I don’t know about you, but I don’t like airports – especially when you’re trapped in them during stop overs. Recently we found ourselves in Amsterdam airport on the way back from India… The thing is, it occured to us that our next flight wasn’t for 7 more hours. Admittedly, Amsterdam airport has probably the MOST comfortable lounge seats for you to sleep on in the world, but that wasn’t enough to entice us to stay and relax. So we threw our carry-on luggage into a locker and headed out to catch the local train into the city.

We were both impressed by the city’s beauty. Stunning architecture, fresh air, clear waterways and an overall great vibe to the city. Almost everyone in Amsterdam seems to commutes via bike – between the 750,000 Amsterdamians (new word?!), there are 600,000 bikes!

We arrived and Central station and decided to explore the Old City on foot. We walked and walked for about 2 hours, and loved what we saw. We grabbed some fresh pastries to start our adventure off right!

The quirky shapes of buildings, alleyways and even doors seem to be defined by the winding paths the canals take through the city.

At the end of several hours meandering through the streets, we found ourselves at Anne Frank’s house. A little lost by now, we decided the sleek black mercedes idling in the taxi stand looked rather appealing, so we jumped in.

“How much will it cost for you to show us the sites for a couple of hours?” I asked.

“Eightee Yurows” replied the driver with a heavy Morrocan accent.

I can’t tell you how cool I felt at that moment, straight out of a movie! This guy had a really tough-guy image, totally shaved head, a strong face and looked a lot like The Transporter’s protagonist, Frank Martin/Jason Statham.

We headed off to see the city from the windows of our rather fancy taxi/Transporter. He showed us the Royal Palace, the Red Light District (all closed though, mum), some of the more famous Cafe’s (cough cough) and even some windmills scattered around the city. There was some really incredible architecture along the way, but I didn’t catch the names of a lot of the buildings.

On the way back to the airport there were some cool tulip fields and very sweet little cottages. It felt like the set of an old film to me.

I write this from Pearson Airport as we await boarding for our Paris/Greece adventures. This time we’re away for a bit of fun rather than business. A friend of ours, Jerry Ghionis is running a workshop in Paris and asked us if we’d like to be his models. Can’t wait to be photographed by him again with georgeous Paris as our backdrop!!

First things first – It’s Tuesday of last week. It’s HOT. Really hot. We’ve all woken up early to make the drive out to the Taj, do some shopping, then get back in time to make out 11pm flight. We’re all very excited – albeit tired from a busy few days of  gorgeous wedding ceremonies. Ankush and Lina arrive to pick us up looking bright eyed and bushy tailed (that may be an Aussiism!?). Charlotte and I on the other hand were still trying to re-align our body clocks to Indian time.

The roads are very clear early in the morning, so the drive to Agra went smoothly, with just a couple of stops – one to pick up fresh cut bananas and another for breakfast – Mmmm… We ate these amazing – non-spicy – paratas… the equivalent of a pancake lightly filled with mashed pieces of potato… I chose to spread jam on mine (hey, it’s breakfast right?) and it was goooooood.

Check out this cutie who danced while her brother played a citar style instrument. So sweet.

While the others were buying bananas, I nabbed this shot. We’re both big fans of trying to keep the environment healthy so it was a bit unsettling for us to commonly see this much litter piled up in places. So much of it was plastic water bottles.

With of population of over a billion people in a country that would fit 3 times into Canada, it’s no surprise that there is a waste problem (fellow Torontonians know what I’m talking about with our city workers union on strike this week!). I’m not sure how issues like this are dealt with in the long term, but I certainly hope there is a clean up at some point.

As we were traveling on the highway, we captured this rather endearing image of a little girl looking comfortably wedged into a taxi riding on 3 wheels… hold on everyone! Just amazing.

We got a giggle seeing a bullock going through the toll gate! He wouldn’t have to pay on the 407 ETR unless he’s got a transponder somewhere.

We also captured some pretty cool “happy accidents” along the way. I love this one Charlotte took. Cool composition!

And this interesting character… awesome right?!

This is what you call a traffic jam or “pile up” on the highway. Faster cars, mopeds, 3 wheeled taxis would just weave in and out, around them and give them a little honk.

As the driver was paying some type of toll, there was a monkey performing tricks for us. I have to say, we were pretty impressed with the backflip. He seemed like he was having a great time doing those tricks and got a bite of a banana for his effort .

Around the Taj Mahal, there is a no vehicle perimeter now to prevent further discolouration of the white marble. We all jumped in rickshaws and headed in to check it out. It was a downhill run going in, but coming out was a tougher trip. It was hot and he worked so hard we were happy to give him a huge tip!

As we entered, we were provided an English speaking tour guide that gave us an amazing synopsis of the incredible story behind the building of the Taj Mahal. I will surely mess up the facts slightly, so will quote Wikipedia instead:

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”

While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen.[3] The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision including Abd ul-Karim Ma’mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri,[4][5] although Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

And it’s quite a feat of architecture indeed.

Charlotte grabbed this amazing shot as you walk through the gate shown above, you get THIS view……….

When we arrived through the tunnel she grabbed this shot too… What an amazing power this place has!

