I apologize for the lack of posts lately and for that I will provide you with less of mmy ramblings and more eye candy. I am happy to share this wedding with you guys where I got to help out Joee last month. Enjoy and I will be posting more soon!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of assisting Margaret for Bobby and Phuong’s wedding. It was a hot day but we managed simply because they were so fun to work with. I had been to the Shangri La on many occasions before but this would be my first for a full wedding, ceremony and all. You would not have guessed it but this venue is quite surprising. The staff were great and the ceremony location was nicely decorated. As with many couples, I was curious as to how Bobby and Phuong actually met. All I know was that Phuong worked at a men’s clothing store. It was not until I saw a familiar face that I knew exactly where she worked and I couple piece together their story. The familiar face was a gentleman by the name of Tom from Tom’s Place! What was significant about this to me is that is where I bought my first suit. I have seen him here and there and other events I shoot but it was nice to see him at a wedding. In any case, here are some of my favorites.

I had a lot of fun documenting Angela and Ryan’s big day. When I arrived at Angela’s place the house was buzzing with activity, but not in a panic mode kind of way. There was just a lot to get done but in an organized fashion. Angela had a gorgeous dress with plenty of little details.  Here are more photos of the day.

Clair has got to be one of the cuttest flower girls ever!!! When I arrived at the church, all I saw was this cute flower girl waving her basket back and forth as she waited patiently for Angela. When Angela arrived, she jetted over into Angela’s arms and said, “you look very pretty”. The cuteness just kills me.

Now here is something you don’t see at every wedding. Before the ceremony started, there was a slide show running showcasing photos of the two of them and their travels. Most of which are self portraits. Well, right before they walked down the aisle as husband and wife, Ryan reaches into his pocket and takes out his point and shoot to take the first self portrait of himself and Angela together. The first photo of themselves as husband and wife.

I had a lot of fun helping Kevin Lam document Joyce and Bobby’s wedding earlier last month. When I arrived at Bobby’s getting ready location, I was greeted by his warm family and friends. Although excited for the day Bobby’s friends and family enjoyed laughs and stories of how they all got together with me. I love when couples open up to me and let me see and experience more their dynamic as it is always interesting and keeps things fresh. Here are some favorites of the day.

Guys are always so funny. Don’t get me wrong, I love documenting the bride getting ready on their wedding day, but on the occasions where I help another photographer out and I have the pleasure of photographing the guys, I am often entertained by the guys just joking around. It is a totally different pace and it’s safe to say that the guys have it easy. Last month I helped Joee out documenting Erin and Jame’s big day. I was assigned to cover James’ prep in the morning. Once I arrived at the location, I was greeted by the guys who were just chilling out with some beers and waiting for a pizza to arrive. With the TV playing a soccer match in the background the guys were joking around freely, recounting stories of their friendship. It was so nice to be there and listen to the plethora experiences these friends have had over the years; some good, some bad, mostly hilarious! I got to learn about their dynamic and it’s nice to be able to experience that level of trust/comfort.  Here are some of my favorites of the day.

James received a wedding gift from Erin which was nice. It was apparently sitting in their basement for quite some time and he managed to remain disciplined enough not o take a peak until the wedding day. As he tore away the wrapping paper he got the sign of approval from the guys. “she’s a keeper” one of them said. All this, before he even looked at what it was that Erin got him. He jokingly said that he felt bad for what he got Erin was no where near as thoughtful as the Yzerman jersey he had just received. I found the remark kind of cute.

Congrats guys!!

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure to photograph Susan and Kevin’s engagement. I was really looking forward to it as we have canceled the session before due to bad weather. I was taking an afternoon nap, (I am not old, I just like my naps!) when I was abruptly awaken by a rumbling sound. Naturally I thought, tractor trailer or construction truck passing through the neighborhood. I crawled out of bed and peeked out the window still half asleep. The clouds got darker by the minute which prompted me to go and double check the weather online. Once the page loaded I was greeted with an unfamiliar flashing red bar that read “Sever Thunderstorm Warning for Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton”.  Oh (insert obscenities here)!!. It was about 4pm and I dialed Susan’s number hoping to intercept her before she left for her make up appointment. Errg….no answer. I then heard a loud crash and then the rain began. Profanity began to fill my head as I watched large puddles forming on the street. My phone began to vibrate, I pick up and it was Kevin. The call went something like this…

Me: Hello?

Kevin: Hey Kevin how’s it going?

Me: It’s going I guess.. (uneasily)

Kevin: So, it’s looking like a torrential downpour right now, is it raining where you are at?

Me: Yeah it’s the same here. I tried calling Susan but I take it she’s at her appointment.

Kevin: Yeah, I don’t think she wants to cancel this time.

Me: Well, we’ll see how it goes, I am checking the hourly weather report and it says it should clear up by the time we shoot.

Kevin: Yeah? Alright then, we’ll keep in touch.

Me: See ya…

Kevin: Bye.

By 5pm, things settled down. The clouds began to part and the sun peeked through. We made arrangements to meet at Kariya Park in Mississauga a little earlier for our shoot and I am glad we did because we were covered in beautiful light the whole time. Susan and Kevin were great to photograph and just be around, I can’t wait for their wedding next month! Here are some of my favorites from the session.

On a side note, it was so nice to bump into Sonya and Luc at the wedding! I love bumping into past couples, even if in this case, they were not my couple, you still get to develop a friendship which is awesome!

Happy monday!!

Not sure if I mentioned this but Margaret is a teacher with some amazing students. As a surprise, her students showed up to performed as the choir for her ceremony. At this point I was inside the church getting ready for her entrance while Lucy stayed with Margaret, so this next part is Lucy retelling the story to me to the best of her memory. When Margaret got out of the limo, she heard children singing to which she said something to the effect of “Who’s singing?! Are those my kids?! Oh my goodness.” She was completely surprised and overwhelmed with joy. That is when Lucy took the following photo of Margaret realizing it was her kids singing.

Margaret smiling at her choir kids.

For this next image, I wanted to write something about the importance of having a second photographer, who is able to see from a different perspective and make images that compliment ones of the primary photographer. I was lucky to have Lucy with me for Margaret and Tamer’s wedding and this is just one of the many instances where the images from two different people compliment each other. I created the image on the left wanting a more intimate image of the couple. Lucy on the other hand wanted to make use of the beautiful architecture behind the couple. These two images were taken nano seconds apart and yet give such a different feel.

Congrats Margaret and Tamer, have fun on your honeymoon!

Ok, so I am not going to make a habbit of posting a wedding related video but this came to me from Ron and when I saw this, the first thing I thought was, man I hope that photographer has backup equipment (brides, future brides, please please please…make sure your photographer has backup equipment!). Second thing that caught my eye was the man who was helping the photographer get out of the water at about 25 second into the video is awesome!!! Not sure if he was the second shooter or assistant but that guy sprung into action and had nothing but the photographers best interest at heart because the first thing he went for was to get the camera out of the water! I hope his quick actions saved the camera.

Funny enough, I was talking to a photographer friend and the topic of back up equipment came up. The example I used was, if I fell into water with my equipment I would need a fresh set of everything (which I have), to which he replied, we are in Toronto, where would you fall into water? Well dude…case and point… ; )

Happy Friday, have a great weekend everyone!