Every Parent Who Sees It - Knows This Look | A Photo Story

Family photos start with a little warm-up…

Like most sessions, it takes a while for everyone to arrive and get comfortable - and I get that. I always take a few “practice - I’m just checking my camera settings” images - and they are rarely keepers - but they do help us all get settled in.

The snow was up to our knees because 10 more centimeters had fallen that morning on top of 30cm from a few days before - welcome to Val des Monts, Quebec! We are serious about snow here.

Warm up photos - some time to get comfortable…they aren’t meant to be perfect.

Around here, photography sessions are for moving…and then it happened.

“Give each other a little snoogle,” I said.

“What’s a snoogle?” they said. An excellent question.

“A cuddle, a snuggle, a gentle love snug”, I answered (something like that)…

His eyes looked at me with a little mischief, her eyes had a little extra shine, Mom looked at the deep snow, they all looked at the deep snow - and then it happened.

Gravity partnered with the fun, the snow provided cushioning…

Down she went - snoogled like no other. Followed by the photos that are the ones they’ll look back on for years and laugh about. This is the good stuff. This is when real smiles happen, bodies relax and real dynamics can be captured.

They played for a while and I took photos - this is often how it goes.

I’ll interrupt this post with something I’d love every mom (all parents) to know…

Sometimes we don’t see it - we don’t see ourselves the way our friends do.

We parents all have days (lots of days) when we forget to put the laundry in the dryer, no one wants to eat the food we make, and the kids argue the whole way to wherever you are going…(not Bonnie’s experience here - just for example).

And there’s this thing that happens when we allow ourselves to really see each other - it helps us see ourselves. In these moments as I pressed the shutter button on my camera, all I saw was how much Bonnie loves her kids.

You may have thoughts running through your mind about how things are going during the photo session - but know that all I see is you - and every parent who saw the next photo sees it too.

A soul who loves her children fiercely is beautiful and striking, and every parent who sees this photo recognizes it.

This is the photo that brought tears to my eyes. This is the photo that my fellow-professional-photographer-mom-friend-of-many-many-years was struck by. This is the photo that my daughter saw, stopped scrolling, and said “Oh wow, I love this one.”

This is the love we parents know. This is the love we recognize. This is the love that transcends all the hard stuff - this.

So yeah, this session set out to be a family session - and it was - but THIS one is the photo her kids will look back on and see their mom loved them exactly for who they are.

This is what “Life and Wellness” looks like.

Bonnie is a Life and Wellness Coach in Ottawa - and she gets it. She gets what life can throw us - the unexpected, the hockey games, the laughs, parenting and building a business, prioritizing health, and the “what the hecks” - she is a real-down-to-earth example of what’s possible when we trust ourselves to pivot, shift and listen to our hearts as we move and choose forward. Bonnie offers life and wellness coaching for people who want to thrive - no matter what life throws at them. Reach out to her here.

So, reader, I guess that’s what I wanted to share with you about this photo session.