Ashleigh Wells Photography | The Blog

Don’t forget I am a part of the Not Just Skin Deep initiative, founded by Kelly Gemmell of Kelly Gemmell Photography. The initiative involves over 20 photographers coming together for one day (May 26th, 2012) to provide portraits for up to 100 families. The goal is to raise $10,000 towards melanoma research. The cost is $100 for a 20-minute session, and includes 5 retouched, high-resolution images on CD and 100% of the proceeds raised will go towards the David Cornfield Melanoma Fund! To book a session with me for May 26th and participate in this incredible fundraising event, please take a moment to visit the Not Just Skin Deep website www.notjustskindeep.org, and book your session while you’re there! You can also find information on the initiative on Facebook by searching Not Just Skin Deep. I hope lots of you will sign up and help represent BC!

I hope all of you wonderful mamas out there had a fabulous Mother’s Day today! I had a roller coaster of a Mother’s Day myself, which when I think about it, is probably what all moms of young children have on Mother’s Day.

I think there is WAY too much pressure on moms to have this picture perfect, lovey dovey, emotional day on Mother’s Day and it just never seems to go the way we plan it in our heads.

I have 4 moms I try to see each year on Mother’s Day (my own mom, my mother-in-law, my godmother and my stepmom!). That always leads to a busy day, so our day started off on a good foot while my husband CLEANED and then cooked for myself and his mom, dad, my dad and stepmom. Then I dashed off to the vet to take our pup in for her 3rd round of vaccinations. I happen to really like our vet so that part was fun (despite the whole butt cheese incident but I will spare you the details on that story haha!). After our vet visit we headed off to the beach with my mom. We arrived and had some fun finding starfish, crabs and the like. Then when we headed over for fish and chips is when our day went pear shaped and we ended up with a screaming, tantrum throwing toddler. I DREAD these moments with our 3.5 year old. They don’t happen often (particularly not in public), but when they do, they are thoroughly embarrassing. Even moreso on Mother’s Day! After a few minutes of trying to calm her down I told her if she didn’t stop we’d have to leave right away. Only then she did NOT stop and we actually had to follow through. Cue me storming back to the car, screaming toddler in tow and tons of onlookers staring at me. If any of you readers were there today I apologize for our scene. We had a tense car ride home and then FINALLY arrived at the house I grew up in where my mom and my godmother live. Ella just loves my godmom so she was THRILLED to be somewhere that everyone wasn’t upset with her and we all had a few moments of peace to calm down. We visited with “Nana Jean” and her cat, Mr. Bigglesworth and were ready to head home and deal with the consequences of the day.

Unfortunately for our little lady, she has lost her toy privileges until she earns them back with good behaviour and she had to go to bed early tonight. Days like these are the ones that ALWAYS seem to happen with events like Mother’s Day when you just want everyone to get along and behave themselves. Days like these are the ones that moms don’t talk about enough because when they happen, they tend to make us feel like the worst parents on the planet so we hide it and just feel embarrassed. All it would have taken to make me feel better during the Crescent Beach Meltdown of 2012 would be for ONE mom there to stop me and say “I have SO been there too and you’ll make it through okay” instead of staring at me, mouths agape as though they have never seen something like this before in their lives. I hope when we make it through this stage and our 3 year old daughter is older and more lucid, I can be that supportive voice for another mom on Mother’s Day (or any other day) if I ever see someone having a rough go of things the way I did today. Let’s all do each other a favour and stop pretending that motherhood is all roses and sunshine. It’s roses and sunshine AND tantrums and exhaustion. It is all very worth it, but this Mother’s Day I have decided to accept and embrace the fact that life is not perfect, I am not perfect and neither is my baby girl…and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Commence series of photos that will make you forget anything about that crazy tantrum I just rambled about (kind of the way this is how I will see this Mother’s Day a couple of years from now when I forget about the tantrum part of the day and only remember these bits hahaha!)

Good morning to me!

A charm for my bracelet that says “MOM”

The hubby vacuuming!!!

