Photography Blog

Christine and I went to high school together and I was very pleasantly surprised and happy for her when she sent me a message asking if I did maternity photos!

Pregnant women generally love relaxing on the couch.

Christine met her husband Bryce in Australia, hence the koala (which belonged to Bryce as a baby) and little Aussie baby booties.

The dog will have to get used to not getting QUITE as much attention.

I love how the dog wanted to be in all the pictures!

Congrats, Bryce and Christine! Looking forward to meeting the little one.

Stay tuned for newborn photos!

We got accepted into the So You’re EnGAYged vendor list! This was started by a queer photographer who wanted to make it easy for queer couples to find queer friendly vendors.

We have photographed a lesbian wedding, but due to outness issues we could not use the images.  So, in order to get a photo for the vendor list I did a photoshoot with some (lesbian) friends of mine. I know them from women’s shinny hockey and I always wanted to do a hockey photoshoot, so that’s what we did!  Anne and Liz are not actually enga(y)ged, but they have been together for 10 years and they said that the photo session is probably the best part of having a wedding, so even if you’re commonlaw, a photo session with your partner could be a great idea!

I’m not sure they’re trying hard enough for the puck here!

Ok, that’s a little more serious…but it still looks like too much fun.

Time for a laugh and kiss break.

Back to the puck!

This is the one we ended up using for our listing, which can be seen here:

https://www.soyoureengayged.com/vendor-list/photography/ – click on “Canada!”

I chose this one because I like how they’re looking at each other.  You can tell they are still totally in love after 10 years together.

On a hockey related note, GO TEAM CANADA!  I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty glued to the Olympics!

Heidi Lange and Alan Reid performed “Songs in a complicated time,” at The Annex Live.  It was a musical review, featuring songs from many different….you guessed it…musicals! I think of all the songs performed, the only one I heard before was the very last song, which was from my favourite musical of all time, Avenue Q.  The audience was introduced to a great variety of fabulous songs from many known and lesser know musicals! These two know how to put on a SHOW.

Heidi and Alan were accompanied on piano by Andrea Arthurs.

I love how dramatic they were!

I was never expecting HIM to come out in a shower cap and housecoat! This song was pretty funny.

I guess you had to be there, but this song was about a woman named “Miss Bird,” who seemed like an average kind of lady, but took a lot risks in other ummm….departments. I’m not sure how to describe it.

At the end, a few of their friends joined them for the finale.

David Murrell accompanies on piano.

This show was totally sold out, so if you didn’t make it into that show, you are in luck! There will be an encore performance at The Annex Live, on Friday March 12 at 8:30PM. Call now to reserve!

2009 started out in sunny Carefree, Arizona at a convention for wedding photographers.  My family rented a house in Scottsdale and stayed there for an additional 3 weeks.

That gave us a chance to explore Arizona and see the Grand Canyon.

On Valentine’s Day, our daughter Julia turned 1…and stopped sucking her thumb sometime after that.

We were supposed to do a maternity shoot when baby Neve was inside mommy’s belly, but she came 3.5 weeks early (on New Year’s day) so we did a family session instead.  Happy birthday and happy new year!

Alejandro turned one so his family came from Ottawa for his birthday party and a photo session.

I’ve know Jen for a few years through lindy hop dancing, so I was very excited for her when she told me she was engaged and even more excited when were chosen to photograph their wedding.

Tanya and I also met through lindy hop, and although she has lived in various provinces throughout the past decade, we kept in touch.  I was super excited to go to Montreal to photograph her wedding and even more thrilled when I learned the ceremony would take place in the Notre Dame Basilica!

Lauren is yet another bride that I met through lindy hop dancing (geez, I did not notice the theme until now!), though we saw her more often on the dodgeball court than the dancefloor.

She met her husband through west coast swing dancing. He was from Switzerland, so they are currently living there, but first they got married on Centre Island!