We were snapping shots of each other there too, and the gardener offered to take one for us – how nice was that?

Hey, he knows how to use my 5D Mark II… who knew ??

This is Lina’s cute little girl, Marianna she was so much fun and kept Charlotte and I laughing while away. Isn’t she adorable?? I grabbed these while she was playing tag with me, you can almost here her giggling!!

This is the view from the grounds of the Taj. If you look really close at the shot below you can see some cattle crossing the river, pretty cool eh?

On our way back from the Taj, Ankush took us to a great joint on the side of the road, nothing fancy, but boy was it good!!

As the sun set, we headed home and grabbed this one on the way back. I love this shot of the baby riding along shotgun! Something you don’t see everyday… Thanks to Ankush and Lina for the great trip to the Taj, we had a great time. More pics of India and of course their amazing wedding shortly.

Charlotte and I are still finalizing the editing on their wedding photos, and we’ll have another post up very soon, however we’ve had many friends and family members asking to see our trip photos… So we’ve put together the shots from our arrival and a day trip to India Gate… The Taj Mahal trip will be a post shortly following this one

I was raised with bedtime stories told by my mum – of finding snakes in her bathroom, being held up a lone elephant while travelling in an open jeep on a lonely mountain road at night, helping her dad hand out medications at village leprosy clinics, and of amazing 2 day journeys she’d taken to commute to boarding school by train each semester. You see, my mum grew up in India. Her parents were doctors who ran a couple of mission hospitals there, one in Andhra Pradesh and another in Tamil Nadu. They were based in South India for a total of 17 years and my mum grew up speaking Telegu as well as English, from when she was a toddler. She, her sister and brother returned to Australia to complete their high school years in Melbourne.

During my first trip to India back in 1999 – I was visiting my brother, Mick who was living there at the time – I’d seen the poverty and lower standard of living that’s experienced by the majority of people. That experience had a huge affect on me – I no longer took for granted my suburban life, my hour long commute in an air conditioned train to university, or the fact that I had to work long days to pay for school. Simple things like being able to drink water from a tap, or have access to clean public washrooms were things that are considered luxuries to many people in the world. Even to have access to a car is an extraordinary thing to people in much of the world.

During the writing of this post, I thought it might be cool to show you some old India photos that I’ve scanned from my mum’s collection of slides. Here’s a cool old slide taken in India circa 1956 showing my mum, granny, aunty and my great grandmother (my Grandad’s mother), who visited the family in India that year. They were dressed up for a formal event I guess – all looking very cute in their saris.

Poor mum really must have stood out with her height and pale skin eh! Lucky she wasn’t a blond too! I love this shot of her chatting with the locals in the village.

So… on with the post! We arrived after a relaxed flight to 40+ degree weather in India. Even though it was 11pm, the humidity was incredible! Check out the fancy wheels we got picked up in!!! Ankush’s younger brother, Arapum, and his Dad, B.M, picked us up and helped us arrive safely at our hotel room. Thank you to both of you.

During our short stay, Ankush and Lina were kind enough to show us quite a bit of Delhi – both the street markets and some of the cool monuments – like the Presidents house, India Gate and The Taj Mahal. Below are a few shots we took while were checking out one of the local market areas. Isn’t this shot of Charlotte’s amazing. Transporting a load like that on a bike is incredible!

I love these used appliances! Previously owned blender anyone?

This guy was sitting in front of his store doing the hemming on some trousers. We chatted a little broken English with him and asked if we could take a picture – we just smiled, gave us a gentle head tilt and went on working. Very cool how easy going people are in India.

The reactions to the camera are always different. The guy on the left was being quite funny and playing up to the camera, whereas the dude on the truck was striking his best GQ pose! This worker on the right was chilling out and was pretty cruisy about Charlotte shooting him.

We often saw cows in herds of 3 to 10 cruising the streets. In most of India, cows are revered as sacred, and are therefore free to go where they please.

I interrupted this card game to ask if I could take a photo – and they all laughed as if to say “why wouldn’t you be able to?!”

Later on, we caught a cab with Ankush, Lina, their daughter Mariana and Lina’s parents to see India Gate as well as some of Delhi. The ride there was a little hectic, but we had lots more to learn! Wait till we show you some of the shots on the way to the Taj.

No matter how many people had to get some place, it seemed like they’d all take the one vehicle. Makes sense, but did make for some interesting photos.

The shot below shows the typical layout of the traffic in Delhi – cars in the right lane, 3 wheel motorbikes, cabs and scooter in the middle, and bikes on the outside edge.

Isn’t this a sweet shot of another taxi driver, taken as we were stopped at the lights. I turned the camera and showed him this shot and his smile was ear to ear!

These three wheel taxis are all run on compressed natural gas/propane. Notice the little bumper car style wheel protectors… you’d be surprised how little use those actually get considering the traffic conditions!

So after circling to take a look at the President’s house, we drove to India Gate – a memorial for fallen soldiers. It was so grand and beautiful all lit up, we had a lot of fun exploring the area.

As you can see, Mariana had a wonderful time blowing bubbles with Ankush, then chasing and catching them all! Ah to be a kid again.

