I have to admit that I'm a bit behind on blogging these days. I've taken a ton of photos, and haven't even had the chance to blog about them. Well, here's to my attempt to catch up!

I photographed Japji for a maternity shoot back in late May. Due to scheduling conflicts, we ended up cutting it close. So close that Japji gave birth to her lovely son Lucius about ONE WEEK after her shoot! I'm very glad that we got the shoot done on time (and so was she)!

We did our photo shoot at the University of Toronto. I have to admit that the location was picked out on a whim. Japji picked almost-four-year-old son Ale, from daycare, followed by partner Mark, and finally, yours truly, from Toronto's downtown core in rush hour. Oh, and did I mention that they also had their dog, Thelonius Monk with them? While Monk is still a puppy (ack!), he's a big dog. But don't let his big frame scare you, because he is a really really sweet dog, and he and I totally hit it off during the drive to the university.

She had originally wanted a photo shoot in High Park (which would've been totally awesome), but traffic and kiddie schedules kind of cramped that style. Fortunately, UofT was on the way home for both of us, and is a totally awesome location for a photoshoot. I can vouch, because I had my wedding ceremony and photos taken there.

Ale napped on the way up to the campus, and when we got to King's College Circle, he woke up a bit grumpy. I totally understand. My daughter isn't exactly ponies and rainbows when she wakes up from a nap either. So, we had a bit of a slow start. But then Ale started to warm up to the idea of a photoshoot, and things just took off from there. Below are some of my favorite images of the shoot.

I think that the image below just captures the bond between mother, son, and baby beautifully. You can tell that Ale is going to be a great big brother. Here, he's blowing raspberries for Lucius. (Baby name already picked out - Japji is one organized momma!)

This next photo is another favorite. I was hoping that Ale would get in on the fun and put his hands on mommy's belly, but there is something to be said for having just mommy and daddy in this photo too. I think that the photo shows a great amount of love between Japji and Mark, and of course, for their unborn son.

I had a bit of fun with my fisheye lens here. The glow of the afternoon sunlight was just wonderful, and you can tell that mommy and son are having a tender moment.

As a integral member of the family, Monk made it into the shots too! Here's his starring role!

And finally, no shoot is complete without a family shot. They all had lots of fun with this shot, and it shows.

All in all, it was a great shoot. The lighting was great, everyone had fun, and, the photos turned out really cool. I'm so glad that we made it before Lucius made his world début on "the outside", and I look forward to taking some pics of him in the near future!