Category: Destination work

A collection of weddings and portraits around the world, from Iceland to Thailand and anywhere in between.

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Negril Jamaica Wedding Photographer // Alaina & Denis

Near the end of November, I had the opportunity to photograph Alaina & Denis’ destination wedding in Negril, Jamaica. It’s always exciting to shoot in new places. But I’ve come to the realization that no matter how beautiful the setting, it’s the people that make it special. While a wedding is a manifestation of love and commitment between two people, it’s also a coming together of family and friends. So in truth, it’s a celebration of all kinds of love. And I think it’s so fitting because in life, there’s love, there’s also friendship, and family. Alaina and Denis met in university, so besides their closest family, their good friends were also there to celebrate their big day. Witnessing all this love, I couldn’t help but think that as a photographer, I couldn’t ask for more.

Here’s the story of Alaina and Denis’ wedding day: a celebration of love in all its forms, by the ocean with the sound of waves, in beautiful Negril.

Door games are such fun Chinese heritage wedding traditions. Often with random and crazy challenges for the boys.

Like drinking a cup of mixed sauces (consisting of something sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy).

Or doing push ups at the same time.

Or singing along to Bruno Mars’ Marry Me.

Or doing the Single Ladies routine.

You get the idea ;)

This is what happens when boys put on boutonnieres – they go on backwards :D

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Iceland Portrait Photography // Gita & Matt

If you’ve been to my site before, you know about my love of Iceland. So when Gita contacted me about photographing  an anniversary portrait session in Iceland for her and Matt, I almost fell off my chair.  When we met, we just chatted away about travel. I learned that we share the same love for travelling, new experiences and the open road. I also learned that they’d be celebrating 14 years of marriage at the beginning of September. So the trip to Iceland was pretty special. September couldn’t come soon enough for all of us.

I often get asked what I think is the most important thing to consider when working with a photographer. And at meetings, I always get asked questions like what kind of camera I use, whether I use Nikon or Canon, etc etc. While those questions are legitimate questions, I think the most important thing is whether you feel a connection to your photographer and their work. Working with a photographer is like making friends, if you have a connection with them, it’ll be a much more rewarding working relationship. Because photography isn’t just a product, and what your photographer tries to capture isn’t just what the eyes can see.

Thank you Gita & Matt, for bringing me to Iceland to document this milestone in your life and for trusting me to do it.

Ever wanted to be in two places at once? You can at the Bridge Between Two Continents. :)

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Cabo San Lucas Portrait Photography // Lover’s Beach // Steph & Matt

Two days after Stephanie & Matt tied the knot in sunny Cabo San Lucas, we went to Lover’s Beach (Playa del Amor) for a portrait session. Lover’s Beach is at the tip of the cape of Cabo San Lucas, where the sea of Cortez and the Pacific ocean meet and is surrounded by towering rock formations. I guess you could call this session “Trash the Dress”, except it wasn’t really. Just us hanging out, and playing tag with the ocean waves. Well, sort of. Don’t try this one at home kids! The waves and ocean current along the Pacific side are incredibly strong and dangerous. Even on the sea of Cortez side, the boats can’t really dock at all, we had to jump off to get here and on the way back, had to hoist (or throw) ourselves back into the boat. It was a pretty crazy adventure.

“Twenty years from you now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover” – Mark Twain

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San Francisco Engagement Photography // Ilana & Josh

Ilana and I used to work together :) As I write this, it’s starting to sound really familiar. I have photographed a lot of people who I used to work with, I think that just goes to say that I worked with a lot of great people.

Back to Ilana and Josh. They moved to San Francisco at the end of last year and decided to get married. Ilana heard I was traveling to California in May so she got in touch about a photo session, and of course I was thrilled about shooting in San Fran.

We decided to go to the Marin Headlands and Baker beach in the Golden Gate Bridge area because of the natural beauty of the surroundings. On the day of though, the fogs had their own plan. It was windy and chilly but we made the best of our time together.

San Fran was a special city and I’d love to return again some day. Here are some of my favourites from Ilana & Josh’s Document Love session.

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Destination Wedding Photography Mexico // Stephanie & Matt

Stephanie & Matt got married on a beautiful day in sunny Cabo San Lucas, Mexico while spring was still struggling with Toronto. Surrounded by their nearest and dearest, it was a most relaxed and lovely wedding day. I’ve said this before, but small weddings are always more dear to my heart. Not that I think there’s anything wrong with big weddings, but when you are planning something so big, sometimes it’s easy for the wedding to get “out of scope” to speak in project management terms. You start to worry about every single little detail, and lose sight of the reason why you are having this wedding to begin with: a celebration of love and a coming together of family and friends. It’s too easy for big weddings to become a “production”, a “show”, rather than a wedding.

This was not so on Stephanie & Matt’s wedding day. They hung out with their wedding party in the morning while getting ready, got to talk to each of their guests, and had time to just slow down and remember it all.

Thank you Stephanie & Matt for not only having me document one of the most special days in your life, but for making me feel welcomed as one of your dear guests.

Here is Stephanie & Matt’s wedding day.

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Selma & Andri // Iceland Wedding Photography

Selma & Andri’s Icelandic anniversary session was featured on Mountainside Bride!

Even though I didn’t photograph Selma and Andri’s wedding (they got married last September), I did get to take some additional wedding portraits for them around Skorradalur and Lake Skorradalsvatn in Iceland, just an hour north of Reykjavik. This almost didn’t happen because of my schedule but when I got Selma’s email, I knew I had to make it happen. And I’m so very glad that I did.

We met early in the morning and drove north from Reykjavik to Skorradalur where both of their parents have summer houses. I love the story of how they met.

Both of their fathers work in the baking industry and had actually known each other, but Selma and Andri never met; Both of their families had summer houses on opposite sides of Lake Skorradalsvatn, and they never met. It wasn’t until their undergraduate years in university that they met. As it happened, Andri spotted this very interesting looking car in the parking lot one day and thought to himself, no guy would drive that car! A few weeks later, he ran into Selma as she was leaving her car and realized it really wasn’t a guy driving the car and just had to introduce himself. Selma at this point thought he was a bit strange. At the end of that semester, on the last day of school, Andri decided to ask Selma out. But he couldn’t find her anywhere at school that day. So, he “wrote” his phone number on her car (I think it was in need of a wash) and asked her to call him. When Selma got home, both her mom and brother-in-law (the car actually belongs to her brother-in-law) thought she should definitely call him. The rest, as they say, was history.

What a lovely morning I had with them. It was like a regular portrait session on a wedding day, except we had lots of time and it was all so relaxed. They were such adventurers as well, up for anything. And I had the best time getting to know them and just chatting about anything, from the things I love about Iceland to my attempt at telling an Icelandic joke (that I saw at Keflavik airport), to their studies in Scotland (where they currently live), to Icelanders’ love for sweets (me too! it was meant to be), to their love for their beautiful country. They said they just love coming home when they can and driving around the country. I would have to agree with that. I could stare out the window forever.

If you are looking for adventures, or would love to have a wedding or to elope somewhere with stunning landscape and nature, Iceland is the perfect destination. It would be an experience like no other.

Selma & Andri, thank you so much for this adventure together. I adore your spirits. xo

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