Mariana may turn out to be a film maker I think. Everytime we’d turn around she had taken the camera from her mum and was filming something or other! And she’s only 3!

Charlotte saw these two girls selling bracelets and thought it’d be cute to make a collar for Greta (our puppy). You should have seen how quick they were – we were so impressed!

They loved the camera and were so excited when we showed them their pictures.

The huge spotlights that lit India Gate itself provided some pretty cool lighting on the vendors surrounding it. I really like this shot of the necklaces catching the light.

The pic below is actually a snow cone machine… I opted not to invite trouble by having one, although believe me when I tell you – it was very tempting!

More pics to come, stay tuned to the blog for Ankush & Lina’s incredle Hindu Wedding coming soon!!

I cannot begin to tell you how busy Dave and I have been lately… phew! We just got back from shooting an out-of-this-world wedding in India (pics to come!), tons of wicked eshoots, photographed a couple of amazing weddings and all before we strike a pose in Paris in a few days with Jerry Ghionis!! Yes, Dave and I have officially lost our marbles- hehe. One thing that I thought I might tackle, in the midst of all the madness, was my second newborn shoot.

For some reason I thought that newborn shoots would be simple… easy… a piece of cake. I mean how hard could it be, the baby sleeps, you pose them in a cute way, take the photograph and voila, instant adorable baby photos… Hmm, I may have been misguided by all of the cuteness. Actually newborns are a lot like us, they don’t like being disturbed while they are sleeping and cry when they are hungry making it harder than you think to get those super-cute, happy sleeping baby shots. But when they do shut their little eyes and drift off to sleep, so peaceful and cozy, there is nothing more beautiful in the world.

When baby Matteo’s parents saw the blog post of baby Caris, my last newborn shoot, they loved it and wanted something similar when their little one was born. When they contacted me for the shoot I was so stoked and booked in the session regardless of our schedule . I know it’s only my second newborn photography session, but after shooting little baby Matteo, I think I may be getting a knack for it. It’s so rewarding knowing that these meaningful photos will stay close to his parents hearts for years to come, and may one day become a family heirloom.

Lhin, Matteo’s mommy loved the first shot on the blog of Caris’ daddy holding her in his arms. I wanted to create something similar that they could enjoy for their nursery! Look at those little feetsies…. awwww so cute!

I think I mentioned before that I bought like a million little baby hats, beanies, wraps and blankies… Before the shoot I just received a new shipment of little baby hats from this amazingly talented lady in Perth, Australia. Her stuff is so funky and cool, like nothing I’ve ever seen as far as newborn hats go. I love the fuzzy hat at the top, I bought three of them lol, and of course this little bunny rabbit hat, so sweet .

Awww, I love macro photos of the little details – nose, toes and little baby fingers. What a cutie and perfect little newborn Matteo was to photograph. Thanks for being the best little model for me!

Us photographers are pretty spoiled here in Toronto. We have such a variety of shooting locations to choose from. No wonder so many out-of-towners head to the city of T.O. to snap shots of their clients in love. With the big city lights,  art galleries, universities, awesome cultural neighbourhoods and of course the Beach, the possibilities are endless. Nina and Igor – cool wedding photographers from Oakville,  knew what they were looking for when it came to their engagement session and it was right here at the Beach!

We’re always so flattered when our fellow wedding photographers hire us to document their special day. It’s such an honour when our peers admire our work enough to choose us for such an important event in their lives!

As we chatted about their engagement session we we’re all pretty set on shooting in the relaxed and trendy neighbourhood of “the Beach”. We were drawn by all of the funky little shops, painted alleyways and of course the rolling waves.

We drove through scattered showers with fingers crossed that the drizzly weather would clear. Lucky for us the rain, rain went away and we got to have a lot of fun with these guys! We started the shoot in the early evening by Leuty Lifeguard Station on Kew Beach and let these two crazy kids frolic by the waves. I think this sea gull wanted to keep a close eye on the situation because he kept circling Nina & Igor while helping with our beachy theme

Once the sun set, we hit the streets for a little night shooting… My fave!!! Dave found this cool little alleyway with green, purple and yellow paint which coincidentally went perfectly with Nina & Igor’s gear! Dave actually scaled the walls to hold the video light for me on this one… You’re the best Spidey, I mean babe .

I absolutely LOVE these shots Dave grabbed in the street. Especially the picture he caught as the streetcar went by… Ahhh, I’d love a shot of us like that… any offers??

Ohhh, I remember when we took this one. We were all drooling because we shot it right beside the most amazingly yummy smelling Italian Restaurant, it makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Thanks for giving us a great excuse to hit the Beach and for the AWESOME eshoot guys, we really had a blast with you both! We’re sooo looking forward to photographing your wedding this year- Can’t wait!

Wow, this was one smokin’ hot shoot! And what a stunning couple, meet Simon & Noel! While planning their engagement session, they mentioned that they’d love to have a high fashion vibe to the shoot to really give their images drama and elegance. With three wardrobe changes and some of the most beautiful gowns I’ve ever seen you can see how putting that little extra into styling the engagement shoot really does wonders! Honestly, with the gorgeous and style savvy couples who hire us, Dave and I should really open up a modeling agency .

