The Rosas Family is special to me because I’ve known Sarah for a long time! She’s the older sister of one of my best friends, and I first met her in dufferdoo, which was a kind of informal preschool. A few years ago Sarah and Bill got married and I photographed their wedding. They live in Seattle, but they flew back to Ottawa and had an intimate backyard wedding at her parents’ home. I liked Bill immediately. He’s easy-going and happy! Like most of us, I love it when people seem genuinely optimistic and cheerful. He and Sarah both have gigantic brains and big hearts, so they’re quite the couple. When they asked me to take their family photos this year, I really looked forward to seeing them all again.

Their family has expanded since I last saw them. They already had little Alex when they got married, and he was a great baby with huge blue eyes. He’s still got them! Fast forward a few years, and now they have Felix. He’s got dark eyes like his mom, and he’s very relaxed! I don’t usually put a time limit on family sessions. When shooting family photos, I tell parents we don’t really have a set time. Basically, I’ll shoot for as long as the kids are interested and in a good mood. This often involved me running around and making faces, but it usually works.

I decided to take them to Pinhey’s Point. The historical property is close to where they were staying, which is important when there are two kids in the equation! And the location has some great variety. There’s the water, rolling hills, old buildings, and you can see Gatineau Park in the distance. Like most of the summer, the weather was dicey. We had to reschedule once. But the rain held off for our session and the boys were happy!

Sarah and Bill, it was great seeing you again and documenting your growing family. Now send some of that good Seattle weather this way!