I have mentioned it before, I would rather have a couple hire another photographer and adore their images then hire me and be so so about the results. I have come to realize how important the imagery from a couples wedding really is, not because I am a wedding photographer, but because I made the mistake of skimping on my wedding photographer.

I married my wife in a very small ceremony at Niagara On the Lake with only my wife’s parents, her sister, and my mom in attendance. I have no regrets on the size of our wedding or the location, but if I could go back in time and change one thing, that one thing would be the wedding photographer we choose. Now I am not saying that our wedding photographer was bad or anything, but we purchased one of those $275 one hour packages where at the end the photographer quickly printed off all the images and handed over the negatives and the 4×6 prints.

That was 7 years ago and looking back we are still kicking ourselves. What makes things worse is the fact that I am constantly looking at amazing work from other photographers and it really drives this fact home…what we could have had.

I never want one of my couples to have the same experience…NEVER! This is the reason why it is so important for couples to look around and see what’s out there. They need to look at a lot of work from numerous photographers to make sure they are choosing the right photographer, a photographer who’s style fits their needs and taste. To help out with this, I thought I would post some of my favorite photographers in the London market.

“What?! Are you NUTS! Why would you link to your competition?”

Well that’s simple, I don’t see other photographers as my competition, I see them as colleagues. I am not afraid to introduce you to them because in the end, I want you to hire me because my style is the one you love, not because my prices are lower. So without further ado, may I introduce…

Eric Rockburn

I met Eric and spoke with him briefly at this years Bridal Expo and right off the bat I loved his style. Being a schooled graphic designer as well as a great photographer, his creativity showed in everything he did from his logo, albums and his images.

Joey Kittmer

Like Eric, I met Joey at this years Bridal Expo. I was walking by his booth and the very first thing that caught my eye was this amazing print of a couple standing out front of a castle. Joey has a great combo of conservative images with an edgy processing style that just blends very well.

And last but no where near least…

Heather MacEachern of HRM Photography

Heather is the photographer I would have hired for my wedding if time travel were possible. I have been a fan of her work for a while now. I bugged Heather on Facebook (she is a very busy lady) and finally was able to meet her face to face a few weeks ago. Not only does she have a very refreshing and relaxed style that I love, but she has the personality to match. I would say she is the kind of photographer I am working to be, but unfortunately that prize goes to Ben Chrisman.

These are just three talented shooter from the London area, but there are so many more. When I first started in wedding photography I was really surprised at the amount of great wedding photographers in this area. To add to the pot, many a time I have seen photographers from Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo and Windsor dropping by to dip into the London market. Really, it is an honor to be among such talent and if nothing else, it will drive me to improve my own work. Nothing kills ambition like being in a stagnate market (just look at the cell phone companies), you need to be surrounded by creativity to give you that push to grow.

This time of year is slow for shooting, weddings don’t generally start till April and right after the holidays portraits are not a big thing on the to-do list since either people had portraits done for the holidays or they are still reeling from the credit card bills. Whatever the reason, this is a good time to dig through the pictures I have already taken and have another look at them, bringing them out in the fresh air to breath so to speak.

Last summer Tara, the wife of my long time friend Rob asked me to do a small family session. I guess she wanted something other then the portrait studio look and she knew I liked shooting on location. They were heading to a wedding the day of the shoot, so they all were done up in their best and looked great. We started out thinking of hitting up a local park to get some “picnic” like shots, but mother nature had a different plan for us and decided to bring in the showers to rain on our parade.

The day before I was driving around in the country and had noticed a field of freshly harvested hay, luckily I had remembered the location because we used it when the rain started in the park. We all jumped in the car and headed to the field I found the day before with our fingers crossed that we would make it there before the rain did.

When we got to the hay field, I could not have asked for a more dramatic scene. The dark clouds were coming in from the east, and the sun was coming in from the west which created amazing light and contrast. I really like the mixed setting of the storm coming in behind the family looking like they were… well heading to a wedding, having a little play time in the middle of a harvested hay field. All in all I was pleased with what I thought was going to be a washed out family session and I hope you enjoy the no so new picture.

