Wow where to even begin…
So a couple days ago I posted about wanting a couple to pose for an intimate outdoor semi/nude boudoir session. I got several inquires right off the bat which I was a bit shocked by as I thought more people would be shy to the idea. But one person stood out for me and I knew right away that was who I wanted to photograph.

Her name is Melanie Varney, I met her last year when I photographed her incredible products for the company she started called West Coast Karma (www.facebook.com/West-Coast-Karma). She is born and raised in the Comox Valley, married to an incredible man named Gabby Mason and they have three kids. Sounds normal yes but…. Melanie gave birth to all three of these children in 12 months. How is this possible… she got pregnant with twins when her son Joey was only 3 months old. Imagine going from no children to three children in just this short amount of time. It became their soul purpose of living to support these three little lives. It was 24 hours a day of work and they had to stay bonded together as a team to survive. On top of it all Ocea was born with a rare genetic disease called Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome, she required a tongue reduction surgery at only 7 months and took many months to recovery. She continues to have blood work and ultrasounds every 6 weeks to screen for cancer as she is 600x more likely to develop certain types of cancer than the average person.

“It’s hard to adapt and fall in love with your new self. Every mom knows that it was worth the struggle for the end result. But it’s still hard. You don’t have time to think of the way you look most days, but sometimes you catch a glimpse of your body and hardly even recognize the reflection starring back. It wasn’t until a full year postpartum that I finally let go and started to celebrate the journey my body had been through. Not once did Gabby ever make me feel insecure about the ay I looked. He still thought I looked as beautiful as the day he met me. It was time for me to feel the same about myself and set an example for my girls.”

-Mel

It has now been two years and Melanie and Gabby will be celebrating their 5th year anniversary this year. They have been through a lot in a little amount of time but they never lost the love for each other and I hope you can see that through the photographs I captured of them.

Women, let us celebrate our flaws. Own our stretch marks and extra skin. Let us rejoice in what our bodies have done for us and be proud of what we have gone through. You are a warrior. A beautiful, beautiful warrior.

To watch slideshow of images to music please click on link. Mel + Gabby