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Flaunting with friends

Liz collects friends.  And once she has them, she keeps them forever.  When you meet her (and want to be her friend, too!) you understand the magnetic draw that she has.  It's infectious.  Needless to say, she had friends come to her wedding last weekend from everywhere --childhood friends, sorority friends, and even friends she met traveling around the world.

Instead of picking a few to be bridesmaids, she decided to have a luncheon for all of them at the hair salon.  Such a brilliant idea!

We all gathered at Flaunt Boutique in Toronto, and Ivan (her hairdresser for the last 15 years), let us take over the place.  There was catered food from the amazing Dish (who also catered the wedding), and champagne to boot.

It was a party before the party.  A great way to start the wedding day -- make an event of the "getting ready" portion of the day, celebrate and spend time with your special friends in a cool salon like Flaunt!

And here she is, the post pre-party product, with her new husband Ian! 

Wedding Featured online, how blissful

I'm happy to say that Bliss Events, an amazing event planning company in Toronto, is using my photos as a feature wedding on their site.  This is a great compliment to me, but really a bigger compliment to the bride Sarah, who made the most amazing choices in planning her perfect wedding.  Photographing it was the easy part!!

You can go to Bliss Events.ca>>Gallery>>Feature Wedding, June 21 for the feature slideshow.

Or www.documentographer.com/SarahRob to see the slideshow I made from the wedding.

Thank you for this, I feel Blissed!

Sassy Sunday

Vaz and Kayanee actually pretended to be nervous for our engagement session.  That lasted, oh, 3 minutes!  They were naturals in front of the camera.  This had everything to do with how natural and loving they are together. Two nicer, sweeter (& more photogenic) people could not have met. 

This engagement session in the Distillery District with them last weekend made me so excited for their wedding!  Next year can't come fast enough, so we can do this again!!

My favourite from the session is this one below here. This is just them, walking to the next place. How adorable! 

Photography + Yoga retreat to Costa Rica in January!

Earlier this year, I went on a profound yoga retreat to Peru with Xenia Splawinski.  (See photos from my trip here, and some more here.)  I was so inspired photographically by my experience, I couldn't help but think of how well yoga and photography go together. 

For the past four years I have been enjoying teaching travel photography workshops, and have been anxious to take the classes 'to the field', so to speak.  After my experience in Peru, I think this combination of activities would be an even richer way to improve photography skills and expression of experience, as you re-connect with yourself through yoga.

So, we're doing it.

This January, Xenia & I have teamed up to lead a joint retreat.  

We're off to Costa Rica, and you are welcome to join us.  Click on the image below for details, and book your spot. 

For one-on-one attention, we're keeping the group small, so don't delay.  If you have questions, please feel free to e-mail me.

My Beh's all grown up

Last Saturday, my dear friend Behzad got married.  It's been a week, and I still can't believe it. And what a night.  A spectacular night, in fact, at the Capital Event Theatre.

Before I hung up my photographer hat for the day, I spent the morning with the boys and took their getting ready shots. 

First, we went for a good old-fashioned shave at Truefitt & Hill.  It's been around since 1805, but this was a first for me.

Then we went out for brunch, and the tuxes came out.  I think these are the coolest, most special cufflinks I have ever seen.

This is Beh, looking powerful and important.  Is there any other way to look on your wedding day?

These are the boys.  This is who they are.  This is why we love them.

Aaaaaand, he's off!  Next amazing chapter.

Congratulations Beh + Jill!!

With love.

So, what else have you been up to?

Let's see.  In the last 3 weeks, I have shot 4 weddings, 1 baby shoot and 2 engagement shoots. I have been falling behind on my blogging and made an Executive decision to not have a post per session.  Instead, here is a mish mash of all the fun I've been having.

You remember Krista + Andy, right?  I certainly won't forget how we braved the February cold for their engagement session.  They had a wonderful wonderful wedding.

(Thank you to Tara for this awesome shot!)

A couple of days later Cheryl + Rob celebrated their romantic wedding at the Drake Hotel. It was so relaxed, fun and awesome.  I am convinced it's because the bride wore such a hot pink dress.  There is a connection there, I'm sure of it.

Then there was Ben, who was fussy and incredibly endearing because of it.  He turned me into mush.

Oh, and we can't forget Susie + Johnny, who had an amazing authentically Scottish-themed wedding at the Hunt Club. It was cold and overcast -- totally could have been Scotland. If they look familiar, it's probably from their engagement shoot in the Spring. 

And from Scottish, I went cowboy.  Meet Lindsay + Paul.  They are getting married next September.  The cows won't be there.  Thank goodness, those horns are scary!!  We had so much fun together -- they were up for anything!  I know their wedding is going to be fantastically great.  

Anyway, that's me in a nutshell.  Having a ball.

outtakes

People get scared.  Understandably so.  They don't know what to expect when they are having their photo taken, and they worry it will be some big, intimidating, experience.

But really, it's just me, you, and my camera.  You being you, me being me, and the camera doing its thing.  Not scary at all.

I thought I'd show a couple of pics here that were taken of me shooting David + Gabriela in Israel. You've seen the shot here, and now you can see what it was like behind the scenes here!

I mean really, people are usually just laughing at me as I contort, bushwhack or bend oddly to get the shot.  Harmless.  Fun, even!  Ask any of my clients.

Eastside Story

I was an explorer on Monday.  Going where I had never gone before -- the innards of the Brickworks.

 Sure, I have done shoots there before, and before that,  but never have I gone under the fences, across planks and on roofs.  If this makes me sound cool, which I am totally convinced that it does, I can't take the credit.  Michelle, the gorgeous bride-to-be here, is the cool one. Not only did she lead us around the ins-and-outs, but she could explain what everything was, and what it is going to be.

Have a good look here -- in two weeks the renovations start, and the Brickworks as you see here will never be the same.  Fleeting -- much like the period of engagement before a new chapter of your life.

Allison and Mike got ditched

By ditched, you probably think I mean hitched.  They got that too, but I actually mean ditched. On Brock Street, in Uxbridge.  We wanted somewhere Autumny to shoot with such gorgeous weather this weekend, and, truthfully, the side of the highway was the most beautiful spot. There were changing leaves, wild growth, and hills -- everything you could want. Besides, what can be more romantic than the honking of passing Harleys and trucks as you take your wedding photos?  

Indeed, the wedding day is a day to remember forever. This one goes down in the books. Thanks you guys, for being so fun, and open, and awesome.

When it's on, it's on!

How do you know when a wedding is a successful party?  What is it your guests remember? The food?  The decorations?  We all know it's the dancing.  They say if your guests are dancing, it was a success.  Then they are experiencing your wedding. 

At David and Gabriela's wedding that I shot a couple of weeks ago in Israel, people weren't just dancing.  They were dancing as though they would never dance again.  All. Night. Long.

I'd say that was a success!!