…and cooking!

Yummy breakfast!

Bad Mommy, bringing me to the vet on Mother’s Day!!!

Oh…she’s really nice and bribes me with cookies??? I take it back. This is AWESOME!

Beach time with my mom and daughter!

What tantrum? Happy as a clam with her Nana Jean who is the BEST at turning frowns upside down!

Mr. Bigglesworth at Nana’s house enjoying the wrapping paper

My godmom’s Edible Arrangement given to her by one of her boys!

There are still a couple of spaces left for my Mother’s Day Mini Sessions and a few days left to get one for the special moms in your life (or grandmothers). I have been reminded by one mom to not let the adult children forget that they often have the least photos with mom as they grow older so don’t think it wouldn’t make a good gift for your mom just because you’re growing older yourselves!

Can’t wait to see all of you on May 20th!

MOTHER’S DAY MINI SESSIONS $300 (plus tax)
What’s included in the 2012 Mother’s Day Mini Sessions:
-30 minute session in my home studio
-photography of mom and 1 baby or child*
-5 high resolution digital negatives

*Not so fine print: Sessions are limited to babies or children over 3 months and pets only due to time restrictions. Mini session fees are due in full within 5 days of booking to reserve your space. These sessions are non-refundable, but sessions may be rescheduled on account of sickness or other extenuating circumstances at the photographer’s discretion. This deal may not be combined with any other discounts or coupons. $25/additional child will be charged (to account for additional images which will be included on your DVD, as well as for additional time.)

I’m a bit behind on blogging this session, but my cousin came in for her newborns photos a few weeks ago and I had such a great time photographing my very own baby cousin! She has 3 older siblings who didn’t come in because they weren’t feeling so well that day, but man this little girly is going to grow up in a busy, loving and happy home. I cannot tell you what a wonderful mother my cousin is. Her patience and maternal instincts are just incredible and every time I see her with her babies and her growing family I stand in awe of all the things she can get done in a given day. This year when my husband came down with pneumonia and I was feeling overwhelmed with everything I had run out to grab him some medications and came home to dinner on my doorstep along with homemade cookies from her. I remember crying because I was so relieved and thankful to have such a thoughtful cousin who would come all this way with 3 kids, while pregnant to help ME with something! That night my husband and I were both thankful to have a GOOD and healthy meal to eat without having to do anything! I was so happy to be able to take some photos when this little sweetie decided to make her appearance. I know my cousin felt she wasn’t “photo ready” that day and she just sees all the “imperfections” in the photo I took of her and her daughter, but I feel this is something we all need to see as I’m sure none of you will see any of these things, but one day her daughter will be glad to have a photo of just her and her mommy I am sure. I know I am guilty of not getting into enough photos with my own daughter, but once I saw an amazing photographer, David Williams speak and he spoke of the importance of being in photos for your children. So many families are missing true family photos which are so important and mostly a lot of moms are rarely in photos because they are so often taking the photos. Seriously folks. Whether you get photos professionally done with your children or just get your husband/friend/mom/child/neighbour etc. to snap an iPhone photo, please get into photos with them often, whether you feel you look your best or not. You always look perfect to your children and those photos will be one of the greatest gifts they ever receive later on in life. Thank you to my beautiful cousin for letting me take a quick shot of the two of you and I hope you grow to love it as much as I do and your little lady will! xo

All of my Watch Me Grow Collection babies have been coming in at the same time recently. This sweet darling came in a bit late for her 6 month session because it took her a while to be able to sit up on her own. She was finally confident with her skills a few weeks ago and came to see me at my studio! I have found in watching these babies grow and change that the ones who are a little slower to sit often have a very short time before they start to walk and some of them even skip crawling entirely so look out mom and dad, she’s going to be on the move before you know it I bet! I can’t wait to see her at our next appointment to see if my guess is right! See you again soon!

We met when she was still all cozy in her mama’s tummy

And a few weeks later we got to meet this gorgeous girl with her chubby cheeks!

