30 Love Stories from 30 People

Megan Maundrell Photography – Victoria, BC Photographer – tells you all about her image project for all kinds of love. She photographed romantic love, family love, self love and love between friends.

You may have seen the 30 days of Love Photography project floating around, been a part of it or are wanting to be a part of the next one (which you totally should be!!). If you live under a rock 😉 and don’t know what the heckeroni I’’m talking about, I had 30 people share their love stories (self love, romantic love, family love, friendship love, etc.) and have a quick photoshoot to capture what that love looks like to them. The snow really through us for a loop in early 2019 and unfortunately as a result, I was unable to work with all of the amazing people I had hoped to. But none the less, here are the stories!

Elyssa and Coltyn:

“We met for the first time after talking on social media at Durrance lake. I didn’t think he thought much of me at first… he is way out of my league and I had assumed he wanted someone more stable; so up until his dog got hurt we didn’t speak after the lake. But we supported each other and one thing lead to another! Ever since we called it official we haven’t spent a single day apart! It’s been a lot of ups and downs since neither of us trusted relationships after our last ones, me being treated roughly and him being lied to, and it’s going to be a long journey even still. This isn’t the typical love story this is more we are best friends and love each other more than that. But we treat one another as one of the boys so we view one another as equals and that’s what counts most.

We both love food and sleep and he works on Cars or making fun of me whereas I enjoy reading, writing, or bugging him. And we also have discovered that I work with his cousin so we are actually really close with each others families as well as being a couple. He doesn’t like his photo taken because he doesn’t accept his body but I love him and I want him to feel beautiful because he is! I have been in front of the cameras a few times I just need to be told what to do:)

We argue like a married couple but we are also super in sync with each other and look forward to every new day because of it. We take care of each other and we both always say that we help each other out, no matter what. “What’s mine is yours.””

Elyssa LOVED her photos and overall experience saying “I would choose Megan over and over again for any occasion. It’s the best service you will ever get there is no awkwardness and you make a new friend!”

Bailey:

“I started a course this year. A HUGE TRANSFORMATIONAL program. I have now finished the 12 month program. I have learned to love me for me. I have gained confidence, love and empowerment. The best part is nothing has changed outside of me! and YET I live day to day more fulfilled and happy. Happiness is an inside job.”

Bailey uses some of her photos for her TWO businesses, being the awesome boss lady she is! She said “Thank you for the wonderful photos I will cherish for a lifetime! you created a warm inviting space. Can’t wait to work together again!” And guess what… we have already partnered up again!

Faryn and Nick:

“Nick and I met one intoxicated night at Lucky Bar, we never knew we would be so Lucky to find our perfect match that evening. Two and a half years later, our love continues to grow, and my smile gets bigger every day. He’s the perfect boyfriend and I’m so Lucky we found each other.”

This was my second time working with Faryn and Nick and it was SOOO amazing to get to catch up and see how their relationship has grown. Faryn says “Megan takes the time to truly capture the relationship that she is shooting, creating authentic and beautiful photos! She creates a warm and comfortable environment during the session! I love her work so much!”

Jessie and Ian:

“I met Ian when I was 17, we were introduced through a mutual friend and instantly became best friends. Fast forward through years of friendship, I invited him as my plus one to a friend’s wedding and something just clicked. Our friendship became more and we’ve been dating for just over four years now!! We recently got engaged in Tofino where he got on one knee overlooking the ocean. It was amazing and one of the best days of my life!”

Jessie and Ian were SO fun, trusting each prompt I gave them and giving it their all! This session really showed me that my heart was in couples sessions… thanks Ian and Jessie!

Jessie said “Could not have had a better engagement shoot experience. The shoot was incredibly comfortable and we had a blast taking photos!! The images themselves were better than we could have dreamed with a great variety!!! Absolutely will book again with Megan!”

Ashveen:

“I love myself, because I’ve always tried to be comfortable in my own skin. I don’t wear makeup at all because I love everything about me. It took such a long time to except myself, to love myself and to be happy with myself. I’ve never gone out of my way to have pictures taken of me cause I always hated them. Maybe this time, now that I love myself more, I’ll love the pictures.”

Ashveen was so brave and pushed herself out of her comfort zone to make this opportunity one to help her grow! I really look up to her attitude towards the experience and am confident that she will now be more comfortable with being present in photographs! Ashveen says “Megan is an old friend, so I knew she’d be awesome to work with. Her fun and outgoing personality helped me be as natural as possible in front of the camera.”

