Sofia & Karim Wedding
Posted by David on January 14th, 2009
Surprisingly, our first wedding of the year came very (very) early – Sofia and Karim were married on January 3, 2009. According to Karim, it was because that was the first Saturday of the year. It was a very intimate event and they were both great to work with.
In tradition with highlighting our favorite pictures that may otherwise never be seen, here are a few B-side shots from our first wedding of the year.
This is probably a photo only photographers would enjoy. I saw how that one beam of light hit the rose petal and thought it would make a great, quiet photograph.
They had a cake made by a family friend of theirs. I loved how it was simple yet elegant. I also loved that it was chocolate.
Here's an example of a picture that I loved and Neil didn't care much for. Chalk it up to our individual styles. I liked the motion and dynamic of Sofia rushing up the stairs to the ceremony.
And here's a shot that we both agree rocks. Thought we'd put it in just in case you didn't believe it was actually in January.
That’s it. A whole new year is coming up. Lots of weddings, lots of shoots, lots of fun and definitely lots of memories.
Thanks and congratulations to Sofia and Karim – one of the bravest (it was -15°C!) couples we’ve had the privilige to photograph.
Hard on our Gear
Posted by David on January 2nd, 2009
One of the tenants of being a professional photographer is that – as a whole – we’re harder on our equipment than most people. That’s why things cost more for “professional” level gear; they’re built from better materials, using better (usually more complicated) techniques.
We don’t treat our gear with as much care as we should (I’ll leave my lenses uncapped on nearby tables so I can change them faster; Neil will frequently leave his camera on the ground by his feet) all in the name of being ready to get “the shot”.
We also subject them to the same bodily harm as ourselves – climbing trees, fences, inches from the ground in a moving vehicle. Most people wouldn’t dream of doing these things to their cameras but I guess we’re just wired differently.
Also as a professional photographer, you come to rely on various tools to get things done – particular cameras, particular flashes, particular lenses. Photographing weddings differs from regular studio photography both in that you have one chance to capture that defining moment; and, that you have to carry everything with you. Even the back ups.
The cameras that we shoot with are getting harder to come by – it’s a niche market defined almost solely by wedding photographers so Fuji’s not exactly jumping at the chance to make a new one.
So, when we unwrapped one of our replacement cameras for the first time, we wanted to mark the occasion with a ceremonious photograph of the shutter count sitting quietly at zero.
Sorry, little guy, life’s going to be tough from here on out.
ND Grad Test
Posted by David on December 29th, 2008
As a gift, I was given a Lee Filter Foundation holder system. In non-camera-nerd speak, that means it’s a piece that screws into the front of a lens that holds pieces of plastic in front of it. The plastic are called filters and change the light passing through them. The filter could just be coloured, like red or blue, or have special properties like polarization.
The first set of filters I bought for it was an ND Grad filter. It’s a filter where the top part is greyed (like sunglasses) and the bottom half is clear. Why? Because the difference in exposure for the sky and the ground is usually massive – you start to lose the clouds. With an ND Grad filter, you can get you can get dramatic sky pictures like this:
Sky over Brampton Suburb
Prefabricated building construction in the steel beam stage
Driving down the DVP
Pedestrians Downtown Toronto
I’m a happy guy.
Matt & Elaine Wedding
Posted by David on August 9th, 2008
Today we shot the wedding of Matt and Elaine. I thought I’d post a few fun pics before heading off for bed for you guys to enjoy.
As part of our morning ritual, we get a round of Tim’s while I bring a pair of Starbucks Frappucinos. They’re great energy boosters throughout the day. Great, that is, until Neil decided to spill it on his shirt. Wedding veterans know, always keep a change of clothes in the car – lucky, we had a spare in the boot. Snapped this while we were still driving.
Families can often get really big – so our latest thing is comandeering vehicles to shoot from. It’s in place, it’s already open, and we can catch everyone before they scatter. Win-win situation. I like how SUVs have the sunroof we can stand out of now.
Here’s one more – showing one how closely we often have to work with videographers. Usually, they’re pretty easy-going. Some, however, totally get in your way. I’ve shot wedding video before – a totally different game than photo – and I can understand where they’re coming from. I’ve found a smile and diplomacy usually work out well for me.
It was a great wedding. We had loads of time to take photos both before the ceremony and during the “park” part. I think this is the first time the kids really warmed up to me…
Congrats, again, Matt and Elaine!
Elise Estrada Photoshoot
Posted by David on July 29th, 2008
Even though our shoot wasn’t until the late afternoon, we left all our gear setup from the previous night. You never know when you might get a chance to do something impromptu, so we like to leave things ready to shoot as long as we can.
It was mid afternoon when Elise and her agent arrived – they chatted with the editor of the mag while we made sure everything was still good to go.
It would seem, one of the perks of being a photographer is being able to take pictures of your kid with anyone famous who comes by the studio. Peyton hit it off with Elise right away:
You’ll note how unphased Peyton is. Future professional lady’s-man.
It was a good shoot where nothing really went wrong. Elise was great to work with. I hope we can get her in the studio again sometime. Here are a few of our favourite shots – I’ll be throwing some into the gallery section.
Yeah. Jumping shots. They’re always lots of fun. I’m glad I borrowed that mic – I think it’s something like $500. Ouch.
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