Toronto is my kinda town, not the traffic mind you, but the atmosphere. I didn’t really know these till I met with Aleen and Luke in the Distillery District of Toronto to shoot their engagement session. There are just so many little nooks and crannies to shoot that I was almost over loaded with input.

The weather wasn’t the best, but with a couple like these two and a play ground like downtown Toronto it’s hard not to get great pictures. Driving home I kept spotting other little spots and back drops, I wish I had a few more hours with Luke and Aleen.

I couldn’t ask for better clients (I really do have the best), I’m on pins and needles waiting to work with Aleen and Luke again, I can already see the smiles, tears and how absolutely gorgeous Aleen is going to look on her wedding day!

Real quick….Cans for Comments is going amazingly well and I want to thank everyone for showing the love and helping out by leaving their kind words. It is only day 4 and at last count we are looking at 18 comments…Don’t forget to check out the Cans for Comments post and help out all the other great shooters taking part in C4C

I have actually teased you a few time with pictures of Kaily and TJ. First it was with some fun iPhone shots and then with their Instax Sneak Peek. This time it’s for real people!

I was REALLY looking forward to shooting with Kaily and TJ. Like I have mentioned before, I work with Kaily’s dad at the dreaded day job and TJ use to work their as well. These two are a classic couple, both extremely cool and with a real style all their own. Have you ever meet one of those couples that just seem like they have been together for like 50 years and are still in total love? Well that’s TJ and Kaily. Watching them during the shoot as well as at a few of Kaily’s old man’s parties, I have seen the love in their eyes. The way Kaily gives TJ the “LOOK” when he does something especially goofy…..or the “What did I do?” expression TJ gets after seeing that “LOOK”. They are a great couple, I had a killer time with them on this shoot and I’m super psyched about their wedding day.

I like to believe when I first met Katie and Deryk, we just clicked…..I would say that they would agree seeing that they signed me on the spot! Katie completely won me over when she announced that besides the wedding dress the photography was number 2 on her list of priorities at the wedding. I would have liked being number one, but hey, EVERYTHING comes second to the dress!

A few Sundays ago I got together with Katie and Deryk to take a little tour around the country side. Katie had all the locations lined up and to tell you the truth, I couldn’t have picked better locations myself. It would also appear that my luck with weather also extends to peoples health. Katie emailed me about a week before our session saying that they may have to reschedule because she was fighting a nasty bug. I really don’t know if it was my luck or if Katie is just that tough, but come our shoot date Katie was good to go. Either way, were cranked out some great shots in my opinion and with Katie and Deryk’s wedding in June, it’s looking like 2010 is going to be an amazing year!

I’d really like to know what goes through my head sometimes. For some reason i always find myself sitting at the computer till 3 in the morning doing up a post. I had every intention of just editing and going to bed like any other sane, rational person would if they had to wake at 5:30 am.

This time though, I do have an excuse…

Last month I headed out to Grand Bend to photograph Chantal and Josh’s engagement session. I was really looking forward to working with these guys, they are such a laid back, super cool couple.

We did a little tour around the Grand Bend area hitting the beach, a farmers field, the local drive-in and ending the trip at Chantal’s parents house in the country. Both the ceremony and the reception are to be held here (have I said how much I love outdoor weddings yet?) and I am super excited for their wedding day after seeing this amazing chunk of land. Fake outhouses, rusted old Ford pickups and paths through a huge garden all add up to photo nirvana.

It was a complete pleasure to hang out with the both of them and if you enjoy the pictures even a quarter as much as I did taking them then I did my job……..

Cheers!

Killer couple + classic car / great location = one amazing engagement session!

It’s always good when you get a killer couple, a couple that is laid back, not afraid of the camera and is willing to work with you on what ever comes into your head. But, when Erik and Arianne pulled up in a 1970 Karmann Ghia and a 1964 Ford Mustang I was happier then a kid starring at the gate to Disney World.

Some times I offer a shoot to people that have a look that I want for my portfolio and my friend Matty and his fiancee Jocelyn have that look. I asked Matty if he would be interested in a couples shoot and I got way more then I expected. It turns out that they are engaged making this a cool engagement session and Jocelyn is about 7 month along which also makes this a maternity session! How killer is that!!!

Being the smart folks that they are, they have found out ahead of time (I’m not one for surprises either) that they are having a little girl which they will be naming Mayden. I just love that name! That little girl is going to be one little hell raiser let me tell you… With Jocelyn’s looks and Matty’s attitude poor little Matty is going to have some fun in about 14 years lol

Anyways, we started out by getting lost in the countryside and stumbling onto a great field and this sweet little barn. After that we headed to the Jumbo train bridge in St Thomas (not sure if that’s really it’s name, but a elephant named Jumbo did meet his maker on that bridge) then finishing at the Patterson Garden.