Many of our recent couples have asked to shoot at the Berkeley Church. I guess they’ve been checking out our blog and all of the great wedding photography workshop photos we’ve taken there. Like us, they think it’s one of Toronto’s best photography locations! As you can see from this shoot we managed to get a totally different look to the shoot from Sara & Hami’s engagement pictures. There are just so many options… My goodness, I do love the Berkeley Church .

These guys were so fierce, the pic above could easily be used in a Chanel ad! What a dress. Noel, I must know where you got that turquoise number, absolutely stunning!

Oh, how awesome are Noel’s shoes, all of you shoe addicts out there know what I’m taking about… Christian Louboutin… Helllloooo!!! I am totally hitting up the Louboutin boutique when we go to Paris next week! Louboutin shoes, with their trademark red sole, are as desirable as they come. I’m pretty sure it’s an essential destination for any fashionista in Paris. I don’t know if Dave will actually let me through the doors with my credit card but looking is free, right!?!

Wow, another jaw-dropper! Love this one below, it’s just fabulous. You can tell Simon loves Noel sooo much I couldn’t believe how he proposed. Talk about popping the question… Simon and Noel had their first date down by the docks on Polson st, here in Toronto. When he asked Noel to be his wife he wanted to bring an element of their first date into the proposal. Simon arranged for a Helicopter to drop them at the helipad at the end of Polson street and a limo drive to a private table he had arranged on the beach. Awaiting their arrival was a 5 star chef with a fabulous meal for the occasion. Oh no, wait, it gets better! After the private dinner for two on the beach, Simon took Noel home for a surprise engagement party with all of their friends and loved ones waiting to celebrate the next chapter of their lives together! Wowza, good work Simon, now that’s a proposal!!!

Our high fashion engagement shoot wrapped over a cup of coffee in Toronto’s Distillery District. Thanks guys for another fab shoot at the Berkeley Church! Congrats to you both, you make an amazing couple!

This past weekend, Charlotte and I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of one of our most fun-loving, quirky, easy going couples we’ve ever shot. Some you you might remember the awesome engagement photos we did recently in the back alleys of Toronto. It was Gord and Steph’s incredible personalities that made the engagement photos really come to life.

Although the day was perfect… the forecast wasn’t looking so good, showers and gloom were predicted, but the weather held out and gave us gorgeous dappled clouds, ideal weather for excellent outdoor pictures.

The ceremony was held in the Conservatory of Casa Loma – you might remember this room as being one of the classrooms in the X-Men movies! It’s a stunning space – enormous ceilings with 270 degrees of frosted windows, giving an ethereal light to the space perfect for wedding photos.

When Stephanie walked through the gilded entryway with her father, the look on his face was of so much pride. His love of her was totally evident throughout the whole day. The ceremony was filled with the sound of laughter, there were some tears and lots and lots of smiles. Stephanie – you looked absolutely beautiful!

Steph and Gord’s magnetic personalities have served them well in gathering a wacky and fun group of friends… nothing was common or traditional about the speeches, readings or songs played throughout the evening. The DJ. played one of my favourite songs during dinner, (some of you die hard Flight of the Conchords  fans might know this one) “Part Time Model” – a classic, and a song that shows you these guys have a wicked sense of humour.

We took a lot of sweet pictures throughout the event, but we can’t share them all here on the blog, so we’ll just give you some of our favourites and the best wedding photos from the day…. Enjoy

If you’re looking for an awesome all-in-one location for your wedding in Toronto, I’d certainly suggest you check out Casa Loma for your dream wedding location right here in Toronto… Everything from the ceremony, wedding pics and reception, it’s got it all!

To Steph and Gord, thanks for being yourselves and allowing us to photograph and be a part of your wedding day. We loved every minute !

I LOVE, love, love couples that are in love! It’s the kind of love when you just can’t stop smiling for ear to ear. When you can tell that when they look at each other that there isn’t anywhere on this planet that they’d rather be than together. Sara & Hami are one of these  head over heels, hot for each other in love couples that we just adore! We felt so privileged to be the photographers to capture their love with our lenses.

When we met Sara and Hami for the first time to chat about their dream wedding photography coverage, I couldn’t get over how stunningly gorgeous Sara was (Hami’s cute too of course ). She has these gorgeous big brown eyes, endless bouncy curls and a beautiful personality to match. She was definitely going to be one beautiful bride.

As we were chatting Sara mentioned that she enjoys Salsa dancing. Dave and I kept that in the back of our memory for almost a year and had to get them to show us a few moves for the engagement shoot. Boy, can these two move!!

We love the Berkeley Church and so do many of our clients. They check out the shots on our blog from our wedding photography workshops here in Toronto and they instantly fall in love with all of the different backdrops the Berkeley Church has to offer. Sara and Hami thought it would be a perfect spot for their engagement pictures and they were right! They have soooo many amazing photos from the shoot that we are now doing some canvases and an A-Mazing engagement album for them as well! It’s going to be awesome!!

I LOVE these shots below! Just a simple engagement portrait, but don’t they just look so gorgeous together ???!!!

The Berkeley Church was awesome!! With little winding pathways and streams, blue, red and exposed brick walls, it was an endless source of shooting locations.

