the canlas fam

when one of your mentor’s/someone you admired way before you even picked up a camera/world renowned film shooter/all around nice and beloved guy says,

“your hired to do our family photos.”

you freak out a little . a lottle actually.

but then you play it cool. play it down. no big deal. taint no thing. until you remember.

he has SIX kids.

then you start to sweat in earnest. you email his charming wife, digging for inside info on how to charm the littles–you can’t think of a location that fits the family in a meaningful way–so you put it off—-until

your mentor saves you one last time. and comes up with a plan that is so “them” in a way you didn’t even realize, that you never could have come up with it yourself. everything you see below? within a mile radius of the canlas home. my fav? the family shot in the back of the HUGE family canlas van. my secret victory? getting callie canlas to let me shoot her in a way that shows her how pretty she is. can i say that without sounding like a huge jerk and as though i’m giving myself too much credit? probably not.

oh and the secret to these six amazing children?

……wait for it…..

the old standby

 

…….candy……

lots and LOTS of candy.

thank you so much jon and callie. you don’t know how much it means to have had this chance to capture your rad family.

June 18, 2012 - 10:13 am

Elaine - Yan, you seriously brought your A-game. What a way to capture the truth of this family. So much love. You did good.

June 18, 2012 - 10:13 am

Daniele (Lavender & Twine) - These are uh-maz-ing! I’m sure he is beyond thrilled. Oh, and can you please call me next time you’re in LA? I need some shots of my little fam :)

June 18, 2012 - 10:13 am

Virgil Bunao - LOVE. awesome job Diana. i’d hire you in a heartbeat!

June 18, 2012 - 10:14 am

Meredith S - Ok, I am sooo commenting on this. Beautiful shots. Seriously Yan, you win! haha. As if this was a game. But no, you rock so much. I bet the Canlas family LOVES these pictures. They are just beautiful and perfect. xo

June 18, 2012 - 10:17 am

Kirsten - No pressure shooting this family! Luckily, you rocked it. Every frame is perfect, I love them all. What a lovely, happy bunch they are. I had the pleasure of being in front of Jonathan’s camera at the end of May, and he is the sweetest man.

June 18, 2012 - 10:18 am

Juliann Newton - You know you’re good when you can make a totally non related person tear up at another person’s family photos! Congrats at your being awesome!

June 18, 2012 - 10:19 am

aileen - so awesome. captured perfectly. kudos.

June 18, 2012 - 10:20 am

posy - Lady, you’ve done it again! The nervousness must have served you well, these ate freaking awesome. And clearly so authentic to the Canlas clan.

June 18, 2012 - 10:20 am

posy - Are, meant are awesome…

June 18, 2012 - 10:20 am

Julianna - These are really , really great !

June 18, 2012 - 10:21 am

Allison - Yan, you did an amazing job! I know how stressful it can be to shoot the canlas fam ;) you were able to capture so much life and fun moments! good work :)

June 18, 2012 - 10:28 am

kristin - these are absolute perfection in every way! great work.

June 18, 2012 - 10:35 am

Peter Mercado - great job yan! you made shooting six kids and jon/callie look like a walk in the park. love the BW’s. :)

June 18, 2012 - 10:40 am

melissa zihlman - love these. really, really love these. totally a family I want to hang out with…the love is everywhere.

June 18, 2012 - 10:41 am

jen downer - so i’ve looked through this post about 6 times now, and i’m really in love with this session! i’m amazed by the way you rocked a family of EIGHT so freaking beautifully! well done times infinity!

June 18, 2012 - 10:51 am

sarah danaher - I adore these.

June 18, 2012 - 10:52 am

Laura - Can I just say how awesome you are! You are awesome. There.

June 18, 2012 - 11:14 am

Tim - Great stuff, Yan! As ALWAYS! I love the bike gang theme and then the field pictures! Love ‘em!

June 18, 2012 - 11:29 am

Alyssa - I freaking love these… my favorite has to be babies hand being devoured by Jon. So cute.

