Studio Solaris Photography

Great Moments, Great People
Engagement Photograpy

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…)

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…)

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.

(more…)

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

(more…)

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

(more…)

Roni-Lee and Brian Engagement, Pheasant Run Golf Club, Newmarket.

 We met Roni-Lee and Brian at the Pheasant Run Golf Club , which is also their wedding venue. As the club members were out golfing braving the chilly but sunny weather, the club graceously provided us with a guide to ensure our safety and golf carts ( of course! ). Umm…I’m ashamed to admit it but I have NEVER driven a golf cart before so shooting this engagement was quite the experience for both Sandra and I. Now, driving one of those is easy after you manage to start it, which I didn’t manage at first :-). Fortunately Roni-Lee and Brian are a relaxed, easy going couple and they put up graciously with my fumbling (and Sandra with my wretched driving…).

Looking forward to their wedding !

Roni-Lee and Brian Engagement, Pheasant Run Golf Club, Newmarket, Engagement photography (more…)

Jen and Kevin Engagement, Roundhouse, Union Station, Harbourfront, Toronto.

We did have gorgeous weather this long weekend, the kind of weather Jen and Kevin had prayed for. You see, this engagement photo session had been scheduled a while ago and they flown in from Winnipeg, Manitoba specifically for it. Even though we had a Plan B, the chances for a redo in case of cold and heavy rain were nil. Kevin loves trains (models and all) so the  Roundhouse Park  at the Toronto Railway Heritage Center was an absolute must. As Jen put it ” Just don’t throw him on the tracks, we might need him later for the wedding and all…” The staff at  TRHA  was incredibly gracious, offering us actual access to the massive No. 6213 Canadian National steam locomotive. Even “massive” is perhaps a bit of an understatement…simply awesome!

This is a bit of a preview. Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t leave without a comment…

Engagement Photo Toronto, Union Station, CN Tower, Harbourfront, Roundhouse Park,GTA

(more…)

Imelda and Brian Engagement, Union Station, Dundas Square, Toronto

Brian and Imelda, a couple very much in love, first met each-other in Union Station, Downtown Toronto. This place had special meaning for them so we had to start our engagement session there. We worked our way up Yonge Street, thru Brookfield Place, ending up in Dundas Square.

People always give you odd looks when you place a flash in the middle of a fountain 🙂 … Here’s the result :

Engagement photography, Dundas Square,Toronto

(more…)

Joanne's BIG surprise, Secret Garden, Niagara Falls

This was going to be pretty special… We knew it when James emailed us saying he’s secretly planing to propose to Joanne and he needed someone to talk to about planning it and capture it all as it happened. What a deviously delicious idea we thought, covert operations, secret planing… cue the 007 music. Fortunately sneaking around the Niagara Falls’ Secret Garden’s was eased up by Sandra and myself posing as tourist lovebirds with cameras from across the falls :-).

Everything went according to the master plan and Joanne was so overcome with emotion, she did not notice us at all. I mean, she had her suspicions something was up but…

Here is how it happened, starting with the scene of the crime first…

Surprise engagement photography, Secret Garden, Niagara FallsClick on for more.

(more…)

Kitty and Richard Engagement, Downtown Toronto, Union St., Round House

Kitty and Richard are the definition of a shy couple who turns out to be in fact easy going, relaxed and not quite so camera shy in the end. We wondered in Downtown Toronto, around Union St. the CN Tower, the newly renovated Round House and finally the Harbourfront. This is just a bit of a taste of how our evening engagement photography session turned out. Enjoy!

Engagement Photography Toronto, Union Station, CN Tower, Harbourfront, Round House,

(more…)