Dena and Ryan - Engagement Session

Dena and Ryan are a really sweet couple and I had a lot of fun shooting their session at Granville Island! I love this location because every time I go there I find something new to use as a background - of course, there are always the not-to-be missed spots like down near the water with the city view background - so Vancouver, and so gorgeous! In fact I think the photo posted above of Dena and Ryan is one of my all time favourites, it just has such a great feeling of romance to it. We're looking forward to their big day in August!

Julia and Kevin - Engagement Session

After postponing a couple of times due to less-than-great weather, we finally got a good day for Julia and Kevin's engagement session. It was the perfect kind of light - warm evening sunlight filtered through big moody, clouds - and to top it off, we had the entire beach pretty much to ourselves! Although Kevin and Julia claimed that they were nervous and a little awkward around the camera, they were actually total naturals, and it made my job easy! Just check out the photos and see:

Secret Session Fun!

We had our first Secret Session Marathon on May 3 and it was a great time! These sessions are about having fun and feeling beautiful and judging by the response from the ladies, I think we achieved that! I had makeup artist extraordinaire Tara Lasko from Paint By Numbr on hand creating fabulous looks for each girl. Her makeup skills are truly amazing and if you're getting married and need a great artist, get in touch with Tara! Modeling for a Secret Session is fun but also hard work, so we had refreshments and fancy chocolates to nibble on. We'll have more images from the Secret Sessions soon, but in the meantime we're planning the next Secret Session Marathon for the fall - watch the blog for details!

Secret Session Marathon!

Need a great wedding gift for your future hubby?
Maybe an anniversary present?
Or perhaps something just to celebrate YOU!

A Secret Session is perfect!

What is it: a sexy, Vogue-style photo shoot in your favourite lingerie
Who is it: you, Laura Millin, professional photographer from Magnolia Photographic, and Tara Lasko, professional make-up artist, from Paint by Numbr
How much is it: $345 includes make-up, a one-hour photo shoot,
$100 towards product of your choice (ie. a Secret Album, custom prints, etc.), and a private online gallery to view your images
Where is it: a luxe suite at the Hilton Vancouver Airport, 5911 Minoru Blvd, Richmond
When is it: Saturday, May 3, 2008 - times available are
9:00am - 10:15am - 11:30am - 1:15pm - 2:30pm - 3:45pm
Additional times on Friday and Sunday will be available when Saturday is full
Friday, May 2 - 3:30pm Sunday, May 4 - 9:00am

To book your session time, please contact Laura at Magnolia Photographic:
604.277.7452 or magnoliaphotographic@gmail.com (prices do not include taxes)

To see samples of past Secret Sessions, please check out the Intimate gallery at www.magnoliaphotographic.com

To see samples of Tara’s makeup, check out www.paintbynumbr.ca

*UPDATE* The 10:15am, 11:30am, 1:15pm, and 3:45pm time slots on Saturday have been booked! If you'd like to book a Secret Session time, please contact me as soon as possible.

New Website Images

Just wanted to let everyone know that we've updated the website with some new images! The Weddings Gallery and the Families Gallery in particular have received a lot of new images - but we've still kept lots of our favourites from previous years too! Check it out here and enjoy!

Sneak Peak - New Albums Coming!

We have some new sample albums coming in the next few weeks and I can't wait to see them! We've taken a slightly different approach to the design of these albums, favouring more simple layouts with fewer images overall. Having said that, I think we've still kept the designs looking funky and fresh and interesting. As well, we are bringing in a new style of album which I'm pretty sure is unique to our area and will prove to be very popular among our clients. Here's a little preview of what's coming:

Bring on the New Year!

We just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of our clients, friends, and fellow photographers a very happy 2008! While 2007 was a great year, I know that 2008 is going to be even better! We are introducing lots of new products and a new approach to album design - and of course, we have lots of great ideas for cool images that we can't wait to try out next year.

