Memories…

The Stories We Tell Are The Stories We Live By

The stories we tell, are the stories we live by!Sometimes it’s good to look back and see where you’ve come from, not just with nostalgia, but with great appreciation and awe for the helpers, the stepping stones, and the growth.Here is a taste of what’s important to me in my visual storytelling…stay tuned for more.Children, attached, honoured in their diversity, free to explore and learn in the ways that work for them. Embodied play, risk, movement, dance. Culture repair, reconnecting with nature, community, ceremony, celebration, mentoring, the arts.I hope these images tell a little the story of the miraculous gift of witnessing and being witnessed, of upholding and protecting what is essential, and of connecting deeply!

If you have a project you’d love photographed or would love to know more about what I do, please reach out. Visit my album / like my page on Facebook for details about each image and to catch more images!

warmly and wildly, Belinda White

www.facebook.com/applestarphoto

spring joy

connecting with plants

Bright Forsythia here, with the beautiful light sparkling through Cedar blurred in the background.

Forsythia, a sturdy, early bloomer which thrives without much tending and heralds the Spring sun, is an invasive plant to North America, native to China. One variety is used in Chinese medicine: lian qiao, for chills, fevers, headaches and burns… the very youngest leaves and the yellow flowers are said to be edible…though come with a warning***the leaves contain glycoside and may cause cancer! For me this plant, named after Scottish botanist William Forsythia, has always hinted at Scottish ancestors, seems to take over abandoned properties and brings much needed burst of yellow energy after a long, grey Winter. It was spread through the rest of the world by Robert Fortune, another Scott, responsible for some truly colonial, botanical espionage! Forsythia. http://www.eattheweeds.com/foraging-for-forsythia-2/

This bright, raggedy plant is said to have the magic of divination, anticipation, and bringer of compassion, love, and sustainable, long-term goals! https://www.pattiwigington.com/forsythia-folklore-and-magic/

Origins: Asia

Invasive to North America and Europe: Yes

Medicinal: Yes

Edible: Flowers ~ Yes, tiny, early leaves ~ ?

I acknowledge and am deeply grateful to the land tenders of unceded, ancestral lands of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Belinda

Forage.followthetrail

Apple Star Photo

The Long View and 7 Generations

This is the long-view – can you feel it?

The great blessing of mountains, of trees, of many layers…. incredible shoulders, arms and fingers of snowy land, created ages ago by huge glaciers grinding the silt fine into estuaries of fertile land and waters, home to so many more-than-human beings, plants, fish, insects, trees, furred and winged friends, all of them sheltering us, creating this sanctuary, this home and nourishing food! And yet…what do you feel? Fierce protection, tender care? Ownership? Responsibility?

It’s been a while since I’ve roamed the city or the woods with my camera – too many other projects to finish – these are from 2 years ago, but this light snow is typical and could have been this year. What am I foraging here with my camera eye? What use to gather such tasty visual morsels – beauty medicine perhaps, or more?

I spend my days mentoring children and adults outdoors in Nature Connection in hopes that we are raising a generation that will soar like an eagle and have that long-view, that deep sense of place not just in their back yards, or even their bio-region, but a sense of place among a family of that stretches backwards and forwards 7 generations in each direction! Just imagine that long view! What did these scenes look like 7 generations ago? Who tended these territories so that we could walk, live, ski, grow veggies, mow our lawns, pollute and bury creeks, build over an entire life-giving estuary, consume, consume, consume, build roads, and pipes, and choke life out of our mother? What will be here, or be gone 7 generations from now? What would you like your future children to see, feel, smell, enjoy?

