Photography Journal

Kitkatla Adventure Session | BC Adventure Photographer

Lach Klan. Also known as Kitkatla. This peaceful village of ~450 people on an island between Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii is home to the Gitxaala Nation. It’s been my northern home where I’ve been living and working as an outpost nurse ~ 5 weeks in, 5 weeks out for the last (almost) six years. I’ve had the great pleasure to get to know most of the people here and is where I learned the true meaning of community.

I met Shailyn and Arisa through their moms who both worked at the health centre. It’s been an interesting experience to watch kids grow up here. For some reason, in my mind, kids are the same age as when I met them (6 years ago) so I’m regularly blown away when someone tells me they’re basically an adult and I still think they’re 12. It makes me feel kinda old in an amusing way.

So watching these two young ladies over the years has been a real delight. They are bright, ambitious and have some solid goals for their futures. Shailyn loves everything about the ocean and wants to be a marine biologist, and Arisa is an incredibly talented makeup artist and super amazing sister to her little brother.

Pretty much everyone here has been on a boat from the time they started walking, so I was really excited to head out with these two for an adventure session!

Woman, by Kesha, runs through my head every time I look at this photo of these badass ladies 😉

And then, through no fault of their own, the motor died and they did everything they could to restart it.

Luckily a passing fishing boat gave us a hand.

Our friend, Bruce, couldn’t get the motor started either.

So, he towed us back to “the float” and we all had a good laugh about it.

But, no time for nonsense. Back to modelling. Once we were back at the dock, we rowed to a nearby island.

Then we found another boat! Shailyn’s parents and little sister came back from a fishing adventure just before sunset. We hopped in and headed back out.

Our little island turned out to be a hot spot for sea urchin so Shailyn’s parents, Marilyn and Theo and baby sister, Arianna harvested while they waited for us 🙂

The sun set and it was time to go home. Thanks for the adventure, ladies! 😘

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Tin Poppy Elopement

I have been intrigued by the Tin Poppy Retreat ever since I picked up one of their brochures a couple of years ago. I started following them on Instagram and then decided to reach out to Maggie Shook to see if she wanted to collaborate on an elopement styled shoot. Maggie and her husband Jeremy are the most interesting and creative people and I wanted to spend way more time talking with them.

Each unique and inspired accommodation on this beautiful, 160 acre property in the Larch Hills has incredible character and style. It has three rentals available – the Lavender House, Violet Cabin and its namesake, the Tin Poppy. It’s eco (solar-powered!), rustic yet luxurious and an absolutely perfect place for an offbeat couple’s elopement or intimate wedding. If I could do it all over again, this is the just kind of place that I would absolutely get married. Thankfully there are always vow renewals, right?

I collaborated with these fantastic artists/vendors from the central and north Okanagan:

Dress/Veil: Bliss Bridal Kelowna – Facebook | Instagram

Hair/Makeup/Bridal Model: Tanisha Langner of T. Langner Lashes and Makeup – Facebook | Instagram

Groom Model: Zach Langner, Artist – Instagram

Suit/Shoes: J.Crew / Gucci

Floral: Katie LaRone 0f Sweet Pea Flowery – Facebook | Instagram

Jewelry: JC Bradley Jewellers – Facebook | Instagram

Catering/Styling/Venue: Tin Poppy Retreat – Facebook | Instagram

Thank you to everyone involved! It was a beautiful day and I can’t wait to come back and spend a cozy weekend by the fire at this forested retreat in the hills.

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Posted in Styled Shoot, Weddings | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Mountain Love

Originally a coastal girl drawn to rainforests and tidal pools, I’ve come to love the mountains and their dramatic seasonal expressions.

I’ve been wanting to collaborate with Wearabouts Clothing Company at Silver Star Mountain for a while now, and it all came together for an autumn-inspired shoot with these two beautiful people.

The sky had been threatening rain all day, with ominous dark clouds rolling in just as we were about to get started. But, instead of rain, we were covered in bursts of snow making for some really fun October blizzard photos!

Thanks to Jessie Voss for her fabulous makeup skills! Find her on Facebook and Instagram.

Check out Wearabouts on Facebook and their Vernon page here.

And of course, a special thanks to Victoria and Jason – our beautiful neighbours 😘

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Posted in Engagements, Love, Styled Shoot | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kelowna Woodland Bridal Session

Such a pleasure to finally work with Sylvia Hajdu from Top Notch Art of Makeup! We had been talking about collaborating for a photoshoot for quite some time. Sylvia is a super talented makeup artist and really fun person to be around. Can’t wait for our next project together!

Thanks to Wild Ginger Floral Design for your GORGEOUS floral crown and Devon from DejaVu Model Management for your mad modelling skillz.

Makeup: Sylvia Hajdu of Top Notch Art of Makeup – Facebook | Instagram

Floral crown: Wild Ginger Floral Design – Facebook | Instagram

Model: Devon Nagle from DejaVu Model Management – Facebook | Instagram 

Dress: David’s Bridal

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Flower Whisperer | Sweet Pea Flowery | Winfield, BC

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Katie LaRone. Flower Whisperer.

On her one acre family-run specialty cut flower and herb farm, she and her partner, Shawn Hunt, farm using permaculture principles and are passionate about soil health. “Taking good care of the land makes the best flowers and allows our farm to be an ecosystem for critters big and small. We don’t spray any pesticides, herbicides or conventional fertilizers, not even ‘organic approved’.”

They believe in the importance of ‘slow flowers and local flowers’. “Most people don’t think about where the cut flowers they purchase come from and the majority come from South and Central America – roses for example are mainly from Columbia and Ecuador. They travel thousands of miles by plane to get here which isn’t very environmentally friendly. In addition, they are sprayed a lot. Some florists have to wear gloves because of their exposure to all these toxic chemicals on the flowers.”

Sweet Pea Flowery grows flowers for both the big moments in life and for everyday enjoyment. If you would like more beauty in your life, get in touch with Katie through Facebook or Instagram. A new website is on its way soon!

Gorgeous outfit and accessories (pictured above) contributed by Cento Wear in downtown Vernon. “Cento Wear boasts a beautiful selection of carefully curated feminine apparel and accessories from a variety of Canadian, American and European designers.”

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