Rathtrevor Beach Family Portrait
Midday Sun, Three Generations, and a Blue Heeler
Aili and her daughter were vacationing in Parksville and Vancouver Island for a week. Her mother came down from Port Hardy to spend some time with her daughter and granddaughter, who are living in interior British Columbia. Strolling along the Craigstreet Market one Tuesday, Aili met me at my booth and decided to book a photoshoot with me, scheduled for two days later while she was still in town. Most people request the ocean when visiting Vancouver Island, and so I recommended Rathtrevor Beach in Parksville. This 347- hectare provincial park has endless FUN opportunities! Camping, hiking, running, beach combing, little bunnies, eagles, sunsets, playground. I can go on and on and on. It’s a beauty and has a wonderful protected strand of old growth Douglas Fir trees, which are just gorgeous to photograph in.
We shot in the trees and finished in the ocean, trailing her dress into the ocean and loving every second of it. I photographed an image of the three women holding hands, and Aili confessed, “Oh man, I am a farrier for my work and I have SO many scuffs and bruises on my hands and arms.” She felt a little embarrassed that her hands looked the way they did. I think her markings and bruises tell her story and reveal a strength in her character. I think her daughter will see this image in fifty years and think about how strong her mother was working with horses and animals the way she does. I believe our hands are one of our greatest tools; we use them hundreds of times a day, and really do help us in our tasks. A baker crimps a pie with his fingers just so, a brain surgeon steadies his movement with focus and practice, and a little girl scribbles her name for the first time on the living room wall. If these tools we call hands could write the story of our lives, what would yours say?