Shaylen and Logan:

“Logan and I met when we were quite young, only in grade 8. I developed a school-yard crush on him the day we met. We didn’t start dating until Grade 12 year, he had always been with someone else and I had been horribly shy up until that year. Our first date was for frozen yogurt. I decided to drive us and was so nervous that I nearly ran a stop sign! We laugh about it now, but I was sure I had scared him away with that near death experience for sure! It took him over a week to call me up again, but we started dating officially shortly after. Our first kiss was a simple peck. He walked me out to my car after a date and asked if it would be okay to kiss me. He’s always been a gentleman and a romantic. To ask me to prom he had me scale a cliff to get to a look-out that faced town. He had gotten permission to put Christmas lights on the roof of someone’s house that spelled out “Prom?” I was almost too scared to get to the look-out, but he was patient and supportive of me. The tiny bit of fear was well worth the surprise. We had both already chosen Universities by the time we had started dating, and neither of us were going to change schools. At that stage in our relationship it seemed silly to choose a school only because the other person was going to be there. We were worried that things didn’t work out we’d be stuck in a city we didn’t want to be in. So I went to UBCO and he to UVIC. The plan was to give long-distance a shot, and to visit each other as often as we could. Long-distance is one of the most challenging things we have ever had to over come together. We Skyped and called each other daily, but it was definitely a struggle at times to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We muddled through long-distance for four years, with all the ups and the downs. We had separated for a few months near the end, but got back together and put an end to long-distance for good. We got a place together in Vancouver while I finished my degree and he worked co-op jobs through the university, and then we both packed up and moved to Victoria when his program started back up this past fall. We’ve had five great years of adventuring, learning, and loving. He’s my best friend and I feel so lucky that I get to love him and build memories with him everyday.”

Shaylen and Logans session was SO FUN! I’m not sure if you remember the day when it first started snowing, but that was this day! We were all shivering and being blown around by the wind but these two braved the cold better than I did and their love is beautifully apparent in these photographs!

Shaylen says “From start to finish Megan made sure that our experience was an excellent one. We were both nervous about being in front of a camera, but her games and prompts made capturing our dream shots feel totally natural! We had so much fun with the shoot and loved all the images that came from it. I ended up buying more photos than I planned on, but I honestly fell in love with the photos she took and couldn’t let them go to waste. We will being booking with Megan again in the future!” I’m happy to say that I will have more images to share this summer of this cute couple and I can’t wait to catch up with them and see what adventures they have gotten into!

The Clark Family:

“Andrew and I met 8 years ago through university and church. He was so sweet and was such a great friend! I didn’t realize that he was asking me on a date when he first asked me out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant (my favorited type of food). Finally, when I told my mom that I was going out for dinner with him to a Mexican restaurant, she said “so it’s a date?” and then it hit me that we were indeed going on a date! It’s been history since then, I’m still totally in love with him 8 years later! We were married in Penticton 6 years ago at a beach near my parents house. We have 2 small boys now, one who is 3 and one who just turned 1!”

I have worked with Marlee a ton of times on different Bridal photoshoots; she’s the hairstylist behind Willow Hair! It was so fun to capture memories of her little family for her. Marlee said “I love all your work! Loved all of the candid shots!!”.

Kyleigh and Reinhardt:

“It’s funny, I never thought I’d have a love story to tell. I had given up on finding someone after being hurt so many times, then this amazing man who has lived around the corner from me my entire life, and who went to the same school our whole lives and only a year apart (he’s a year older), came into my life by chance and changed everything. We knew from the moment we met. He had been hurt a lot in his previous relationships, but somehow we were able to adventure together through this crazy thing we call life. It wasn’t till our 7th date that we were official, but the dates were like a fairytale. Moonlight walks, fair dates, our first kiss was on the top of an abandoned building underneath the moonlight staring at the water. It was surreal. We’ve been through so much together so far including surviving a car crash together. And we’re best friends.”

Kyleigh and Reinhardt really did have something special. They were one of the shortest relationships I photographed but it was so sincere. Even Kyleigh’s grandma can sense the amazing future that they have in store. It was SOOO freezing but they were absolute troopers, especially Reinhardt who had to be convinced to get in front of the camera but ended up having a blast.

