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.

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?