Nathalie & Rich's Glowy Garden Family Portrait Session :)

We recently met up with Nathalie & Rich and their super-sweet son Asher for some candid family photos at Kew Gardens. Although Asher is 5 now, and has some very firm ideas about what he does and does not want to do (posing for pictures falling into the latter category unfortunately!), he frequently breaks out into this smile that melts your heart :) A great day, and some great images to remember it by :)

The non-stop athleticism of parents never ceases to amaze me! I'm sure many look fondly upon the time before the day their child learned the words "again!" and "more!" ;)

Found a magic spot near the hostas, with butterflies and surely (though we didn't see them) fairies :)

  I love how quickly Asher transitioned from shy five-year-old to action-ready super-hero!

 This cedar-chip path through the trees reminded me of the one where we took photos on Nathalie & Rich's wedding day, at the lovely Paletta Mansion :)

 Nathalie & Rich: as always, it was such a pleasure spending time with your family :) Can't wait to design your album from this session!

xo
Jessica + Norman

Sarah + Mike's Super-Fun High Park Family Portraits :)

Sarah & Mike have 3 boys aged 6 and under. For most parents (and many photographers!), this would be a handful - thankfully these three guys are pretty chill and love to laugh :) We recently met up with them at High Park for a morning of log-climbing, bird-spotting, and giggles.. we even made a trip to the zoo! Here are some of my favourite images from the session..

 I love how baby Henry goes from super-serious to toothy grin in a split second :) Also - how great are dad & Cameron's matching faux hawks??

Just because he's the smallest, doesn't mean Henry's not running the show sometimes - his older brothers could barely stop him from running away! And Oliver (one of the most enthusiastic smilers I've ever met) thought that was pretty hilarious :)

We walked along the pond and over to the zoo (those kids are great walkers!).. Oliver loved holding onto a baby chick, and - after a bit of encouragement from mom - Cameron had loads of fun feeding the llamas. All this excitement was too much for baby Henry, who decided it was time for nap :)

Sarah & Mike: it's always such a pleasure spending time with you two and your sweet and hilarious boys! We had so much fun, and can't wait to show you the rest of the photos :)

xo
Jessica + Norman

Meet Jacqueline & Ted's Super-Adorable Newborn Twins :)

Jacqueline has asked me to photograph many pretty things over the past decade, including her lovely Soak bottles and her awesome brunch wedding at the SoHo House, but none of them come close to the session we had recently with Jacqueline & Ted and their newborn twins :) As I was looking through the images after, I couldn't stop laughing out loud, and the expressions on their little faces nearly killed me with cuteness over and over again. Consider yourself warned ;) Meet super-adorable and tiny Stella and Felix..

Of all their adorable little features, I think the toes are my favourite!

 This is where it starts to get crazy cute - these two look like they're having a heated discussion about something very important (probably deciding how best to out-cute fuzzy Leo!)

 I love how it looks like Stella is whispering in Jacqueline's ear, and Felix is whispering in Ted's :)
(in reality, Stella was trying her best to eat Jacqueline's hair!)

There are no words for how adorable these last few images are..

Jacqueline & Ted: the biggest of congratulations on your super-sweet new family members:) We instantly fell in love with Stella and Felix, and can't wait to photograph them again throughout their first year!!

xo

Jessica + Norman

{are you expecting twins? Email us at photo@jessicalin.ca and ask about our special Twins Promotion!}

Meet Sweet Baby Lachlan at 2 Weeks Old :)

Andrea & Dave have felt like old friends of ours from about 5 minutes into our first meeting - we had a great time photographing their engagement session and fantastic wedding a few years back, and even more fun at their recent maternity session this fall :) So it came as no surprise that the newest addition to their family is also awesome. Meet Baby Lachlan, master of many facial expressions and wielder of (knitted) axes, two weeks old..

 Here's what I love best about newborn sessions: the snuggling :) Also the sweet soothing, and the blissful wonder on the new parents' faces :)

This range of expressions happened in the span of about 5 seconds! I especially love the last one (bottom right)

Baby Lachlan is blessed with a few very talented knitters in the family :) And while he may not be ready to go axe-throwing just yet, at least he's got the outfit for it ;)

 Andrea is an amazing jeweller, and has made many "wax seal" monogram pendants for her clients - now she's got one of her own to commemorate the arrival of Baby Lachlan!