Melissa and Desmond:

“Desmond and I met in 2013 on the dating site Plenty of Fish. We met in a coffee shop and knew each other were different than previous dating experiences. We became “official” in July that year when Desmond invited me to a camping trip with his friends, and we first said “I love you” in December. Desmond moved in with me in 2015 after we went on group trip to Thailand with my cousin and our friends, and then we got engaged on a trip to Scotland in 2017. We just recently bought our first home and will be moving in January 2019, and then in August we will be getting married. After typing out our timeline its feels like these past 6-ish years have been a whirlwind, and it is still hard for us to believe that if it had not for that dating site, we would never have known each other!”

After a treat inside the couple decided to make use of the unique experience of snow in Victoria!

Holly:

“It took me along time to figure out the meaning of “loving oneself”. We are all so good at punishing ourselves and negative comments in our head. I have grown to learn that loving myself means to admit when I need to take a break or need help, to change my negative talk into kind, supportive words, to choose what I eat carefully to support feeling god in this body and to selectively choose that I creative around myself with from friends to flowers.”

This was Holly and I’s second time working together, and it is always a pleasure! Her talent to work the camera with her creative flair is impeccable. Holly said “Megan was a pleasure to work with and has an eye for beauty. She works well with natural lighting. Her composition is very good, she takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary”

Celina and Phil:

“We met this summer when I was at a pride party after the parade, he came and picked me up and we drove down Dallas rd and walked around beacon hill. We immediately opened up to each other and had this strange connection. We were inseparable. 1 week later at beacon hill park again I knew I loved him. And he loved me. We didn’t say it at the time. He helped me through some of the hardest times and all the trials the summer brought. I finally gave him a person to be himself around. 1 more week of car karaoke and dancing in the kitchen later, we told each other we were in love. Ever since we have held each other when we cry and laugh at the stupidest jokes. He’s my best friend and the best thing in my life. Our fav things to do is art, photography, cuddling and watching movies.”

Celina and Phil made sloth mugs for one of their first dates and decided to bring them along for a photo which I thought was so unique! Celina has the BEST laugh, can you hear it through these images?

Celina said “Megan Maundrell is a phenomenal young photographer with enough passion for her craft to wrap around the earth a million times! Her fun and friendly attitude make you feel comfortable and excited to take some cool photos. She tailors everything to each client to provide the best experience and genuinely cares! She also has awesome hair!”

Hailey and Delainy:

“We were friends first. I loved him, and his child and his ex too actually. She moved on with someone else and so he and I decided to take things slow and see what happened. 6 years later we are married, his daughter is wonderful and his ex and I are still best friends. All one big happy family!”

This session was the shortest of all of them, it was so cold, and windy and our faces (and my lens) were pelted with wet snow, but the images we got look so peaceful and were SO worth it. Hailey and Delainy have amazing hearts and I’ve really enjoyed following their journey through social media since we shot together!

Chantel:

“I am a young college student who loves her life, her significant other and her family. I love my pets and the animals who come into my life ( I love horses!).”

Chantel and I only had a few minutes to shoot since her ride couldn’t stay long, thankfully we easily fell into a groove and were able to get over 30 photos for me to chose from to edit for her in 12ish minutes. We even did a quick outfit change!

Chantel said “I came across Megan’s portfolio/work on social media and wanted to be apart of that world. When I saw her “30 days of love” challenge I knew I had to be part of it! I am so glad I did! Financially it’s hard to afford nice photoshoots so this was a blessing! She was super positive and friendly and made me feel very comfortable during the shoot. I had a lot of fun with her!”

Anne, Isabel and Michelle:

These three have been friends since they were young and wanted to capture the strength of their friendship (and tell me all of their funny stories!).

Anne said “I enjoyed it probably more than any other time I’ve had my photo taken. I love having something that captured the three of us; I love the setting, I love what you were able to capture and that they’re natural looking”.

Alexa and Alejandra:

This one I think may be my favourite and here’s why:

Alexa chose to use her free photo session opportunity to capture the love and appreciation that she has for her mom. She chose not to get photos with her boyfriend, or of just herself, and I think that is so huge to acknowledge in today’s day and age. Here is their story!

“Growing up we were always close and she always made my hair into these cute little buns and just the growing up and going through puberty and dealing with mean girls and drama my mom was always there to help me thorough and made sure i knew that i was enough, i was perfect the way i was and that she loves me. i would love to get the chance to capture the mother daughter connection we have and always will have through an image.”

