to expect. The first thing I always tell my clients is to be themselves! I love to capture authenticity in my photos. Therefore, wear something comfy, something you always feel good in – no matter what the session! I love movement, so you can expect to be walking and moving at least a little bit even in a shorter amount of time!

couple kissing under a tree during fall high park mini sessions

Pregnant belly during fall high park mini sessions

pregnant couple kissing under a fall tree during fall high park mini sessions

Couples High Park Mini Sessions

Think of this as a mini engagement session (if you are newly-engaged) or a fun, mini-romantic photoshoot! Whatever your preference the same rules always apply: be snuggly, be kissey, (I love PDA), but above all else be yourself and have fun!

Couple in love during fall high park mini sessions

Two photos of a couple snuggling in High Park

Walking through high park during fall high park mini sessions

Two photos of couple hugging during fall high park mini sessions

intimate photo of couple kissing during fall high park mini sessions

Family High Park Mini Sessions

Families are so fun to capture (check out some fun sessions here!) Families tend to be full of energy, enthusiasm, and love! My favourite combination. Kids are always a pleasure because they aren’t shy, they love movement, and aren’t afraid to be silly! Parents don’t sweat it if your little ones don’t want to stand or sit still, their silliness always makes great photos! Just enjoy the ride! Oh and if you have pets, please bring them!

Family with toddler during fall high park mini sessions

Two photos of toddler and parents during fall high park mini sessions

Black and white photo of toddler holding hands with mom

family walking away during fall high park mini sessions

Family portrait in High Park during fall high park mini sessions

Boys being silly with dog during fall high park mini sessions

Cute puppy at fall high park mini sessions

Parents having a really cute moment during fall high park mini sessions

Newborn High Park Mini Sessions

While I prefer to do a combo of indoor and outdoor spaces for newborn sessions, with the current pandemic restrictions, outdoor mini sessions are the perfect compromise! Just bundle up, bring your stroller, carrier, whatever, and smile!

family with newborn wearing sunglasses during fall high park mini sessions

Mom and newborn baby hugging during fall high park mini sessions

Intimate moment between dad and newborn baby during fall high park mini sessions

That’s it – those are all the rules! Be comfortable, be yourself, and have fun – leave the rest up to me!

Creemore Family Session

April 12, 2019

We have known the Boake family for a while now. We have grown with them and captured their engagement, wedding, & newborn photos! So when they invited us to come to their beautiful property to capture their Creemore Family Session, we were delighted! We met Molly, their little firecracker a year ago when we captured her newborn session, and couldn’t wait to see how much she’d grown!

Fun fact: We named or little company after Hugh’s cabin, Boakview! It is an old paper mill, turned train station, turned cabin! It was originally owned by, you guessed it, the Boake Family! So when Markie and Andrew were looking for wedding photographers, our company name immediately grabbed their attention. The rest is history!

The family now resides in Creemore, Ontario and it’s truly majestic! The property lies nestled on a hill surrounded by forests, fields, and the most magnificent view of the countryside. It’s a photographer’s dream! So on a rainy fall day, we packed up our gear and headed to this little slice of paradise two hours away from the city. We were not disappointed – light drizzle and all!

Although rainy, the conditions for a fall family session were perfect. Clients always ask us what kind of weather is ideal for an outdoor photo-session, and tend to be surprised when we respond with a resounding “overcast!” While sunny conditions are amazing for playing outside, for photos we prefer the slightly gloomy. Overcast weather allows for even lighting, no shadowing or squinting, and makes everyone look great on camera!

Don’t get me wrong, we will capture your family and loved ones in any weather – rain or shine – but when it comes to what we love? Give us a grey day any day of the month! So when you are planning an outdoor session with little ones, don’t worry too much about a little drizzle – we promise we will make it fun!

Kelly, Vince, & Joie ~ A Fun Family Engagement in High Park

June 8, 2017

There is truly nothing more special than the melding of two families – two hearts, two souls, two sets of dreams to become one…unless there is a third little heart, soul, and set of dreams involved. When Kelly and Vince first approached us to photograph their engagement session we were thrilled, not only are they our kind of people (you know, laid back, easy-going, creative, and slightly dorky) they also wanted to include Vince’s beautiful little girl Joie. We absolutely loved the idea of having a little lady included in their session (I mean who doesn’t love a little girl in a pink tutu!?) but also because we love the idea of this unique little family coming together and sharing their love. We had so much fun roaming high park, swinging on swings, picking flowers, and snuggling. It really made all of us feel like big kids again…

A Week in Review

May 25, 2017

It’s that time again, another week has gone by (okay a little late this time, but I’m thinking it may make more sense to do this at the end of a week as opposed to the beginning?!) So here is what went down, what inspired me, what made me laugh, and what I found intriguing from last week – enjoy….

A Week in Review…

May 12, 2017

When you own your own business, especially a creative one like ours, it’s sometimes really difficult to stay inspired – despite loving what we do, work sometimes becomes something you just “do” and not something you “create” and there is a huge difference in that. One piece of advice that I keep hearing from other photographers, in order to escape the the trap of feeling like photography is no longer an art, is to shoot for yourself. So this week I made a new resolution for myself and that is to photograph at least one little thing each day and, if I feel inspired, shoot as much as possible. So far the first week has been challenging, I’m not going to lie. Being sleep-deprived (Little Miss Vie has decided that she is over sleep) sometimes makes it hard to look at the world through a rosy/ artistic lens. But nonetheless, I am trying to do this for myself as well as for my work. So every Friday I will do my best to post my own week in review, to capture the world as I saw it with all of its beauty, darkness, laughter, tears and joy. I hope you enjoy the project…

An East Coast Maternity Session

April 21, 2017

When I got pregnant with little Ms. Vie I had no plans whatsoever to do a formal maternity session, definitely not one we would capture ourselves. But being out on the ocean in the East Coast of Canada, seeing the beautiful clouds rolling in we just couldn’t resist. So I quickly threw on my new Anthropologie dress (really the only one that fit me and looked good on camera), dragged my fingers through my hair, stripped my poor child down to his undies (that session will be blogged later!), and dragged Hugh out onto the rocks with my ever-expanding belly. We had a total of 20 minutes before our lovely moody sky turned down-right mean and was followed by a torrential downpour but it was totally worth it! I can’t get over how amazing the east coast of Canada is, the ocean, the rolling hills, the people, the food (the sea food), the everything – can’t wait to visit this summer again and hopefully take advantage of another beautifully moody day with my camera.