June 18, 2012 - 11:37 am

John Fong - top notch photos Yan!

June 18, 2012 - 11:38 am

Ayca - Seriously, ah-may-zing! Great job!

June 18, 2012 - 11:40 am

ann gordon - yan, the images evoke so much love. beautiful. nuff said.

June 18, 2012 - 11:46 am

Amy f - I literally got teary eyed looking at least. Gorgeous! Now I’m even more upset I’ll be out of town when you come to Chicago.

June 18, 2012 - 11:48 am

Jamie - Un. FREAKING. REAL! YANNNNNN!!!

June 18, 2012 - 11:52 am

Karen Hibler - Every single photo is perfect!!! How are they going to choose which to hang in their home? I hope they have a LOTS of wall space! Beautiful, beautiful work!!!

June 18, 2012 - 11:54 am

Colibriphoto - You did a magnificent job. Again. Amazing. Love you.

June 18, 2012 - 12:08 pm

K’trine - Magnifique ça respire le bonheur !!!

June 18, 2012 - 12:09 pm

Ken Bruggeman - Yan this shoot blows my mind. Such amazing work. Creative, fun, and true. Amazing work on composition, and capturing their personality and love for each other as a family. Well done.

June 18, 2012 - 12:15 pm

inna - ah, such a great session!!

June 18, 2012 - 12:21 pm

mike - Ridiculously cute : D

June 18, 2012 - 12:37 pm

jax - Yan, you killed it. Like, I’m not even related to them but would totally hang these pictures in my house kind of killed it. Good work!

June 18, 2012 - 12:42 pm

talia - i sure love these captured moments-esp the one on the hill all holding hands. so sweet!

June 18, 2012 - 1:30 pm

Mia Bjerring - These are so beautiful! You did amazing and you never even had to be nervous because you always do amazing!

June 18, 2012 - 1:56 pm

krisitin m. young - you rock. period. end of story. (and so do the canlas’…)

June 18, 2012 - 2:01 pm

Carrie - SO fantastic, Yan! You absolutely nailed it. Beautiful work.

June 18, 2012 - 3:09 pm

Stephanie Mballo - What a beautiful family. Your work is so beautiful and so inspiring. The next time you come to Boise, I hope it works out to book a session with you :)

June 18, 2012 - 3:44 pm

Kali - KILLED IT!!!!!!!!! KILLED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been looking forward to seeing these ever since you grammed one from the shoot. I didn’t think I could adore you and your work any more, but this session did just that.

June 18, 2012 - 4:12 pm

Amanda - SO AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL. You are the best.

June 18, 2012 - 4:29 pm

Mickisha - Beautiful Beautiful Stuff! Perfectly captures all the love!

June 18, 2012 - 4:36 pm

Michelle - So great Yan! Such a beautiful family Jon has and these are REAL. Love them. :)

June 18, 2012 - 4:44 pm

Kati Decker - I was giggling the entire time I scrolled through!!! I love this! You did such an amazing job capturing the love and craziness!

June 18, 2012 - 4:57 pm

Sharon - Beautiful

June 18, 2012 - 5:14 pm

amypunky photography - i look at this family session and it makes me cry… because this is so beautiful and i wish someday someone can capture my family like you have captured jonathan’s family.

June 18, 2012 - 6:13 pm

jaime lackey - wow yan. i told you. i told you they would come. and boy when they come they come big time! not really sure how religious you are but all i know is that i prayed for this. i prayed for the REAL post you did would weed out the weird and bring in the deserving. and did it ever. so happy for you and your film world. enjoy all that this will bring you!

June 18, 2012 - 6:55 pm

Toni Raper - Phenomenal!!! You are truly in full bloom!

June 18, 2012 - 7:29 pm

Kelsey - love love love these!!

