Lifestyle Shoot with Creations Behind The Lens Photography

Lifestyle Shoot with Creations Behind The Lens Photography

An Introduction to my mama friend and creative genius;

Sarah Rowland

 

I came across Sarah and her photography business because she’s a HUGE fan of the reality show, Big Brother and did a gorgeous family shoot with my brother in law Bruno Ielo (who was on Big Brother seasons 3 and 5) and I knew I wanted to book her to take pictures of my new family in the fall. Not only did she completely exceeded my expectations with the actually photos she took of my little family, they were so perfect as seen on the blog post, Memories & Moments, but she has the sweetest personality and soooooo easy to work with. You know when your not a professional model and it feels really awkward to get your pictures taken, well she made me feel MORE then comfortable and took away all that weird awkwardness with her awesome, fun loving personality. Throughout that shoot we got to chatting a bit and in asking her some questions about her business we found out about all the misfortune that her and her husband went through right after moving to Ottawa and before giving birth to their first child.

The photography business is very competitive and it can be especially hard to gain new clients to shoot and make a living, when you first move to a new city, where your portfolio doesn’t match the locations in that said city, and on top of all of that being a normal reality for a photographer and business owner, Sarah had to combat a lot of bad luck that was flung her way when she first moved to Ottawa and was in the middle of her first pregnancy.

The most admirable quality I that Sarah has, is no matter what miss fortune was thrown her way (throughout her entire pregnancy!) she just keep moving forward with the most positive attitude, putting in the time and effort needed to grow her photography business in Ottawa to provide for her family. If that’s not the definition of BOSS.ASS.BABE I don’t know what is!

After chatting with Sarah more and more online we started becoming real life friends and we did more shoots together, again all featured on the blog, and everytime she shoots my family I’m amazed by the end product. For me to say that I’m in love with her work is a huge understatement!

I was hoping that Sarah would share with my followers and with the women in Ottawa her story, all that she faced and went through while being pregnant and a first time mother. I think it will inspire other women who have faced misfortunes in their lives that remind you that no matter what happens you are able to re build your life from the ground up and eventually rise from the ashes so to speak, and achieve everything you set your mind to.

I’m a person of the belief that if you’re a hard worker and a good person that good will come to you and I know for a fact that Sarah is truly a wonderful person and an incredible mama and provider for her family!

I HIGHLY recommend you hiring Sarah to capture your families most  precious moments at all stages and seasons of your lives. You wont regret it!

Sarah is also have a promotion for the rest of the winter season that most shoots (outdoor, family, maternity, newborn, engagement) are $60.00 until April and family shoot in home are $85.00 until April as well!

Sarah’s Story

My first pregnancy with my daughter Elena (aka Bean) was the craziest experience of my life to date, and I’m sure most mothers can agree. Everything is new and exciting, with it comes ups and downs, and I spent the majority of it eating my weight in dill pickle crispers and Greek yogurt every night.

However the events experienced in last few months of my pregnancy were truly life shifting. I was in a car accident a few days before Christmas, we were thankfully all uninjured but the car on the other hand was a right off and it was just really bad timing to have that happen, especially during the holidays. A few weeks after the accident at 22 weeks pregnant I went to the ER as I wasn’t feel well, they thought that I had HELLP Syndrome ( A potentially life-threatening disorder that’s usually associated with preeclampsia, a condition that occurs in 5–8 percent of pregnancies. Most often after the 20th week of pregnancy. HELLP syndrome is a disorder of the liver and blood that can be fatal if left untreated.) and that I would need to deliver ASAP. I was admitted and kept in the hospital for over a week to be monitored and have constant testing done to make sure the baby and I were okay. In the end everything seemed to be ok and I got to go home at last.

We were fully nested and SO ready to meet our little girl at 9 months pregnant, when a evening my husband and I were at the movies for date night I received one the worst phone calls of my life. My neighbour had called to tell me that our home, along with many other (they were Minto row homes) had caught fire. She was telling me that our home was gone. I was frantic in the 20 minute car ride home having full on stress induced contrations and all I remember is pleedy to my neighbours on the phone to safe our pets. Our neighbour was a hero and managed to get our dog out safetly but our cat was missing finally found in the rubble 3 days later in the -25 degree weather. March 12, 2017 you were a real pain in my neck!

After the fire destroyed our home and all of our posesstions, we were living in a hotel with literally NOTHING. Still thinking back to that time its so surreal to know that we had everything ready and we were so prepared for our little bean to join us to not knowing where we would be living when she arrived. We spent the next week in the horrible dead of winter weather having meetings with Minto to try to find a home to move into and trying to put together some things to have ready for the baby. We needed to buy a car seat, clothes, diapers, just even to have some necessities for when she was born. I know how lucky we were to not be home when the fire happened. It started in the home directly attached to ours and they went up so quickly that a few neighbours almost didn’t make it out with their lives.

We thankfully got a place, moved in and that same evening I went into labour. Life wasn’t going to give me a break quit yet, my birth included horrible kidney stones, an emergency C-section and intense pain, but I’ll never forget the moment hearing her first cry’s and seeing that perfect little face was the craziest most beautiful moment that I’ve ever experienced in my life. March 22nd, 2017 our little Elena was born.

We not only lost every sentimental piece ( like photos , hand knit clothing and blankets from my childhood that I had for Elena, etc) but I lost everything that was my livelihood. I lost all of my photography props and equipment that I collected and invested in throughout the years, I lost my lighting tools and my camera equipment that the money from the insurance settlement wouldn’t even come close to covering.

The first 6-8 months after Elena was born came with its own set of first time mom and motherhood challenges. My family was far away and we were kinda figuring things out on our own starting our life from scratch. But in the last year I’ve been working hard at replacing all that I lost business wise. I’ve invested a lot of time and money re-branding my business, and rebuilding my cliental, and all the hard work this past year has really started paying off as it has been one of my best years in business since I’ve moved to Ottawa.

I truly feel that loosing it all was a bit of a blessing in disguise, in that it forced me to push myself to limits I didn’t even know I had in me in order to rebuild my life and make it what it is today. My husband, daughter and myself are happy and healthy and that’s all that truly matters.

I really look forward to what 2019 has instore for me professionally and for my business and I looking forward capturing the moments that matter most in peoples lives. I truly love being apart, capture witness people, couples and families at their happiest most precious moments in life.

Please feel free to contact me at  http://www.creationsbehindthelens.com/ for any photography shoot inquires 🙂

Sarah Rowland

 

My Families Lifestyle Shoot With Sarah

These photos are were really important for me and my husband to capture for many reasons.

1. I wanted to capture Amadeo’s true crazy personality in pictures and I knew we could do that where he is most familiar and comfortable, in our home.
2. I really wanted photos to capture our family in the house that Amadeo lived in when he was born. My husband and I completely gutted and renovated this home top to bottom, inside and out, a lot of literal blood sweat and tears went into this home together and while I was pregnant and we are selling this home and moving into our newly built home in August.
3. I’ve mentioned before that its realllllllly important to me to document Amadeo’s growth throughout his first year and with Sarah’s affordable prices we are able to do that every couple months and beautiful display these photos in our home.

 

I hope you enjoy these beautiful photos of my family and if you book with a family shoot with Sarah please share with me, I always love to see the beautiful shots that Sarah takes of my friends and followers!!!

 

My husband is truly my bestfriend and partner in all thing life and I couldn’t be more thankful for him. Cheers to forever darling, you’re stuck with me.

 

Let him sleep, for when he wakes, he will move mountains