Alexa said “The photoshoot was actually really fun, you made it easy to get the special moments in the pictures. The photos are really good; they really show our connection with each other which is what we wanted.”

Emma and Trevor:

“We met when I worked at a coffee shop and he would come in regularly. Turns out we had mutual friends, so I introduced myself and the rest is history!”

These two brought amazing ideas to our session and it turns out that Trevor also has a passion for photography!

Emma said “Megan did a great job of posing us and making us feel comfortable!”

Paige and Natasha:

“My best friend and I are both models and have been wanting to work together for awhile. We grew up together in Squamish where our houses shared a yard and have known each other since birth. Our Mums were best friends before we were born. We never go more then a few days without seeing each other and I would consider the bond I have with her like no other. “

Paige and Natasha rocked our session! They loved ALL of the images!

Aidan and Jim:

“We met on New Years 2011, my friend threw this wild party, and introduced me to his brother Jim. He found me later that night after I’d isolated myself. We started talking and in my mind, he was the most perfect boy I could have ever fathomed; he was just so cool and well spoken, he knew all of my favourite music! I felt like I’d known him forever. I was instantly enamoured with him, and I truly have been ever since. We had an explosive few years, but in 2015 we finally got an apartment and started our life together. Jim proposed on July 22, 2017 with fireworks and champagne He’s always been my partner in crime, my best friend and my biggest supporter. Our love for each other is endless and our life is the rollercoaster we’ll never get off.”

This was my second time working with these two, I was so excited to see them again and catch up. They have the kindest hearts. This was another one of those super cold and windy short photoshoots, but having worked together before, it was no problem to get many amazing photos!

Aidan said “It was a bit chilly at our shoot but Megan brought a lot of positivity. The Photos were beautiful, better than we could imagine!”

Priya and Colton:

“My love story is basically a movie some would say. Colton (my boyfriend) and I met in grade 2 and have been best friends since. I fell head over heels for him in grade 7 and he friend zoned me- hah funny how things work. We then started high school together and I dated a few guys and he came to the realization I was meant to be with him. Love story short our graduation year, we became inseparable- went to prom together, did tough Mudder- we were those best friends who fell in love and still are to this day.”

These two were so much fun and Priya was up for anything in her heels which was impressive!

Kaitlyn and her dog Axel:

“My golden retriever Axel came into my life when I needed to be saved. I was stuck in a dark cycle, living in a dark world, drowning to try and find light. When I got Axel, he showed me what it was to love something else without feeling guilt. He showed me that no matter what or how I was living, I was worth being loved. Axel saved me at a time I was working to find myself and I have never loved an animal more!”

Tasha:

“I never was good at sports, excelled at many things or ever won a trophy, so when I placed at my first fitness competition I really felt I fit in some where. I had gone to the gym off and on since I was 15 but I didn’t really know what I was doing. It wasn’t until I hired my coach that I realized how to train and eat properly. I am so happy that I dedicated myself to that goal and how good it felt to have an achievement like that to remember. It’s nice to just take the time to reflect and be proud of yourself.”

Tasha had some really great ideas! I loved her eye for style and how it all played together to create an amazing shoot!

Tasha said “There was good communication through email, she was fast! The photoshoot was lots of fun, she made me feel comfortable and was easy going. The photo’s are awesome! I totally recommend Megan!”

Brittany and her Cat Jasper:

“I have one kitty named Jasper. Jasper is 9 and a half months old, and a very handsome Siberian. Jasper came into the care of my husband and I in July 2019, after we were on waitlist for 9 months. I love cats, but my husband is allergic to them, so I was absolutely thrilled to find Jasper, who is hypoallergenic. I am so over the moon in love with him, and he makes me so happy. I play hide and seek with him, and he loves to snuggle. He sits in our front window, and hes the first thing I see when I come home, which always makes me feel full of joy. I would love to have some pictures taken of Jasper, as he truly is my furbaby, and I think hes pretty photogenic too!”

Olive:

“My best love story I can offer is how I celebrate myself. I don’t get to do it often because of my schedule, but I love to do drag. Because despite the fact that I wear ten pounds of makeup, I feel more like me and more naturally beautiful like that than any other time. I’ve recently found the courage (and finally became old enough) to actually go out at night in my drag and I can’t think of anything that makes me feel more loved than that.”

