Tag: golden bc

The Michener Family

by jenaleelaroy Leave a comment

In many years time, when your children look back on these family photos, what do you hope they feel?

That they are unconditionally loved and that our family moments together are cherished.

 

Family Photographer Golden BC

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Jena LaRoy completed her Professional Photography Diploma at Langara Collge in Vancouver British-Columbia and then returned to her hometown Golden B.C. to launch her photography business (2017). Jena Lee Photographs helps you create meaningful portraits and offers full custom design, framing, and image-printing services so that you have physical images to enjoy, not just digital dust. 

For more information about booking your own family photographs, please visit the Client Guide:

Client Guide

Capturing Great Family Photographs This Summer — Jena Lee Photographs

by jenaleelaroy Leave a comment

We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.

— Winne The Pooh

Family vacation time is a lot of things. It’s exciting to spend quality time together and also sometimes hard to be so close for days/weeks on end. It’s fun to try new things together and to create new memories. Sometimes a family member is being missed or sometimes a new family member is being eagerly anticipated. Whatever season your family is in, when you strip everything down it’s just nice to be together and to explore new areas.

Here are a few ways you can be sure to capture some great moments together and to document your trip:

  1. Bring the device you are most likely to use: It’s great if you have a big DSLR camera and a giant lens for zooming in on your family; however, your big camera won’t be much help if it’s too annoying/heavy to take out of the bag. If your phone or a small point and shoot camera is what you are most comfortable with and what you are most likely to use, then that’s the perfect tool for the job.
  2. Get yourself in the frame: Bring a tripod or get creative by carefully using your surroundings to prop up your camera/phone so that you can be in the picture too. Alternatively, take a good old-fashioned family selfie… Bonus points if you have a selfie stick.
  3. Attach great memories to your photos: The best time to take a photo is during or right after a moment you never want to forget. Our favourite photos are usually the ones we associate with a valued memory or experience. If your kid is discovering something new or you and your significant other just accomplished something together, make sure to capture that moment.
  4. But also, be present: Taking family vacation photographs is important, but so is being present for the actual moment. It is all about balance, try not to live your vacation through your phone screen. Enjoy your moments together, take a quick picture, and be present for your family.
  5. Print your photos when you get home: Living in this digital world is fun because not only can we see our photos right away but we can also share them with friends and family pretty much in real time. I always remind my clients to keep it classic by printing out a few favourites so they have them forever, even if they just go on the fridge or in a photo album. Printing your photos is the only way to guarantee their longevity, because we are all too familiar with lost phones, broken phones, software updates, corrupt files … Plus, printing them lets you see pictures of your favourite people every day 🙂
If you are here visiting Golden British-Columbia and Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and would rather have somebody else do the documenting, consider booking a portrait session with Jena Lee Photographs. I would love to help you create beautiful photographs of you and your family here in the mountains.
Otherwise, I wish you a Summer full of relaxing days, warm nights, and effective bug-spray.

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Jena LaRoy completed her Professional Photography Diploma at Langara Collge in Vancouver British-Columbia and then returned to her hometown Golden B.C. to launch her photography business (2017). Jena Lee Photographs helps you create meaningful portraits and offers full custom design, framing, and image-printing services so that you have physical images to enjoy, not just digital dust. 

Please visit the Client Guide for more information about photography sessions with Jena Lee Photographs:

Client Guide

 

Alopecia Awareness with Brooke

by jenaleelaroy Leave a comment

The hardest step she ever took was to blindly trust in who she was.

— Atticus

I am going to keep this writing short and sweet because I could go on and on about how beautiful and full of light this woman is. My friend, Brooke, has been dealing with Alopecia — an auto-immune disease that attacks the hair follicles — her whole life. This year, Brooke’s alopecia has changed from being manageable, to losing chunks of hair every day, to finally taking control and shaving all of it off. 

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It was horrible watching it slowly fall out and having to constantly sweep it up off the floor. My husband helped me shave it off and it felt so good.

For somebody to gracefully take a big life change and choose to fully embrace it is no small triumph. It takes incredible strength on the inside and spectacular support system on the outside, which Brooke kept saying she is so thankful to have.

Brooke explained to me that she has many friends and family who have been there for her throughout her journey, but has not been able to find many other support resources specific to Alopecia here in the Kootenays… so she started her own.

