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.
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.
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.
Sonia & Dave had a colourful and beautiful Mayan Riviera Mexico wedding at the Azul Sensatori at the end of May. They met in Whistler, BC in 2009 through Dave’s brother and Sonia’s good friend. Dave fell instantly for the gorgeous and bubbly Sonia on that wintry evening. Two and half years later, they returned to Whistler and that’s when Dave proposed. So four and a years after they first met, they brought their friends & family from all around the world to a beach in the Mayan Riviera to celebrate the beginning of their marriage.
A HUGE thanks to my friend Sara of Sara Wilde Photography for bringing me along!! Thanks for letting me be your sidekick :) Check out Sara’s blog for more photos!
Here’s the story of Sonia & Dave’s wedding day.
‘Doli’ or the bride-send-off-ceremony was a particularly emotional ritual. It got Sara and I teared up as well.
I’m trying to get better when it comes to personal work. Trying is the operative word here, as I still have to share some photos from our Iceland trip in June and some from last year’s trip as well. But I’m working on it!
As a wedding photographer, summer weekends are a luxury. While M and I work hard at scheduling quality time together outside of the weekends, it’s nice to be able to have a weekend all to ourselves once in a while. So this past long weekend we packed the car and headed to Prince Edward County (known just as “The County” apparently). The rain followed us the whole drive out of Toronto, but luckily the weekend was a beautiful mix of sunny & cloudy.
It really is a picturesque region, and unlike other pastoral countryside of southeastern Ontario, there is an extra layer of charm to The County. I’m not sure what it was really. Throughout the weekend I was constantly ooooh-ing and ahhhh-ing over the scenery and can’t help but think that it’s a gorgeous area for a wedding. There are many charming inns and restaurants; perhaps a private cottage on the lake; one of the many wineries; and of course, vintage country barns.
Dunes beach at the park was filled with rolling hills of sand dunes, some as tall as 10 meters.
Does this tree not look like a lion?
I’ve never been to a drive-in movie theatre before and so we went to the Mustang Drive In in Picton. It was a lot of fun! The best part was watching the movie as more & more stars filled the sky.
The County is known for their wine so we visited a winery that was recommended by our B&B (Nine Gables), Devil’s Wishbone Winery. They had a wooden deck half-way down the vineyard for a rustic picnic experience. So that’s exactly what we did. Their rosé was delicious, so was their Riesling & Pinot Grigio. The people there were so nice & friendly, and the best part is that it’s a small family-owned & run business.
A walk in the country.
Being city kids, we don’t get to see the stars often. So one night we drove out to Lake on the Mountain just outside of Picton and even though there were some lights around, we were amazed at how many stars we saw.
A personal photo story of New York – my heart goes out to all those who are still recovering or have lost loved ones from Hurricane Sandy.
In March I went for a short visit with one of my closest friends Jess. The first time I visited New York was in 2007. At the time, I wasn’t too impressed. It felt like just another big North American city. I thought it was probably because we only had time to visit the top touristy must-sees. 5 years later, second time around, I feel I was able to appreciate it more: the skyline, the hustle and bustle (I noticed that New Yorkers are very fast walkers, which suits me fine!), the architecture, the food. It has such a distinct vibe of its own. It’s very modern, but so full of nostalgia at almost every corner.
We had a pretty tight schedule of things we wanted to do and places to go to, though we didn’t get to do it all, it was still a great trip. Highlights include Highline park at sunset (such a genius idea to convert an abandoned stretch of above ground rail tracks into a park), the various food stops but especially ramen at Ippudo noodle bar and Belgium waffles from a food truck, high tea at the Plaza (that was different and fun – thanks Jess!), and the New York City Public Library (where else would a book lover go?).
Oh New York, you stole my heart a little bit, and I wasn’t expecting it.
APC store in Soho. Can you spot us? :)
I can’t even begin to describe the amazingness that is Grimaldi’s pizza…
yesss! waffle truck has been located.
I don’t even have a photo of this waffle. That’s how fast I ate it…
these bare tree branches in Central Park were kind of awesome.
