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Robin and Terry Engagement Photo Session, Distillery District, Toronto

It has been a while since we had an engagement photo shoot in the Distillery District and, on this particular morning the place was absolutely packed. Arriving a bit early, Sandra and I quickly scouted the place for all the changes that happened since last time – a year is a very long time in a busy city like Toronto.  Remember the nice CN Tower skyline shot from The Esplanade and featured  here  ? Gone ! Condos are going up like mushrooms in the Downtown Lakeshore core and construction cranes are poking up the sky in the most unexpected spots. Soon, tall buildings will take their place, forever altering the clean skyline backdrop we enjoyed from the Parliament Park.

It’s always fun shooting in the Distillery. There’s always a nice corner one can relax, enjoy the company of others, photography or not, and this day was no different. The following pictures try to convey that feeling…

Enjoy!

Engagement Photography Toronto Distillery District Robin and Martin (more…)

Nelia and Taras Wedding Day, Church of the Holy Protection, Osgoode Hall, Le Treport

It’s not very often we’d rather pull over and wait on the highway’s shoulder on our way to a bride’s house, but coming down Hwy.427 that morning, on route to Nelia’s Toronto apartment, was proving to be a challenge. It was raining so hard the windshield wipers could not keep up and as a result I could barely see couple of feet past the hood of our car. It was simply pouring so Sandra and I were discussing Plan B – indoor locations to replace our planned Osgoode Hall bridal and formal photography shoot. By the time we headed out tho the ceremony, the weather completely cleared up in a way just as spectacular as it rained and we went ahead with all the original plans. The service at the Ukrainian Church of the Holy Protection was very moving, helped in no small part by the beautifully singing choir back upstairs. We had a bit of fun afterwards at Osgoode Hall (perhaps the worst kept secret location in Downtown Toronto) and on Queen Street before heading out to the reception held at Le Treport.

This is a small photo snippet of their day.

Enjoy!

Wedding Photography Toronto Osgoode Hall Le Treport Ukrainian Church of the Holy Protection

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Rizelle and Wesley Engagement Photo Session, Toronto Centre Island, ON

Sandra and I have been living in the GTA for the past 17 years but for whatever reason we never went to Toronto Island. We had to break the ice at some point and get to see for ourselves the famous, postcard perfect, Toronto Downtown city line as seen from Center Island. The evening was gorgeous, wispy pink clouds adorned the sunset and of course, but with us being busy shooting this Engagement session pretty much everywhere else on the island, by the time the sunset came, all the good, comfortable spots on the North shore were taken… Not discouraged by the army of photographers solidly entrenched in their spots with their  tripods, we scouted a thin, little limb extending  into the lake only the geese and mallards seemed to be using and set camp there to patiently wait for the opportune moment to shoot. We weren’t disappointed.

We’d like to thank Rizelle and Wesley for being such troopers. Without their patience the last photos you will see in this album would not have been possible. The following is a snippet of that evening

Enjoy!

Engagement Photography Toronto Centre Island Toronto Island (more…)

Heba and Phil's Wedding Day, Metropolitan United Church, Toronto, ON

It’s funny how many wedding customs come from the Victorian Era. Something Old – Something New – Something Borrowed – Something Blue…And a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe is one. The white dress too as prior to the Victorian Era brides wore green, symbolizing fertility, or simply their best Sunday dress or even black. The custom of taking photos to document the event with the newly introduced George Eastman Kodak’s cameras also dates back to those times.

The amount of planning and detail that went into Heba and Phil’s Victorian wedding was staggering and almost impossible to document completely even in our blog entry which turned to be the biggest ever. From Toronto’s Metropolitan United Church, thru Black Creek Pioneer village and Hazelton Manor this is how the day went on.

Enjoy!

Wedding Photography Toronto, Metropolitan United Church, Black Creek Pioneer Village, The Paradise

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Brenna and Jordan,Farm Engagement Session, Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON.

