Family Photography

One of the questions I get quite often when I post photos is where I took the photo. People are usually quite surprised by the answer because often the locations are not glamorous at all. However, you don’t need a huge gorgeous area for great photos. All that you really need is some great light and maybe a good tree or two and thankfully Regina has lots of options. So because family photography season is beginning I thought I would share some of my favourite Regina photography locations for photos.

Victoria Avenue

I love photographing maternity, children and families on Victoria Avenue. My favourite spot is right around Hotel Sask because depending on the time of day you can shoot in either direction and get gorgeous bokeh from the city lights behind you. There also is a decent amount of greenery right there and Victoria Park is right across the street to give you some variety in your photos.

White Butte Trails

While technically out of the city limits of Regina, this is a golden spot for family and child photo sessions. White Butte trails has so many amazing locations for great photos and it gets the most gorgeous light in the evening. White Butte Trails is also a great spot for fall photos if you are wanting some fall photos a little earlier as the leaves tend to change colour earlier there than in the city of Regina.

Condie Nature Refuge

The Condie Nature Refuge is another great location for family photo sessions that is just outside of Regina. I’ve never actually taken any clients to this location but have taken my own children several time. There is gorgeous lighting, lots of trees to block that light and in the spring there are plenty of wild flowers. This is a location that would look great if you are taking photos with your Iphone or a fancy DSLR. It’s also a great little picnic spot, if you haven’t been out there you should definitely check it out!

The area surrounding Candy Cane Park and the Science Centre

If you go down to this area in a summer evening you will see if full of family photographers and the reason for this is that it is a great spot for family photos! This is one of the areas with the best lighting that I have been able to find in Regina. The light is filtered through the trees and the reflection of the water makes a gorgeous sparkly bokeh effect at times. All of the trees also make it a more shaded area which means that if you need your family photo session to be a little earlier due to sleepy babies that won’t last until golden hour that is okay! I’ve even done sessions in mid day sun in this location and been happy with the results.

The Turvey Centre

I’ll be honest and admit that I almost didn’t include this one! It’s one of my favourite little hidden gems. There is a line of trees at the back that are gorgeous and go down almost to the ground which makes it a great spot to photograph babies and young children on their own during a family session. The row of trees also blocks the sun which makes it a great spot for those family sessions that need to occur earlier in the day. Plus there is a park and some animals to reward the children with after their photo session! The downfall of this location is that it does have opening and closing hours which typically limit your ability to shoot there during golden hour.

And those are a few of my favourite photography locations in Regina. If you are out there on a summer evening you may just see me doing a family photo session in one of these spots!

There is no doubt that Christmas is a magical time of year for everyone but I think it’s especially magical for parents of young children.  It’s so fun to see the magic through your child’s eyes.  And I know that every Mama wants to document those moments.  I’ve put together a few tricks and tips that I use to help document our holiday season.

Capture the moments:

This photo is from last Christmas and was a spur of the moment photo to document how my daughter would always run to look out the window at the Christmas lights as soon as we got home.  It’s so special to me because it brings me right back to a memory that I otherwise would have forgotten.  While this was a candid photo, I still took the time to make sure it was photographed in a beautiful way.  I positioned myself in a way that could have the window sill be a leading line into her (which required me to be crouching in with our winter jackets).  I lucked out that her favourite activity had her facing some good light which made the photo even better.

The photo below is one that I quickly captured while my girls picked out a Christmas treat at a bakery.  Almost everywhere is absolutely beautiful this time of year which is both magical for your children and pretty for your photos.  So take that camera out with you and document the season.  When you are documenting moments out in public make sure you look at the scene from all points of view.  If you can have a Christmas Tree or twinkling lights behind your subject that would be a great option.  If there is an angle that tells the story best then go with that!

Capture the Traditions:

Christmas is filled with so many traditions.  The best thing about traditions it that you know they are coming so it gives you a chance to plan ahead for how you want to document those moments.  Do you always take photos decorating the tree?  Have your camera ready before the tree comes out and have all the toys and furniture out of the way so that it’s easy to snap a quick photo or two and then get back to enjoying the moment.  We did our Santa letters the other night and I turned a small Ikea book shelf sideways in our kitchen for the kids to write on.  This was a way for them to have a surface to write on and still have the Christmas tree Bokeh in the background (it’s the same location as the photo with the advent calendar below).  I plan on doing all of our Christmas cookie baking in this space as well and that way it is easy to take a beautiful photo documenting those traditions.  So here are my tips for capturing those traditions:

1.  Pick the best space if at all possible.  Pick an area of your house that has good light and ideally different Christmas aspects such as the tree in the background.
2. Plan ahead.  Have clutter cleared out of the way, have your location chosen and do your tradition at an ideal time for photos if possible.
3. Dress accordingly.  Again the best part of traditions is that you know they are coming.  A beautiful Christmas baking photo can only be so beautiful if the child is wearing a huge character shirt.  Dress your children in Christmas Jammies or a neutral outfit before your tradition so that they are photo ready.  I promise it will make a large difference in the end result of your photo.
4. Enjoy the tradition.  All of the planning ahead will mean that you can get great photos in one to two minutes.  And then you can get back to enjoying those precious family memories rather than trying to capture them from behind a phone or camera.

Capture the Bokeh:

Christmas Tree bokeh is one of the best parts of Christmas photos.  To achieve this look you will need to place your subject away from the tree and have yourself as close to the subject as possible.  You will be able to achieve slight bokeh with a phone but ideally you will need a DSLR camera for these photos.  The majority of my Christmas photos are taken with my Canon 85mm lens.  This lens allows me to have the space I need to take the photo while still creating stunning bokeh.  If you look at the two photos below you can tell that they both have bokeh but the top photo has larger bokeh.  The subjects were equal distances from the trees and the only difference was how close I was to my subject.

Capture the tree:

I love capturing Christmas Trees (so much in fact that I have entire sessions dedicated to this!) .  I think that the most magical part of Christmas is sitting in a room with the only light being the glow of the Christmas Tree.  So this is the feeling I try to portray with my Christmas tree photos.  A few tips:

1.  Turn off all other lights in the home.
2. Have lots of lights on your tree.  Seriously lots.  If you think you have enough, add more.
3. Have your subjects facing the tree in a way that the tree lights up their faces.
4. Pay attention to the reflections.  This can be on the floor with hardwood (pull back that rug!) and on the window.  The Christmas Tree reflection in windows is my favourite.  However, sometimes there are also other reflections in the windows such as hundreds of your neighbours colourful Christmas lights at which point it may be necessary to close the blinds.
5. Don’t forget about under the tree!  Add presents – lots and lots of presents.  And add decorations too.  If you have Christmas signs or decorations that light up around your house then place those surrounding the tree.  It will add so much to the photo!
6. Move furniture out of the way.  I have to move couches or tables out of the way for every single Christmas Tree photo session that I do.  Slide those things out of the way so that your photo can focus on your kids and the tree.

Enjoy the Day:

I don’t take a single photo on Christmas day aside from maybe a quick Iphone shot.  I feel confident that I have documented our Christmas so I don’t bother and instead focus on being fully present and enjoying the day.  Don’t miss out on the moments that are so special to take photos!