Photography Blog

Have you always wanted to do a family portrait but never got around to it?

In “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin she says “I’ve never forgotten an older friends observation: “One of my regrets about my children’s childhood is that I didn’t have more professional photographs taken.”

She then continues, “I arranged to have pictures taken of our children and I was thrilled with the results. These photographs were far better than any snapshot I could take, and I bought several for us and for the grandparents too. Remembering happy times gives a big boost to happiness, and looking at photographs of happy times helps make those memories more vivid. The money I spent on the photographs will strengthen family bonds, enhance happy memories, and capture fleeting moments of childhood. That’s a pretty good return on the happiness investment.”

Now is the time, since our High Park Family Portrait Special is back! Last time we did a Father’s Day special only, so it was just dad and the kids (or in some cases mom and the kids), but this one is for the whole family.

Here is the info!

You probably remember Tom and Julia from their engagement photos. Now they are happily married!
They had an absolutely perfect day at St. George’s Golf and Country Club.

Wedding gown in the window of the ‘ladies only’ room.

Julia admires her ring as she awaits her first glance with Tom.

Thoughts the first moment they saw each other:

Julia: “What a handsome man I’m about to marry!”
Tom: “Wow.”

Julia admiring Tom before the ceremony and before she surprises him.

Julia surprised Tom with a driver training track day at BMW!

Julia’s dad walks her down the aisle.

Julia’s favourite wedding day memory: standing in front of the officiant with Tom, getting married.

Tom: Walking into the dining room full of guests, being greeted by applause.

This was one of my favourite group photos…I like the enthusiasm on Tom’s aunt’s face.

Julia said this was one of the nicest photos of her parents she has seen.

Bridesmaid Robin and her boyfriend, Dan get a little action.

Groomsman Otto and his girlfriend Renee do the same.

Tom and Julia enjoyed the speeches.

The last time Tom will have the upper hand, according to Tom’s best man, Ashvin.

First dance! They did a lovely choreographed blues number (which you can see a bit of in the video below).

This couple had been married the longest of all the guests, so they won the bouquet.

This is Tom’s favourite photo.  That’s the best man hollering in the background.

11 and 13 day old babies yawning simultaneously. I guess what they say is right-yawns ARE contagious! The baby on the right belongs to Ashvin.

Julia enjoys a dance with the groomsmen!  This is her favourite photo:

Croatia, Berlin, Paris, London (we have tickets to 3 Olympics events)
and Manchester, where we’ll have a party for UK friends and family who
couldn’t make it to Canada for the wedding.

What are you most looking forward to as a couple?

Congrats again, Tom and Julia and thanks again for having me there!

Vendors:

Toronto Wedding Co-ordinator| Monique Gaudet | St. George’s Golf and Country Club

Toronto Wedding Officiant| Sarah Bunnett-Gibson| Weddings from the Heart

Toronto Make-up Artist|Clarissa Pupo | Industry Hairdressing

Toronto Florist| Barry | Garrett Florist

Toronto DJ| Tim Pocius |Maximum Music

Toronto and Niagara Wedding Dance Choreography | Mandi Gould | Bees’ Knees Dance

Toronto Bridesmaids’ Mecklaces| Lindsay Squire | Dalziel Designs

Toronto rings| Einhardt Weidel|IDS Jewellery Design

Toronto invitations| Oakville Paper Boutique

Toronto baker| The Sweet Gallery

I have known Julia for quite awhile through lindy hop swing dancing, so I was thrilled when she finally met a man she was very enthused about.

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.

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!

After viewing the photos of Emily, many of my friends suggested I do my own cake smash, since my birthday is the day after hers.

My daughter is one year old as of today!

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.

I recently photographed this adorable line of non-traditional organic baby clothing and products for Wee Urban.  Check out their super cool and comfortable designs for your own baby or toddler or for shower gifts.  Wee Urban is also based in Etobicoke and their clothing is all hand made in Canada!

This shoot also marked baby Emily’s modeling debut.

We let the little ones play as I took pictures.

Recently, we started offering reception guest books.  Instead of the traditional guest book, where guests simply sign in and leave a message, each page of these books has at least one photo of the couple from their engagement session and all but one page has a prompt (the blank page is for those who know what they want to say!).  This way, the lucky marrieds receive meaningful messages from every guest and not just “Congratulations,” over and over again.  I recommend reading what the guests wrote and reminiscing every anniversary! Couples can also find out how much advice they have taken and perhaps revisit some of the old and forgotten ideas in later years.

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.

We are now offering baby albums with thick pages that parents can read over and over to their young ones without worrying about the little ones bending the pages!  My little ones loving nothing more than reading about themselves.

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!

Elspeth and Angelo are getting married next May at St. Jude’s Church and Harbour Banquet Centre, in Oakville, so they decided to contrast the spring lake views they will have on their wedding day with a fall downtown Toronto engagement session.

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!