Weddings are one of the toughest areas of photography to shoot, and it takes practice, technical ability, and yes… dare I say it, lots of expensive equipment! We need lenses for varying situations, camera bodies that are designed to take the brutal abuse of snapping 2 – 3 thousand photos a weekend, and lighting equipment that can perform in any circumstance. Not only that, we essentially need to have double of everything in our bag, just in case something breaks, so we can ensure you get the complete coverage of your day, that every bride deserves when hiring a pro.

So with that said, head over to the article and at least give it a quick skim http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2012/01/should-i-book-a-professional-wedding-photographer-or-get-a-friend-to-do-it-for-free-a-cautionary-tale/. If nothing else, have a look at the photos at the bottom of the post! This is not to say that I am the photographer you should hire either… Your decision should be based on the chemistry you feel between yourself and the person your hiring, as well as the style of photography that appeals to you. Be sure to look through the portfolios of those your interested in, and find the one whose style represents how you’d like to remember your wedding day.
Cheers!

When Samantha first asked if it was okay to bring their son along with them, I was more than happy to say yes!! He’s such a little cutie and definitely didn’t mind getting in front of the camera with mom and dad :) Samantha has big plans for the little guy come wedding day, but I won’t spoil anything yet, you’ll just have to wait for the wedding photos in August!

I’ll definitely try to get my annual new year’s eve post in this year, but I’m so happy to share the images from this session as my final client session post! These three are such a beautiful family and I look forward to seeing them next year!

Cheers & Merry Christmas to all three of you!!

When Chad arrived for our session, I could see the slight fear in his eyes… In fact, I think if I gave him the camera, he would’ve happily taken photos of me instead ;) But in all seriousness, my ultimate goal when taking someones photos is to highlight their deep down personality. When it comes to my list of priorities for a great photo, background, composition and lighting fall far below my priority to create a picture that truly shows who that person is. Sometimes it may only be a split second in between conversation, but more often than not it happens when I take the camera away from my face. Without giving away  any trade secrets, this is why I normally “adjust my settings” in the middle of taking a few photos and more often than not if I’m ready for it, I’ll catch that little whisper, or smile, or whatever it may be.

Chad and Kelly are truly amazing people. We had such a fun time during the session, and they didn’t hold it against me when we walked two blocks to get to one of our locations and noticed a shortcut once we got there that would have saved us about 1,500 paces :) I absolutely can’t wait to shoot their wedding in Marystown!  Cheers to both of you!

Until then, congrats to both of you! Looking forward to seeing you both on the big day!!

Congrats Karla + Devin!! Can’t wait to hang out with you on your big day!

I’m still not totally feeling up to par, but I really didn’t want to make Alicia and Marcus wait any longer to see these awesome photos! I’m not gonna write a big post or anything, but all I need to say is three things:

1. These two make a gorgeous couple!

2. All three of us were laughing non-stop during the entire engagement session!

3. Alicia’s father is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met :)

All that to say, I cannot wait to shoot Alicia + Marcus’s wedding!! Both of them have amazing personalities, and we had so much fun during our session. Can’t wait to see you both next year!!

I also thought, since many of my readers/clients either have family of their own, so soon will ;) so I wanted to start another weekend feature including little tips and techniques you can use to capture those special moments with beautiful photographs. Through some basic techniques, and understanding of composition and light, you can easily and quickly start producing awesome photos when I just can’t be there :)

So, I going to post this one a day early just so you can get idea of what to look forward to, and start putting these little techniques to practice right away! Plus I’ll be on the road tomorrow for an engagement session out of town… I can’t wait!!

This week is all about the many expressions our little ones seem to possess! Have you ever just watched a child for a minute or two, and taken note of the hundreds of facial expressions they’re capable of in an extremely short period of time? The rule of thumb here, is don’t just take one shot! I’ve watched so many times a parent or the like, line up their shot, snap, and put the camera right back down. What I suggest is keep the camera out for a few minutes and interact with the child. I’m sure none of you would be surprised how quickly you can get a small child to respond to goofy faces, hide and seek, etc… So while I don’t suggest being stuck behind the camera for hours on end (that’s my job), I do suggest just keeping it out for a few minutes and take a series of photos. You never know, that little series may make a great scrap-book page! Or as you browse through afterwards, you may find you’ve really captured that one little expression they only make once in a while and you just never seem to have the camera out at the right time ;)

To demonstrate my point this week, I wanted to show you a series of 4 images. These were extremely impromptu (my little nephew came over for a quick visit) and there was less than 2 minutes in between the first and last phot0! Change your angle, get creative with your composition and interact… You’d be amazed how different each photo can really be!

Thanksgiving is upon us this weekend here in Canada, and the beautiful fall foliage is starting to make it’s debut.. So get out there this weekend and grab a few memories! Happy Thanksgiving!!