I just loved it when these guys changed into their more formal, evening wear. Sara was wearing this stunning gold dress and Hami looked handsome and charming in his suit. We took them away to a little hidden area in the church to grab a few shots of them playing and sneaking a kiss in here and there. Later when we looked back at the images, we couldn’t believe how many of the shots turned out absolutely perfect… not a hair out of place on either of them We loved all the pictures so much we couldn’t decide so we ended up making it into a sequence of our favourites!

Can you believe that this is the end of the shoot?! They still looked like movie stars even after all of the dancing, kissing, modeling and posing they did for us.

Wait a minute… let me pop on my sunglasses… Talk about a stunning engagement ring, huh?! Hami you have some great taste, fabulous work on Sara’s ring!

Ahhh, a couple more of my faves, this has to be one of the best poses from the engagement shoot.  I don’t think this shoot could have turned out any better if we had hired professional models! You guys rocked this shoot, amazing work you two! We can’t wait to photograph your gorgeous wedding this summer, stay tuned to the blog for Sara and Hami’s wedding at The Manor in Kettleby…  coming soon!

As with every year, this event proved to be a blast! The silent auction is always a highlight, as well as the great food that’s served throughout the evening.If I was a bigger hockey fan, the signed jerseys may have meant more to me! Charlotte and I were honoured to be able to donate one of our pieces (Scrub Fires Are Coming) from our recent Contact Exhibition.

The Capitol Theatre is an awesome location for a charity fund raiser like this one – plenty of floor space, a very cool bar and an awesome stage for the musical perfomance of Anna Cyzon. Speaking of which, we were blown away by Anna’s awesome vocal skills… check out Anna’s site if you get a moment.

I’m not sure if you’ll notice, but the photo above with the balloons is packed with our events cards… very cool little bit of cross promotion I thought Thanks for that Nara.

It was also nice to catch up with a friend of ours, Keith, who was running his very cool Snapshot Photobooth. Keith’s in the picture on the bottom right of the next four photos, along with his lovely wife.

As you can see, the energy in the room was buzzing and everybody had an awesome night! Thanks to Nara for organizing this wonderful and worthwhile event – and to everybody who came out in support of this important cause.

Have you ever seen anything as cute as this teeny, tiny little baby girl? Can you believe she is only 3 days old!!! Let me introduce you to little baby Caris. She was so incredibly adorable and I was so happy to have the pleasure of shooting her in the first 3 days of her little life. When Fallon, Caris’ mommy, contacted me and said she was interested in a shoot I was so ecstatic and a little bit scared! It’s not that I haven’t done a baby shoot before, it was just that I had never photographed a baby this young. Caris’ mommy and daddy came along for the shoot and helped me with the newborn session. Daddy held little Caris for this photo, can you believe that she actually fits in the palm of his hands!

Dave has been doing this for a while and has done his fair share of newborn shoots in his time, but I really wanted to try this type of photography out for myself so I decided to tackle our newborn shoots on my own. I was a little nervous and wasn’t really sure what to expect so I did a little research and found a few pointers… 1) Get some cool props  (Ok, I must have spent like $800 on photography props- geesh there is sooo much cute stuff out there, Don’t tell Dave! From beenies, wraps, blankies, wooden bowls, baskets, knitted baby swings and of course the cute little baby cocoons… see below!) 2) Make sure the room is toasty warm for the little one 3) Have lots and lots of cloths, wet wipes and diapers just in case 4) Give yourself lots of time because sometimes the baby won’t be sleepy or interested in having pictures taken!

Little Caris was one un-sleepy little girl. She was so cute, she would just look at me like peek-a-boo, I’m not tired, I’m wiiiide awake!

Take a look at this face! That’s what I think of every time I see this picture… Those little cheeks are so cute!

I couldn’t believe how sweet her little toes were! So small and cute as a button. She finally went down for a little snooze after a tough hour of modeling .  Now that I’ve photographed little baby Caris I’ve come to the conclusion that I absolutely love taking newborn photos. They are so delicate and small at this age. It’s such a wonderful idea to have your baby photographed when they are so new to the world! I bet she looks different already, they grow up so fast.

I love this one, I wanted a macro shot of her eyelashes so I got in close, they were so perfect and tiny.

She was so tranquil once she fell asleep. There is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping baby Thanks so much to Fallon and Gary for bringing your little newborn baby girl along for a photography session with me. It was really amazing to photograph your little miracle.

We started off the day at Tina’s home in Toronto’s beautiful Mount Pleasant. We arrived and the house was buzzing with food, friends and relatives. I took a few moments to photograph the dress, rings and flowers while Dave covered the photojournalism of the guests.  I have to say I took so many photos of Tina & Barry’s wedding rings. I loved shooting the cute little Birk’s bell that held Tina’s engagement ring, so pretty.

Tina’s parents were so happy to see their little girl looking so beautiful on her wedding day. They were so proud of her and all of her accomplishments, you could just see the love they have for her.

Dave and I love shooting the photojournalism aspect of each and every wedding. As Tina was getting into the Rolls Royce a big gust of wind came along and caught Tina’s veil – click – got it!

