I’ve got a fun one for you today my friends! Well, all my sessions are pretty fun, but this session was a little different than what I might normally post – BUT SO AWESOME!!! I have had the pleasure of photographing these two young ladies for a few years now, and it’s always better than great. They are an absolute pleasure to be around and it’s been neat to watch them grow and change a little along the way.
We had a lot of rain in Kitchener Waterloo this Summer, but also, a lot of great weather too! (minus the insane heat wave and staggering humidity, lol), so getting out of the studio for sessions is something I’m always up for. I don’t know exactly how or why I envisioned downtown Kitchener location for this particular session, but I knew it would be heckin’ cool.
When Mum reached out, she explained she just wanted a photoshoot of her two girls at the stage they’re in right now. Which I must say, is absolutely music to my ears as a photographer. When your full time job is documenting humans just as they are in that exact moment, you start to have a little relationship with time and change. What I mean by that is while we all know how fast time goes by, and how fast our kids change, but sometimes we get so caught up in the fast paced chaos of life that we don’t actually see it happening real time. It’s usually something that jogs our memory like an impromptu video or photo on our phone, or something that comes up in our FB memories that make us stop and really realize how much someone has actually changed – right before our eyes! I think there is a quote somewhere that is essentially “with time comes change” or along those lines, and it really couldn’t be more true. I should probably look that up tbh. lol Long story short, as a photographer I see the speed of change a lot. Every time a repeat client comes back for another session, whether it’s been a few months, half a year, or a year, I see it.
Anyhoo, back to my story. Mum asked for this session as she knows that change is coming fast. Once kids hit that pre-teen age and move towards teen life, change starts happening FAST. So what better way than to stop time in the way of a siblings/sisters photoshoot and a ton of great memories to look back on. And thats just what we did. The life and relationship of sisters is a special one, and I hope they continue to be close all their lives. There is a unique bond that only sisters share and I felt like it was important to try and capture that, while also highlighting their individuality.
My wardrobe suggestions were pretty simple…. the girls had to pick outfits that were 100% their personality. Something that they loved wearing, that they felt comfortable and confident in and they could accessorize any way they pleased. That part is fun. As time goes on, their interests will shift and some of their favourite things now, might not be their favourite things later. In fact they could be forgotten about altogether. So why not bring along an item that they love right now at this stage in life. I know in 10-15 years the girls will go back to the photos and be like “oh yeahhh, I remember that!”.
The evening was perfection, with the loveliest weather we could ask for. Not too hot, no rain – juuuust right. Love it when that works out! We met in the downtown core of Kitchener and got started. The light is starting to go down a bit earlier these days so we didn’t mess around lol. But they were on fire! They just slid right into model mode and had all the expressions and poses as if this is just how they spend every day. What I love about this location is how versatile it is with different ‘looks’ all within 20 steps of one another. I pretty much could have put the camera on a tripod and let the photos take themselves, but boy am I glad I was there to at least take partial credit for these images. Huge kudos goes to both of these young ladies for their confidence, their beauty and grace. They’re both rockstars through and through. I love the images we made together, not to mention the memories of being in that perfectly filthy alleyway on the perfect summer evening! (I did warn them that where we were going was was totally gross, but they would love it).
Here they are! Only a fifth of what I delivered in their behemoth gallery – literally too many to share here in one post.
A big thank you goes out to Mum for her foresight, knowing change is on the horizon, to Dad for being the bag-boy all evening and carrying my gear around (hey! he offered!!) and finally, to these two ladies for all their magical energy that they brought to the session and let me capture.