When you walk out tomorrow, will you be treading on the body of your mother softly? When you rise your face to the sky will the rains or sun or winds of your father be kissing you? When you board down the glorious snowy slopes, will you lean back into the shoulders of your grandfathers and listen deep to what they whisper? When you head down to the water’s edge at sunset, will you send a prayer of love to Grandmother Moon? I still remember the moment I took these images two years ago. I felt the incredible lift of the steep hill, the silent buried creeks, and the sweeping perspective looking out over the now invisible estuary to the mountain range, exactly how it felt, in the glow of early evening, as if to gather me up. I’d been seeing more and more the trees beyond the trees, and the peaks beyond the peaks. This is what happens when you being to listen, begin to look, begin to thank the land and the ancestors, suddenly your wings soar, and an invisible wind lifts you higher to gaze at the long view.

Will you join me?

Gratitude to the unceded, ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh , and Squamish Peoples.

{assionately,

Belinda White

Apple Star Photo

Forage.followthetrail

“What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?”
― Richard Louv, The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder

“We have such a brief opportunity to pass on to our children our love for this Earth, and to tell our stories. These are the moments when the world is made whole. In my children’s memories, the adventures we’ve had together in nature will always exist.”― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

As Nature Connection Mentor as well as photographer, I spend half my time engaging in play, exploration, nurturing compassion, connection, resilience with the children. And then, the other half is spent in a kind of quiet awe, observing the many ways that time in nature, with lose parts, vast spaces, trees, rocks, pouring rain, darting squirrels absorbs the children so completely and draws out all manner of learning. I feel very lucky to do the work I do and to be able to witness and record the rich diversity of learning that can happen outdoors.

If you are interested in knowing more about my offerings as a mentor or as a photographer, I’d love to hear from you!

warmly and wildly,

Belinda White

Visit Apple Star Photo and Apple Star Learning on Facebook

forage photography

~ Celebrating Gifts ~

“You have no idea how hard I’ve looked for a gift to bring You. Nothing seemed right. What’s the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the ocean. Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient. It’s no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these. So I’ve brought you a mirror. Look at yourself and remember me.”
― Rumi

~ Magic ~

Celebrating Winter in style! So much fun….how I love this magic

When I asked Kat if she and her family would be into a celebratory play session at 8:20am as the sun rose behind the lake, she said, ‘Yes!!’ ~ Always up for some glorious costumed creativity and play. Why not celebrate this way?

Come visit me on Facebook and Instagram at @AppleStarPhhoto and book your session now! 15% Off Sale on Gift Certificates until Dec. 15th!

warmly and wildly,

Belinda White, Apple Star Photo

#celebratewinter#applestarphoto#troutlake#fallminis#miniphotosession#fallphotos#familyportraits#dawn#dawnsessions#troutlake#costume#costumeplay#winterportraits#holidayportraits#vancouverphotographer#candidfamily#vancouverphotography#miniphotoplaysessions

Why ‘Play’ sessions?

When it comes to gorgeous family portraits, there are two ways to go: formal posing or candid. I much prefer the second option. The trick is how to get everyone happy, smiling at the same time.

Play is the answer! I encourage the whole family to climb, jump, snuggle, kiss…this gets everyone feeling silly and warm, and helps the children relax, and those natural smiles and genuine closeness emerge.

“I just wanted to say that we thoroughly enjoyed our session with Belinda – she’s got a great way with kids and I loved her philosophy of capturing the truth, naturally. Highly recommend any family to work with her.”

“Ditto! Belinda was wonderful. Fun, warm, engaging and put our 2 year old at ease. Beautiful photos, I would highly recommend her “

“My family is so pleased with our photo shoot with Belinda White. She made us feel comfortable and at ease. Belinda’s relaxed but professional personality helped our family of five get beautiful photo’s that we can cherish for our lifetime.”

Available for Fall Mini Play Sessions as well as Full Lifestyle Family Sessions. Bring four friends, get 25% OFF your mini session!

I can’t wait to hear from you,

Belinda White, Apple Star Photo

#fallminiphotoplaysessions#fallportraits#applestarphoto#candidportraits#vancouverphotographers#kidfriendlyportaitsessions#fallminis#celebratefall#shiningfromtheinsi#celebratefall