The ceremony was beautiful and full of advice and kind words for the couple. I absolutely loved the music through out the wedding, it was very powerful and full of meaning.

The weather was mixed on the day, rain, sunshine, and brewing clouds. We started out the morning with a thundershower which had us all a bit nervous, oddly enough when we headed to the ceremony the clouds dissipated and the sunshine came out in full force. It was so lovely for everyone to congratulate the couple with the warmth of the sun shining down on them. But when the clouds rolled in again it did make for some amazing pictures. What a perfect day for a wedding!

When we arrived to The Liberty Grand where Tina & Barry held their wedding reception, we wanted to take the wedding pictures right away so they could enjoy the reception. While we were doing the couples photo shoot, a few of the little girls peeked in on us photographing the newlywed bride and groom. It was so cute, I went around the corner and snapped a few shots while they were sneaking a glimpse of the new bride. Little girls are so sweet, you just know that they’re daydreaming of the day they get to dress up like a princess and be as beautiful as Tina

The Liberty Grand is such an opulent wedding venue. We are so lucky in Toronto, we have so many beautiful locations for wedding receptions. When it came to their wedding, Tina & Barry did not miss a single detail. From the gorgeous floral arrangements to the delectable desserts it felt like a fairy tale wedding.

As we were photographing the bride and groom we whisked outside for a few shots and wanted to play with the large columns and clouds overhead. I just love the richness of the architecture of The Liberty Grand, what a perfect spot for a wedding.

This was sooo cute! As the couple enjoyed their first dance together, the relatives tossed coins as they danced. All of the children ran to the floor and gathered up the loot! So adorable

Thanks so much to Tina & Barry for having us along to photography your wedding day! It was a gorgeous event at The Liberty Grand and we had an amazing time with you all.

Meet Sonia & Khiem… When they met with us in our studio to talk about their wedding, Dave and I felt an instant connection with the fabulous couple planning a beautiful Chinese wedding. Maybe it was because they knew how important good photography is on your wedding day, or maybe it was because we share a common interest, a strong love for the environment. As we were talking we mentioned how happy we were to finally be a part of Bullfrog Power. We’d already been doing what we could to reduce our carbon footprint while traveling on our destination weddings but Bullfrog Power is something else we could do right here at home. We were so proud to have our studio powered on Bullfrog’s green electricity that comes exclusively from wind and hydro facilities.

We really started to spark an interest with Sonia & Khiem. Sonia (AKA Ms. Green) works as a Director for a Not for Profit Environmental Organization and is also a blogger on environmental issues. As we were chatting we thought, why not Bullfrog your wedding, they do this sorta thing for concerts and events, why not have a green wedding! We all thought it was such a great idea and the rest is history! Bullfrog now offers you an option to Bullfrog your wedding to run on clean, green energy, isn’t that AWESOME!

When it came time to do some amazing engagement photos of Sonia & Khiem, we had to head to nature. We thought Toronto’s High Park would be a great location for a photo shoot of the young couple in love. Spring had arrived in full force. Birds chirping, blossoms flew through the air and billowy clouds floated by over head. Nothing better than photographing a great couple in nature in the month of May… it’s hard to believe we actually call this work! lol!

We took a few shots day dreaming in the dandelions and making a wish or two. After walking around for a bit we wanted to grab some shots of Sonia & Khiem by the water and playing in the reeds. Spring just gets the excitement flowing in your veins and makes you wanna spend all day outside! It was so much fun working with these guys   We wrapped the shoot at the Sunnyside Pavilion and played around with a few of the locations. Sonia & Khiem were so cool, we had soooo many great pictures from this engagement shoot, there are just waaay too many to post. We hope you guys like the sneak peek and thanks for helping us welcome in the warm spring weather.

If you’d like some more information on how to Bullfrog Power your wedding click here! Your wedding is such a happy time in your life, going green is just one more thing to feel great about!!

Charlotte and I have had a nice relaxed day at home, doing some gardening with the dogs running around exploring all the flowers at top speed.

We’re very excited to share the some of our favorite pictures from yesterday’s wedding of Tiffany and Neil – a very cool couple who Charlotte has known for a long time…. in fact, Charlotte’s sister, Tricia, was part of the wedding party. Yesterday was a perfect day to get married, not too cold, not too hot; there was a gentle breeze all day and the sun was out… Perfect really.

Charlotte headed over to Neil’s parent’s house in Toronto to shoot him prepping with the guys and I spent a couple of hours with the girls in Hamilton as they put the finishing touches on their makeup and got dressed. As you’ll see, Tiffany looked absolutely stunning – with every little detail working to create a classic, elegant look.

The church they were married in sits atop the Hamilton mountain and has gorgeous light pouring in through the windows. There were some wonderful moments throughout the ceremony, with the pastor telling lots of funny stories and ambling through the service in a laid back manner.

As Tiffany walked down the aisle, there were some tears and the look in Neil’s eye was priceless. It’s always a privilege to photograph couples who share their love so openly with their friends and family.

So without any further ado, I’d like to share the slideshow we prepared for them during the dinner portion of their wedding. We showed them this slideshow around 9pm. The response was a real delight. Both Charlotte and I feel so grateful for being invited to each and every wedding, and to photograph such significant moments in people’s lives.