And here she is now!

Since introducing my Watch Me Grow Collection, I have been amazed at the change I have seen in all of these wonderfully adorable babies through their first year of life. This is the time they are changing the most they ever will in their lives and I am so grateful to be invited to capture that growth! This family has been incredible to photograph and I have loved all of our sessions together. This one was no exception with an incredibly sweet and happy baby to play with! We had this session a while ago, but I’m just catching up on blogging again. Thank you so much for inviting me to photograph your family! From dogs, to surprise weddings, to newborn baby snuggles and now bigger baby giggles it has been a fun year, I hope to see you guys again soon!

Here is where we started our journey together:

And we continued on a few weeks later and just after his parents’ surprise wedding on his due date and days before he was born hahaha!

And here we are now at the end of our year together…

It is with a heavy heart I write this blog post. I received an email letting me know that one of the beautiful dogs I photographed about a month ago has sadly passed away. He was so very loved by his mom and they shared a special relationship that could be felt when they came into my home studio for their session. I know all too well the pain of losing a pet and so my heart goes out to Marshall’s family as they grieve his loss. Whenever I lose a pet or hear a story of someone else losing a furbaby, I think of a story that I read a long time ago that has never left me. Here is a copy of that story:

“Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle. I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker ‘s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ”I know why.”

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try and live.
He said,”People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The Six-year-old continued,
”Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.”

That story is definitely true of Marshall who was a gentle and kind soul and who I am grateful to have had the pleasure and honour of photographing. His mom said that this expression was particularly common for him and I am SO thankful that he opened up and shared his true self with us for his photos that day.

Thank you Marshall. You will be very much missed in this world.

I cannot BELIEVE that I am posting a blog about the very first baby to be signed up for my baby plan turning 1! Time sure flies and it has been a joy to watch this little man grow through his first year of life from his first session around 10 days old (and during which he slept like a DREAM!) all the way to his first birthday (during this session he was just as content to pose for me!). When I introduced the Watch Me Grow Collection as a result of so many of you asking for something like it I had no idea how much fun it was going to be to see all these babies and how they change in just the first year. They will never grow into themselves as fast as this again and I enjoy seeing all the big milestones they have hit each time they come in. This sweetie went from a cuddly little newborn baby to a going concern who is WALKING already! Thank you so much for being part of the Watch Me Grow Collection guys it has been a pleasure to photograph your family this year and I hope to see you again as he grows even more in the coming years!

THEN…

NOW…

Look how proud he is of his walking skills!

I think he looks just like his dad in this one…

Lock up your daughters…

A couple of weeks ago I had this lovely little furbaby in my studio. Her mommy won her session from a donation I made to a Hugabull fundraiser auction and I can’t think of anyone more deserving. Her mom donates her time generously to Hugabull as well as many other dog charities and never complains about all of the volunteer hours she puts in. This little rescue gal is extra lucky too since her mom recently started a dog treat company, Dig It Delights selling organic and healthy dog treats. I put my order in for my own girls, Roxie and Penny and Roxie was more than happy to pose with her bucket o’ treats at the end of our session! Thanks for bringing by the treats and extra thanks to Koda for posing so nicely! I got to try out a new technique I’ve been wanting to play with too that’s kind of fun so there are a couple more funky shots in here as well.

Roxie sitting proud with her haul!

I had this handsome kiddo in my studio a couple of weeks ago! He was such a smiley little guy and we had a great time! We had to reschedule his session a few times because he just wasn’t sitting up yet and even now he wasn’t quite confident with his sitting up, but his mom was there to catch him if he started to wobble so we decided to go ahead with his session this time around and just stay close to him, working with the fur rugs haha! I am willing to bet though, that once he is solid with his sitting he’s going to be one of those babies who just goes from 0-60 and is walking before his parents know what hit them! You guys will have to keep me posted on whether or not I’m right about that one. It was so great to finally have our session together and I enjoyed meeting you guys. Thank you for coming to see me!