A Sunset Maternity Session at Balmy Beach + RC Harris | Toronto Maternity Photographer

There is something especially meaningful about photographing the season just before a family changes forever.

For these two first-time parents, we spent a warm summer evening in Toronto documenting the anticipation, tenderness, and excitement of waiting to meet their baby. We started at Balmy Beach in the Beaches, wandering along the shoreline as the evening light softened over Lake Ontario, before making our way to the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant as the sun began to set.

Shona and Sam were exactly the kind of couple I love photographing: warm, down-to-earth, affectionate, and completely themselves. There was no need for anything overly posed or elaborate. The session was about the two of them, their connection, and this brief moment in their lives when their baby was already so deeply loved but not quite here yet.

A Queer Maternity Session in Toronto

As a queer photographer, it matters to me that LGBTQ+ couples and families see themselves represented in maternity and family photography.

Pregnancy photography has historically been presented through a pretty narrow lens. But there is no single way that becoming a family looks, and maternity photographs don't need to follow a traditional script to be beautiful or meaningful.

For this session, I wanted the photographs to feel like them: relaxed, intimate, playful, and full of warmth. We photographed the quiet moments alongside the joyful ones—the hands resting on a growing belly, laughing together by the water, holding one another, and soaking in one of their last summer sunsets before becoming parents.

Maternity Photos at Balmy Beach

Balmy Beach is one of my favourite places for maternity and couples photography in Toronto because it offers so much without feeling overly complicated. The beach, lake, trees, rocks, and open sky create a natural backdrop that changes completely depending on the season and the light.

At sunset, everything becomes softer.

For this session, the muted colours of the lake and sky worked beautifully with their simple, neutral clothing and kept the focus where I wanted it: on their expressions, movement, touch, and connection.

Sunset at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant

From Balmy Beach, we headed over to the nearby R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, one of Toronto's most distinctive architectural locations.

The combination of its dramatic stone architecture, open spaces, greenery, and views toward Lake Ontario makes it a beautiful contrast to the more organic feel of the beach. Photographing both locations during the same maternity session gave us a gallery with two different atmospheres while still feeling cohesive.

As the sun dropped lower, we followed the light rather than trying to manufacture moments. That is generally how I approach sessions: I'll offer direction when it's helpful, but I'm much more interested in creating space for people to interact naturally than putting couples into a series of rigid poses.

The result is photographs that feel less like having your picture taken and more like a record of what it felt like to be together at that particular point in your lives.

Documenting the Beginning of a Family

Maternity sessions aren't only about documenting pregnancy. They're also about documenting the relationship that existed immediately before parenthood changed it.

There is something incredibly tender about that in-between stage: you're already someone's parents, but you haven't met them yet.

For first-time parents especially, there will never be another period quite like it.

This session was such a beautiful reminder that maternity photography can be simple. You don't need elaborate gowns, props, or a perfectly choreographed shoot. Sometimes all you need is the person you love, a growing belly, a Toronto summer evening, and enough time to watch the sun go down together.

And that is more than enough.

Planning a maternity session in Toronto? I photograph queer and LGBTQ+ couples and families throughout Toronto and the GTA, with a documentary-inspired approach centred on connection, intimacy, and photographs that actually feel like you. Sessions can take place at home or outdoors at locations like Balmy Beach, the Beaches, and the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant. Reach out to me here.