Congratulations guys – we’re sure you’ll have an amazing honeymoon in Ohco Rios Jamaica, take lots of photos!! We look forward to catching up when you get back.

I just love the response Tiff had to the slideshow… Glad you enjoyed it guys

Our second place photography award goes to Brian McKay with this stunning portrait. We loved the way he posed Ada with this playful shot. Congratulations Brian!! You’ve won $250 off a future Wicked Wedding Workshop!!!

And the prize for the third place photography award goes to Emily Sorlie!! Awesome job Emily, we loved the way you made fun use of the location with this shot. Great use of humour, which always adds a lot of fun to engagement photography! Nothing tops having a good time with your clients and your photography, it’s the best!  You’ll take home a $100 credit for a future Wicked Wedding Workshop.

Thanks so much to all of the attendees! The race was very close and you all put in an amazing effort. We had so much fun with you guys and hope to see you all again very soon! The next Wicked Wedding Workshop will be announced soon, so stay tuned to the blog!!

Check out the gallery of the amazing pics the group created below… all of these images must be commended for their creativity, technical skill and outstanding execution. All of these images are outstanding and we wish we could hand out more than one first place! It honestly took us forever to choose the winning photos, but it was very satisfying when we finally agreed on who got the awards. Congrats to everyone and we hope to see you at the next workshop – we’re making it bigger, better and even more awesome next time around!!

To our excitement, our exhibit has been getting a lot of attention here in Toronto and we’re very happy to say we sold out our pieces before our gallery even opened!! We’ve decided to do another run of our fine art landscape photography we have on display from all over Australia for any more interested buyers so contact us if you’d like a little peice of “down under” for your walls . (Download an order form here)

This has all been so thrilling for us and we’ve hardly had a moments rest, the big news came a few days ago when Tourism Australia gave us a ring to invite our Terra Australis exhibition to be part of G’Day Toronto and come as guests to the opening night of G’Day Toronto – the week long tourism festival showcasing Australia’s culture. The room was a-buzz with music, beer and wine tastings, delicious treats, and Australian foods like Tim Tams, meat pies and Kangaroo!  Yes, Kangaroo… Dave and I have had it before but it was very exotic for us to try it here in T.O. The Australian wine council was there as well with many vendors from all over Oz promoting delectable wines from many of the regions.

We had a great night at the party last night and we’re pumped to be invited to the G’Day Toronto Media Launch party this afternoon. It was so awesome to have our pieces on display and it was great having so many important people from the media from here in Toronto chatting to us about our exhibit. It’s so cool getting recognition for something that has been so much fun for us to put together. G’Day Toronto will be on from now until Saturday. If you’re looking for something fun to do in the city check out the festivities and the last chance to see our Terra Australis exhibit in our studio, it will be open this Friday from 6-9!!! Have fun at all of the G’Day Toronto festivities everyone and don’t forget to throw another shrimp on the barbie for us!

We knew the shots were being printed for the Summer edition, but it was still very exciting to open the copy we picked up today and see our photo on the contents page, then to flip forward to the article and see four full pages of photos!! We weren’t expecting to have so many of the images in there, so it was a great surprise

I just want to send a big shout out to Megan for referring us for this shoot! Megan’s a past bride of our and a managing editor at Canadian Family.

The following video may be a little lenghty, but if you’re interested in seeing what evergreen are doing with the Brick Works, check it out here. Also, if you’d like to find out a little more about how Evergreen is raising $55 million to transform the Brick Works heritage site into an international showcase for urban sustainability and green design, visit this page.

-Biesse Out!

(Can you tell we just saw Star Trek!? So awesome – and I’m by no means a Trekkie!)

Tif and Neil live right in the heart of downtown Toronto, so we thought it was perfect to shoot in their hood… Union Station, The Royal York and The Skywalk (which connects Union Station to The CN Tower)…. We also grabbed a few shots of Welli in the rock garden of their condo building… Isn’t this guy the cutest?! Fun Fact: He’s actually a close cousin of Greta’s… you can sort of see it in the pointy nose eh?!

This shots below were done by Charlotte in the Skywalk. The lighting was done with two off camera lights, to give the amazing glow on their faces that you see. I think these are my favourite pics from the engagement session.

Then I played with some time lapse photography… what do you guys think? Want to see more of this in eshoots?

We wrapped up the shoot in the lobby of The Royal York – we both love shooting in there… such a powerfully designed space… just awesome.

Thanks for a great engagement shoot guys! We’re both pumped about your wedding next weekend!

Grrrrrowwwwwwww. Very sexy BCap!

Our gorgeous models were the picture of perfection and worked their hearts out to get the images the attendees were striving for. Thanks so much to our hard working models. We had Anett & Joel along as our couple for our engagement style photo shoot.  They both did a fabulous job and the participants loved having a real couple to pose and photograph as you would have to on a real engagement shoot. They were so cute together and looked pretty happy to be spending a day of kissing and cuddling together We’ll have pics of them coming soon!