We all know them and we all hate them, the dreaded school photo. You put on your best clothes, you prayed to god that you won’t get a zit, maybe you even practiced you smile in the mirror before heading off to school. We all remember standing in line outside the school gym waiting for our turn to sit in front of the camera and try not to look like a noob, but it never worked, no matter how we tried. Did anyone ever get a school picture that they liked?

Your parents always loved them, they would buy that package of a 8×10, some 5×7’s and a bunch of wallet prints. The worst thing about the whole process is that you knew that 8×10 was going up on the wall to remind you just how geeky you really looked last year, the year before that, the year before that…A never ending line of looking your worst.

Really, if you sit back and think about it, there is no way around it, you just can NOT get a good picture out of that assembly line mug shot manufacturing plant we call school photo day. How is a persons suppose to relax when they are herded into a large room like cattle, then get sat down in front of a stranger with a camera and expect to pull off a natural smile in the whole five seconds you do get in front of the lens?

Well our southern neighbors have figured it out and they call it Senior portraits. Sure they still have class pictures, but parents in the US of A have decided not to limit themselves to that above mentioned assembly line way of portraits, they will go out and hire a photographer to get some good pictures of little Jimmy and/or little Suzy. Better yet, they can then take those pictures and submit them to the school to be put in the yearbook. Just image that, opening your high school year book and actually liking the picture you see!

Any ways, enough with the day dreaming. You may not be able to get a flattering image of your teens into the yearbook, but you can still get some pictures that will not embarrass your kids when you hang then on the wall.

Teen Vanity, that is what it is called up here in the Great White North. The biggest difference between Senior Portraits, or Teen Vanity as I will refer to them and your regular every day portrait is that it involves location sessions. Instead of a stuffy studio, like you would find at your local Sears, the photographer goes on location with the teen to a park, downtown, in an underground parking lot, wherever. The session can take upwards of 1-2 hours all with the goal to get a relaxed, natural looking portrait of the your teen, since you don’t have the clock ticking in the background and there is more interaction between the photographer and the teen, it produces a friendlier atmosphere…much better then “Next!”

All this is what attracts me to the whole Teen Vanity scene. Like I have mentioned, I do have an interest in fashion and editorial photography. I use to love the whole process of planning a shoot, going through make-up with the model and then creating some amazing shots. All of this and more is why I have decided to throw my hat into the teen portrait ring, but first I really need to show what I offer. That is why I am now offering a limited number or Teen vanity sessions for free.

If you are interested, the process will be fairly simple. Just contact me and supply a recent picture of yourself (if you are the teen in question) or your teen and I will be in contact. A model release will be needed so I can legally use them for my marketing of this service. In return you get a number of images on a DVD full sized, fully edited and ready for print. If you would prefer me do the printing for you, prints can be purchased at my regular a la carte rates.

So if you are a teen that is in desperate need of a portrait you are not ashamed to have your parents hang on the wall, or if you are a parent that is sick of those school pictures, drop me a line and we can talk about making some unique picture that everyone will be happy to show off.

About the image: I want to thank Ashley for donating this image of her graduation to the cause of eliminating bad school portraits. Luckily I was one of the rare people that had the chance to destroy all his school pictures, ensuring that they would not be around to offend anyone’s eye balls. But, because of this, I didn’t have any school portraits of my own to prove my point. I put a call out for a school picture, and Ashley was kind enough to email me hers… Thanks again Ash!

A while back I was wandering the forums of one of the many sites for wedding photographer and happened to stumbled across a proposal shoot done by a very talented photographer. I was absolutely blown away with the emotion that was captured. From that point on I have been on a quest to shoot one of these myself.

If you think about it, the wedding day is full of tears, but I really don’t think it comes close to the emotion that is displayed after that ring makes it’s very first appearance. Better yet, there are the mixed emotions playing across the face of the would be groom as the given time gets closer and closer. Will she yes? Will she say no? Ladies you may think that you are making it obvious and you may have been together for years and years, but the possibility that you will say no is still there, that wee little chance is enough to make us guys very nervous.

I remember when I proposed to my wife Carrie, right in the middle of the frozen foods section of our local grocery store…I know, I’m a huge romantic! But the point is, I was extremely nervous and if I had thought of hiring a photographer before hand, that guy or gal would have gotten some pretty great shots of my face alone!

