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.
I haven’t shot an engagement session in the Distillery District for some time so I was quite pleased to see the construction there all finished. I was lest pleased to see some of the “staple” features we used in our engagements gone, however. It did not matter much for Anka and Silviu though. They came all the way from Stoney Creek and they never visited this part of Toronto so, for them, The District was all new and a pleasant surprise.
We took our time walking around, see what’s changed and shooting at a cool, leisurely, casual pace. We had a bit of fun then we went in for a late breakfast.
Leah and Kevan were part of a wedding we’ve photographed a few years ago, Kaitlyn and Ryan’s , they liked our work and now it is their turn in front of our lenses.
Leah met Kevan while working part time as students for her parents. They had time to talk a bit and were surprised when they discovered having a lot of cool common interests. Becoming good friends was only the start. Kevan played it cool for a year, however, over birthday blues, their friendship grew closer . As they danced around dating a little, at some point they went home after one of their shifts but then the next time they saw each other they knew they were officially together. Last December they decided it was time to get married and started to look at rings. Here’s the rest of the story in Leah’s own words: “On News Years Day we cuddled up on the couch, decided on the ring and made a guest list. Despite me knowing about the ring, Kevan was still able to surprise me, I got home late from work (after he vehemently told me I had to come home and not work the graveyard shift) to flowers, music a homemade dinner and my ring. It was a beautiful moment.”
There are not too many places to go in the city when the weather does not cooperate, as it kind of didn’t, so after a bit of brainstorming we decided to go to the Royal Ontario Museum. We’re members there and it’s a great place to shoot a few frames.
When Luke contacted us, him and Bettina were interested in and intrigued by our trial offer. It was not easy finding a proper weekend for an outdoor engagement shoot, the weather here in Toronto was pretty wet, essentially dashing our hopes to have this done on Toronto Island. Finally some luck and some (very) hot weather enabled us to meet at the Edward Gardens and have a bit of fun.
Bettina and Luke’s love story begun some ten years ago on a rainy, chilly Valentine’s day when Luke showed up at Bettina’s doorstep with three roses in hand and a big smile on his face. Their story continued thru high school and U of T and thru the hardships of long distances across continents. One day while working in Nepal, Luke whisked Bettina above the clouds to 4600 m and proposed to her with the Himalayas in the background as their witness. We are a bit gobsmacked by this and we’d only wished to be present there to capture the moment when she said yes. They are an awesome couple, we can hardly wait to shoot their upcoming wedding this fall.
Here’s a small sample of our fun engagement shoot. Enjoy!
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!
The day was not so great, rain was prominently featured on the weather forecast, a bit dark and totally flat. And then it was the park, Villaways by his name which we have never heard off. As it turns out none of those unknowns mattered in the end, Sandra and Balazs made everything bright and shiny and awesome with their easy going attitude and big smiles so the session was one of the liveliest we had in recent memory.
Sandra’s parents are dear friends of us so her upcoming wedding is something special we’re really looking forward to.
In the mean time, here’s a small sample of how this session went. Enjoy!
“I will come by and pick you up tomorrow for ROM…OK?”. Those were the words, delivered in a low voice, almost a whisper, Aaron used to ask Felanna for a date in front of all their friends for the very first time, thus starting a tradition more than three years in the running.
This is what Felanna shared with us: “Aaron and I officially started dating at the ROM about 3 to 4 years ago. Every time we attend a ROM event, it is always special. Spending time together at the ROM has always been different and magical. On one special night in 2011, Aaron won a trip to Antarctica from the ROM. We went in 2013, and I still remember the trip down South. It was definitely an unforgettable moment.
Aaron proposed to me while we were vacationing in Mexico in 2014. We had a wonderful dinner on the beach by the ocean shore. At the end, he went down on one knee and proposed to me. I was totally shocked and could not even say a word, as this was totally unexpected for me. But finally, with a big smile on my face, I said, ”YES!”
The ROM has a special place in our hearts and forever will be”.
It was a great opportunity for us to shoot inside the museum. We are standing members and we ourselves went to the ROM numerous times but never had a chance to actually shoot there.
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…
We’ve known Shiela for a few years now, she is Sheryl’s sister and of course was part of her bridal party at her wedding. Now she is getting married as well later in the year and we’re very happy she chose us as their photographers. After a bit of thinking and talking about it we decided to go to Osgoode Hall for their engagement photos as it presents the perfect mix of architecture and greenery to be used as a backdrop. We were lucky this time to find the trees in full bloom, a spectacular sight and have really good weather for our session.
Shiela and Pedro are a great couple, really into each other and not in the slightest camera shy so it was an absolute pleasure to work with them this day. We’re really looking forward to their wedding, if it’s half the fun this session was, it’s going to be a blast ! 🙂
Here are some of our favourite shots from this shoot.
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.
