They went on their first date at a Second Cup downtown and it was obviously not their last.

Tom and Julia live close to Yorkdale Mall, so they suggested we do their engagement photos there. At first, I was a bit skeptical since it was my first time doing engagement photos in a mall (besides BCE place, of course), but I was amazed by the nice light that streamed through the windows in the morning and I was thrilled with the variety of locations and ‘looks’ we could get in one place. I’d definitely go back to Yorkdale Mall for future Toronto engagement photography sessions!

Thanks for introducing me to a new location, Tom and Julia!

I’m really looking forward to photographing your wedding at St. George’s Golf Club on May 6th.

Congratulations again on your engagement!

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We definitely got our money’s worth out of that cake!

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I decided to do a cake smash session with her. In a cake smash session, the photographer places a cake in front of the baby and lets the baby go at the cake, however they may please.

Emily was surprisingly delicate and did not actually smash the cake, which means we can still eat it as most of it was not touched!

If you are interested in doing a cake smash session with your baby, please contact us at least one month before his or her birthday.

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This shoot also marked baby Emily’s modeling debut.

We let the little ones play as I took pictures.

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Note: The first and last pages are the cover and back page, which is why they are half the size of the other pages.  The other spreads are really all 2 pages each, as they fold in the middle.

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Anita and Craig put their maternity and newborn sessions into one beautiful album.

Here it is!

Please note: The logo is not on the actual pages of their album (I just put it on for the blog).  The black lines around the edges of each photo are also not in the actual album (that’s just to separate the photos from the white backgrounds of the blog).

Here is the cover.

Note how thick the pages are. These books are like baby board books.

Note how the design goes across the page.

I hope the children are enjoying their new bedtime story!

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I asked them to choose somewhere special for their session and they said the flat iron building.  I didn’t realize how special it was to them until we got there and they told me they went on one of their first dates (and many more) at The Flat Iron Pub!

We also did some photos outside of The St. Lawrence Market, inside BCE place (which happens to be where Angelo works), and at The Docks.  If you have not seen the cityscape from The Docks, I recommend you do so! Thank you, Elspeth and Angelo for introducing me to this great view.

Happy couples like them constantly remind me of why I chose to be a wedding photographer. It’s pure joy to spend time with people exuding such positive energy!

Congrats again on your engagement! I’m really looking forward to your wedding!

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First things first: look at your photographer’s portfolio.  Ask to see a complete wedding they shot by themselves. Do you like their images? Do you feel they captured the story of the day?  If so, assuming your wedding is a similar size, one photographer is probably enough for you.

Are you and your fiance(e) getting ready in the same place or different places?  One of the advantages of having two photographers is that if you are at two different locations, one of the photographers can go to the location where the bride is and the other can go to the location where the groom is.  If you are getting ready in the same location or very close to each other, often one photographer will be able to cover both scenes if enough time is allotted.

How many guests are you having at your wedding?  If you are having a large wedding (over 150) you will probably want to consider having more than one photographer, so you can get lots of candid images of your guests as well as photos of yourselves.  That being said, if you are on a budget, it is always better to have one good photographer than two bad ones, no matter how many guests you are having!

If you are having a wedding of under 80 guests, one photographer is probably enough as your guests would notice that additional photographer a little more and may shy away from the camera.  For weddings with between 80-150 guests, you could go either way.

The above photo shows the families of the bride and groom, not including many of their other guests.  They had two photographers.

Another advantage of having two photographers is that they will be able to capture different angles and different expressions. For instance, when photographing a ceremony with only one photographer, I can capture the walk down the aisle from both the front and the back, but I can only capture the arrival to the groom from the back, not the front.  If I have a second photographer, however, one of us can capture the bride’s arrival from the front (to see her expression), while the other can capture the hug from the back (to see dad and the groom’s expression).

Most couples will allow an hour or two for family/bridal party and formal portraits of the two of them.   At this time, guests often go inside the venue to enjoy appetizers and cocktails.  If you have two photographers, one of them will be able to capture the family portraits while the other one takes candid images of the guests and the table settings and decorations (though this can still be achieved if time is allotted with one photographer).

During the reception, two photographers especially come in handy if you would like photos of each table, so one photographer can capture half the tables and the other can capture the other half more quickly, to allow more time for candid images.  Two photographers also comes in handy for the garter belt toss, bridal bouquet toss and first dance where they can capture different angles and different expressions on different people.   Sometimes you can hire two photographers until the start of the reception and then have only one photographer for the rest of the evening.

Most importantly, if you are going to have two photographers, ask your main photographer how they find their second photographers.  Some companies will have one very experienced main photographer and a newcomer acting as the second photographer.  At Rabbat Photography, we all photograph weddings both as primary and second shooters, so you are getting two photographers who are qualified to photograph a wedding on their own.

Are you still trying to figure out what is right for you and your wedding?

To summarize:

1. How big is your wedding? If under 80 one photographer is generally enough, if over 150 it would be wise to think about having two photographers.  However, if you are on a budget, keep in mind that it is always better to have one good photographer than two bad ones.

2. What are the most important photos to you? If you want the photographer to mainly capture images of you and the bridal party, one photographer is probably enough.  If you want your photographer to capture images of the bridal party as well as lots of candids of the guests, you will get a lot more of the latter with two photographers.  You will, however, still get many candids with only one photographer (just not AS many!).

3. Where are you getting ready?  If you are getting ready in different locations and would like images of both of you getting ready, one person can only be in one location at a time, two can be in two different places.

4. Is one angle enough for you?  Oftentimes, one angle can be enough to tell the story.  Is that what you want or would you prefer two different angles?

5. How is your day structured? If you allowed lots of time between different events, one photographer could likely do a fine job capturing the different parts of the day.  If, on the other hand time is tight, two photographers will best make sure that all aspects of your wedding day are beautifully captured.

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I have always loved Halloween.  As a child,  I can remember dressing up f0r school and being excited ALL day about trick-or-treating in the evening.  I was not just excited about getting candy, but also seeing other children in costumes, being allowed out in the dark with my friends, seeing the neighbours and maybe even seeing a friendly witch riding a broomstick in the sky.  Oh sure, there were some scary things on Halloween…like the ‘haunted house’ on my street.  Even in the summer, we were told stories about the ghosts that lived there.  We dared each other to ring that doorbell.  Nobody was ever home.

I was sad that one day I would be too old to go trick-or-treating, because for me, there was nothing more fun than getting dressed up and going from house-to-house.  Fortunately, when I lived in university residence, the tradition continued as on-campus trick-or-treating was organized!

Now that I’m an adult, I’m happy to be able to go out on Halloween again with my two young children, the youngest who will be going for her first time tonight and the eldest who asked me shortly after she woke up this morning, “How many more minutes until I can go trick-or-treating?”  I told her it would only be a few hundred more and what’s a few hundred minutes when you’ve been waiting all year?

Happy Halloween!

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I could not have asked for a better family to photograph.   Their children were 9, 7 and 3 so I was not expecting lengthy attention spans, but these girls LOVED having their photos taken!

To top it off, their house was extremely photogenic with a red door, pond in the backyard, amazing rocks, tall grasses and nice touches everywhere you looked.

Thanks again for having me over to capture your family at these picture perfect ages!

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