It was a breath of fresh air to meet Miriam and Oleg for their engagement. Times being what they are, things have slowed down or stopped and events were postponed or outright cancelled, so going out for a shoot was something I was really looking forward to. The weather also was not exactly cooperating, alternating heatwaves with thunderstorms, making the anticipation even more intense.
Miriam and Oleg are the kind of easy going couple we love to photograph, natural and at ease in front of the camera, a delight to work with, the few hours spent with them in Richmond Green passed almost in a flash.
The Distillery District in Toronto is one of our favourite places to go for an engagement session. It’s got an undeniable old charm and plenty of nooks and crannies to find and use. After a pretty long and wet winter and a questionable spring we could finally go out for some fun with Sorina and Bogdan… Too bad we did not bring any yoga mats, the center of the district was filled with people enjoying free hourly yoga sessions under the welcoming, warm Sun. We dodged all the Sun salutations, Warriors and Downward Dogs and got ourselves busy with the task at hand. It was a good day!
Here are a few samples images from the session. Enjoy!
Kayleigh and Sean were together for around three and a half years on that Christmas Day Sean planned to propose. Now, I’ve known him for a while, we used to work together and he’s the kind of no nonsense, easy going, at times shy kind of guy that likes taking a methodical approach to planning things, taking all variables into account. That particular Christmas Day however, when he started his proposing things did not go quite as envisioned as Kayleigh’s reaction was one of total surprise and shock. She went “no, no, no…” quite a few times before recollecting and answering the final yes. Sean never acknowledged what was going thru his mind at the same time, he just seems to be over the Moon at the prospect of spending the rest of his life with her.
Their wedding is not for another year however we decided to head out to Scanlon Creek for an engagement photo shoot and get that part of planning out of the way. That lead to lots of laughing, hugging jumping and all other sorts of fun stuff…
If you feel Laura and Chris look somewhat familiar you’re right, Chris is Melissa’s brother while Laura is a good friend so they’ve been in the bridal party at Melissa’s wedding. Now they are getting married shortly but unfortunately the weather in this particular spring was not willing to cooperate, pushing their engagement session up to the very last moment. It was finally nice and warm (ish) so we went to Fairy Lake in Newmarket for a quick round of pictures.
The following is a small snippet of this session. Enjoy!
Elizabeth and Mitch actually met some 8 years ago when they were both working at a pet store, but after she moved on to a different job they lost touch with each other. Seven years passed on without any contact but Elizabeth always had a huge crush on Mitch so at some point she finally mustered up the courage to add him on Facebook and the rest, as they say, is history. They started dating shortly after and moved in together only a few months later. About a year later Mitch took Liz out for a stroll on Fairy Lake in Newmarket in the middle of winter. “It was so cold!” she recalled, “we walked only for a few minutes before I turned around to see him on his knee “.
This little story made them want an engagement shoot with some snow in and this last February has provided us plenty of the white stuff, along with some record breaking, really chilly weather. We started in their new house they bought together then we headed to Lake Wilcox. It was seriously cold and windy out there, windy enough some people were using parasails to ski across the frozen lake. We could not stay out long but we managed to have some fun…
I just love meeting people like Marina and Omar. Full of energy, ready to laugh but also shy at times, especially Omar who sometimes won’t look in the lens even prompted. He might be a touch shy so Marina is more than happy to intervene with a witty thing to say (or a poke) to keep the things both on track and on the light side of things. As you’ll see, stories like these always happen with a guy holding a ring, one knee down and this one is no exception alas this was no surprise. The ring was though! Great job Omar!
As we went on with our engagement photo shoot, we got to try a few things, loosen up and laugh quite a bit. We even set up a little “film-noir thing” on the Mississauga’s City Center grand staircase.
I imagine at some point Main Street Newmarket becoming a hot destination and a hub for our photography brethren trying to get the coolest, most creative shots for our clients. All because of us here at Studio Solaris… (cue Handel’s Messiah)… OK… back to reality now :-). Truth to be told, these parts of Newmarket have their charm, a charm that attracted Laura and Aaron, especially after seeing Kaytlin and Ryan’s engagement. They are a couple very much into each other and they have tender, intimate way of interacting with each-other that required only a minimum of intervention from our side.
I was also in for a surprise. Laura loves sunflowers and their wedding theme will revolve around them. This a very neat idea, they are my absolute favorite flowers as well. About midway into our photo session Laura stopped and bought two of those flowers to use in the following shots. Absolute beauty!
I’ve known Geoff for a while now. We had interminable technology arguments like iOS vs Android, the future of cars and automotive in general… all profound, quietly romantic subjects. When he told me he and Macy got engaged we also discussed shooting their engagement and wedding at length for a full half minute, before switching back to debating how self-driving cars from Google will undoubtedly destroy the joy of driving (my take) or revolutionize urban traffic and forever get rid of gridlock (his). We’re men, OK? Iron Man 3 is the best romantic comedy, let’s leave it at that…
So how come loving, funny, light hearted and easy going are the first thoughts popping in my mind when I think about Macy and Geoff’s recent engagement shoot? I don’t know, it is undoubtedly this strange power our partners have over us, a power that’s smoothing up our rough edges, reminding us how fragile we really are if we’re alone. It is perhaps fitting that Macy and Geoff wedding is back to back withKaitlyn and Ryan’s . If we’re to judge by what we’ve seen in these two engagements, that weekend in August will be one to remember!
For the time being, here’s a small sample of this session.
I have a feeling that Newmarket’s Main Street and Fairy Lake don’t come very often into Google searches as some of the most sought after engagement photography locations do. We thought why let places like Unionville have all the fun? Kaitlyn and Ryan are locals and wanted to stay in their neighbourhood for various reasons, for one they own the Books Cafe and Things right on Main Street, a place I visited regularly for the past year or so. Jasmine Tea for me and a Chai Latte with cinnamon on top for my daughter was our mainstay…
The engagement itself was just fantastic, from swings and bear hugs to intimate, quiet moments, Kaitlyn and Ryan put their irresistible bubbly energy forward, a real pleasure for Sandra and I to shoot. Here are some of our favourite images from this session.
With the warm weather finally here it was a busy day in Edward Gardens, lots of people enjoying the sun, lots of photographers out after the beautiful blooming flowers, preparations for an outdoor wedding… the whole nine yards. We added to the commotion with two engagement photo shoots. The following is the first of the day, with Nela and Mark. He is a bit camera shy but it did not take long to warm up and enjoy the session. Nela on the other hand was full of energy and loving the camera right from the get go. Great couple, we can barely wait to shoot their wedding in less than two weeks.