June 18, 2012 - 7:32 pm

emma jay - beautifully candid, happiness, emotion, love, laughter . . . you’ve shown it throughout these images. I laughed, smiled and was moved by the emotion of it all. your images have done what a good photo should do. it’s also nice to see Jonathan on the ‘other side’ of the lens :-]

June 18, 2012 - 7:41 pm

Shannon Renee - OH MY I JUST ADORE! These are just perfect Yan AMAZING!

June 18, 2012 - 8:57 pm

Sharon Canlas - Jon is my son and I live with them. I totally love every picture. You did a superb job and brought out what the Canlas family is all about. They are a fun family with lots of laughter all the time. You should be very proud of your work.

June 18, 2012 - 11:21 pm

jonathan canlas - seriously, you captured our family the way it is. no gimmicks, no props, this is us. we are the canlas bike gang of lehi. and i LOVE that it is all taken within a mile of our home. and i’m glad i said “please can we do one set up shot of us in the van?”. passenger van, we drive a freaking passenger van. yan, diana, ddkymp, thank you. these will truly become heirlooms. and for that, we are indebted to you.

June 18, 2012 - 11:52 pm

darryl. - good job yan. way to step up. keep up the good work!

June 19, 2012 - 1:36 am

jessica kettle - seriously girl, you nailed it. i can’t imagine how much pressure this was! and seriously they’re absolutely perfect. congrats.

June 19, 2012 - 7:00 am

Xanthe Berkeley - Truly wonderful, these are amazing. One day I hope you find yourself in London, coz I’d love you to *see* my family xxxx

June 19, 2012 - 12:57 pm

kati - love ‘em, yan!

June 19, 2012 - 4:36 pm

Liv - What a fun and loving family! Love the pictures. I feel like I can hear what they sound like in those.

June 20, 2012 - 4:38 am

Amanda - perfection in every way!

June 20, 2012 - 10:13 am

ellen patton - Amazing photos!!

June 20, 2012 - 2:30 pm

Dainon - I love this family & this session. You captured them beautifully. Really. You even got papa bear without pulling a face on occasion! Ha. Nice work.

June 25, 2012 - 12:12 am

Rachel Thurston - Yan strikes again!!!! What amazing treasures you created for them. Hit.it.out.of.the.park! xxoo.

June 26, 2012 - 10:46 am

Noelle Williams - Blown away. Such a range of beauty. Sweet, soft, fun, funny, silent, loud, still, movement, stunning, epic, perfect.

June 28, 2012 - 12:20 am

Janelle Morcombe - Wow. I am looking at your blog for the first time, and am COMPLETELY blown away by this session. So real, so natural, and so, so so beautifully photographed. Such a lovely family!

June 28, 2012 - 9:00 pm

deb schwedhelm - each one of your sessions blows my mind in the best way possible. hoping you come to tampa next year.

xoxo
deb

July 10, 2012 - 12:48 am

Britta Singer - Love these! You did such a great job!

July 11, 2012 - 3:48 pm

Alexander Leaman - Was photographed with my family by J.C recently, and had a great time. It was the most natural and in some ways emotional experience and it’s just great to see him and his family caught in the middle of being real, honest, and as down to earth as I’d expect. You’ve done an outstanding job here – real storytelling – a powerful document of the Canlas lot. I bet they love them!

July 22, 2012 - 2:09 am

Sharon Canlas - The more I look at my son’s family pictures the more in love I am with the way you caught the vision of what the Canlas family is all about. I love the work that you did and I know they do too! Thank you for doing such a wonderful job. The pictures are so precious and I too love the one with them in the van and I especially love the one with Ruby,Lulu and Ila standing in front of Jon and Callie. Ruby has pursed her lips out and made that photo. Love, Love, Love it! The one with Jon and Isaac in the grass laughing together, Lulu just looking like the beauty that she is, Ila doing hand stands, Kalani smiling, and Weston laughing and looking so much like his Lolo in that picture. Those precious moments of catching Callie in a very special way, and the two of them lying in the grass. I am so in love with them all.

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