I don’t mean seriously like I’m going to tell you that you can’t talk during your session, or that I need total concentration when I’m making a photograph… But seriously like these are memories that I am being trusted to capture, so that one day your grandaughter can climb up in your lap and tell you how beautiful you were… or ask you what boy that was in the photo of you as a kid!

Photographs (while they may seem like it sometimes these days) are not a commodity. They are moments in our life that deserve to be treated with the utmost care, and cherished forever.

Take 6 minutes to watch this little video, and I guarantee you that you’ll be thinking a little differently about those photos tucked away on your hard drive somewhere :)

Happy Weekend everyone!

Kodak \”Keep me, Protect me, Share me\”

The Grand Falls-Windsor Flea market was open for the day, so we spent a few minutes browsing, but only found one little tea cup worth breaking a 50 over.. (a little just because gift for my mother the tea cup collector). Now not that it’s unusual to head down to Campbellton for a visit with the folks, but we really didn’t plan to this weekend… With a quick call to my father, and what I call his request for “Emily time” we decided to pack a small bag, the dog, my camera equipment, some snacks, and change for a coffee haha.

Once we met up with my father we figured we would head up to grab a coffee, but before he could get the sentence “I hear there are some massive Ice Bergs in the bay up in Twillingate”, I practically had the jeep turned around! Well, that may be a little exaggerated… I couldn’t drive to Twillingate at 5 in the evening without grabbing my coffee for fuel first ;)

I knew it would be great weather for the photos and compositions that I’ve been wanting to experiement with (i.e big waves, scattered large cloud formations. etc..) although great photos often come with their price! In this case it was winds so strong that even 1/200th sec. shutter speed was pushing the limit!

So while crouching down at  hand rail to steady my camera and continue my experimenting, I noticed I had a spectator. As I stood up, a very inquisitive voice asked “what are you taking pictures of?” . . I responded, and then proceeded to have a conversation (while trying to hold still in 100km/h wind gusts). I don’t know exactly what it is, but you can always tell when someone is a photographer, even when there not holding a camera… Maybe it’s the fact that he didn’t look puzzled when I told him about my shutter speed problem while working with very closed down apertures :)

The more we spoke, the more I learned. He was a professional landscape, travel, and portrait photographer and had published 90… yes 90 books! We exchanged cards, and I invited him to coffee the next time he was back on the island.

Shortly after, our paths crossed a couple more times, while scoping out sunset lit icebergs and of course… photographing them :) But it wasn’t long after that, we decided to “finally” have some supper ;) She spotted our new friend having dinner alone and asked if we should invite him to sit with us. I said of course, and he was obliged and seemed quite flattered that we would offer.

My father and this older (when I say older, I mean that he may be in his late 60′s but he could totally pass for 55!) gentleman had many stories of common experiences and I had such an amazing time learning and listening to both of them! It was one of those times that I wish I could have made time slow down just a hair, so that I could delve deeper into the mind of a photographer who has “been there, and done that” so to speak.

After parting ways, thank goodness for technology, my father decided to “google” the name… Well, it turns out, I never put two and two together, and never conjured up enough brain activity to place the name “Sherman Hines”.. Yes, the world famous photographer who has been commissioned to take photos of the queen, political figures, famous musicians, etc.! I felt like a complete moron that I never realized this, but in the same light, I’m so glad I didn’t”

If I had of recognized the name, I’m sure I would have acted differently.. I mean everyone’s human, and if you were an aspiring professional photographer, you would too! ;) But instead, we conversed like new friends, and told embarrassing stories from our past. In fact, we hardly talked about photography.

What an amazing day, and what a chance encounter! It is something I will definitely never forget, and truly hope that I will have the opportunity to get that coffee with Sherman the next time he’s back! I may also remember to ask to take his portrait next time… I meant to ask him if it would be okay while we were chatting in the wind, but it totally slipped my mind. Oh well, one for the memory bank :)

Here’s a few of my favorites from the evening.

It was such a joy to meet up with Lynette and Richard again, and have the opportunity to meet their brand new baby boy! Definitely a change of pace from the busy wedding season… With newborn sessions, there tends to be a lot of feeding, cuddles, naps, diapers etc :) But I love being able to document all the little precious expressions and features of such a tiny little person.

It’s pretty amazing too, and I’ve noticed even more since my little girl was born, that even the smallest babies have their own personality! Little Rylan didn’t want to miss a thing during the entire session! I love to get a few sleeping shots, but he just wanted to stay up and partake in all the fun! ;) He was a well behaved boy though, and nobody got peed on, which is always a bonus during a newborn session!

Lynette and Richard, congratulations on such an awesome little boy! I look forward to many more sessions with all of you, and having the opportunity to watch him grow!