We also wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays, although the holidays are pretty much over at this point! We had a great Christmas with our families, and very much enjoyed and appreciated the time spent relaxing, having fun, and of course, eating! Whatever holiday you happen to celebrate at this special time of year, we hope it was memorable for you as well.

So to everyone we know: all the best to you in the New Year! May it be a time of inspiration, creation, and all good things.

Hambleton Portrait Session

In mid-November I photographed the beautiful Hambleton family in Richmond. The Hambletons had just recently moved up to family status with the addition of little Mackenzie, who was about six months old at the time. There's a special glow around a new family and the Hambletons had it in abundance, making my job easy - with the exception of attempting to photograph Mackenzie while preventing her from eating leaves, which she seemed bent on ingesting!

Nunweiler Portrait Session

I had a great time with the Nunweiler family for their portrait session in Steveston. After scouting out some locations prior to their session, I found the perfect spot for their group of ten (nine people and a dog!) We also had the opportunity to break the larger group into small groups for what I like to call "supporting images". This always works great as a wall display - the big group shot is displayed as a large print, with smaller prints of the little groups displayed nearby. It's an excellent way to give a cohesive feel to a display of family portraits.

Baby Liam Session

Little Liam is such a sweet guy - actually, he's not very little - he's quite the big boy, weighing in at about 18 pounds when I photographed him at close to four months old! He is truly adorable and has one perfect little dimple in his left cheek. Mom Meaghan was also on hand for the session and helped pose Liam. I love doing these sessions in the baby's environment - around the home, in their nursery room, and of course in their crib. I also photograph all the little details as well - toys, clothes, room decor - all of these things serve well later on as design elements in a baby album. Liam was a joy to photograph and I'm looking forward to seeing how big he is next time I see him!

Shannon - Maternity

Maternity photos are another new concept for us this year. I love doing these sessions not only because they are great fun, but also because the photos created will reflect such an amazing point in the subject's life (and that of her family). This past summer I had a chance to photograph the beautiful Shannon and hubby Mark, just a month or so before little Gabrielle came into the world. Right away Shannon told me she wanted something different - could we go roll around in a field while you take photos? Ummm, yes! How cool is that? So off we went to Iona Beach where Shannon and Mark braved mosquitos and did, in fact, roll around in a field a bit! Shannon thought it might also be cool to do some more "urban" stuff, which I thought was great because it is very atypical to the usual maternity look. In Steveston we found a cool brick wall and combined with Shannon's camo capris, a black bikini top, and Mark's neat tatoos, we got some very unique shots. If you're interested in booking a maternity session, drop us an email and we'll send you more information. We've also got more examples in the Intimate gallery on our website - enjoy!

The Start of Secret Sessions

Continuing on with our portrait posts, I finally had a chance to start offering boudoir sessions this year. I thought it would be a little more fun to call them "Secret Sessions", since many of our boudoir clients often do these sessions as a surprise for their partner - hence the secret! A few brave ladies were nice enough to let me use a few of their images online and I thought I'd post a few here (more can be seen in the Intimate Gallery on our website). These sessions have been even more fun than I anticipated, as boudoir photography these days is much more artistic and fashion-influenced than it used to be - think an editorial spread in Vogue magazine and you'll get the idea. We're planning on doing at least two Secret Session marathons next year - basically a full weekend of sessions at a local luxury hotel - so watch the blog for next year's schedule!

Liza and Cohen - Baby Portraits

My very good friend Liza had a beautiful baby boy in March, and I finally had the chance to photograph him and her together in July. We had a lot of fun with these images, while poor daddy Shaun was at work earning money for diapers! Cohen is pretty much one of the cutest babies ever made - he has big eyes and this adorable quizzical look on his little face. Baby photography is relatively new to me compared to weddings, and I have to say it is so much fun - and challenging too! You never know when you might need to stop for a feeding break or a quick nap - of course, those are actually just more photo opportunities in themselves! If you're interested in a Baby Session or Family Session, drop us an email and we'll gladly send you more information.

