Earlier on in the summer I met up with Susan & David for their engagement session at Adamson Estate in Mississauga. It’s a place I had never been to before even though I went to high school just around the corner so it brought back some memories driving through that area again.

Atlantis at Ontario Place is a venue I really enjoy shooting at in Toronto. It’s not your traditional wedding venue as it’s 300 feet from shore and suspended over lake Ontario. Steph & Ken had such an amazing wedding here. It’s the first time I have seen someone fully utilize their incredibly high ceilings with aerialists, in fact, it’s the first time I’ve seen aerialists at a wedding (a la Cirque du Soleil).

On our way back to Atlantis they decided to stop for some Ice Cream.

The place was setup beautifully by To Suit Your Fancy.

Aerialists at the wedding was the highlight for me. I hope I get more weddings with them in the future.

I took the couple out to the roof of Atlantis to do a few night shots showing off some of the local lighting and architecture.

When Steph & Ken called me up about their engagement session they really wanted the lights at night of downtown Toronto. Shooting at night isn’t as common as it takes a lot more time to setup each shot – but the outcome is well worth it.

Starting off at Massey Hall we moved around the downtown core stopping off at Union Station, the TTC, and a few other spots downtown.

Tomorrow I’m posting their wedding from Atlantis at Ontario Place, so keep posted for that one.

Sophie and Phil have a long distance relationship between Toronto and Montreal. They travel back and forth visiting each other all the time whenever they can. When we talked about what to do with their engagement session to really make it them, it was clear it had to be in Montreal.

We decided to do some goofy shots in front of the cartoon graffiti TV.

I have known Rita and Adam for a few years and they are such a great couple. Even my mom says so. When they told me they were getting married and wanted me to photograph their wedding I was really excited. They got married at East Dell Estates Winery which is in the Niagara region and is a perfect spot for a wedding. I found them so friendly and helpful, which really made the wedding that much more special to the couple.

The cottage on the pond for the bride to get ready is the perfect setting to wake up to and get married. Tranquility with a view.

I could shoot for days in a vineyard. I wish I lived closer to the Niagara region sometimes.

A truly fitting sign considering it rained solid just before the ceremony. The great thing about the day was that the rain didn’t impact photos once.

One of my favorite shots from the day. In a sea of grape vines.

Everyone

Some nice jam wedding favours

The view of Toronto from the window of East Dell Estates after a rain storm is amazing.

I shot Linda and Ted’s engagement session earlier on in the year and was really excited to shoot their wedding at a location I hadn’t herd of before. I love shooting weddings downtown Toronto – La Maquette is a small unique wedding venue in the heart of the city right beside the Toronto Sculpture Garden and close to a lot of great photo locations.

We started out at the King Edward and it was great to be able to walk over to the ceremony at La Maquette.

A little walk from the Hotel and we arrived at the Novotel building which always has great light and has amazing architecture.

I got in a little bit of trouble for this ring shot. I do enjoy taking pictures of the little details so I stole a giant stone from their bar area. They got really worried when they noticed it missing (there wasn’t anyone for me to ask when I needed it). It was returned without problem and it was definitely worth the shot.

I headed up to Ottawa to meet up with Sarah & Dennis for their engagement session a little while ago. We headed over to the famous ByWard Market area for their shoot where we found countless places to take some photos.

Definitely my favorite photo of the session. Sarah & Denis have great chemistry and I can’t wait for their wedding in the Distillery District next year.

In the flower shops of the ByWard Market, the shop keepers were really nice to let us pose in their areas.

The day after Sarah and Murray’s wedding and after they cleaned up a bit from the night before we got together to do a really creative day after session. Starting off we went to her Uncle’s barn where Sarah grew up as a kid.

When Sarah mentioned we could use one of the horses, I had no idea she was going to bring out a Clydesdale. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse that big in person before. It took a couple people just to get Sarah on. I’ve always wanted to get a picture of a bride on a horse.

The farm had everything. Red barns, horses, corn fields. Everything a photographer could ever want.

We then drove down to the Rideau River where both Sarah and Murray grew up and families have houses on and took a little paddle in the canoe.

And last but certainly not least. Wakeboarding Bride. We had some difficulty with Murray running into Sarah and making her fall but we managed to get a few photos before packing it in for the day.

It was just a matter of time when this day would come. Murray is one of my cousins and has been with Sarah for quite a long time now. It was always a question of when, ever since his older sister Loren got married in 2007 in Mexico. I remember when Sarah told me they got engaged, and it was only a few months ago. I was sitting in my hammock in Mexico earlier this year editing some images from the wedding the day before. She asked me what date in June I was available so they could get married this year without waiting. They just needed to know when I was available.

Sarah & Murray did almost everything themselves or with the support of friends and family. Sarah even made her own bouquet the morning of the wedding with flowers from the garden. The boutineers, center pieces, open bar, to even packing everything up the next day. They did it all. The whole wedding was amazing and it shows you don’t need to have a huge budget or years to plan an amazing day. The wedding was held at the Baxter Conservation Area in Kars, just south of Ottawa.

So now I have shot the weddings of two out of my three cousins on this side. So next up is Don (no pressure – but I’m expecting my hat trick).

Boutineers by Sarah herself.

Probably one of my favorite bouquets of all time. It was the perfect colour choice for a green area.

This has to be my favorite kid picture of all time. What made it just that much more special was how she was talking to the little ones, asking them their names and how old they were.

Owen, my oldest cousin Loren’s little boy. It didn’t seem that long ago where I shot baby pictures of him. I could have taken pictures of him all day.

Troy Lajambe of Tympanic

I’m in this picture

This session is like none other I have ever shot. When Heather and I were out in Cuba for a wedding I really wanted to do a session that is really unique to the area as I like to do in all my destinations. This time around I actually used Heather as my model though. It’s pretty strange taking pictures of your girlfriend in a wedding dress but I think the weirdness was outweighed by the amazing pictures.

Heather has a couple wedding dresses she has used for models as well as to model in herself for other photographers. I made sure I packed my bags lightly so I could throw the dress in my bag. Before we left for Cuba I knew exactly where I wanted to go. 45 minutes away from the Paradisus in Cuba is the town of Gibara. It’s a fishing town that was hit by hurricane Ike a few years ago which you can still see clear signs of to this day. I rented a guide and jeep to get us around which was probably the best decision I made for the trip as having a translator came in handy. My Spanish is still very limited.

This ship was broken into three pieces and has been sitting on the rocky shore for years. While the locals thought I was crazy for wanting to go take pictures with them it was actually one of the biggest reasons I chose to go here.