Tea Horse Wild Rice Tea

When DAVIDsTEA reached out to me about photographing some local products I was admittedly a little confused, because they no longer have a business here in town. I soon realized they were working in collaboration with an amazing small local company called Tea Horse.

Tea Horse was established in 2017 by Denise Atkinson, Anishinaabe ikwe and her partner Marc H. Bohémier It is an Indigenous-owned artisanal tea company located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg Peoples in Northwestern Ontario. With its proprietary roasting process, Tea Horse has created and produces an industry-first selection of custom roasted wild rice (Ojibwe: manoomin) and tea blends.

Suffice it to say, I was super excited for the opportunity. Before I knew it I was out at Denise and Marc’s house in the country learning about their tea’s and capturing a wide array of imagery. It was such an amazing learning process for me, and of course, a lot of fun working with such a talented couple.

I’m excited to see where Tea Horse is in even a couple years. It’s just such a unique idea and I don’t think it’s being done anywhere else at the moment.

DIY Studio

I joined my wife and her friend at the DIY Studio here in the Thunder Bay. I was just there to tag along and check it out. I of course brought my camera along with every intention of taking some photos while I hung with them. I’m so glad I did. It is such a great space and service they are offering. Plus, it’s a very relaxing atmosphere too.

Essentially, you choose your item that you want to paint, then the colours you want to use, and you are off to the races. Once you are done, they do some magic on their end and seal up the whole thing. It was so much fun seeing the whole process. I highly recommend a visit if you are into creating your own crafts.

An Afternoon with Lukas

My family and I recently had a short road trip to Ottawa to visit our friend Amy and her family, including their 1 year old baby Lukas. We all couldn't get enough of him and his awesome personality. Being a professional photographer I always carry some sort of camera with me, and I knew I would be visiting with a couple different families throughout our trip so I decided to do a little photo session with Lukas. 

My wife Anne and I took him outside and let him crawl around, sit by himself and a variety of other poses. He was so easy going and was essentially smiling or making faces the entire time. We only spent about 15 minutes with him outside, but the photos below just go to show you, that it doesn't take much to get some really candid photos if you know what you are doing and you work fast. 

I could have easily spent another hour with him outside taking photos, but we didn't want to take steal him away for too long. Plus, I think it was about time for his meal if I remember correctly. If I learned one thing about Lukas over the few days that we were there, it's that he loves to eat, anything, as you can see from the last photo I included below. 

Sisters Chocolates

I'm quite excited to post my first real product session. I have done quite a few in the past but I didn't really bother including them on this website, but as I do more, I'll make sure to starting sharing them. I thought it was fitting that the first product session I posted was for Sisters Chocolates, which is actually owned by Tammy Baxter, who's wedding I actually photographed not too long ago. So when she contacted me out of the blue, asking if I was interested in photographing some of her wonderful, handmade truffles, I knew I had to do it. 

After a bit of back and forth on a date and time, we finally made a concrete date. I decided to bring my assistant, Anne, my wife. Since I was using some off camera lighting, she helped immensely with backdrops and position and everything else. Without her, it would have been much harder to come away with all these wonderful photos.

Admittedly, this was my first real session photographing truffles. But, my years of experience photographing weddings and parties has given me a lot of experience with desserts and the such. This time around it was nice though, as I was able to actually set up lighting. Usually I'm either working with natural light, or I have one flash on my camera and I'm running and gunning. 

The good thing about photographing chocolates, is that they don't move unless you want them too. It was a nice change from shooting people! It also helps when the truffles are so beautifully created. It definitely made my job easy. I don't really understand how Tammy makes all the chocolates by hand but rest assured, they taste even better then they look.

I recall Tammy saying that she has been doing this for about 17 years. She has definitely perfected her craft and not only did I come away with some truly great photos, Anne came away with a box of truffles. If you like truffles I encourage you to head on over to Sisters Chocolates Facebook page to learn more or even place an order!