Sonus and Adventures in Trespassing

It's not often I get to shoot a rock band and break trespassing laws at the same time, but I got my chance back in the summer with local band Sonus! Okay, so the "trespassing" was actually just wandering onto the grounds of an abandoned warehouse, which happened to have some "No Trespassing" signs posted - so it's not exactly as rebellious as it sounds! Being on train tracks is also illegal, but we weren't actually ON them, just sort of beside them... Anyway! Sonus has just released their first CD of rock/alternative songs, and I must say it is impressive. Of course, I am a little biased since my brother-in-law, Lucas, is the band's bass player. ;) Photographing a band is a little different from weddings or family portraits, and it was both fun and challenging at the same time. It was neat to play with funky angles and selective focus, and I can see how lots of these techniques could transfer over to weddings and other portraits - good stuff. Congrats to Sonus on the first CD - you guys rock! You can check them out online at Sonus Music.

Portraits, portraits, and more portraits

Wow, we've had the opportunity to do lots of portraits over the past few months, and now we finally have a chance to blog about them! Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting some images from a variety of different sessions I've shot since way back in the summer, as well as lots from the fall. With all the craziness of wedding season, our portraits sessions suffered from blog-neglection, so now it's their time to shine! Enjoy!

Secret Session Marathon - Change of Date

Due to popular demand, we've decided to change the date of our upcoming Secret Session Marathon. The marathon will now be held the following weekend, November 23 (Friday), 24 (Saturday) and 25 (Sunday) - the times available are the same as in our previous post below. And don't worry - there will still be lots of time to create your extra special "Secret" Christmas gifts!

Just a side note as well - none of your images will be displayed on our website unless you are okay with it! We respect your privacy (especially when it comes to "Secret" images!) and are grateful for images to share on our website and blog, but if you want to keep your Secret Session a secret, that's totally cool as well! :)

Secret Session Marathon!

Hey ladies! Looking for a fun Christmas gift for your significant other that he will love even more than golf clubs or hockey tickets? Or maybe you'd just like some beautiful photos of you at your best? Either way, our Secret Session (boudoir) Marathon on November 16, 17, and 18 is for you! We will be holding a total of six sessions throughout the weekend:

Friday - 3:30PM
Saturday - 9:00AM, 11:00AM, 1:00PM, 3:00PM
Sunday - 9:30AM

Sessions will be held at the beautiful Vancouver Airport Hilton (Richmond) in one of their deluxe King Bedroom Suites. Sessions take approximately 90 minutes, and are shot by Laura. Three to five outfit changes are recommended. There will also be albums and prints on hand for you to look through, so that you can decide exactly how you'd like to show off your Secret Session images. Sessions are $295, which includes the shoot at the hotel, an online gallery of your images, and a $100 product credit (can be used towards a Secret Album, custom enhanced prints, etc.) A CD with the high-resolution original images will also be delivered with your product order.

There are only six spaces available, so contact us as soon as possible to reserve your spot! For examples of our boudoir work, check out the Intimate Gallery on our website. And if you'd like more information, please give us a call at 604.277.7452, or email at magnoliaphotographic@gmail.com.

Elizabeth and Chui - September 15, 2007

Ah, the emotion - it was plentiful and flowing at Elizabeth and Chui's wedding! Though it was all rooted in joy and happiness, there was laughter and tears throughout the day. Lots of laughter ensued throughout the photo session, which made photographing these two and their bridal party very easy. The tea ceremonies (yes, there were two!) were also fun - I've never seen a bride receive so much jewellery, and Elizabeth was more than happy to show off her new "bling," as she called it! Laughter was also plentiful at the reception at Shiang Garden, but there were some tears as well. Elizabeth's father made a beautiful speech about his lovely daughter, and it's evident how much it touched her in the image below. Elizabeth also has a very special relationship with her grandmother, which she talked about during her emotional speech and ended by giving her bouquet to her grandmother. It was an incredibly touching moment. The reception concluded with some very fun games and then an amazing performance by contortionists - all I can say is "wow!"