My Favourite Wedding Photos of 2015

Well it’s that time of year again where I choose my absolute favourite wedding photos from the past season. I have been doing this for a couple seasons now and each and every time it’s such a hard, but task to do. By going through all my photos it forces me to look back on the year and see what I have done well and also areas in which I could possibly improve. After all, as a photographer, I’m constantly looking on ways to evolve and adapt. With that being said, I am extremely proud of what I accomplished this year. All the amazing couples and families definitely made it that much easier of course.

As many photographers will tell you, shooting a wedding is probably one of the most difficult disciplines to do. But, it’s also one of the most rewarding. Each wedding is completely different and always unpredictable. You always have to be ready for whatever happens, and rarely does anything ever go to plan. At the end of the day though, it is extremely satisfying to know that I was the one responsible for telling the most important story of the couple’s day. 

Any comments or feedback are always welcome. Of course, if you see yourself in one of these photos don't hesitate to share this post with your friends and family! Here’s to a great upcoming wedding season in 2016. I’m already looking forward to meeting and photographing all the new couples. Thanks for viewing!

Remembrance Day - Waverly Park - 2015

It has been a long long time since I have been able to be a part of Remembrance Day here in Thunder Bay. I was either living abroad or simply too busy to make it down. This year I made sure to see the ceremony over at Waverly Park. I also decided to take some photos since this is something I have been wanting to do for a long long time. I arrived at around 10:10 and there were already a lot of people there. As soon as I arrived I made my way through the crowd and into the area around the monument. From there, I spent the next 1.5 hours photographing the people involved in this special day. 

An event like this is similar to a wedding in that you need to know when it's ok to take photos and when it is ok to just blend into the background and go unnoticed. Luckily I have years of practice so it wasn't a problem at all. I decided to just bring my Nikon D610 and 70-200mm. That combo allowed me to stay back but also zoom into the action. I also brought my Fuji X-T1 with the 16mm. I was able to capture some really good wide angle photos with that combo. It really put just how many people were there into perspective. 

Photographing an event like this is probably one of my favourite types of photography. I can basically just walk around and capture candid moments. At the end of the day I just feel privileged to be in a position to take part in something like this. Of course this wouldn't have been possible without the sacrifice of all the men and women that fought for our country a long time ago. So thank you to them.

Oktoberfest 2015 - Thunder Bay Coliseum

Once again The Walleye asked if I could go out and photograph some of this years Oktoberfest. This would actually be the first year going to the event so I was curious to see how it was. Admittedly I didn't have much time on Saturday to spend too much time there, but I did manage to photograph some of the Strongman Competition and then one of the musical performances later in the evening. 

First up was the Strongman which I actually photographed a couple months earlier when it was hosted at the Wayland. During that event I was able to cover the push press event and tire flip. This time around, I got the chance to photograph the Atlas Stone lift. I have seen this on TV before but never in really life. It definitely makes you appreciate just how strong these guys are. Even when dropping the stones back onto the ground from the ledge, you could feel the weight. So suffice it to say, all the competitors had their work cut out for them. 

I spent about 30 minutes photographing the event and I managed to get some great action shots. It's hard to really show just how much weight these guys were lifting but I think you could really see it in their faces. 

Since I had a family session that evening, I decided to come back again later in the evening with my wife Anne. This time around we were inside the coliseum. As soon as we got there we grabbed a drink, after all, Sleeping Giant Brewery had some fantastic beers on tap so that was a no brainer. Then, it was time to grab my camera and get some shots of the Greenbank Trio, who sounded awesome! Afterwards, Anne and I scoured the floor for some great costumes, which there were a lot of. She's great at wrangling up strangers to photograph. When she approaches people they smile and of course say yes. When I do it on my own, the usually can't understand what I'm saying because I mumble, and then give me a sideways glance. I'm exaggerating of course, but that's what it feels like.

And then that was it. I only got to experience some of the even but the parts that I did, I really enjoyed. I can't wait to check it out next year when I hopefully have a bit more time. 

Festival of India - 2015

This year I got the chance to once again visit the Festival of India. It had been a few years since the last time I made it so I was excited to take some photos of the event. I was very impressed with how many people were there. It made for some really good opportunities for photos. 

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