As I sat in the back seat of Sabrina and Ryan’s truck in Fort McMurray last weekend, I was so disappointed that I wasn’t going to get a chance to photograph their family. Only 20 minutes before their session, it had been beautiful, as I drove around aimlessly waiting for the time to come to meet them before I left town. Now, it was absolutely pouring. I had climbed in there because it was raining so hard that we couldn’t roll down the windows to figure out a plan. The weather hadn’t been cooperative for most of the weekend, and I had to do a lot of rescheduling, but this was dreadful. Thankfully, all of my clients are super laid back and it all worked out, but now I was out of time. Not only was I scheduled to leave town, but the next time I got back to Fort McMurray, it was likely they wouldn’t live there any more.
We looked out of the windows and it looked to be clear toward Abasand, so we decided to head there. It wasn’t. Then it rained as we drove past thickwood. I don’t mean drizzle, I mean wipers at full speed rain. The kind that makes you wonder if you should get out and get gas, or just chance it. It was that bad. Then Sabrina thought of a covered gazebo in Timberlea, and as I followed their truck, I will admit that I was discouraged. Such a beautiful little girl didn’t need to be out in this weather getting full of mud, just to have her photos taken. Maybe I should just go home.
As we drove through a residential neighbourhood, I thought, ‘Oh, we must be headed toward their house. This isn’t going to happen.’ But when we arrived at the gazebo, it was dry – bone dry, and the sun was blazing. It was absolutely gorgeous, as though the rest of Fort McMurray wasn’t experiencing a rainstorm.
I am so glad we were persistent because I love these photos.
The entire weekend I spent in Fort McMurray was fantastic, and every session was amazing for me. I loved everyone that I met, and everyone I photographed. I had such a great time in fact that I plan to be there again June 1-3 (I hope the weatherman is kinder to me this trip!)
If you are interested in booking a family, couples or Boudoir photo session, please email islandmistphotography@gmail.com or call (780) 271-7082.
Getting baby Olyver to come out and join the rest of us was a lot of work. He would continually get everyone excited with close contractions, and lots of goings on. Then he would chill out, read the paper and have a cup of coffee. We wore a hole in the floor of the hallway. Walking. Walking. Walking. But the more walking we did, the more relaxing he did. It’s like he was watching the hockey game in there. 
Being born is hard work….