When we met Brenna and Jordan they mentioned they love nature, the outdoors and would love to have the engagement on a farm instead of a normal city/urban/ park setting. We’ve been graciously allowed to use a farm up in Whitchurch-Stouffville on our engagement photo session for a whole late afternoon-evening and we went all out exploring all the nooks and crannies, having hay fights and casually strolling thru corn fields at sunset, all underlined by Brenna’s contagious laughter . Not too bad for a Friday evening 🙂 …

This is how it all went. Enjoy!

Brenna and Jordan Engagement Photography, Farm on Whitchurch-Stouffville, Greater Toronto Area.

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Roni-Lee and Brian's Wedding, Pheasant Run Golf Club, East Gwillimbury, ON.

Back at  Pheasant Run Golf Club  with Roni-Lee and Brian for their wedding day. It might be a bit of a stereotype to say this day was filled with emotion but it is not often Sandra and I as wedding photographers are moved to tears by parent speeches. This time however, I was left speechless.

This is a snippet of their day.

Enjoy!

Brian and Roni-Lee Wedding, Pheasant Run Golf Club, East Gwillimbury

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Sheryl and Darryl Wedding Day, Paradise Convention Centre, Vaughan, ON.

There were a few very hot days here in Toronto so in preparing for this outdoor wedding we were hoping for nicer, cooler weather. We were pretty lucky and save for a bit of wind taking exception with Sheryl’s veil at times, everybody was pretty comfortable. Melissa, the couple’s wedding coordinator made sure everything went together very smoothly. There was of course some jumping, some “pole dancing” and some pretty dazzling air guitar displays, all in good fun.

And yes, the cake WAS delicious :-).

This is a snippet of their Big Day. Enjoy.

 Sheryl and Darryl Wedding Photography, Paradise Hall, Vaughan

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Heba and Phil Engagement Photo Session, Unionville, ON

This was one engagement photo session that almost did not happen. We had postponed it already one week once due to weather conditions and as Sandra and I were making our way to Unionville’s old train station, our meeting point with Heba and Phil, we were watching in horror the sky getting darker and turning green. Heba’s texts were NOT reassuring in the slightest “Umm… guys… we’re driving thru hail here…” to which we were responding “We prayed for fair weather… did you??? 🙂 “.  With their wedding approaching rapidly we were running out of options so we decided to wait it out and see if the cloud cover will clear. It did. Thank God, Thank Heavens!

Heba and Phil prepared Edwardian period costumes for this engagement photo session and Unionville provided us with the perfect backdrop.

Here are a few shots we liked. Enjoy!

 

Engagement Photography, Unionville, Markham, Toronto

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Sheryl and Darryl Engagement, Edward Gardens, Toronto

It’s been threatening to rain all day but miraculously, it did not. We just had just about the perfect weather for an outdoor engagement shoot in Edward Gardens so everyone was out today, families, kids, cops patrolling, stock togs with macro lens and tripods (taking advantage of the full bloom flower beds), busy bumble bees, beavers, racoons and of course us with Sheryl and Darryl. For all the commotion in the park, shooting the last photo in this post proved a bit of a challenge as everyone courteously made room for us and refused to pass thru our field of view… Later however, a raccoon had no problem crashing the party as he made his way across the park seemingly without a single worry.

This is a little snippet of the engagement session. Enjoy!

Edward Gardens Engagement Photography Toronto sheryl and Darryl

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Jen and Kevin's Big Day, McMichael, The Club at Bond Head

Back to the  Club at Bond Head  with Jen and Kevin for their wedding day. Kevin having a Ph.D. in Chemistry had something to do with all the little details on this day, from the Periodic table inspired cufflinks to a table seating/ numbering chart having nothing to do with numbering except element’s atomic numbers. From Tottenham to  McMichael Canadian Art Collection  back to the Club at Bond this was definitely a day to remember. It’s not every day one finds out Palladium is just as precious as Platinum and gets to take something other than “tee shots” on a golf course (many thanks go to our gracious hosts at the Club who allowed us on their beautifully groomed course). Oh, we had a  Supermoon as well… “According to NASA, a full moon at perigee is up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than one at its furthest point (apogee)”… but who’s counting…

This is just a small snippet of the day. Enjoy!

Wedding photography, The Club at Bond Head, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Jen and Kevin

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