One of the biggest problems with hoping to get hired to cover a proposal is that it’s up the guy to hire you. I’m all for being PC and I know the wedding day is as much about the Groom as it is about the Bride, but lets face it, us guys figure that the only thing we have to do is buy the ring and ask the question, that’s about as far as we plan. So that leaves the ball in the hands of all the female readers out there. All you sisters, mothers and friends need to push your would be groom into taking things just a little further and hire me (or another talented photographer) to hide in the bushes or at the other table across the room so I’m ready to capture that moment when she opens up that little box and screams the words “OH MY GOD!!! YESSSS!”

So if you know someone about to pop the big question, or you happen to be shopping for a ring as you read this, just think how great it would be to not only have this great event frozen in time, but also have one less thing to cross off your list when you are planning your wedding day…What? I would hope you would hire me for the wedding as well!

About the image:

The excited couple you see in the above image is Brad and Lori Lynn. Lori has posed for me a couple of times back when I was building a fashion/life style portfolio. If you head over to my Flickr stream and check out the modeling set you will get to see more great images of the lovely Lori Lynn. This image was from my very first shoot with Lori and Brad tagged along to help us out. Ok, actually Brad was play the protective boyfriend, but as he soon learned there was nothing to be afraid of with little ol’ me and we got along great! At the end of the shot I did a couples shoot for Lori and Brad, turned out great!

On September 13th of 08′ I covered a wedding that proved once and for all that you don’t have to have a huge wedding with 100′s of people to make it count. A total of 25 people (all family) attending in the amazingly beautiful Wesley-Knox United church in Wortley Village near downtown London, it was an emotion filled event that I won’t forget.

At the reception Lesley and John proved how industrious they could be by having a tent set up in the back yard of a family members house and decorating it all by themselves. It was the best DIY setup I have ever seen, they sure do have an eye for decorating!

Lesley and John were a lot like most people, "I don’t like having my picture taken!", but once they warmed up to my lens they helped produce what I consider to be some of my best work, I hope you agree.

Now we can all see how cute a couple John and Lesley make, they are going to have some good looking children for sure (children I hope to photography Lesley…hint, hint), but they are beat by Johns parents as the cutest of the cute couples at this wedding!

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed these images as much as I did capturing them. Till next time…Oh yeah, have you hit that subscribe link yet?  

“I will pick up this hook.
You will see something new.
Two things. And I call them
Thing One and Thing Two.
These Things will not bite you.
they want to have fun.”
Then, out of the box
Came Thing Two and Thing One!
And they ran to us fast.
They said, “How do you do?
Would you like to shake hands
With Thing One and Thing Two?”

From The Cat in the Hat By Dr. Seuss
© 1957 by Dr. Seuss. Copyright renewed 1985 by Theodor S. Geisel and Audrey S. Geisel

Oh yes, The Cat in the Hat, my 4 year old son’s favorite book…Well the book he picks the most for me to read to him before bed. Actually the whole thing is just a stall tactic so he can stay up later, but it’s still a chance for me to read to him.

That quote from The Cat in the Hat also reminds me so much of my sons, so I thought it would be the perfect prelude to introductions of my little guys, Thing One and Thing Two!

Thing One, A.K.A. Logan

Now, don’t let that innocent face fool you, this little devil is just coming into his own with his ability to getting into trouble. At this time he is in his “I don’t wanna wear clothes no more” phase and his pretending to be (insert evil Spiderman villain here) phase. He runs and crawls around yelling “Where is SPIDERMAN!” and pretending to kill everyone, real fun late at night!

It wouldn’t be so bad, but Logan also has the magic bullet that always takes daddy down whenever he wants something, the “Pleeeeease” with the sad little face, I just can’t say no to that. Luckily mommy can!

If you were to head on over to my Flickr stream you will see a few more images of Logan and you may think that he was a little poser that just loves having his picture taken. Well let me tell you, it’s a fight and a half to get this little bugger to sit still. Every half decent picture I have of him is a picture paid for in tears, screams and whines! Case in point

Thing Two, A.K.A. Nathan

Nathan is the baby of the family as well as a HUGE Momma’s Boy. He has been a scare, a joy and a headache even before he was born. When my wife was giving birth, Nathan gave us a big scare, his heart stopped and they had to rush my wife into surgery for a C-section. I was not allowed in the room so I was just FREAKING out! But, when the nurse came out with a little bundle of blankets and handed me my son and I looked into those big dark eyes…Well you know.

