2010….sounds so sci-fi.

How will you remember 2009?

For my family 2009 was a year of firsts. First bike, first day at school, first hockey stick, first word (we think…). For the business, 2009 has been a year of maturity. It has also been my first full year with the blog. I have gotten to point my camera at some truly amazing people and I can say that I have the best clients on the face of the earth.

How will I remember 2009? With a huge grin on my face

I spent my new years long weekend combing through all the memories of 2009 and I’ve gathers 61 images that I think express the feeling of the last year of this decade for me. Lots of smiles, lots of emotion and a copious amount of lip locking. Some images you have seen, some never made it to the blog for one reason or another, but all would be lining my walls if I had a much bigger house.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did capturing them.

Now….Bring on 2010!

Above image taken for Red Button Photography

Last Monday i had the honor of being featured on the wedding blog Hot Pink Bride. Tabitha can really pick them, she features some of my favorite photographers on her blog and I’m beyond happy to have my work up along side theirs.

I am getting more then my fair share of awesome clients, Ashley and David fit in perfectly with my streak of killer couples.

Between their ready smiles, laid back style and amazing families…Their day was truly a photographer’s wet dream. The only regret I have coming out of David and Ashley’s wedding day is the fact we never had the chance to do an engagement session, I would have loved to get to know them a little better.

It was tough picking just a small number of images for this post. With all the tears, laughter and an appearance of a Dutch bicycle I got a lot of great shots…But in the end I had to settled on 29 images. So without further ado, may a I present a view into Ashley and David’s new beginnings.

So what kind of bride could make Dad look so happy? Check back and see for yourself.

Like I said in Sarah and Dane’s engagement post, Sarah was one of the coolest chicks I Knew from school. Dane is no square (Yeah, that’s right! I said square…so shoot me!) either making them a perfect pair. So it only stands to reason that they would have a killer wedding that completely reflects their view on life.

I guess I could have summed up the whole wedding with “It was a cottage party interrupted by a ceremony”, but that really wouldn’t do the day justice in the least. So, to give you all a look into the details of this amazing day, I’ll let my pictures do the talking.

Enjoy!

It was kind of a rough road to Julie and Justin’s wedding day, but when they got there I was lucky enough to be invited to capture it.

Congratulations to Julie and Justin…more to follow

I believe I have already told you how much I love second shooting, but just in case I haven’t, let me tell you now…it’s awesome! Don’t get me wrong, shooting my own couples is great, but sometimes it’s nice to slip off the coat of responsibility, step out of the field of attention and just shoot. I’m not alone here either, I have yet to find a photographer that doesn’t enjoy it. You get to experiment with new techniques, practice on styles that may not be your strong suit and don’t forget what you learn by watching other photographers work. Second shooting just has all the makings of an enjoyable day of photography.

That is exactly what happened last Saturday when I had the chance to second shoot with one of my favorite shooters here in town, Eric Rockburn.

Dawn and Matt’s wedding was this great backyard ceremony, finishing off at Forest City National Golf Club for the reception. Eric and I were only with Dawn and Matt for a shoot time, but I enjoyed every minute of it and i can’t wait till August when I’ll be shooting with Eric again. In the mean time, here is some of my favorites from Dawn and Matt’s big day.

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.