Kristina’s Darling Engagement

~ Kristina & Brad ~
Photographing the love!
I had the opportunity to shoot my cousins engagement photos.  Out of all my cousins she is the first to get married which was very exciting for our family!  She asked me to take some photos of her and her Fiance Brad so they could have some to display around the wedding! (So sweet!, Thanks Cuz!)

A huge part of their relationship is their love for pets!  They have a mini farm at their house ranging from dogs, cats, rabbits to reptiles!  A must was a family photo with their beloved dog Bronx.  

Your bestest Homies

The Bridal Party
Selecting your Bridal Party can be a breeze or a tedious task.
For school this year I had to shoot a bridal party.  I quickly rounded up all available friends that weren’t already working.  Needless to say they were troopers, as my classmates and I took turns shuffling them around the school and putting them in different poses; like this one! Ha-Ha!
From Princess Catherine Middleton’s bridal party of 1, her sister, to a full party of how ever many you decide to choose.  Remember to select friends and family that are important to you!
Below is an article out of “The Knot” on helping you to choose who and what suits your wedding.
Good Luck!

Desserts yumm!! :P

Looks so good that it looks like I took this from a magazine 😉
Wrong! This is all skillzzz baby! hehe!
I am very new to studio work.  The only studio shots I have taken were in my intermediate and advanced photography classes in school.  We touched on portraiture and small product.  This particular assignment was desserts, it’s where we learned all the tricks and ins and outs of shooting a dessert so mouth watering we would want to eat it off the screen!  On having doubles just in case one falls apart..or another photographer gets hungry and eats yours! Ha-ha!
I picked up these cookies from Pusateri’s in yorkville.  They didn’t taste as yummy as they looked but they photographed amazing!
I did very well on this assignment and had a lot of fun shooting it. 

My Shananagins

I am smiling from ear to ear as this picture makes me giddy.  During a field trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens, to shoot yet another school project (For Wedding Level 1) I caught this quick jigg Shannon danced as I told her she needed to go outside in the cold. Shannon was my Bride for this mock wedding shoot. It was freezing and the poor girl had nothing to cover up with; she was a trooper! Ha! Love her!

During the shoot Shannon thew her bouquet to climb a tree!  One of my classmates caught it and then turned proudly to the rest of us to show his super catching skills! Ha-Ha!  Ironically he is the next to get married! 😛

Sadly at the end of the day I lost my first SD card loosing more than half of the pictures I shot of Shannon and Shawn at Royal Botanical Gardens.  This was all I could really recover from the second card.  Lesson learned: Glue your memory cards to you, Swallow them if you have to!  When your memory fades your pictures better be there to prove it happened!!

You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart.

It’s October! One of the most colourful months of the year!

I want to say first off that I noticed that I really do suck at keeping up with this whole blog thing, mainly because it requires time to chill out and just take a moment to write.  Time which I have very little of.

I thought I would start off with a picture of me before getting the ball rolling on photo pieces I have taken (and some taken ‘of’ me :P) so far this year.

I mentioned before I have had a few posts in my drafts for sometime now and will hopefully get these posts up by the end of the week, whilst trying to keep everything in a relative chronologic order.

This year I have taken up my dancing again, and thus performing at the annual Carabram and Carassauga Multicultural Festivals.

During one of the shows a photographer took my picture and sent it to me. The second picture being a few of the girls in my group and I waiting to go on stage! Please enjoy the below video taken during Carabram 2011, while my group performs the “Fan Otea.”

Freshness Guaranteed!

That’s right…your local grocery store!

Who knew, that it was a world full of potentially great engagement backgrounds?!  I had worked for Metro for 10 years and wouldn’t have ever thought to shoot something so romantic in a venue as simple as the local grocery store.  If you look closely though, the supermarket is a great place to set up those fun and memorable moments!  Who needs to eat?! Only everyone! 😛 

The colours of the produce section!

OR
Maybe the couple met over a bag of cholotate milk and whip creme in the dairy department!

How about getting creative in the check out line?
Magazine..*BEEP*….bubble gum..*BEEP*…Bride to be……”Price Check Please!!”

Admire, Bestow, Assimilate.

While in class the other day my wonderful teacher asked us to blog about other photographers work.  Oh crap! I thought, as I am not too familiar with other photographers work; except for fellow classmates, who might I add are pretty darn good!  So the search began, filtering through thousands of pictures from the web and photographers blogs and websites… Yes, I could have picked any pictures really to write about but these selections I wanted to be a reflection of the quality of photos I would want my work to look like.  Something to aspire towards.  I say this in the most politest way possible but there is “a lot” of rubbish out there.  Photographers who have the full gear, websites and businesses; yet produce such drab photos and it boggles my mind!  Everyone with a camera seems to be a self proclaimed expert photographer yet sadly they are not.  It is not very good to say the least, and one the other hand I have seem some amazing amateurs!  Sorry, if I offended anyone but that was my rant! Ha-ha!

