Ashley + Isaac Wedding - River Valley Farm
River Valley Farm was host to Ashley and Isaac's wedding this past July. Even though I had photographed at this location twice before, this particular wedding was different in one significant way, it is where Isaac grew up. HIs parent's have been kind enough in the past to let only a few other couples use the venue so I was lucky enough to be a part of this wonderful location.
River Valley Farm was host to Ashley and Isaac's wedding this past July. Even though I had photographed at this location twice before, this particular wedding was different in one significant way, it is where Isaac grew up. HIs parent's have been kind enough in the past to let only a few other couples use the venue so I was lucky enough to be a part of this wonderful location.
Even though I was already somewhat familiar with the farm, I was excited to see how they set everything up, and low and behold, the ceremony took place right in from of the barn, which was the absolute perfect location. Before the ceremony took place, I arrived as Ashley and Isaac were just finishing getting ready and waiting for the guests to arrive. After a few candids and portraits of some of the family members I set up in the back field for Ashley and Isaac's first look. Some of my favourite photos came from that part of the wedding day.
Right after the first look, Ashley and Isaac wanted to get some portraits done while the guests arrived. We took the dirt road to this amazing canola field. One of the great things about shooting weddings in Thunder Bay is that I get to see all these hidden spots that I never even knew existed. I could have easily spent 3 hours with Ashley and Isaac but we kept it short and sweet. Regardless, it was not hard coming away with some epic portraits. Before we made our way back to the farm, we stopped for a couple quick photos on the dirt road as well.
By the time we got back some of the guests were starting to arrive, so we took that time to get all the wedding part portraits out of the way. Just like my weddings in the past at the farm, the backdrop is one of the best in the city so it was no brainer to do the portraits using that. As usual, we did all the combinations but the entire wedding party was a blast and we even mixed in some fun photos as well.
Probably my favourite aspect of this particular wedding was all the candid photos I was able to capture. It was a rather large wedding with at least a couple hundred people and a lot of space to work with. It was really hard narrowing it down to the photos I chose below. As you would imagine, the ceremony was beautiful. There was live music performed by some friends of the family which just added to the whole experience.
The reception took place in the barn of course and it was just as beautiful as the outside ceremony. Just as every other wedding I had shot here, the decorations were amazing. Even though my day was done at 9pm, I was still there long enough to capture some of the speeches and some more candid moment amongst the guests, as well as the cake cutting.
I was so happy to spend a day photographing Ashley and Isaac during their wedding day. There were so many great moments throughout the day and I'm just thankful that they chose me to tell their story.
Ashley + Isaac Engagement - Trow Bridge Falls
It was my first engagement session of the year this past Saturday and it was so much fun. Ashley and Isaac decided they wanted to do use Trow Bridge Falls as the location, and that is exactly what we did. I suggested 5:30 for timing, that way the light was a bit better and it wouldn't be too cold. Well, the light was good, but it was still pretty darn cold. Ashley and Isaac didn't complain once and they even managed to do a couple quick photos at the end without any jackets on.
It was my first engagement session of the year this past Saturday and it was so much fun. Ashley and Isaac decided they wanted to do use Trow Bridge Falls as the location, and that is exactly what we did. I suggested 5:30 for timing, that way the light was a bit better and it wouldn't be too cold. Well, the light was good, but it was still pretty darn cold. Ashley and Isaac didn't complain once and they even managed to do a couple quick photos at the end without any jackets on.
I will be photographing Ashley and Isaac's wedding this summer and I really can't wait. It's always nice when couples opt in for an engagement session because it allows me that much more time with both of them. We started the engagement session by walking down towards the park, attempting not to slip on the massive amount of ice. I had a couple close calls but we managed to go the whole session without one wipe out.
As soon as I started taking photos, Ashley and Isaac were naturals behind the camera. I tried my best to keep the whole session moving and not staying still for too long, but without being rushed of course. That is the main challenge when working in extreme conditions. There are so many great little spots at Trow Bridge and we took advantage of a couple of them. The trails, the bridge, and of course the rushing water. My favourite photo of the session was probably the one of Ashley and Isaac on the bridge.
For the entire shoot I used my new Fuji X-Pro2 combined with the 90mm. I did pull out the 16-55mm for one or two photos and also the 35mm 1.4 for a couple headshots. The X-Pro2 performed admirably. The only issue I had, which I didn't let on to both Ashley and Isaac was that it froze up on me a couple times. But that was due to the extreme cold. I even noticed this in the past with my Nikon D750. Other than that though, it was a joy to use and I can't wait to put it through the paces for the upcoming season.
Thanks as always to Ashely and Isaac for being so easy going during the whole session.
