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Deanne and Derek’s Winter Engagement – March 2017

 

It’s been a while, I know.

2017 has been quite a year – sadly, my dad became ill and passed away and it was one of those moments in life where it was important to take time away from my computer. I lightened my workload and took the time I needed away from the pressures of blog posts and the Instagram frenzy. A needed pause – time to be with family and friends. Time to take a breath.

But friends, please know that I have so many photos I’m looking forward to sharing. During this time, I’ve been working with fabulous people and have been as focused as ever on making beautiful images with them. So many great celebrations – weddings, engagements, anniversaries, new babies, and more. If anything, I’m just more convinced than ever about the importance of photographing these milestones. There’s so much work to show from the past year or so and I’m looking forward to catching you all up in the coming weeks. The last blog post (from Allison and Steven’s engagement) was shot just a few days before my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer. With such a long gap between posts, I thought it only fitting that I start back with the last shoot I did just before he passed away. It’s my personal bookends to this time in my life.

First up is Deanne and Derek’s very cold winter engagement. We had to postponed this one a couple of times, mostly because February was unusually warm and wasn’t snowy enough to look like winter. Okay, correction. This session took place near Georgian Bay, in Ontario’s snow belt. In my hometown (well, like the next village over, if we’re getting specific). But it’s a place that’s always snowy in winter. And there WAS snow. It just took until March for the snow to recover and look less brown and melty. I have a personal belief that all shoots take place at the time when they are meant to happen. And the fortunate part about postponing was that it eventually took place on the same day that Deanne and Derek picked up their new (SUUUUPER ADORABLE) puppy.

I can’t convey just how cold it was that day. Puppy stayed warm in the car (and in Derek’s coat!) while we braved quick bursts of photographs. Thanks to Deanne and Derek for embracing the weather and for being brave enough to jump in a snow drift when I suggested we jump in a snow drift. Can’t wait to reconnect with these two in a couple of weeks for their autumn wedding. So, at long last, here we go …

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Allison and Steven’s Winter Engagement – February 2016

I love winter engagement sessions. February is an especially good time. The days are getting longer by then and I find there’s often spectacular sunsets.

When Allison and Steven suggested skating for their engagement session, I was especially excited. It’s always fun when couples incorporate their interests into their sessions – Allison and Steven are both hockey players (Allison is also a totally rad roller derby player). Last winter was unseasonably warm, so finding outdoor ice started to become a bit of an issue. Thankfully, we stuck with the idea and found a good Saturday afternoon to head down to Nathan Philips Square for a skate. We then went to Cherry Beach to take in the sunset. I had so much fun on this one and am excited to share their summer wedding on the blog.

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Late Summer Engagement Session in Toronto – September 2015

I’m really excited to share photos of Nivedita and David’s beautiful November wedding. But first, I’ll take you back to their engagement shoot in September.

Engagement shoots are a lot of fun for a few reasons. For one, we have more time to explore and we can take our time to really play with a location. This is great because it allows for some time to relax in front of the camera and to get used to taking photos together. It’s a nice way to get comfortable with me (and with the camera) before the wedding day. More than that, engagement photos are a couple’s first family photo and it’s always a pleasure to find creative ways to capture this start.

With Niv and Dave, we met up at the University of Toronto and found classic heritage buildings as a backdrop. After a switch from their gorgeous Indian outfits (and just wait til you see their beautiful wedding clothes in a future blog post!!), we worked our way down to Cherry Beach to catch the sunset in a more natural setting. It was a blast to spend this perfect late summer night with these two and it made me even more excited for their wedding in November.