Motherhood: A Love Letter

What started out as a passion project to work on my craft became so much more than I imagined.

The goal:
Create a film celebrating motherhood at various stages of childhood.
Include audio - interview kids after shooting
Shoot everything in 24fps
No stabilization tools except camera strap + body
Manual focus - Because Nikon D5’s lol
Shoot approx. 10 finished photographs per family

As I spent about 2 hours with each family and then interviewing the kids with just 3 questions, I found myself starting to let go of my original intent (the box I created lol) and just let the creative process take over. Learning how to interview a 2 year old vs a teenager are VERY different and Im so grateful for the opportunity that the moms gave me to go behind the scenes and that the kids trusted me enough to be so candid. We talked, laughed, cried and connected. I truly enjoyed sifting through the audio bits to craft the narrative while staying true to the moments. And that alone was no small feat. Allowing this project to simmer and come together when it was time was truly an aha moment.

What I learned was that even though our kids need us in different ways at every age and even though we are busy within our lives or the confines of our careers and feel the mom guilt - they notice the why. They notice the efforts even when we think they aren't paying attention. And they love us for it. They truly do. Even if they don't say it everyday. Because parenthood is the most thankless job on the planet but the most rewarding one. And we don't need a thank-you everyday. Our kids show us in the way they are raised. When they are happy, confident and feeling supported. When they are being good humans you know you have done your job. And as a proud mother of two boys - I know that is the greatest gift of all.

So cheers to mother’s everywhere and everyday. You are seen, loved and appreciated - even when you aren’t looking ️♥️

Happy Mother’s Day 🌼

Toronto Family Film - Documenting Childhood

This was my first ever motion only film. The others before this were called fusion - a blend of motion and stills (photos) together. It was shot 3 years ago when my son was just turning two and I was taking Courtney Holmes Filming Life course. Total game changer on how I saw and filmed families. If anything - I’m so happy to have shot this. I forgot how little he was then and Matthew had just been born. This was the director’s cut - a slightly longer version - because this was for me. I want to remember how his little hands would pick up his dinos and obsessively place them all in a row. How his face looked when he’d roared. Don’t they grow up so fast? Do you have a milestone coming up? Or a life event that you want captured and bottled up into a little film? Call or email me and let’s talk about how I can do that for you so you can relive your favourite moments ❤

Family Summer Time - Frenchman's Bay, Pickering

I always love capturing my boys and have been wanting to create a Super 8mm film for the longest time. Being apart of The Filming Life Academy for the past 2.5 years continues to inspire me in this medium. This was the perfect opportunity to explore these editing techniques in Premiere Pro using a digital camera. I’ve also been exploring the Tribe Archipelago 1888ad preset and applying it to a few of my films. I truly enjoyed experimenting that early evening because it’s the best way that we grow as artists. I went from using using aperture f2 all the way to f8 + These images turned out much darker and moodier than I normally post process but working with hard light at about 6pm in the summer time - I didn’t want to blow out the highlights. Looking at these images and film, I’ll always be reminded of their splashing feet, their obsession with filling buckets up with water, their innate curiosity to find the biggest rocks and how much they love spending time with us. It’s pretty amazing to see their reactions when I cast this onto the big screen and they watch themselves. I want them to always be reminded of these times that we took when we stepped back from our busy daily lives and just enjoyed free time as a family.