I had a blast with these guys and I can’t wait to get my lens on Mayden when she is born. I am even in talks with Matty about shooting their wedding in October of 2010. Still haven’t decided if I’m gonna give him a deal quite yet, we’ll see how nice he can be to me in the next year

Well I hope you enjoy these images as much as I did taking them….Oh, before I let you go. I want to apologize now for the length of the post, I spent a while trying to narrow down my favs, but I just could not get rid of any more. It seems that every time you point a camera at these two you get an awesome picture!

OK, not really, I love my iPhone but I don’t love it that much!

Next year I will be shooting Kaily and TJ’s wedding and as it happens Kaily’s father and brother are good friends and co-workers on mine. TJ worked with us as well for a few years but has moved on to bigger and better things. Being the way things are, when Kaily’s father came up to me at work and told me that TJ was marrying his daughter and that I was going to be the photographer (not asking, stating a fact, he’s that kind of guy lol) I was fairly excited. You see, a night at their house is something to experience, image a 1950’s blues club in the middle of the Garden of Eden (Kaily’s father is quite the gardener) and you will get the picture. Any night there is a blast and I can’t wait to see what the wedding is going to be like. I have a strange feeling that after I’m done with my duties as a photographer, I won’t be allowed to leave without have a few (dozen) beers in me.

Kaily’s brother called me up yesterday afternoon and invited me over to watch UFC 100 and both TJ and Kaily were there. After the amazing spectacle that was UFC’s 100th Pay Per View I noticed Kaily and TJ foolin’ around on the couch across from me. I quickly grabbed my iPhone to nab some shots of this little moment. Afterward I showed them and jokingly stated “There, your engagement shots are done…bring on the wedding!”, I was surprised at how the shots turned out and that they even liked them. But after showing them around to everyone and seeing how much they all enjoyed them…I figured it would be fun to share them here.

*Please not…These are pictures taken on a iPhone by me after a few beers and in a very dark back room. They in now way represent the quality of my actual work. But if you have been visiting my blog long enough I really don’t have to tell you that now do I

Now I just can’t wait till the fall when I get to do the real engagement shoot! Classic cars, farms with barns and two great clients! This gonna be fun!!!

I went to school with Sarah for a very long time, like from grade 3 all the way to high school. Sarah was one of the coolest girls I knew in school, while every female preteen around was drooling over the Back Street Boys, Sarah was the hip one listening to Bobby Brown.

About a month ago I was at the grocery store waiting in the checkout line when I spied Sarah with her grandmother. We started talking and she informed me that she was getting married and how it was going to be a small wedding in Port Stanley. Of coarse considering what I do I HAD to ask the question “Who’s shooting your wedding?”. When she told me that she was just “get some friend to cover it” my hackles raised and I replied “Ummm no you’re not, give me a call and we’ll talk”….She did!

So today I met Sarah and her fiancee Dane at one of their hangouts, the Wortley Roadhouse and we had a killer time just wondering around, ending up at their house. They told me that they “Weren’t the types to frolic in the woods”, they just wanted a This is Our Life kinda coverage which I thought was a great idea.

I had an amazing time with Dane and Sarah, their wedding is one of the most anticipated events on my calendar for this year. Till I get to show you all the great images I’m sure to get from their wedding, sit back and enjoy their engagement!

And now folks, please remember! Friends don’t let friends hire friends to shoot their wedding! Of coarse if that friend is a talented wedding photographer…well then by all means, but a cameras a wedding photographer one does not make, or something like that lol

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I LOVE small weddings! They just seem to be more about the couple for some reason. A close group of friends and family coming together to celibate the union of two people that really love each other. Well Justin and Julie’s wedding is going to be just that and I’m really looking forward to shoot it!

Today we headed out and did a little tour of downtown London Ontario to do their engagement session. It was a lot of walking (trust me, I need the exercise!), but it gave us a chance to talk and get to know each other a little better as well as creating some great images…. and here they are! I hope you like.

This session started out great, Kevin and Katie are an amazing couple, they are everything that a photographer could ask for. Fun, friendly, affectionate and don’t go all “deer in the headlights” when you point a camera at them.

I say things started out great because unfortunately this session had to come to an early end because of a nasty spill and Kevin taking Katie to the hospital to get looked over. She is alright, some scraps, bruises and I bet one nasty headache, but in the end we did get some good shots and we all have a story to tell.

Katie, Kevin…You guys were a blast and I can’t wait for the reshoot. Until then enjoy what we did create in the time the fates allowed us.