As you can see, Nathan takes after his brother. You have to be quick with the focus to get a good picture, if you don’t get it right the first time he doesn’t give you a chance at a second.

I always said that I wanted to hook a stationary bike up to a generator and have Logan power my house seeing that he has so much energy. Nathan has him beat hands down, this kids pretty much vibrates with all the energy he has bottled up inside.

Well that is the kids, they may be little brats, but they are my little brats and I love them. I will work on Nathan and hopefull I’ll be able to get more great shots of him all the while filling my Flickr account up with grab shots of Logan.

I was going to include my wife Carrie in this little introduction, but I think I’m gonna save her for the summer time. As it turns out, she still fits into her wedding dress (after 7 years and two kids, yeah I’m one lucky guy!) so we will be doing a Trash the Dress this summer…I can’t wait! I’ll make sure the to get those pictures processed and up here as soon as we do that.

In the mean time, keep an eye out for a little wedding I did last September as well as more personal work I have planned. Till then,

Have a good one!

When I first decided to go full time with the camera, I wanted to be a big time advertising or fashion photographer (yeah I’m laughing now as well). I did the rounds of TFP/TFCD shoots with local models to build up a portfolio all in the hopes of getting a chance at something in one of those fields, but once I started covering weddings I fell in love. Maybe it’s the fact that I have always been in the service industry the whole of my working career, but from working a car wash when I was 14 years old to doing deliveries, I have always adored making people happy. So wedding photography just clicks with me, there is nothing better then showing up at a couples home after thier big day and seeing the tears and joy in their eyes as they go through their pictures. I still think to myself “Man! My job is actually making people this happy!”. This may sound incredibly cheesy or corny, but it really is how I feel about wedding photography. In fact, I would rather my couples go with another photographer if it means they get the pictures that will make them cry.

With that little bit of information, I hope you will understand where I am coming from when I tell you this little story; A few months back I had an ad running on an internet classifieds site announcing my services as a second shooter. I figured it would be a service that may bring in some extra money and a way to shoot more weddings without the extra work of meetings, phone calls, emails, processing and so forth. I didn’t want the “make extra money” interfere with any weddings I was personally doing.

After a few days I received an email from a wedding photography/video/DJ service that was moving to town. I gave them prices and I have to tell you I was completely blown away with what their response!

…….I would not be interested in offering anything more than $10/hr
shooting as I can train a university student to be a 2nd shooter and
have them work for less. I can train that same university student
(with under 2 years experience) to become a strong, creative MAIN
shooter in under 12 hours. And still pay them less than $20/hr… I
value your own gear, that’s the only reason I would be in a position
to give you more – but not as a 2nd shooter.

What does this email say to you? It says to me that this operation doesn’t respect their clients and only sees them as another wedding to shoot. The disturbing fact is that their are a number of wedding studios that do just this.

I am not saying that if you hire Jack Smith photography that you should get Jack Smith himself doing the photography. There are a number of studio that use associate photographers, but they are nothing like the studio who sent me the above email. They use experienced wedding photographers and 9 times out of 10 you get to see their portfolio and meet with them before you sign anything, all of this means you know who you are getting and that they actually do good work. You also get to see what kind of person they are and if you will work well with them, this is very important!

What it all comes down to is do you really know what you are getting? Do you know that the person who is going to be at you wedding, tailing you for 8 plus hour really cares if they produce images that will bring tears to your eyes?

There is a ton of advice on how to pick the ideal wedding photographer, just Google “Choosing a wedding photographer” and you will get hours of reading material. Myself, I have always like the advice given by Jillian Kay over at Photo Lovecat about the 5 P’s. The article was written for wedding photographers, but any couple would do good to read it as well.

I have always said that years after your wedding, your flowers will be dead, you dress will be in some storage closet (unless you went for a Trash the Dress session) and your cake will be long gone, but your photos will still be there. The pictures will be the one thing that you will pull out to show your children, your grand children to show what you looked like the day you and your sweetheart tied the knot. That is something that is far to important to trust to some studio that is only going to be sending a university student with a few hours of training!