You may remember Dave's "stoic" look from their Brick Works maternity session.. well, it seems he can't hold it for long around this adorable little guy :)

Andrea & Dave: "thrilled" would be an understatement of how happy we are for you and your families :) We loved spending time with the three of you, and can't wait to do it again soon!

xo

Jessica + Norman

Baby on the Way: Andrea & Dave's Beautiful Fall Maternity Session at the Brick Works :)

We've known Andrea & Dave since they asked us to photograph their wedding a few years back - we loved doing their engagement photos at the Lakeview Restaurant, and their wedding day itself was both very personal and really beautiful (that's what happens when two designers get married, and their designer friends help out with the details!). So when they told us they were expecting a new addition to their family, we were so excited! And as luck would have it, the weekend we photographed their maternity photos at the Brick Works was also stunningly beautiful :) Here are some of my favourite images from their session..

My two favourite parts of this day: the way Andrea & Dave pop out of the orange backgrounds with their blue tops, and the amount of giggling that was done by all of us while Dave tried to teach Andrea how to do a "stoic" look ;)

 I love the reflection in the image on the left (below) :)

Andrea & Dave: we are over the moon happy for the two of you, and can't wait to meet your new little guy in just a couple of months! Then we can teach him how to be stoic too ;)

xo
Jessica + Norman

Baby Oliver Turns 1!!

We've actually been photographing Baby Oliver since he was still in his Mommy's tummy, and had such a fun year capturing this little guy as a newborn, 3-month-old, and 6-month-old baby :) The year has flown by, and before we knew it we were at Baby Oliver's first birthday party last weekend! We had so much fun, and - as you can see from the pictures - so did everyone else..

The Birthday Boy :) It was so great watching him play with the bubbles!

Sarah did a fantastic job as always: making rainbow cupcakes as well as this mini three-tiered cake for Oliver to enjoy. She even made a bucket full of colourful felt monsters for the kids (and photographers!) to take home :)

One of the entertainment highlights was this inflatable pool full of balls - I love this action shot of Big Brother Cameron! And how heart-meltingly adorable is the little snuggle sequence below?!

There was also a circus tent and crawl-through tube that were as fun to photograph as they were to play in! Plus - balloons, which were second maybe only to bubbles in terms of popularity :)

I love these images above - Oliver covered in berry juice, and Mike and Cameron giving 

him fits of giggles!

And then.. drum roll.. cake time!! (Cameron did a great Big Brother job of helping to blow out the candle)

The cake was a big hit :) And how sweet is that perfect tiny icing hand print on Sarah's jeans??

 

Just over a year ago, we took a photo with a stack of three hands.. and now there are four :) 

Happy Birthday Baby Oliver!!

Sarah & Mike: True story - on our way home, I got a bit nostalgic and said to Norman, "I wonder how many more years Cameron will think it's hilarious to be tickled and chased around the room? I wonder how long we've got until these boys aren't young enough to think that playing around with us grown-ups is fantastic, and instead we become embarrassing weirdos?" and he said, "I guess that's why it's important to Sarah and Mike to capture this while they're still young." You guys are awesome, and thank you so much for sharing your special family moments with us!

{to put it in a bit of context, this is now the 10th time we've photographed Cameron in his sweet little life, and the 12th time I've photographed Sarah & Mike, so it's maybe understandable that I'm pretty attached to this lovely family ;) }

xo Jessica + Norman

Spring Fun: Amanda & Sam's Family Portraits :)

When Amanda & Sam first came to Canada from Australia, they thought they'd stay for about a year. 5 years and two super-sweet kids later, and they're still here :) We recently had tons of fun hanging out with their family.. playing trains, reading (and chewing on!) books, and going to the park on a gorgeous early spring day. Here are some of my favourite images from this playful and candid family portrait session..

How sweet are those smiles?!

There was multilingual toe-counting (a first for me, and I have to say a pretty awesome way to count toes!), and Baby Sister patiently sat still for lots of kisses from Big Brother - super-cute!

