Sugar + Soul Photography

Shooting ‘s wedding today and just realized I haven’t posted their engagement photos 😩

Here’s a fave I just found in my phone because that’s how wonderfully organized I am!!

Today is gonna be amazing 🤩

Can confirm that choosing photos for a post feels like literal torture to every photographer I know 😅

So *finally* some peeks (some of my personal faves) of Anna + Andrew chasing the sun ☀️

Casey // 3 months!
You don’t need to have a newborn to do a lifestyle session ❤️
So lovely catching up with this fam!! 🥰

To my clients: thank you for being quite literally the best ❤️

To my friends and followers: thank you for your support and referrals, your likes and shares, your encouragement. All of it 🫶

To my fellow photographers: thank you for being a support system for me and for each other. This line of work can be isolating as much as it can be amazing, let’s keep building each other up!! 👏

Taking a moment of gratitude for this wild journey, this business I built on a whim that got bigger than I ever imagined it would.

THANK YOU

We snuck out at the exact right moment to steal the last 5 min of golden hour light ✨

The photography gods were SMILING

Kelly + Kyle ❤️

Some of my very favourites from this session 🥰

Honoured and extremely grateful to document so many milestones for this family 🥹🙏🏻

There is SO much beauty in the chaos, this is my favourite part of my job!!

Yesterday was my birthday 🥳

I took the first half of the day to chill at home and not have anything in the calendar, just enjoyed the quiet, it was lovely and very different from my over-scheduled reality 😂

Then I taught a free spin class and we raised money for a wonderful organization and rode together to great music and laughed and cried together in the dark ❤️

Followed by food and drinks with some friends

It was a perfectly simple day and I loved it 🥰

Don’t be afraid to celebrate yourself, friends!! (In whatever way that feels good for you!)

Have a wonderful weekend!! 🫶🏻

📷

SPRING MINIS ARE LIVE!🌷

Non-traditional children’s portraits OR mommy and me!

Neutral backdrop, florals are optional!

Details:

💛April 27/May 5 + 10
💛Headingley
💛15 min studio sessions
💛$197 + taxes includes all the keepers!
💛Images delivered within 2 weeks via online gallery

No large groups (message me if you have questions!)

Head to the link in my bio to book!

Swipe to see some big sis (and furbaby) love 🥰

DM to book your newborn session!

The irony is not lost on me that I FORGET to post my own work more often than I would like to admit!

Creative people tend to freeze when viewing their own work, and get overwhelmed immediately, and I am no exception!

Please check out this gorgeous and quick 10 min shoot I snuck in with Erica + Travis before their reception began! Not to worry, we snuck out for more after dinner 🥰

These sweet first few days go by in an instant 🥹
My gratitude for being able to document so many new babes is eternal 🙏🏻

SWIPE to see what’s possible ✨
Round 2 of Content Minis is LIVE!

March 30th // Seize the opportunity to update your content and get some new relaxed headshots in a gorgeous new space (and save some money on a rental space too! 👀) 🙏🏻

You’ll get 30 min with me, up to 3 outfits, and all the keepers in high-res from the session.
$300 plus taxes

Snag your spot at the link in bio!

Welcome, little one 🥰

Rebecca + Kevin ❤️

Last week was so full of documenting little humans and it was such a nice way to spend these cold days indoors!

I have had the pleasure of documenting this fam all the way back to when they were 2 people planning their wedding, and now they are welcoming baby number 3 🥹 So grateful!!

Love being a part of authentically documenting this life transition ❤️

Some extremely sweet images from this maternity session 😍 (can’t wait to meet baby soon!) 🙌🏻

A fave of mine from this session!

Love a furbaby photobomb 😍

If you know that your pet is safe to interact with baby, I absolutely encourage them to be a part of the session too!

How I incorporate older siblings into my newborn or lifestyle sessions!

(Photogs and clients: you’ll wanna hit save and look back on this later!) 👀

All newborn photogs know that getting the older sibling to safely and happily participate in a session with their new family member can be very challenging 😅 for a number of reasons. One, small children are impulsive and rambunctious by nature, and they don’t have the mental development yet to fully understand empathy. So they are not trying to be mean, they are simply learning how to navigate the world for their age, and are trying to understand why they are no longer the center of attention.

So let’s go through some things I do, and consider, at each session!

🔘Most importantly: make sure baby is safe!

I will never ask a young child to hold a baby unless the parent knows that child has done so already, will be an active and safe participant and can understand basic instructions (stay very still, be gentle, etc)
-make sure older bro or sis is supported if they DO want to hold baby (use pillows under their elbows and behind baby, make sure head is supported)

🔘Let parents know to LET GO of expectations. If sibling says they don’t want to interact with baby, forcing them to can cause unwanted behaviour and make baby unsafe.

🔘Help them WANT to participate!

I have my own way that I connect with the older siblings right from the get go!
1. take interest in them! (Yay you’re a big brother! How exciting!)
2. Ask lots of questions about what they like, and what cool things they want to teach their younger sibling when they get bigger
3. Tell them you would love for them to show you their room/fave toy/book while baby is eating so they can have their own special photos. During these special photos I ask what kind of photo they would like to take with baby
By the time we get to the siblings photos, they are so excited to participate, trust me, and listen eagerly

🔘Make sure the poses match their abilities!

For very young kids I lay baby on a bed and get the sibling to gently interact with them. if sibling starts to jump or be rowdy, baby is immediately picked up!

Let me know below if this helped you!

Merry Christmas everyone!🎄
Love, The Johnstones ❤️

Big fan of being cozy inside at this time of year 🥰!
This at home maternity session was just perfect and captures the vibe of the season ❤️

I hope you’re all feeling cozy this weekend too!

Love being surrounded by new baby energy! ❤️

I hope your families are enjoying the holiday season and getting some quality time together!

Hey 👋🏻

I’m Melissa (my friends and most clients call me Mel ❤️)
I haven’t shown my face on this feed in a bit, but here are some marginally fun facts about me:

🖤My original degree/career is in Physiotherapy, a job that I LOVED but left to pursue running this (very busy) side hustle turned full-time gig

🖤 Almost called this business “Sugar + Sin” but my husband warned me it sounded like a strip club and TBH he wasn’t wrong 😑

🖤In my late teens and early 20’s I was a martial arts instructor (second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do 🥋), but made the decision to quit because university was such a huge financial commitment, and a serving job made more money 🤷🏼‍♀️

🖤 Fitness is hugely important to me and I am particularly obsessed with rhythm-based indoor cycling, you’ll find me at a spin studio sweating profusely at some point almost daily 🚲

🖤 I used to also draw pencil portraits of people for extra $$

🖤 I was painfully shy as a child and now I routinely boss around giant wedding parties and teach workshops

🖤 the song that’s playing right now is one of my all-time faves!

🖤 I also do social media management on the side! 📱

Any surprises? Do we have something in common? Or maybe you have a fun fact you’d like to share! I would LOVE to hear it! 👇🏻

(Pic ❤️)

I forget how stunning the fall is here, as it’s always far too short!! Here’s to more colourful days 😍

As I sifted through these images I was reminded that I had just gone through a really hard week in my personal life when I shot this session. I was exhausted, and felt so worried that I would be too distracted, not bubbly enough, not creative enough. It’s amazing how once you let the moment take you, magic happens ✨

Rebecca + Morgan ❤️❤️