This was my second time working with Olive, It was SO COOL to see her so confident and radiant at our photoshoot. I respect her courage and creativity so much.

Olive said “I’ve worked with her before, after being recommended by a friend, and it’s always a joy to work with someone who respects your vision, but can also help you shape yours if you’re not sure. Megan communicates very well, and also makes it easy to feel calm during, before, and after the shoot. Megan is a wonderful photographer and person to work with, and she’s amazing at helping the person being photographed feel comfortable and help their vision come to life.”

Janessa and Jesse:

“My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 8 years now and it has been one hell of a ride and we have gone through so much together! I’ve dreamed of and always wanted to get professional photos done to look back at one day, and smile and think of how in love we were and always will be!”

Janessa and Jesse came out to Tofino for their session and we started our session by eating tacos and drinking beer! It was cold out, but SO beautiful! We got an amazing sunset and ran up and down Chesterman beach.

Janessa said after receiving her photos “Where do I start? I teared up again looking at them in my car. I love the photos so much I can’t even explain. Thanks so much for doing this! I can’t wait to show everyone and even keep a couple just for myself. You made me feel so confident and beautiful in front of the lens! Thank you for everything you do and capturing every thing I wanted to remember in these photos. Will be forever grateful!”

Alicia and her dog Mabel:

“Mabel is 1.5 year old blue tick coonhound. Having a hound has always been a dream and my now husband and I wanted to add to our family so last January I found a breeder for coonhounds and was told he had 1 girl left so that weekend we took a VERY fast trip from Victoria to Grand Prairie Alberta (3 days) I couldn’t take time off work, and it was one of best decisions we’ve ever made let alone one of the biggest decisions we had made as a couple. So to say adding her to complete our family was perfect! She is the most energetic loveable cuddly large dog you’ve ever come across. She loves every person every dog she’s met and just wants to play. I could go on for hours and how and why having Mabel has made my family complete but I’ll spare you that haha. Without getting to personnel the decision to not have our own children has been made so Mabel literally is my child and like I said the best decisions in my life.”

Emma and Landas:

“It all started when I was bored one night scrolling through the all magical tinder. Neither of us were really looking for much; I was just seeing who was out there and Landas was just fresh out of a relationship. So as I’m scrolling I can’t decide if he’s cute or not- some pictures are, some aren’t. And his name is weird… what kind of name is Landas? Then his bio really caught me… it went off about how he’d been screwed over by his ex, so NOW I was intrigued. About a week goes by of talking and we arranged a date to meet. I was a little nervous and skeptical of this whole thing… I drove an hour to Langford to meet up. He took me to this beautiful beach to watch the sunset, we had some wine with blanket, it was all so beautiful. We ended up staying up until 3am just talking and laughing and having a good time. After our first kiss I knew it would be something special. (…) We’ve now been together a year and it’s gone by so fast with many laughs and memories. I’ve never been so happy. I’m excited to see where the future takes us!”

Emma and Landas’ shoot was early in the morning to catch the sunrise. It had be years since I’d last seen a sunrise and it was so stunning! We goofed off and probably woke up the neighbours, but I’d say it was sure worth it!

Emma raved about how much fun she had at our session!

Becca and Zander:

“My beautiful, amazing and fearless partner, Becca and I have been together for almost 5 years now and it still feels like just the beginning of an amazing adventure.”

I’ve worked with Becca and Zander multiple times now and cannot wait until the next time! They are the sweetest, singing and dancing with each other, laughing and TICKLING! Zander hates getting tickled (loves cookies though!) so of course I had to get Becca to tickle him HAHA! (I also brought cookies so hopefully he will forgive me!).

Zander said “Made a friend, had a blast, and ended with a handful of fantastic photos that are already on our wall! Megan is a wonderfully warm and welcoming human being who captured a lot of great work, from silly and goofy to calm and intimate, in a short amount of time. Megan has a very quick turn around from location to post and we were over joyed to see the final product!”

Natasha and her pup:

“3 1/2 years ago my husband decided to surprise me with a dog! It may sound like a bit of an extreme surprise but if you knew my husband, this is par for the course. It’s definitely a huge responsibility that can admittedly be a bit of a drag sometimes (walks in the pouring rain and freezing cold) but the fierce love he has for us will always make being soaking wet worth it.”

This doggo’s love for his ball was like no other LOL!