A Winter Portrait, Family Photos Taken in BC’s Old Growth Cathedral Grove Forest

This family lives a few minutes away from Vancouver Island’s popular old growth forest destination Cathedral Grove- a place they love and feel at home in. Just four days until Christmas, we decided to take their family photos with a winter portrait feel in this popular BC park.

Their Love Story

These two met over the incredibly popular green bar at Naked Naturals in Qualicum Beach, a nutty, sweet and salty bar filled with nuts and turned green by spirulina and chlorophyll. She worked in the Deli department where she made and sold this top-selling item, and he would stop by as often as possible to purchase one. Over time, he seemed to come in more and more regularly. Through friendly counter chatter, these two got to know each other. Cass has this amazing skill of creating honest and genuine conversation with people- she skips the small talk and asks you real questions. I’ve learned that these questions often lead to vulnerable answers, which create authentic connection. It’s no surprise that these two developed a spark and pursued it.

Both feel a deep inner purpose of being parents, and wanted to build a large family together. Each of them had a similar-aged daughter from previous relationships, and fell in love with them too. These photos are a few years old as I write this post, and I’m happy to tell you that in addition to their two children, they have had two more together. I remember Cass telling me she wanted six kids when I first met her, and I am so happy to see her dreams coming true.

About Cathedral Grove

Established as a provincial park on February 27th, 1947, this 301 hectare park has been a popular destination for tourists and passerby for many decades. The old wagon road on the North side of Cameron Lake was built in 1886, and was replaced by the makings of the current road in 1907. With the opening up of a wagon road, more people were exposed to this special grove of trees. Many comments have been recorded of businessmen and their wives remarking about how special this place is, including the feeling that you are in a Cathedral. Some of the trees are upwards of 800 years old with a circumference of 8 meters or more. The Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar are a beautiful sight to see, healthy and thriving in their optimal environment, protected from logging exploits. I’d definitely recommend taking a walk through this park if you’re in the area- or better yet, have professional family photographs taken there! ;)

Cathedral Grove BC Park info: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/macmillan/

Cathedral Grove Chronology 1856-2009 by Dr. Karen Wonders: http://www.cathedralgrove.eu/media/02-1-chronolgy.pdf