Atlantis Wedding – Marcia & Jason

How To Shoot Your Sister’s Wedding … Atlantis Wedding – Marcia & Jason

 Growing up my sister drove me crazy, and in many ways she still does. I am 5 years older and growing up I would see her constantly get away with everything. We could be at a store and she would do something bad and then turn and blame me for it. She would get away with it every single time. One of our favorite things would be to play cops and robbers with toy guns. Even at the age of 9 I never had the heart to shoot her, although she all of 4 years old never hesitated. But on August 20th of 2016 I finally got my chance to shoot my sister.

To say the day was surreal was an understatement. I have shot plenty of family weddings before and quite a few close friends but this was my little sister’s wedding. I guess if my parents had a few more children I would get more practice. But they only had my sister and I. So I only get the one shot to photograph my one and only sibling. Many of you would say that maybe I should have taken the day off and just be the bride’s brother. But the answer to that is very simple. I will never get any chance to photograph my sister’s wedding. Plus the world’s cutest flower girl (my daughter) was there and she was actually more of my assistant for the day, which was awesome.

We started the day off at Jason’s parents house and it felt just like a normal wedding. I made fun of the groom on his poor taste in a football team, the Seattle Seahawks. Simply because everyone on the planet knows that the San Francisco 49ers are the greatest football team in the history of ever. But we had to go to the bride’s eventually and there was a bit of a hesitation on my part to do so. After finally getting to the bride’s it was just like riding a bike… If the bike had no brakes and you were going downhill. I may have been a little nervous but I cooled my self down and captured some pretty cool images as well. But just like Macklemore we needed to get downtown.

After leaving Brampton we arrived at Atlantis in Toronto in record time. 90 minutes early to be exact. If you have ever had to be somewhere in the GTA and use 3 separate highways to get there you know what kind of accomplishment that is. Ceremony was pretty cool to capture, looking over and seeing all of our family there making sure I didn’t mess up. Guess what? I didn’t. After a quick high five to the bride and groom we headed outdoors into the sweltering heat. It wasn’t all too bad considering we caught a tail ship as a background, not once but twice. After heading back inside for the reception the magnitude of the day set in and I had a quiet moment to reflect. As she danced with our father it was like a movie in slow motion but in this movie you know the actors pretty well. That was my second favorite part. My favorite part? When my daughter walked into the reception with the song she chose all by herself. “The Imperial March”…or as she calls it “Darth Vader’s song”.

Congratulations Marcia & Jason

Port Credit E Session – Karolina & Donny

Port Credit E Session – Karolina & Donny

This week we are getting prepared for this awesome couples wedding coming up this Saturday. If they can bring half of the energy and excitement that they came with on their e session, we are in for an awesome day. By the looks of how they coordinated what they wore on this session, their wedding day attire should be pretty cool. For me any time you get a chance to rock matching kicks is always a good idea.

Port Credit is one happening place in the summer in Mississauga. There is so much going on both indoors and outdoors. It’s a great location to people watch and to catch the ode boat pass by. You see all kinds of boats from small to enormous and all sizes in between. A quick note on boats and life in general. It is a good idea not to own a boat but to know the person who owns the boat. You get the odd invite and only need to bring a 6 pack and go home. This is unless you have a disposable income, in which case never mind.

After a wardrobe change that was also coordinated we take a little walk around the lake shore. Engagement sessions are meant to be a form of rehearsal both for the client and us as well. We tried a few new things out and liked the outcome. It’s funny to look back after every session and see the new ideas that we use moving forward. Every shoot is different, always.

Queen West E Session – Marlene & Fred

Queen West E Session – Marlene & Fred

If you are from Toronto or if you have ever visited you are well aware that Queen West is an urban hot spot for everything from fashion trends to food and anything in between. It is by far our first choice for clients who have that certain downtown Toronto look and attitude. Something that Marlene and Fred have plenty of with a bit left over. Within one city block you can literally see anything and everything from all corners of the world. From great architecture to wonderful green space to graffiti and all the colors, smells and tastes around. You can grab a coffee and even meet the artist who painted the mural you are using as your background. While he is smoking something that wasn’t a cigarette. True story.

With all the fun and games aside, the area has character that is evident these images. Just perfect for a couple with urban swagger like these two. With their wedding less than 2 months away we are looking forward to photographing this cool couple in an entirely different urban setting in the city of Oakville. Maybe not quite as diverse as downtown Toronto but you should be surprised with what we will come up with on that day as well. I am very sure with this outgoing and loving couple we will get a few awesome images from their wedding day that you will be seeing very soon.

Meredith & Herschel – Royal Ambassador Wedding

Meredith & Herschel – Royal Ambassador Wedding

We met #mereschel this past March and hit it off right away. We all share the same sense of humor which because of that is a small miracle that we have all of these awesome images. Or it could also be because we are on the same page we can achieve photographic coolness. To be honest our job is extremely simple when we get these two in front of the lens. It could be either 25 below in Guelph or 30 above and really sunny in the mid afternoon July heat, we can make great images. I am hoping that this great couple is enjoying their honeymoon right now in Italy. Now to the story of their day.

There day started in Milton as we visited both of them in their individual preps for the day. Herschel got a fresh cut before his big day and I was in awe with all of his D.I.Y projects, some of which are used within the images. Off to Meredith’s sister’s, where everyone was so calm I was really confused. Was this the actual day of the wedding??? A little bit of a drive into Caledon and the always awesome Royal Ambassador for the ceremony which was lead by Meredith’s own father. Talk about pressure. I mean could you imagine your father in law holding court as you marry his daughter. If you doesn’t like one response…shows over buddy. But Hershcel kept his cool.

After the very lovely outdoor ceremony we had full use of the entire grounds for photography. With an hour we covered many of areas and created a ton of great images. But we needed to get the party started eventually and what a party it was. So great to run into past clients and great friends Vanessa and Mark as well as the worlds greatest jeweler Justin Wisdom. We snuck out of the party as the sun was setting around 9pm to take a few more awesome images. What an awesome wedding…all the best to #mereschel