We kicked off the teaching portion of the workshop chatting about marketing, blogging, looking after clients – from inquiry right through to the wedding day and producing their products. We also shared the way we visualize the perfect album before shooting a single image… here’s the 4 shots Dave grabbed during the example. I could tell a lot of the attendees really liked the concept of having the album in mind.

Dave and I had had our Terra Australis exhibition opening the night before the workshop, and some cupcakes left over, so we brought them to the workshop to use in the details section of the shoots. We always like to include the details that people will face on a wedding day to prepare them for what they might encounter – hanging dresses and veils, rings, ring boxes and bottles of champagne. Check out this shot of the ring – we did this with the 100mm macro… both Dave and I love shooting with it… pin sharp and beautiful bokeh. Do you like the brand colours?!

Ada was the first Model to arrive for the shoot. When she walked in the door I was greeted with a great big, warm smile, she is so professional and has the kindest personality… oh and did I mention that she is drop-dead-gorgeous!! Ada and I had a great time and a lot of laughs getting her all dolled up for the shoot Being the only girl out of  Dave, Bryan and I, I was on dress duty.  I’m sure Ada felt like Scarlet O’Hara from Gone with the Wind at some point in the dress tightening process. Even at the end of the day she still looked like a princess.  I can’t blame her if she didn’t want to take off her tiara, who would want to go back to blue jeans after that!

Tai was along for the day as well. She’s great and she’s modeled once before for our photography workshop at the Royal York Hotel here in Toronto.  It was so nice having her back. Tai has done a lot of modeling and loves bridal, she’s also appeared in Wedding Bells Magazine. She looked so elegant in her cathedral veil and was absolutely glowing in the pictures.

It was fantastic using the Berkeley Church again. It’s a magical and ethereal location for photography. Endless corridors, hidden stairways and private rooms decorated with modern art and eclectic antiques. It’s no wonder so many fashion shows, photo shoots and movies are filmed there! We were so stoked being able  to book the Church again for our workshop. Everyone loved shooting at such a great location.

Thanks so much to all of our incredible, fun-lovin’ and talented attendees, you all really helped make the day a lot of fun for us all. We were also so happy to have 3 Wicked Wedding Workshop alumni back again for another workshop. Even Susan, a photographer we met at a recent [b]ecker workshop, made it all the way in from the U.S.A. We had a blast with you all and can’t wait to see more of your shots from the day. We’ll be posting the workshop winners soon!

Along with our workshops, a great way to bring your photography to the next level is The i.c.e. Society – a 24/7 online classroom with multi-international award winning photographer Jerry Ghionis as your teacher! All participants in our May 3rd photography workshop will receive a promo code for 20% off your subscription. Please contact us for your secret code

We’d also love to thank Pink Twig for supplying us with such gorgeous floral bouquets for our workshop. Pink Twig is an amazing little floral boutique in Toronto just a hop, skip and a jump from our studio. Their floral boutique creates some of the most beautiful and unique arrangements we’ve ever seen. We have had many of our couples use Pink Twig on their wedding day and they always provide the freshest, most vibrant flowers so we love photographing their stuff. We’re stoked to have them provide our floral bouquets.

A special thanks to Andrew from Sorlie Arts for doing our promo for our workshops. We all had a lot of fun being in front of his camera and we all can’t wait to see the promo he puts together for us. Thanks Andrew!!!

This gives us a little R&R time with the dogs as well and we can take a break from the whirlwind of wedding season. When Kyle and Jessica were referred to us by Andrew and Emily we were conveniently enjoying our break away in Combermere not to far from Ottawa where Kyle went to school for Aerospace Engineering. Kyle ended up coming up to Combermere for an awesome wedding photography interview by lake!

While Jessica was with her parents in Florida, it was great that he could make it up because Ottawa is a 6 hour hike from Toronto. Even though he booked us with out his bride to be by his side, we think he made a pretty good choice and chose us as their wedding photographers on the spot!

Well, almost a year had passed since meeting Kyle and we were now getting pretty excited to meet Jessica, the girl Kyle described as his very beautiful fiance. When Dave and I first met her, we both noticed her gorgeous bouncy curls and striking sapphire blue eyes.  The wedding was now just around the corner and you could feel the excitement in the air. Kyle and Jessica were to be married in the church that Kyle had attended his whole life and with a many of their friends and family as witnesses.  All throughout the ceremony, you could feel the love they hold for each other and the love they have for God.

One of the most beautiful parts of the ceremony was when Jessica and Kyle expressed their love and servitude for one another by washing each others feet. This was a powerful, sybolic and beautiful expression of love and both Dave and I were moved to tears being witnesses to it.

After the ceremony we headed to Tangle Creek Golf Club for the reception. The brewing rain clouds began to blow in with an ominous forecast predicted, we made it in time to catch a few great shots of the newlyweds before the heavens opened up!

I love the way the winter trees look right before the buds start to bloom. Even when the rain hit, we still managed to get a few shots of Kyle and Jessica, while they snuggled under their umbrella. There is something so romantic about the rain, it was great to have such a fun-loving couple willing to risk getting damp in the name of photography.

Thanks so much to Kyle and Jessica and enjoy the warmer weather on your honeymoon in Cuba!!