Jennifer + Carmine Wedding

One of my last weddings of the year took place at Valhalla Inn with Jennifer and Carmine. I was so excited to spend a day with such a beautiful and kind couple, and also the rest of their family and friends. The good thing about the times we are in now, is that weddings have no choice but to be smaller and much more intimate. I really do enjoy smaller weddings, I almost feel like I’m part of the family. My day started with the getting ready shots. It was a nice way to ease into the wedding day.

As with almost all of my wedding photography, I focused on candid, natural moments. I get so much joy out of anticipating and reacting to split second things throughout the day. Having photographed so many weddings over the course of my career has definitely helped my timing, but I am always evolving as a photographer.

After spending about an hour photographing the getting ready portion of the day it was time to move out to the outside courtyard, which is always such a lovely venue to get married. Rain threatened most of the day but it held out long enough to fit everything in, which I was super thankful for. The ceremony itself was very sweet. Anytime a dog is the ring bearer, means it’s going to be a good wedding!

The ceremony and the remaining portion of the day was very relaxed which was perfect. Everyone was super easy going. Once the ceremony was done, everyone kind of just relaxed for a bit. The videographers took the newlyweds aside to shoot some footage and I tagged along to get some nice candid ‘behind the scenes’ moments. The cake was eventually served along with a wonderful array of meats, cheeses and fruits.

Before the wedding Jennifer had asked if we could do the portraits at Trowbridge Falls. That was an easy answer of course. So once everyone was nice and full and relaxed, we all met over at the park. It took a bit longer for some people to arrive but it was a great opportunity to get some more photos in the parking lot of the wedding gang. Plus, we actually headed into the park ahead of everyone else to get some photos on the nice bridge overlooking the water. Those ended up being some of my favourite photos from the entire day. It was an off and on light drizzle, but in all honesty, I’m glad it was overcast. It made everything look that much better.

Once everyone arrived, we made our way down to the water and did all the family portraits there. The rain started coming down a little harder so we used the cover of the bridge to cycle through the group shots. That meant I was out in the rain, but I’ve been in much worse situations. Plus, it was barely raining. We finished off down on the water with a few quick portraits of the beautiful couple, and then it was time to head back to the cars. When we got back to the parking lot, we got a few more family photos with their grandmother who had such a great sense of humour. I loved the way she talked.

The last stop of ‘my’ day with the couple was Tim Hortons. Yup. You heard that right. The reason being that that is where they first met. So it was only fitting to get a photo there. Along with one outside, I captured a couple nice ones of Jennifer and Carmine sitting at a table. It was such a perfect end to the day for me. I still can’t get over how many moments I captured throughout the day. Below are just a few highlights, but some of my favourites nonetheless.

I still can’t believe wedding season is almost over. Even though it’s been challenging (for everyone) it’s has still been memorable and full of nice surprises. As I write this, I have my last wedding of the season tomorrow. I only hope it is as beautiful as this one!

---

Melissa + Ryan Wedding

Last month, I met yet another amazing couple in Melissa and Ryan. They tasked me with capturing their wedding day, and that’s exactly what I did. I had a great time doing so. My day started with their ceremony which took place at Faith City Church. It was my first time shooting at that location and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was inside. As guests arrived, I worked the candid scene and just looked for moments while everyone waited for the wedding to start.

I would estimate the ceremony taking about 1 hour if that. I find most ceremonies nowadays aren’t really too long which is nice for everyone involved. The next stop was for portraits, which took place at Seaman Park, which is essentially the entrance to Centennial Park. It’s always a beautiful location and one I have used a few times for weddings in the past. There is a nice open field surrounded by trees and an easy path down to the water. We took care of all the family portraits by the trees then eventually headed down to the water for some more bridal party portraits and of course just ones of Melissa and Ryan.

The last stop of the day was Current River Recreation Centre, where the reception was to take place. Just like the the previous portion of the day it was very laid back. There were some first dances, some heartfelt speeches, a trivia game and of course the shoe game too, which is always great for the crowd. They even Mackinley The Magician performing card tricks throughout the night. I would have loved to have him do one for me but I of course had to work. Regardless, I made sure to get a lot of photos of him interacting with the guests.

As it usually does, the whole day flew by. Ryan and Melissa were an amazing couple to photograph and the entire wedding party were a blast to hang around with!

BrewHA Craft Beer Festival 2016

It always amazes me just how many cool events there are in Thunder Bay each summer. Probably my favourite so far this year was this past weekends' BrewHA Craft Beer Festival. This is the second year it has taken place and it doesn't looks like it should be around for years to come. I got the chance to photograph and experience it first hand thanks to The Walleye who, for those who follow this blog, know that I do freelance photograph for them. 

I was alone either, as my wife Anne joined me for the weekend event. Neither of us really knew what to expect but as soon as we entered the grounds we were amazed at just how many people took part in the event. It's no surprise though as each of the 3 sessions sold out pretty quick. The benefit of photographing an event like this is that you get to meet a lot of random people. Often I am approaching strangers and asking to take their photograph. Of course it helps that it's an event all about beer so let's just say that most people were more then willing to get their photo taken.

Speaking of beer, I couldn't believe how many great vendors there were there as well as all the different types of beer. Some of them I had heard of before but there were lots of different ones I had never seen before. It just goes to show you that Thunder Bay and the surrounding cities have an ever growing community of craft beer specialists. Along with the beer vendors there was some awesome food there and, some fantastic live musical performances and even a huge game of beer pong played with garbage cans. 

I simply can't wait for next years event. Just walking around experiencing all the different beers and seeing all the people enjoying themselves smiling and laughing. All in all it was a very fun atmosphere. Cheers!