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Brooke literally said the words: I think that this was meant to happen to me and be what I do in life.

We talked about how having no hair was a big adjustment at first, but now feels quite liberating and comes with its own perks. We laughed about how she didn’t have to worry during the lice outbreak in one of the schools she was studying in or how simple her morning routine has become.

I know that whatever comes her way, Brooke will always see it as an opportunity to grow and help others.

Thank you for thinking of and trusting me for your photos Brooke, it was truly my pleasure ❤︎

Brooke has started a Facebook group for anybody with alopecia looking to join a safe and supportive community. Click this link to visit!

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Brooke has started a Facebook group for anybody with alopecia looking to join a safe and supportive community. Click this link to visit!

 

Little Unicorn Swaddlers for you, from Jena Lee Photographs.

by jenaleelaroy Leave a comment

There is a little bit of a promotion going on at Jena Lee Photographs (which you may have seen if you already are following along on Instagram).

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As part of the new Your Baby’s’ First Year photography bundles — more info. about them here — Jena Lee Photographs is including one of these beautiful 100% organic cotton Little Unicorn swaddlers when you book your photography sessions.

On a first come first serve basis, you can choose one of these Little Unicorn swaddlers to wrap your new baby in for your photography session with Jena Lee Photographs. This offer is available only for Your Baby’s First Year bundles, where you get to bundle two or more photography sessions for ultimate value and to perfectly preserve your first year together.

Available sessions include: Maternity – Fresh 48 – Newborn – 3 Month – 6 Month – 9 Month – One Year Birthday

 

If there is a particular swaddler that you love, make sure to act fast and guarantee your blanket and your spot with Jena Lee Photographs. I can’t wait to hear from you ❤︎

 Book Now

Your Baby’s First Year — Jena Lee Photographs, Golden B.C.

by jenaleelaroy 1 Comment

Select three or more occasions to document you and your baby’s first year together.

As a new parent, you already have a million things and questions running through your brain. Learning how to breastfeed or wondering about bottle feeding, being unsure of how much crying is within normal, adding up the few hours you slept last night, trying to figure out if you have ever loved anything so much before …

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Before you know it, you will be feeding them with ease, getting into the swing of things, and sharing your experiences with other new parents. Before you know it, a year will go by and they will start walking and talking. Then you will have a toddler, a child, a teenager, and you will lovingly hold on to the sweet distant memories of them squeezing your finger with their tiny hand. 

Jena Lee Photographs wants to help you preserve your favourite moments together forever and is pleased to introduce Your Baby’s First Year photography bundles. Available photography sessions include Maternity, Fresh 48 (first 48 hours of life), Newborn, 3-Month, 6-Month, 9-Month, and One Year Birthday. 

Available sessions include: Maternity – Fresh 48 – 3 Month – 6 Month – 9 Month – One Year Birthday

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Always remember your first moments with a Fresh 48 session and capture their growing personality with lifestyle photography throughout the year. You can build an heirloom album, a custom coffee table book, or a signature wall collage to display your photographs and enjoy them forever.

Jena Lee Photographs is located in Golden BC and also serves Invermere, Banff, and Canmore areas. Get in touch for more information about Your Baby’s First Year bundles today.

 Book Now

Jena Lee Photographs’ Beautiful Line of Print + Display Products

by jenaleelaroy 1 Comment

If you have followed along with any of my social media accounts (Facebook or Instagram), you know that I am thrilled to offer my clients a beautiful line and high-quality print products for them to choose from to display their new photos. Everyone loves the experience of looking through the albums, and prints and then choosing their favourite product for displaying in their home. 

Think about the last time you looked through your parent’s old photo albums or flipped the pages of the book you printed from your last family vacation. Each photo is looked at with intention and a smile. Perhaps some brought on laughter from an old memory or caused tears from remembering a lost loved one. This is the way photographs were originally meant to be enjoyed, physically in real life for you to look at. Clicking through images online just doesn’t bring the same joy and nostalgia the way printed photographs do.

Don’t get me wrong, Jena Lee Photographs is not anti-digital photography. I am pro social-media, pro iPhone-photography, pro digital photos. In fact, Jena Lee Photographs includes a watermarked social-media image with every printed image purchased — because if you are anything like me, you love sharing your images online with friends and family. Document your images however in whichever way is best for you, just make sure you print them out too!

