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For Photographers
Blog

Day: June 17, 2025

Pregnant couple stands together gazing out a rain-speckled window, bathed in soft, moody light during their intimate in-home maternity session on a rainy day in Burlington, Ontario.

An Intimate In-Home Maternity Session in Burlington, Ontario

June 17, 2025 No Comments

Gather round, kiddos, it’s story time… 📖 Back in

Gather round, kiddos, it’s story time… 📖

Back in February I was on vacation in Punta Cana with my family. One evening at dinner I noticed a lovely couple with their new baby and toddler. I loved watching them in action... working as a team, leaning on their extended family for support.

I walked over to the mum, told her I was a photographer, and asked if she’d want to do a few photos with her husband and kids on one of the following days. Thankfully she didn’t think I was an absolute weirdo, she was thrilled at the idea.

A couple days later we got some adorable photos of the whole family. What was in it for me? Honestly, nothing. I just wanted to be the hype girl every mama deserves, especially while she’s in the thick of it. And for them? They walked away with a few images of their family all dressed up on one of the last evenings of their first vacation as a family of four. 🤍

Thanks @evescholes for being an absolute gem! 💎

I hope this story encourages you all to do something nice for others 🤍

#vacationfamilyphotography #destinationfamilyphotographer #burlingtonmoms #famfeature

We didn’t choose entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurshi

We didn’t choose entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship just finally paid us for skills we’d been using unpaid since we were nine.

We were reading rooms, managing everyone’s emotions, and making things look effortless long before we ever called ourselves business owners. Turns out that wasn’t just a personality trait, it was training. And one day it just… clicked.

Eldest daughter to eldest daughter- I’m so proud of you and what you’ve built! 💜

➡️ Tag the eldest daughter who figured that out and built something real with it.

photography business owner, small business owner tips, female entrepreneur, photographer mentorship, creative business coach, work life balance for entrepreneurs,burnout recovery for business owners, women in business community, photographer community, building a business without burnout, eldest daughter

Solo parenting Monday- Wednesday this week so I’ve

Solo parenting Monday- Wednesday this week so I’ve been a bit behind on grabbing content to make these daily reels so I combined day 11 & 12 💜

Cover photo featuring @melissaleighs

summer daily vlog, everyday moments photography, summer reels series, documentary photography, life in photos, photographer daily life, summer memory project, behind the lens, Burlington photographer, everyday summer moments

Day 10 - Early birthday celebrations at Nonna and

Day 10 - Early birthday celebrations at Nonna and Papa’s for Max! (And celebrating papa’s bday too!)

summer daily vlog, everyday moments photography, summer reels series, documentary photography, life in photos, photographer daily life, summer memory project, behind the lens, Burlington photographer, everyday summer moments

Day 9- rainy/ overcast day as the female CEO of a

Day 9- rainy/ overcast day as the female CEO of a boys house 👋

It takes a village. 🙄 We say it all the time and

It takes a village. 🙄

We say it all the time and it still doesn’t feel like enough some days.

If you’ve ever sat in the quiet of your own house wondering who you could even call, you’re not alone in that feeling. This season is heavy and beautiful at the same time, and it deserves to be witnessed.

That’s what I hope a session with me can be. A small piece of the village.

⬇️IN THE COMMENTS: Did you have the luxury of a village in those early days of motherhood? ⬇️

Burlington family photographer, motherhood community, maternity photographer Ontario, newborn photography Burlington, village of motherhood, family photo session Halton region

Today was a solid sweaty work day in the shed with

Today was a solid sweaty work day in the shed with few breaks to help get the swings setup for the boys (a temporary install until we can safely get a few dead trees down in our yard.

This evening was a lovely treat- we ventured over to @bluedotacres to experience the Firefly Celebration and had the best time! The kiddos even got to stay up way past their bedtime until nearly 10:30pm! Aaaand they made the best friends with @fyvie_studios little ones who were also there!!

Tell me ⬇️ what are your plans for this weekend?

summer daily vlog, everyday moments photography, summer reels series, documentary photography, life in photos, photographer daily life, summer memory project, behind the lens, Burlington photographer, everyday summer moments

I had the pleasure of working with Elise and her b

I had the pleasure of working with Elise and her beautiful family when they booked The First Chapter to commemorate their second pregnancy with maternity and newborn sessions bundled together.

We captured Elise’s stunning golden hour maternity session at Bronte Creek Provincial Park and played with both the soft golden light and the more dramatic direct sun to create completely different looks complimented by not one but two @reclamationdesigncompany looks from the client closet!

Thank you @elisepiedrasnaidero for these beautiful words and congratulations again on Baby G!

Day 7 - 1 week in…. I’ve been enjoying capturing t

Day 7 - 1 week in…. I’ve been enjoying capturing the little moments. If I’m honest it doesn’t seem like this is resonating with many people… I wanna stick to it because I’m not a quitter though… soooooooo yeah.

Today got to finally treat myself to a lovely afternoon T @anagen.ca - an amazing scalp spa right here in Burlington! Highly recommend to anyone wanting to treat themselves - my hair looks and feels amazing!! Thanks Natalie!! 🤍 and a huge thanks to my amazing husband for listening and getting me the treatment!

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#TenSecondsOfSummer#DocumentaryPhotography
#Burlingtonphotographer #memoriesofsummer
#summermemoryproject

Happy Canada Day, eh! Morning started bright and

Happy Canada Day, eh! Morning started bright and early for my 6:30am Bootcamp call with @lauracolemaneducation followed by a virtual planning call with a repeat client.

It was a scorcher clocking in at 37.8C around 1pm today… lots of time spent in the pool or indoors.

⬇️ Tell me all about how you spent your Canada Day! 🇨🇦

summer daily vlog, everyday moments photography, summer reels series, documentary photography, life in photos, photographer daily life, summer memory project, behind the lens, Burlington photographer, everyday summer moments, Canada Day 2026

Melissa Shearer is a Burlington-based maternity, birth, newborn, and family photographer and photography educator, offering inclusive, emotion-filled photography for modern families.

Serving Burlington, Hamilton, Oakville, Milton, Guelph, Cambridge, Brantford, Niagara, and beyond.

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