Vancouver Island Maternity Session at Mystic Beach

Cropped film maternity photo of a couple at the ocean at Mystic Beach, Vancouver Island

There is something genuinely special about getting to celebrate the same people across different chapters of their lives

We photographed Kristen and Vince's destination wedding in Corner Brook, Newfoundland— cliffside ceremony, Atlantic ocean, the works— and now here we are, watching them step into parenthood together on the other side of the country. It doesn't get much better than that. It's also just a really lovely thing to watch your friends become parents and to show up with a camera and give them photos that mark this particular moment, not just for them now, but for their little one eventually too.

At the time of shooting, baby boy was still a very small bump and we say this with all of the love: you do not have to wait until you're 30+ weeks along and feeling perfectly round to book a maternity session! Every stage of pregnancy is worth photographing: the early bump, the in-between weeks, the full-on third trimester. They're all different and they're all worth remembering. There’s no “perfect” time because really, whenever you feel ready is the right time.

For this session we headed out to Mystic Beach on Vancouver Island. It was a bit of a hike in but fortunately Ethan found a shortcut, either way it made this feel like a proper photo adventure. We got incredibly lucky with the weather having a warm, clear January day that felt like it had no business being that beautiful in the middle of winter! We brought some film along too, and the solo portraits of Kristen ended up being our favourites; there's something about the warmth and grain of film in a coastal setting that feels just *chefs kiss*

If you're expecting and thinking about a maternity session— on Vancouver Island, in Toronto, or anywhere in between — we'd love to make it happen!