Documentary Photographer Lara Eichhorn
Documentary Family and Wedding Photography
Shawna and John visited Victoria with their four children, all six and under. I think they’re very patient and brave to travel with all those kids. We met up at Willows Beach in early August for a documentary family session. Chasing the kids around was a great workout for me and I loved watching the fun they all had together. This one hour session resulted in a ton of photos, so here are a few of my favourites.
Lynda contacted me because her family was going to be in town to visit her parents, who live on the beach in Oak Bay. I didn’t really know much about it until I showed up, but it turns out that her parents were celebrating their 50th anniversary. I love how grandparents’ anniversaries tend to turn into family reunions full of so much life. They were preparing brunch when I arrived and the kids were running around and play fighting. I tried to get creative and non-intrusive while they ate and then we headed to the beach where the kids filled everyone’s pockets with a ton of stones and shells to take home.
I was so excited that Rebecca and Graham wanted me to take some family photos for them last month. I photographed their wedding back in 2011. Check out a comparison photo of Rebecca’s family below. It’s always cool to see my clients start their own families, and this shoot had the added bonus of seeing her siblings grow up too. Her parents were really sweet and clearly so in love, which seems to have set the perfect example for Rebecca and Graham’s awesome marriage. And of course, their daughter, Marilyn, was really adorable and photogenic.
We took a documentary approach to this shoot, with just a few minutes spent on group portraits. I had fun running around on the beach trying to capture all of their interactions. This is a family that knows how to have fun.
And from their 2011 wedding:
Ok, not that long distance, but enough.
Sophia and Deryck live in different countries, with her living in Washington State and him living here in Victoria. Over time, they’ve settled into their own Friday night ritual for when she comes to visit. He picks her up at the ferry, bringing some food for them to eat in the car (taking turns driving), then they spend some relaxing time at his apartment, playing some games and snuggling (and from my observation, lots of tickling and laughter).
This shoot is a candid look at the start of their weekend visit.
Jennifer, Gord, and their six-month old son Jasper were in East Sooke a couple weeks ago visiting family. They had me along for a documentary family photography session at the beach at East Sooke Park and then some time at their family’s home nearby. I don’t typically do family portraits, so I was thrilled that they wanted to do a session documenting an actual day in their lives. Jasper is a very lively and expressive baby – it was actually tough to get him to stop looking at the camera (babies just don’t understand photojournalism). The weather was perfect and I had a lot of fun. I’d love to do some more sessions like these.
Back in September, I shot a documentary session with my friends Lauren and Andreas. These two were adapting to and preparing for some major changes at the time, having recently moved into their newly purchased first house and expecting their first child. Lauren ended up giving birth to a sweet baby girl, Leonie, a few weeks later. On this day, they got one step closer to ready by installing a car seat. They also made dinner and then we headed over to the Selkirk Trestle for a few posed portraits.
There are a couple more of these documentary couples sessions coming up soon and I can’t wait to share them with you.
This summer, I got to do a few documentary couples shoots. The first one was an engagement session: The Weekend Morning Ritual. This time, it was with a couple, Claire and Daniel, who’s been together for three years and wanted to have a session to celebrate their relationship, even though they aren’t engaged. I think more people should do this and not wait for the big events in life.
We went for a wander downtown to check out the market, as they often do on the weekend, then had bubble tea and browsed some of Victoria’s unique stores. I love how Claire and Daniel love just being together, exploring and laughing.
Lauren and Ben wanted to try something a little different for their engagement session on Friday. Most of this “portrait session” was spent photographing them without any intervention on my part, aside from a little bit of conversation that I can’t seem to stop myself from indulging in. They wanted to document their weekend ritual of waking up late (Ben says only Lauren does this), having coffee together, and watching television while playing with his ipad and her laptop. They also love to look at their book about dogs – these people are dog-obsessed. Hence, the next part of the ritual, walking along Dallas Road and pointing out dogs that they’d like to get one day. In between, we headed up to their awesome downtown rooftop patio to take in the view and some drinks. We spent so much time wandering around that golden hour was upon us before we knew it – such killer light in those last few shots.
They’re getting married next July and already I’m super excited for their wedding. I love getting to spend a few relaxing hours with my clients prior to their wedding, really getting to know them while capturing their personalities. I’d love to do some more of this style of session, so contact me if you’d like one yourself.
