Today I had the delightful opportunity to photograph sweet Miss N who is just 9 days old.  As you can see, she preferred to be on her side – no tummy poses for this little girl!  I’m sure she kept thinking “what is this crazy lady trying to make me do?  I’m trying to sleep here you know!”  Regardless, we did get some beautiful shots to show off all her sweetness.  Thank you Melissa and Chris for inviting me into your home to photograph your lovely darling girl!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

I’m grinning ear to ear over these pictures today.  Little Logan was a gem to work with.  At 5 days old, he hardly fussed and let me move him into the perfect positions!  Keeping him warm with the space heater certainly helped!  I feel so blessed to be able to give Ashley and Bernie these wonderful images for their sneak peek.  Thanks again for having me out today!  You have a beautiful son!

I believe that families hire a professional photographer not only to capture beautiful images of their family, but also with the intention to frame the most beautiful prints possible.  It’s that belief that led me to set up my business where I don’t offer digital images as part of my session fee.  Instead, I offer a print credit towards your prints.

I know there are a lot of photographers out there that do offer the hi-res CD as part of their session fee.  The client can then take the image to their print house of choice for their enlargements.  I have to admit, the thought of my image being less than perfect on your wall makes me cringe.  I’ve had pictures printed at a discount department store, and they look horrible.  The one near where I live always seems to print with a brown tone to them.  The paper is thin and flimsy.  It’s just not a good quality print.

The prints that I sell are printed by a professional lab in Toronto where the staff are properly trained, machines are calibrated daily and corners are not cut.  When I think of all the prints that have passed through my hands last year, none of them ever needed to be reprinted.  They have always been spot on when it comes to the colour, the vibrancy of the image and the quality of the paper.

Even with this in mind, I recognize that digital is still a wanted commodity.  I’m pleased to announce that I’ve reworked my product pricing to include the option to purchase digital images with print release and printing instructions.  You will also receive a 5×7 print as a reference to compare the quality with wherever you choose to print your images.  Ultimately it is your decision on which product you would like, and now you have the choice!

A few weeks ago I did a casting call for a newborn twin photo session.  My friend Ruth told me about our friend from high school who was expecting twin boys on February 5.  The twins decided to come on February 1, to much relief of a very pregnant Kerri at the time!  Today I got to meet the beautiful boys, C and C along with their big brother C!    All three boys were wonderful during the session!  Thank you Kerri and Chad for having me out!  Your boys are beautiful!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

but wouldn’t you just love to have something like this on your wall?

This is a beautifully hand-crafted, custom designed storyboard created for a client last year. The prints are mounted on a wood frame that stands out 2 inches from your wall. It’s a beautiful alternative to a print and is coated with a UV protective spray.

If a storyboard isn’t your cup of tea, what about a canvas wrapped print?

This particular canvas is a 16×24 image wrapped on a 2.5″ stretcher bar and supported with a masonite backing to ensure the canvas isn’t easily damaged. It is also sprayed with a UV protective coating.

Looking for something a bit smaller to give as a gift to grandparents or aunts and uncles? What about a wallet-sized Accordion Brag Book?

Isn’t that just lovely? I created these as gifts for the grandparents this past Christmas and it was a huge hit! It is double sided and can incorporate up to 11 individual images. They are sold in sets of 3 so you can keep one for yourself too!

Stay tuned as I will be introducing more of these Boutique Products over the next few months, including Albums!

Valentine’s is a lot of work, for a four year old that is! This year is my daughter’s first class Valentine’s party. She painstakingly wrote her name on all 23 cards for her class mates and stuck a heart on each one. She was very proud to take them to school to give to her friends, and even more proud of the ones she brought home from her friends. It was a great day!

These are the cards she picked. Love the “da bomb” on it!

Don’t break her concentration (notice the tongue, now THAT’S concentration).

How’s that letter formed again?

Always gotta have the camera out, eh mom?

And done (well almost).

I’m sure next year will be just as great!

Today I visited my friend to do grad photos of her son. I knew that her son was musically inclined, but I didn’t realize just how good he was! He played his guitar during the session and was quite good! He told me that he taught himself guitar and he also plays piano and alto saxophone!

Here are a couple of my favourites from today! Thanks so much for having me out!

Have I ever told you about how I got started in photography?  Well, I can truly tell you that it runs in the family.  My grandmother loved photography.  She always had a camera in hand whenever we went somewhere.  There are lots of pictures of my dad and his sisters from when they were kids as well as me and my cousins growing up.

My dad enjoys photography also.  He taught me how to use the Pentax K1000, a fully manual camera for those of you who don’t know!  There was no little computer inside to do any thinking for you!  You had to set your ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed correctly to get the right exposure and you had to get it right in the camera the first time!  (Same applies to dSLRs of course…)

I’ve been taking pictures all my life.  My first camera was some cheap little 110 film camera when I was 10 or 11.  It took the most awful pictures but I loved it!  Over the years I had many cameras and always had one with me when we went on trips with friends and family.  I have albums full of photos – my practice years!

Dad taught me the technical aspects when I was 18.  I got my first film SLR a few years later and went digital in 2008.  Now, my children have been bitten by the bug.  My youngest (13 months) is already trying to get my camera, as you can see above!  My daughter has a cute toy camera that takes the most awful pictures!  I plan to get her something a bit nicer when she’s a bit older and won’t break it so easily!

ETA:  Since posting this, my aunt informed me that my granddad also was an avid photographer.  He passed away when I was 8 so I don’t remember a lot about him.  He had a darkroom in the basement and was very interested in the physics of photography.  Cool.

So that’s my little story!  What’s your story?  I’d love to hear it!  Comment or email me.  I LOVE comments!

I’ve been working on updating my website over the last few weeks and have changed the layout completely!  Today it is ready for all to see!

I just love this new look!  My favourite part is the background image!  I’ve updated all my galleries to include my sessions from the last year and tried to incorporate as many clients as I could.  If yours isn’t there, it will be eventually! 

Thanks for looking, and please feel free to leave a comment.  I LOVE COMMENTS!

Hello everyone!

I’ve got my mind set on photographing twins and need your help!  If you know someone or are someone who is expecting twins sometime this year, please contact me at jennifer@naturallybeautifulphotography.com.  In exchange for the use of the images for my portfolio, I’m offering a free newborn photo session for the lovely darlings as well as one 11×14 print.

Pretty sweet deal, huh?  It gets better!  In addition, if you would like to have maternity portraits done, I’m offering a discount of $50 off my session fee.  The total cost to you would be $100.  That’s a $150 savings off my Maternity & Newborn package price!

There’s no obligation to purchase prints and you will receive a proof CD (disk of watermarked images) suitable for online sharing.

I will come to your home to take the maternity portraits and return when the twins are born.  Maternity portraits are best done between 30-36 weeks and newborns are best photographed in the first 10 days of life, so if you are interested in this opportunity, the sooner you contact me, the better!