Another beautiful Saturday afternoon, another gorgeous wedding. Samantha and Brandon were the latest couple that allowed me the pleasure to document their special day. It all started with some getting ready shots, first with the women, who were over at the Victoria Inn. As soon as I arrived I started snapping away capturing some candid moments. Some of the reactions were priceless, and those are my favourite types of photos. After spending a bit of time with the girls, I rushed over to where the guys were staying, which was the Valhalla Inn. Luckily, Thunder Bay is pretty small so it doesn't take long to get anywhere.
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Alexa + Shawn Engagement - Trow Bridge Falls
After having such fun wedding last the other weekend, it was nice to keep things going with an engagement session with Alexa and Shawn. Their wedding is this October so the wedding is fast approaching but before that takes place we wanted to get some engagement photos done. The location of choice this time around was Trow Bridge Falls which is always beautiful this time of year. Along with it being an engagement session, I also got to meet their newest addition to the family, Colton. He's only 14 weeks old if I remember correctly, but he was the perfect model.
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Vicki + Lincoln Family Portraits - Centennial Park
My second session with Vicki and her family was at Centennial Park this time. It was a mini-session just like last time at the Marina and this one went by just as fast. We started by the playground at Centennial Park and slowly worked our way around it. The whole session had a great flow to it and of course, Lincoln and Vicki were the perfect helpers.
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Sarah + Andrew Wedding - Chippewa Park
My latest wedding was this past weekend at Chippewa Park. Sarah and Andrew chose me to capture their special day I couldn't have felt more honoured. First of all, the location is fantastic, it's so beautiful there that anytime I get to shoot a wedding at Chippewa, I feel so lucky. It also helped that Andrew and Sarah were the absolute perfect couple to follow around for the day. Lastly, it was perfect weather for a wedding. The sun was shining with a few clouds dispersed in the sky offering the occasional shade.
My day stared in the early afternoon catching some fleeting moments of Sarah and her bridesmaids, two of which who were men! As soon as I saw that I thought back to my own wedding where I remember my wife saying she probably would have had a couple of her male friends in her bridal party. I spent about 10 minutes in one of the cabins observing the nervous energy that comes with every wedding. Before I knew it, we were making our way to the main area where the wedding would take place. After a short period, and some great initial candid shots of guests it was time to get the ceremony started. It took place in behind the main building at Chippewa in the open grassy field.
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Kate + Family Portraits - Silver Harbour
Silver Harbour was the latest location of my most recent portrait session. Even though it was a 30 minute mini-session, it was just enough time to capture some truly memorable moments of Kate and her family. Admittedly, this was my first time doing a portrait session at this location but I had been here plenty of times before to go swimming. It ended up being the perfect day to do portraits. The sun was shining, with just a bit of cloudiness.
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ONWA Family Portraits
Yesterday I once again had the pleasure to photograph 8 different families over at ONWA. For those of you who haven't seen my previous sessions, ONWA stands for Ontario Native Women's Association. It is a great organization and I'm thankful to be able to contribute my services to it. Each time I take photos for them, I end up meeting some very special families. Some of them I have taken pictures of before and then are always others that I haven't.
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Sophie + Caleb Wedding - Whitewater Golf Club
My first spring wedding of the year was at the Whitewater Golf Club with the amazing Caleb and Sophie. I had the pleasure of photographing their engagement session last year and I knew right way after capturing them during that day, that their wedding was going to be a great time. Let's just say that I wasn't disappointed. Upon arrival, I didn't even see Caleb or Sophie, but I wasn't expected to. Not many people were there at 1:00pm so I unloaded my camera gear and started to get some photos of the decorations and atmosphere before everyone arrived.
I recommend this for every wedding as it gives me a moment to take it all in and also get photos of things before they are altered or moved around. As the guests started to arrive I continued to get some candid photos of people, as I do with every single wedding. Honestly, the candid photos are the ones that couples tend to like the best, so I make sure to get a ton of them during the entire wedding day. I would go as far as saying that the bulk of the photos from each wedding are the natural, unposed ones.
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Shannon + Family Portraits - Tree Farm
This following weekend provided some pretty good weather so it was perfect timing to do a family portrait session with Shannon and her wonderful family. We were originally supposed to have them done at their home but some last minute scheduling led us to do the tree farm instead, and in the morning instead of the afternoon. As long as I still got to photograph them, I didn't mind the shift in location and timing. In the end, the Tree Farm provided the perfect backdrop for an early morning session. I think the kids had a great time as well.
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Jamie + Cory + Sophia + Teagan
My latest photo session was a family affair with Anne's cousin, Jamie. She recently gave birth to her newest addition to the family, Teagan. Along with her slightly older sister, Sophia and of course the man of the family, Cory. Instead of your typical 'newborn' session where we spend an hour or two putting the baby in different positions with different backdrop and outfits, I wanted to treat it more like my wedding photography which leans towards a documentary style. Not to say we didn't pose the baby a few times, but the majority of the shoot was me simply sitting back and capturing normal moments with no direction. I wanted it to be like I wasn't really there, just an observer, with a camera of course.
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Ashima + Family Portraits
This past fall I had the pleasure to photograph Ashima and her family at the Tree Farm. It was a wonderful mini-session/maternity and I couldn't wait to do it again. Well, I didn't have to wait too long as they welcomed their newest addition to the family not too long ago, Isla. So, before she got to big, Ashima asked if I could come to their house to capture some candid photos of her and her family, especially Isla.
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Tammy + Weston Wedding
Tammy and Weston had the pleasure of being my first wedding of the 2016 season. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit anxious and nervous going in but I'm actually like that before every single wedding. If I wasn't, I would probably be worried. Once I arrived at the church and starting taking photos of the venue everything fell into place and the entire day went by very quickly. Before guests started arriving I used the opportunity to grab a few detail photos and also get set up. I had done one other wedding at this church before so I was already familiar with it.
About 30 minutes before the ceremony guests started arriving and I just did my thing. I looked for all those moments when people don't realize you are photographing them. Those natural moments, are I think, some of the most genuine and memorable ones of the day. But then again, that is what 90 percent of my wedding photography is comprised of. This year, I am going to incorporate a lot more black and white photography as I think certain candid moments really shine when you strip away the colour . So you will see a mix of colour and black and white photos throughout.
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The Next Step - Wild Rhythm Tour
This past Tuesday, the Next Step Wild Rhythm Tour stopped by to put a performance on at the The Thunder Bay Community Auditorium. Since it was my first time seeing this show, I didn't know what to expect when The Walleye asked me to photograph the event. I was able to take photos for about 45 minutes before my time was up, but during that time I got the chance to witness some great dance routines and also some musical performances.
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