sarah & nick met in ontario while attending medical school. in her first year, sarah ran a photography auction, to which nick submitted some photos. they met up in person to confirm some details and sarah was immediately drawn to him. her first thoughts included, he’s cute with a really intense gaze, that’s making me uncomfortable so i’m gonna laugh at his ridiculously long/messy hair. the next time sarah and nick crossed paths was at a “heads for cure” fundraiser, where nick shaved his “ridiculously long/messy hair” to raise money for cancer research. the conversation turned to running — a passion of both sarah and nick — as sarah had recently run a marathon and nick was training for his first. finally, nick emailed to ask sarah if they could “hang out” some time — and that hangout turned out to be a first date!

when i met up with sarah and nick at matchstick coffee last week, i loved hearing their proposal story. nick proposed ten metres from crossing the finish line at the ironman canada competition in penticton. craziness! i asked, “why before?” and nick said, “after you’ve been going for ten hours, i was confident i could go another ten metres.” fair enough! loved seeing the photos on sarah’s iphone of the proposal — nick ran over to the sea of spectators near the finish line and proposed right over the barrier to sarah. so cool. these two share such similar interests: both physicians, love being active, cycling/running, have a heart for their families, a strong work ethic and love working on projects together around their home. sarah and nick will be a joy to photograph at their september 2 wedding!

every year, i accept a limited number of family portrait sessions — usually for families i’ve known for a long time! lance and shara and their kids are one of those families i regularly make an exception for. lance is my cousin [and his company did my office renovation] and with his beautiful wife shara, they have three children: laney, clara and merritt. it’s pathetic, for being cousins, but the first time i met merritt was this last week at their session — and he’s 10 months old. ;) laney was my second “practice” portrait session — ever — way back when i was sixteen years old, before starting my business. crazy to me that she’s almost seven years old — myyyy how times flies. if you want to see their family over the years, check out a session of lance + shara with laney and then a few years later, with clara!

catherine and erik knew of one another — as sometimes friends of friends do — but until 2009, didn’t know one another personally. the first official meeting came a few years later, over drinks at a pub in abbotsford. serendipitously, their first meeting was a few short days after erik moved home from japan. since the start of their relationship, cat and erik have loved doing life side by side. they lived on a sailboat for a year in the vancouver harbour, have a huge passion for travel and love the alternative life they get to live. they’ve traveled across europe and are even taking a 10-day sailing trip for their honeymoon!

fittingly, their ocean-side brock house restaurant wedding [with a ceremony at the vancouver art gallery] will be nautical themed. i loved incorporating elements of what they love into their engagement session. from the first location, gastown, where cat and erik love hanging out after work, to third beach, where they bike and relax on the weekends. the other fun element of the shoot was erik’s car, a nissan pulsar, painstakingly imported from japan — we cruised around the city at sunset & i got to experience the myriad of craning necks as people strained to check out his ride.

it was a perfect, perfect night for photos. truly an evening where i look around and think, why would anyone not want to live here? ;) congratulations catherine and erik — i look forward to joining you in celebration on july 14th.