Here are my top picks 4 professional picks in ascending order!

The Engagement
Shannon Nicole Smith’s engagement photos are the best.  This Florida based photographer does the the whole vintage chic theme very well.  They are always fun and cute photos that make you feel all mushy inside.
The Bride
(Photo By: Audrey Fotografie)
When it comes down to it the Bride is always stealing the show.  Audrey fotografie presents her work as “fine art.” I find sometimes a little too much blur but it works for her.  This photo with the bride in the field has a dramatic sky that is fitting with this Bride.
The Bridal Party
(Photo By: Thorpe – Union Photography)
I really enjoy the style John Thorpe brings to the table.  It has a man’s touch without being too dude-ish!  His photos remind us that the boys are very much apart of the wedding without stealing the Brides thunder!  I enjoy candids and positioned photos that are relaxed of the bridal party.  This style makes the party much more real and inviting, over rigid and stiff posing.
The Bride & Groom

Last but not least… Dave and Charlotte.  Their photographs are pure, delightful eye candy.  They are beautiful and very pleasing to look at. Dave and Charlotte to me as an aspiring professional photographer  are the whole package; making each photograph a genius work of art.  I love the way the couples are embraced in each of these pictures, so gentle and loving. 
To end off with someone very worthy..

I have had the pleasure to get to know Jason Miles personally, while together attending photography school.  He has helped me with pointers, post production and insight into the photography world.  His photographs are stunning and always impressive to me, and always capturing that special moment.  Jason has recently started his business into Wedding photography and I am delighted to share with you some of his work.

Shoe Love is True Love…Right!?




“Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.” 

— Marilyn Monroe 
(Shoes By: Christian Louboutin – N°Prive Riche 120mm)

I can’t help it, “I love the Bling!” And who to do it better than Christian Louboutin. These $3,695.00 open toed sparkle pumps would make me giddy indeed and maybe slightly nauseous at the price.  If my wedding dress did not have sparkle my shoes definitely would!
Clearly I am aware of my expensive taste in shoes among other things but this may not be every other Bride-to-be’s style. I have searched high and low for a unique shoe to feature and I have found a sure thing.


I present to you Figgie Shoes!

Not only are these custom hand-painted footwear, these shoes are Beautiful! More importantly they are unique.
Based out of Windsor, Ontario, owner and artist of “Figgie Shoes,” Deborah Thomson is home grown Canadian talent.  Where she continues to delight our eyes with her Artistic beauty.


Click on the link below if you would like to see Figgie Pudding’s Promotional Video:
Figgie Shoes Video


Figgie Shoes – EverythingWedding.ca Promo from Perfect Shutter on Vimeo.

Colour Your World

So it’s that time when you go out “scouting” for that perfect spot to shoot your next clients engagement photos.  It needs to be original, unique and a touch of your style.  Heck! Anywhere can be a backdrop these days from a beautiful greenhouse to a dumpy construction site; as long as you find “thee” spot! 😉



Who Said Chivalry is Dead?!

Well I am back from my blogging hiatus and will be coming strong due to the nature of my new assignments for my Wedding level 2 class.  I have been super busy with dance, work, life and now school again.

To Capture a moment so rare and exciting as a proposal is something I think that more couples should do.  It doesn’t have to be over the top on a baseball screen in front of thousands of people where the potential to be denied and humiliated are amplified, rather something as simple as your friend hiding around the corner (or in the case of someone I know.. in the bushes lol) with a camera ready to help a buddy out.

(Photo from: Studio Sixty http://studio67blog.ca/)
The moment is then captured so even when your mind grows tired and fades it is there to help share your story to your Great Grand-kids on what a charmer their Great Grand-daddy was! 😉

Since we are on the topic of “proposals” what better way to to start off June’s blog with this video I found, that will carry us into the theme of “Wedding Photography” over the next few posts. (I had put the link into my drafts to publish in my blog weeks ago, but never had time too.. hehe!)  If you haven’t seen this video yet, please do get on the band wagon as it is the perfect execution depicting the epitome of romance, creative thoughtfulness and being “oh so darn cute!”

Marriage Proposal Trailer Goes Viral
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnVAE91E7kM

If you would like to Follow Matt and Ginny their link is below:
http://www.mattandginny.com/

– Lemming
xo