Butterfly Conservatory Wedding - Cambridge Ontario

This post has been in the works for awhile, maybe even long overdue, but it was an absolute MUST! Jen and Mike's gorgeous wedding day at Cambridge's Butterfly Conservatory was too beautiful not to share.

When I first met them both, it was pretty evident that we just clicked. I've said it before, but each time clients and I connect in that special way, I just know we are going to have a pretty amazing time together, not to mention make some magical photos of their journey.

Their engagement shoot was just a prelude to the excellence to come on their wedding day. These two share a very special connection, along with some pretty adorable children too! It's obvious how much Mike just adores Jen, and with his playful, teasing and loving personality, I imagine things stay pretty fun and fresh at their house. :-)

Jen was a breathtaking vision on her big day, surrounded by her best friend and her family. Hair and Makeup was provided by a very talented artist, Gabriela Soares Chow, who in fact was an old school mate of Jen's!

Here is just a small sampling of their wedding day collection. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed creating them!

If you are newly engaged and shopping around for the cherry on top of your wedding day - I'd love to hear from you! Reach out anytime: danielle@hrkvc.com or 226-747-0177 www.hrkvc.com

Beautiful Maternity Session Kitchener, Ontario

Well, to be honest, I don't know where to start about this Maternity session. I mean, when something so good, SO magical, so beautiful happens, I almost want to keep it to myself so I don't somehow wake up a discover it was all a dream... This time, I can confidently say it wasn't a dream, and the magic was real. :-)

On this particular Sunday, I was joined at my studio by Katelyn McCulley-Hayden, who is a fabulous hair stylist at So Chiq hair studio in Waterloo, and Cassie Shuttleworth, an incredibly talented make-up artist hailing from Cambridge, Ontario. And so it began... Once an HRKVC bride herself, and now expecting a new arrival to their growing family, it was a privilege to have been asked to capture these maternity photos for her.

During the 9-10 months of a pregnancy, there are an infinite amount of changes and emotions that a woman will experience. With a changing body, (and having been there myself twice) I can vouch for having experienced feelings of confidence, feeling beautiful, powerful, and also the opposite end of the spectrum of those exact feelings as well.

Carrying a child is undoubtedly one of the most incredibly miraculous feats a woman will accomplish in her lifetime. I sometimes stop and think about the fact that we are GROWING a human being! From scratch. From something the size of a tiny little speck of dust!

Women positively radiate with beauty and power during pregnancy. I always gravitate towards wanting to create soft, pretty, romantic photos, and truly capture the magnificence of a woman's body, and her spirit. Whether its her first pregnancy or perhaps her last, inevitable, her body will never be the same as that exact moment in time. She will soon deliver her beautiful baby, and slowly and surely she will get her body back. It will be stronger, in some ways changed, but it will become her own again. Its always my hope that the photos I capture during these special sessions will be one day shared with that child, and the feelings of awe, and wonder can be shared. It may be when the child is still a wee person, or perhaps later down the road when they themselves are grown and experiencing the journey of a pregnancy. In my mind, I can hear the child say things like, "wow, I was in there!", or, "my mother was so beautiful I have no words", perhaps even, "I love my mom so much for giving so much of herself to me during that time"...

In any case, I do want to share with you some of the very special photos we created that day. I hope you like them just as much as I do. If you yourself are pregnant or have a friend who deserves to be pampered and photographed in all her beautiful pregnant glory, contact me for more details.

danielle@hrkvc.com
www.hrkvc.com
226-747-0177

Cambridge, Ontario Engagement session

On Canada Day, I met up with Laura and Shawn at Riverside Park in Cambridge to photograph their engagement session. I was extra excited for this shoot because I've never done a fair or carnival-esque shoot before and I had always dreamed of doing something this fun! There must've been at least 20 000 people around us, and the air was full of noise and energy. Tons of families, couples, and friends were at the Canada Day celebration enjoying our Country's birthday festivities.

I've never photographed amongst SO many people before. It took a little time for us all to get comfortable and wrap our heads around the fact that Laura and Shawn were probably completely on display in front of so many people. I shot with a telephoto lens too, which I thought was going to make me stand out like a sore thumb, but after a while, a strange thing happened: I started to feel invisible! There was just something about it... I felt like the 3 of us were all disappearing in the crowd.

Laura and Shawn are SUCH an adorable couple. They love each other so much and it wasn't hard to catch some really great moments of them just having fun and enjoying the fair. I can't wait for their wedding in October, Laura and Shawn are such a stunning couple and I know they will both be a dream on their big day!