… and when you are ready to have your most cherished memories professionally photographed, we will work together to choose which print products are the right one for you and your home.

Without further ado, I am happy to introduce Jena Lee Photographs’ carefully selected line of Print + Display products:

Leather or Linen Heirloom Album 

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This album is incredible. Its heavy weight sits comfortably in your hands while also speaking towards its quality and durability. The Heirloom Album comes with thick sturdy pages that lay flat on the table and are each custom designed by hand.

There are a variety of luxurious linens and leathers to choose from. You can match your home or pick a colour that catches your eye. The leather or linen Heirloom Album is available for all photography sessions and can hold between 20-50 images — that’s enough room to include every image, in case you love them all.

 

Artisanal Wooden Memory Box

If you want something different from a traditional photo album/book, the Artisanal Wooden Memory Box is for you. This is my personal favourite Core Product because it is handmade, unique, and gives you the ability to hold each individual photo in your hands. There are small boxes to display your entire photo session or large boxes that you can continually add to over the years. Each photo is mounted onto 3mm styrene board so that it stands up on its own in the box, ready for you to look at.

Signature Wall Art 

A classic way to display your absolute favourite portraits. All wall art comes ready to hang and can be framed or float mounted (see picture below). Each piece is built to last for generations and is laminated to protect against dust and fingerprints. You can choose to exhibit large statement pieces or you can create a collage that grows with you and your family over time.

I love the print products! How do I get my own?

When you are ready to have your extra-special memories professionally photographed by Jena Lee Photographs, all of these display products will be available for you to choose from plus the line of ‘Add-On Gift Items’ which will be introduced next week.

Your first step to displaying these gorgeous products in your home is to book your photographs with Jena Lee Photographs. There are Lifestyle Family sessions or various newborn/baby sessions available. To start your perfect family photos, leave Jena a message and she will personally get back to you within 2 business days.

I can’t wait to hear from you.

Book Now

Angela + Navy — Six-Month-Old Baby Photography

by jenaleelaroy 1 Comment

Angela & Baby Navy Mae

Angela said what every parent says but truly means with their whole heart: “It sounds cliche but I just want her to be happy.”

Navy is one of the happiest six-month-olds ever. Anybody who meets her wants to keep her. I want to keep her, all you have to do is look at her and Navy is thrilled.

“I also want her to go to college and to go through that life experience, meet other people and cultures… I want her to turn out fabulous like her mum!”

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I couldn’t agree more, fabulous is correct. Spending the morning with Angela and Navy was like hanging out with old friends. There were many things to talk about with many baby cuddles in between. It is a true pleasure when someone can speak honestly and openly about themselves and their experiences. Angela has a calm confidence in herself that came through in the stories she shared with me about her life and new experience with her and her partners new baby, Navy.

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Angela explained about her pregnancy with Navy and how she was born breech, which means that she was born bottom first instead of head first. It’s clear that Navy still finds this position quite comfortable and that it is how she prefers to sit. When left on her own, it’s only seconds before Navy has her foot in her mouth or her heels above her head.

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Navy inherited her love for people and being social from her mom and has the busyness and energy of her dad. She inherited her names from family members and is always wrapped in a sentimental sweater or blanket. Her mom explained that she found her voice last week and hasn’t stopped babbling and yelling about things. She likes to grab everything and hold everything, all while continuing to stare into your eyes and smile.

Thank you to Angela for being such a lovely mom and to Navy for being the character that she is. I loved spending the morning with you both xx

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Diane, Emma, Molly & Mac — Family Lifestyle Photography

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This was one sweet sister session.

The secret to great family lifestyle photos is to let everyone be themselves. Family dynamics will naturally take over and people will act as they always do. Those are the special moments I watch for: when people are being themselves.

Sisters Emma and Molly planned photos together with their Auntie Di and her dog, Mac, as a surprise Christmas present for the rest of the family. After the Holidays, I was told that everybody was in tears upon receiving their photo gifts. Can you imagine receiving surprise portraits of your beautiful daughters and their auntie as a gift? No doubt there were tears, and no doubt the girls ‘won’ Christmas this year.

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Newborn Family Photographer — Golden, B.C.

by jenaleelaroy Leave a comment
family, newborn, baby, mother, father, blanket, candid photography, photographers golden bc, baby photographers, family photographers

Pamela, Cole & Logan

There were several wonderful things about this session and I wish they could all be this soulful and honest.

