Olga & Adam picked a great spot in Toronto to get married. The Old Mill is a historic venue in Toronto that offers a timeless look while still being right in Toronto.

I can’t wait to head back to the Old Mill in a few weeks for another wedding there.

If you ask some of my brides and grooms, or even other photographers I have worked with they will tell you I can try and push boundaries when I photograph. I’ve asked brides to jump off cliffs into water (that were afraid of heights), shot in abandoned areas that are closed to the public, or climbed some pretty crazy things to get the shots I want. Linday & Justin’s wedding wasn’t so much pushing the ourselves but pushing the limits of where we could shoot.

Golf courses are beautiful to get married at. With perfectly trimmed grass, ponds, and nice landscaping for acres providing a great backdrop for photos. Unfortunately, we aren’t always able to take advantage of their beauty. Recently many courses have limited the use of their grounds for their weddings out of fear the bride will be struck by a stray ball (which would not be a good thing). Lindsay & Justin were OK with pushing our luck a bit and we were still able to capture a few images around the course (much to the dismay of the staff member who stalked us in his shiny red “official” golf cart.

To this I say thank you to Lindsay and Justin for breaking some rules and sorry to the official who I’m sure didn’t enjoy following us rule breakers around.

I shoot wedding all across the GTA as well as internationally but it was nice to finally be able to shoot a wedding close to my home town of Bolton at the Caledon Estates. I was pleasantly surprised to find a forested area with clearings that the owners made just for photos as us photographers are always looking for shade and it’s not always the easiest thing to find on a sunny day.

Cullen Gardens (also known as Cullen Central Park) is one of my favorite venues in the Durham Region. It has so many awesome places with the beautiful gardens and grounds for photos. The weather was perfect and it was a fun group to be with all day. Probably the most amount of kids I’ve ever seen at a wedding. I could have easily posted a whole blog on just the kids!

She just couldn’t handle the party

Diana and Jeremy’s wedding is coming up quick (less then 2 weeks) so we headed down to Rotary Park in Ajax which is right on the water for their engagement session.

I’m normally the one who asks my couples to push the normal when it comes to where to take images but when Diana suggested they climb the tree to take some pictures I was surprised but pretty happy

I’m currently sitting at the airport, waiting for my flight to head out to Mexico for a destination wedding. Looking through the images from last night’s wedding, the best way to describe Melissa and Kevan’s wedding is “a whole lot of laughs.” From getting ready right through to the speeches at the reception, there were tons of laughs and happy tears all around.

When he grows up, I think he’s going to love this picture.

I’ve never seen so much laughter during a ceremony. It was great to see.

After finishing up at the Sandman Hotel, we headed over the the Centennial Park Conservatory for our pictures. It was a nice warm-up for going to Mexico, because it was quite hot and humid inside.

I’ll be posting more a little later when I have some time to sit down. These are just pulled from the slide show I played during the reception. For now, I am off to Mexico for another wedding and will have lots to post over the next couple weeks!

I just returned from the Mayan Riviera, Mexico staying at Dreams Tulum with Alyson & Kevin and 36 of their friends and family for one of the best destination weddings I have been to so far. I had a blast with the group and got some great images while there.

We did three days of photos, plus a little bit around the resort. First we did a mini engagement style shoot at the Tulum ruins 10 minutes from our resort, then a Trash The Dress session in a local cenote, and finally the wedding. I’ll post the TTD session photos in my next post right after this one.

The weather really held out for us. For three days it was calling for rain on the wedding day but we had perfect weather for the wedding. A bit of cloud for shade and not a hint of rain.

I love taking large group shots whenever possible. The resort photographer had no idea what I was doing when I wanted to take everyone away from the beach for the photos, but a little shade off the beach makes group shots way nicer.

Sometimes I bring along a specially modified Infrared Camera that takes amazing images.

Corona anyone?

It was an interesting experience because the resort actually insisted that their resort photographer be at the wedding even though I was there. For any couple wanting to see a side by side comparison and the importance of having your special day captured the in the best way possible, I would be happy to share.

I have a booth! Today and tomorrow (Jan 2/3, 2010) at the international center near Toronto Airport I will be at the Total Wedding Show in what looks like a portable version of my living room. This is my first wedding show and I designed it at the same time as my living room because I really don’t like the look of a typical pop up display and a table – so not creative.

So if you are a bride planning a wedding or another photographer at the show, come by and say hi. You can get a bit of a hint of the next big change from the image. My next post in a couple days time will be more on that.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. Time really has flown by for me as I race to complete projects and some big changes to my business and life.

Just the other night I was online chatting to a friend of mine, Melanie from m photography – a wedding photographer in Ottawa when she brought up an idea of shooting the last wedding of the season together. Now I thought I had already shot my last wedding the weekend before, but after looking at the venue, I was sold. The Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec has some crazy architecture that I just couldn’t pass up. I woke up two days later extra early for my 5 hour drive to Ottawa for Emily & John’s wedding.

PS. After reading my comments I realized I made no mention about my sideshow. At almost every wedding I try to put a few shots that I have taken throughout the day and put them on my laptop for everyone to see during the reception. It’s always a hit with everyone, but I had a first for this wedding. Not only did I get Emily to shed some happy tears, but Melanie started crying too. I did take a picture of Melanie wiping away some tears but for fear for my life and for future possible blackmail, I will not be posting them at this time.

The very moment Emily saw John on their wedding day.

This was a really fun shot to get. Below you can see where I was.

Melanie managed to grab this angle of me shooting with the capital buildings in the background. I tend to stand on ledges but it’s always worth the shot.

There were some really awesome places to shoot here. This one required a bit of fence hopping.

Emily being an absolute trooper to get into the caged area. This shows dedication to getting the shot!

Emily is a really creative person and handled most of the decorating/details herself. She’s a designer and operates her own website.

It was a great little trip and definitely worth the drive. I managed to get to see my cousins at the same time which was great! I think it’s safe to say this was my last wedding of the season. I have a lot of new stuff in store for 2010. Expect to see big changes and lots of improvements!

I just got back from shooting Victoria & Rowan’s wedding at the Canoe restaurant on the 54th floor of the TD Tower in downtown Toronto. What a great spot for a small wedding and perfect for some urban wedding photos with some nice architecture.

Luckily it was a Sunday wedding and the streets weren’t as busy as they are during the week or even on a Saturday.

So there is a field of bulls beside the TD tower. I couldn’t resist.

Wire bouquet custom made by Victoria herself. No Bouquet toss this time. Not only because she wanted to keep it, but it would have probably knocked someone out if you weren’t careful.