Nadia and Andrew found us at a bridal show and they are an extremely nice, friendly couple.  They smiled throughout their entire wedding day and every other time I’ve seen them.

Kristen was in the bridal party of Joanna and Alain’s wedding in 2008, which means that a lot of the same people were at this wedding as well!  You cannot get a bad picture of her and Antony, so I decided to try out an animated.gif, which is basically stop motion animation (correct me if I’m wrong) with 3 different images.

Amy and James are also friends with Sylvia Nickerson and we met last year at their New Year’s Day Levee.  Their daughter Pippa was very happy on their wedding day!

They had lots of things for the children including a pinata and a magician!

Amanda found out about us at the bridal show in 2006 and she called us even before she got engaged, then she did get engaged she called us before anyone else to make sure we had her wedding date available!!! We love people who are that enthusiastic about us.  Brian and Amanda’s wedding day included lots of Scottish traditions, like bagpipers, a dance, lots of kilts, etc., which made it extra fun!

Phil is responsible for getting my husband (and I) back to Toronto from Waterloo.  I was especially eager to photograph Phil and Yi’s wedding when I found out it was going to be inside the Historic Sunnyside Pavilion (closed to the public except for private functions like weddings) and that after the wedding everyone would go to a rock show!  They really incorporated their personalities into their celebration.

Stacey and John were really lucky that the sun opened up their wedding day JUST in time to get some outdoor photos. It had been pouring all afternoon and we did many of the photos indoors, thinking that it would not let up, but as soon as it did we were outside! They were super sweet when they gave their speeches.  They are the kind of couple that does a great job supporting each other.

Jenn and Jay got married in a place that felt like a country retreat.  It was really ‘back to nature’ and beautiful-just like them.  We had lots of fun going all over the venue for photographs.  It was probably the hottest day all summer, so Jay and the groomsmen did an extra great job looking cool in their suits.

This is from Benita and Dave’s “post-wedding” session.  Do you ever wonder what do with the wedding dress you have hanging in your closest? If so, consider doing one of these sessions! You get to wear the dress again, and you get beautiful photos doing things in the dress you may not have wanted to do on the wedding day.

Baby Corrie came into the world 6 weeks early and even though she was just 6 weeks old here, she looks totally alert!  She was so tiny and sweet. I don’t think I heard her cry once.

Alan and Esther were up for anything!  Even though I met them as ‘their photographer’ I felt like we had known each other for years.  They are true urbanites, with an excellent sense of fashion. They were also very nice and easy to connect with.

I love the lighting on these.  I knew Esther wanted some ‘artsy/fashion’ shots, so here they are!

When I met Karen several years ago, she was dating Jeremy, so it came as no suprise when they announced their engagement.  You can probably tell by the way they are holding each other that they are a perfect match.

We will be photographing Claire and Dave’s wedding next year.  I met Dave in grade 9 and Claire just a few years ago, but I hoped that she would be the one!  They both have an excellent sense of humour and they definitely know how to make each other laugh.

Maria turned 90 years old! Here is her granddaughter, daughter and husband, and a violinist serenading her. She had quite the celebration for her 90th birthday!

In October, my parents, husband, daughter and I drove to Hilton, Head South Carolina for a relaxing beach vacation. It was actually warm enough to swim in the ocean (for Canadians anyway)!  Julia enjoyed putting her new sunglasses on upside down.

Michelle and Geoff, whose weddding I photographed in 2008 had me over for some photos of their sweet baby girl Emily in December!  I like how she looks like she’s asking a question in this one.  It was so great seeing them again.

We did a photoshoot and Christmas cards for our awesome next door neighbours!

In 2010, we want to photograph you and your friends! If you are looking for portraits or know somebody who is engaged, please pass on our link!

In the meantime, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I had the privilege of photographing Michelle and Geoff’s wedding on April 19, 2008.  It was my first wedding after giving birth, so of course I was thrilled when they asked if I was available to photograph their new baby girl.

Emily will be 6 months old on Monday.

The happy family.

Ain’t she sweet?