Amanda & Sam: we loved spending time with you guys and your adorable wee ones! Thank you so much for having us over to capture this fantastic time in your family's history :)

xo
Jessica + Norman

Super-Smiley Baby Kayla at 18 months :)

Since we last photographed her for her first birthday, little Kayla has acquired lots more teeth and a huge vocabulary! She was up to over 400 words a couple of weeks ago, which means that everything you say gets echoed back, and everything she sees gets proudly announced :) She loves to colour and chase her kitty around for hugs, and by the time we'd left that day had added two other words to her repertoire: "Jessica" and "Norman" :D

She was also pretty awe-struck by the Christmas lights :)

 My new assistant, helping take a picture of Mommy & Daddy :)

 And THIS: Kym spent about a million hours making their Halloween costumes this year - with awesome results! (That's Rainbow Brite and Twink, for those of you who weren't 80's children ;) )

Thanks again Kym & Adam - I can't wait to see what new skills and words Kayla has figured out by the next time we see her! What a super-sweet little girl :D

xo Jessica + Norman

Solene & Jerome's Adorable Fall Family Portrait Session :)

Last weekend we had the pleasure of going to Riverdale Farm with one of the sweetest families :) From the minute we first said "hello!", Solene's beautiful smile absolutely melted my heart.. Jerome kept his smiles a bit more secretive, but when he shared them they were pretty adorable too :)
Here are some of my favourite images from this super-fun and relaxed family session..

When it comes to photographing families, these sorts of images are my favourite - the ones that aren't posed, but just show the family hanging out and goofing around together - and I feel like they're also the ones that actually capture childhood and the chaotic joy of having a young family the best :)

Not only did we visit some of the animals at the farm while we were there, but Cynthia, Jean-Pierre, and the kids had the perfect Halloween costumes to fit in with the barn setting!

Cynthia & Jean-Pierre: both of you and your adorable kids were so much fun to photograph - thank you for allowing us to capture these memories for you, and for having such a great group Halloween costume! :)

xo

Jessica + Norman

Baby Oliver's First Halloween :)

It's hard to believe that it was already a few months ago when we hung out with Baby Oliver and his family at the CNE for his 3 month session, but time flies and now at almost 6 months old, we got to see him dressed up in his first Halloween costume :) He was the sweetest fuzzy little skunk I've ever seen! Fall leaves are also a new thing for him, so it was super-cute to watch him discover the joys of them too..

Big Brother Cameron was a Canada Goose this year, and did some spectacular flying around the park, along with occasional  pauses to pose and show off his great wings!

I love these colourful fall family shots :)

When I asked Cameron about his new hat ("What kind of beaver are you?"), he didn't hesitate before answering that he was "an honourable beaver" {this is why I love working with kids!} 

Talk about time flying, it was almost 7 years ago now that I photographed Sarah & Mike (aka Mommy & Daddy) for their engagement session in this same park :) 

Sarah & Mike: We had lots of fun running around in the fall leaves with you two and your little guys :) It has been such a pleasure capturing the past 7 years for you, and we can't wait to see Oliver's first teeth come in!

xo

Jessica + Norman

Baby Duncan and his Big Brother Sam :)

Kim is one of the very first clients I ever had, way back when I started my business at the dawn of the new millennium. This of course seems like ages ago now, and we've known each other through over a decade of "growing up" - both in our businesses and in our lives. I've had the pleasure of photographing Kim's gorgeous jewellery, as well as the beautiful fall day when she and Paul got married. More recently, we were there to photograph their first baby, Sam, when he was 6 weeks old. And now, the latest adventure in their lives - Baby Duncan :) Duncan is a very sweet and smiley baby, and Sam has taken very naturally to being a big brother.. it was so cute to see them together!

We started off with little Duncan on his own, showing everyone he's just as strong as his brother was...

Every now and then, Sam would jump in - he's a very busy almost-2-year-old and rarely stays still for long, but he's also very adorably fascinated by his tiny brother :) 

Sam & Baby Duncan also gets to spend lots of quality time with their Grandmother, who lives just around the corner..

Amongst all the chaos, there are also these lovely moments that define being a family - tickle fights, giggles, kisses, and reminising :)How sweet is that little face?!

Kim & Paul: It was such a pleasure to spend time with your family, and to get to know Duncan and Sam even better :) Through all the busy running around, I hope these images will remind you that there are also some moments that are still(ish!), and that even the busy chaos is beautiful and perfect :)

xo

Jessica + Norman