It was an early smoky morning in Golden B.C. when I showed up to photograph Pamela, Cole, and their six-week old baby, Logan. They are originally from Golden and came home to visit their parents and escape the city for a few days. Pamela and I are old friends since elementary school and it was special to reconnect over a photography session.

baby, motherhood, golden bc, photography, breastfeeding, family, mother, newborn

Pamela and Cole didn’t say if they felt like natural parents, but the way they moved and watched their baby it would seem so. The two of them worked together as a team in a constant sway of snuggling, changing, and feeding little Logan. There were a few moments where the new parents snuck in a quick kiss or hand-hold in between tending to their little one. Everything about Pamela, Cole, and Logan was very real.

newborn baby, photography, outdoor, hammock, photography locations golden bc, parents, baby, forest

newborn baby, photography, outdoor, hammock, photography locations golden bc, parents, baby, forest

There were no apologies for his tears or fussy moments, there didn’t need to be. These are moments that come and go and you never know when the last time you soothe your little baby will be. My heart swells knowing that Logan is going to grow every day and that Pamela and Cole now have their beautiful memories documented forever and ever.

family, newborn, baby, photography, forest, blanket, hug, lifestyle

family, newborn, baby, photography, forest, blanket, hug, lifestyle

For part of their newborn family photography session, Pamela and Cole held their baby in the same spot that they exchanged vows last Summer. I told them to take a moment to really sink into this moment of holding Logan where, only a short time ago, they were committing to becoming a family. The three of them seemed to melt together and hold each other as they thought of where they were at this point in their lives. It might be a year before they come back to this place and Logan will be running around the yard exploring instead of sleeping squished between his parents.

family, newborn, baby, photography, forest, blanket, hug, lifestyle, parenthood, mother, father

family, photography, newborn, golden bc, forest, baby, parents, fatherhood, motherhood, kiss

As I said, it was a session full of honest love. Thank you, Pamela and Cole, for being so open and genuine throughout your newborn family photography session.

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Newborn Family Lifestyle Photography is part of Jena Lee Photographs’ Baby’s First Year package. Four photo sessions bundled together to preserve important milestones: Maternity, Newborn (your first 48 hours together), 6-months, and one-year celebration. Choose individual sessions that suit you best or pick all four to preserve your baby’s first year forever.

. . .

I would love to hear from you, leave a comment or hello below!

 

Lifestyle Newborn Photography · The Grimard’s Tiny Home · Deroche, B.C.

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newborn photography, tiny home, family photographer, golden, british columbia, lifestyle

Lifestyle Newborn Photography · The Grimard’s Tiny Home · Deroche, B.C.

When a fellow photographer wants newborn photographs taken in the tiny home her and her husband built, you say yes.

Dori and her family live in the small community of Deroche, British Columbia (I hadn’t heard of it either). This quiet neighborhood is located at the base of the mountains just outside of Abbotsford and Chilliwack and is the perfect place to build a tiny home and raise a family. Dori and her husband Justin embody what it means to live simply and slowly. They enjoy a quiet life spending time with each other, playing music, and planning their future. Justin and Dori explained that they plan to build another home so that they can one day adopt more children. In the meantime, they are living out the dream of having a tiny home. They wanted photographs to tell the story of their life at this point in time: a husband, a wife, a toddler, and now a newborn, all in one tiny home.

Earlier this month, Dori, Justin, and Jaipheth welcomed to the world the newest member of their family: Amaziah. At only a few weeks old, Amaziah already has a calm and observant personality. He seemed content to just be held and seemed peaceful in his mother’s arms. I don’t think he stopped happy baby babbling the whole time. Dori shared with me that she knew right away when her oldest son, Jaipheth, was born that he would be a busy and curious body. She said that she could see her own personality as well as her husband’s expressed in their sons.

It was a beautiful, sunny, early Spring kind of day and it was wonderful getting to know the Grimard’s and experiencing their tiny home. Plus, I will never say no to newborn baby cuddles.

Newborn Family Photographer, Tiny Home Newborn Photography, Jena Lee Photographs
Newborn Family Photographer, Tiny Home Newborn Photography, Jena Lee Photographs
Newborn Family Photographer, Tiny Home Newborn Photography, Jena Lee Photographs