She was getting tired of all those photos.  Maybe she does take after her daddy a little (he has a phobia of getting his picture taken, but in spite of that he was still willing to have me come over and take it 🙂 ).

I love this one because their noses are really squished and you can see how enthralled mom and baby are with each other.

More photos with mommy.

I am especially proud of these ones, because rumour has it that Geoff doesn’t smile for the camera and this proves that rumour wrong for the second or third time (he smiled in some wedding photos too)!  Of course, it was all about Emily, which is why he was smiling.

Happy girl.

Santa’s little helper.

One for Christmas.

Congrats on your beautiful baby girl, Michelle and Geoff!

My neighbours are going to send these Christmas cards out to their family.

Yes, we do Christmas cards (and Easter cards, Birth Announcements… cards for any occasion really)!

This is the front cover.

This is the inside (there are no black lines in real life. That’s just for the purpose of showing where the card begins, ends and folds in half).

This is the back cover

Aren’t they a gorgeous family?
It was definitely difficult deciding which photos to put in the card!  Here are some of the ones that did not make it, but we sure had trouble cutting them out.

Justin is super cool because he already knows how to stand on a skateboard and he’s only 2!!! He was also born on my birthday.

Emma is daddy’s girl.  Patrick’s family had ALL boys, so everyone was thrilled when she came along.  She had just gotten back from her Christmas crafts class.

Ethan is a bundle of energy.  He is often found upside down.

Monique and Patrick are usually smiling.  Patrick likes to tell punny jokes.  Monique keeps busy on the committe of West Kingsway Ratepayers Association, writing her blog The One Drop of Rain Campaign , gardening, baking, teaching and somehow finding time to enjoy the children.

We’re very lucky to have such great neighbours!

Benita and Dave got married in May, 2008.

We did a ‘one year later’ session with them.  It was a great excuse for Benita to get another use out of her beautiful wedding dress!

This is the family dog-and by family, I mean whole family. The dog lives with Benita’s parents, but her and Dave often take it for walks, etc.  I thought it would be kind of funny to put a picture with a dog beside a picture in front of a Post Office, since we all know what dogs can be like around mail delivery people.

Under the bridge along the Credit River in Port Credit.

Along the Port Credit Harbour.

Apparently these colourful ‘art’ bikes are everywhere in Port Credit, but this was the only one we saw.

Mirror photo

Benita on the rocks.

Congrats on your first succesful year of marriage, Benita and Dave!

If you are interested in a post-wedding session, please inquire.

Maria turned 90 a couple of weeks ago and they had a big party to celebrate!

Here she is with her daughter, Edith.  Edith hired a violinist who played beautiful Hungarian music throughout the afternoon.

Four generations.  Alessia did not want to let go of that purse!

Alessia, Henri and Edith.  Alessia gave them the dandelions.

Genefer, her mom and Alessia.

Snuggle, snuggle.

I guess Alessia was really into giving out dandelions that day.

Amazing food spread.

This sour cherry soup was a hit!

Ready to party!

Alessia and Jason bring the cake.

Doesn’t she look great for her age?   She is smiling because Alessia brought her the cake.

The entire event took place in Maria’s apartment, where she is living on her own!

This past weekend was Thanksgiving for those of us in Canada, so it’s time I gave thanks to:

Shandro Photo for taking my profile picture in Arizona.

V. Tony Hauser for taking Sarah’s profile picture.  Sarah is actually his studio manager.

Jeff Kahl , Myke Mazzei, Craig Hooton and Chris Gapski for letting us use the song “If I could be the one” as our portfolio is playing.  This song is from the Spookyhorse album “A Horse for All Seasons.”  I highly recommend you pick up a copy-it’s listed at only $5 on their site and it is worth every penny.   It could be a collector’s item.

Heidi Lange for allowing me to use her song in the one and only wedding fusion we created and for her continued support.

Finally, thank YOU for reading our blog and spreading the word about Rabbat Photography!