Kari + Chris got married in Louisburg at the Point of View Suites a few weeks ago and it was everything I expected it to be. A wedding ceremony, great friends and an even greater time. I could go on and on about how wonderful it was but I’ll just say this…like everyone else in your group of family and friends, I wish you lived closer. We’re already plotting ways to get to Calgary to do some more shooting. Thanks for the fun!
I walked into the Marriott hotel on Saturday for Blair and Sarah’s wedding and said what I always say to Steph, “Wanna light it up?” She always does. We tried some things that didnt work, a few more things that didn’t work and I was about done with trying. Luckily Steph chirped at me and said, “No, you have to light this room”.
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When we officially moved into the studio, the first thing we put in was a sound system for music. That was weeks ago. We haven’t really gotten much further than speakers. There’s some unfinished business with decor.
When we officially moved in we also knew we wanted to have a party so we immediately asked our buddy Scott from True North if he would come by on August 18th and play for us (and bring some of his sweet, sweet uplighting). That was weeks ago and as of 5.30pm yesterday, Jeff and I were still picking up beer and cups for a party in a studio with 2 chairs and 2 very recently purchased Staples card tables.
On Monday we decided to scale way back and just invite a couple of our wedding industry and photog friends in for a mid season drink. Everyone showed up…Cake makers, wedding planners, DJs, more and more wedding planners upon wedding planners, hotels, makeup artists, and a lot of really nice drunk people (+ one drunk, disrespecting jackass). It was more than fun and has inspired us to actually plan an official open house. Thanks for coming out everyone!
We found a studio space on a street, with great neighbors, that finds people wandering by at night more than happy to put on a wedding dress and play around.
Im going to like it here.
Read the whole blog post here
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I was just reading a wedding photography blog that scoffed at the cliche ‘we want to tell the story of your day’ pitch put forth by wedding photographers these days. Well, I forget the blog name, but that’s absurd. I don’t care how cliche it sounds, thats exactly what I want to do, tell the story. Sometimes its with one photo, sometimes it with two hundred.
Rob + Jen’s wedding was the first Lebanese wedding I had ever shot and I knew one thing…there would be lots of people and lots of celebrating. Claudia Habib from Simply Weddings was doing all the planning and coordinating and so I was looking forward to working with her for the first time as well.
My friend Jeff had just recently shot his first Lebanese wedding as well and so it was exciting to hear how important family photos were as a part of the timeline in the day. He said, “I can try to explain it but you just have to experience it. It’s awesome, you’ll see”. So Steph and I had setup a mini studio in Jen’s parent’s living room, which was fully decorated with flowers from wall to wall. People started showing up. More and more, friends and relatives piled into the house, waiting their turn to get a photo with Jen. Room to move became smaller and smaller and the smiles got bigger and bigger. At one point I turned around and thought I was at a Pearl Jam concert. The room was jammed full. Everyone was talking and laughing and celebrating and drinking. This was all before the ceremony even took place. I just kept telling Jen’s sisters, “I LOVE this”.
From there the excitement grew, the ceremony took place and more and more people wanted photos with the bride and after a few shots downtown we ended up back at the Westin, on time. That’s when the drums started and Jen + Rob entered the reception. The dancing started and didn’t stop until about 1am.
This entire day was kind of like inviting 400 of your family members over to celebrate the entire day. I can only hope we get the chance to cover something like this again. Jeff was right, I could try to explain it to you but you just have to experience it for yourself.
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I spend a lot of time looking at photos. Mine, yours, strangers, leaders, followers…I look at them all. For as much as I love creating editorial/fashion/whateverlabelyouwanttoapply type images I also love seeing images that tell you a story. I suppose its the perfect mix for wedding photography with the latter being much more of a challenge to create. There’s no planning or sketching, there’s just waiting and hoping that what you think is about to happen will actually happen. Steph and I don’t usually high five over the creative portrait sessions but if we get a grab of life, a real moment then we’re high fivin’ with a knuckle bump kicker.Even in church.
Ever since Marse and I had girls, without fail, when the father of the bride gives a speech at a wedding, I tear up. So this shot jumped out at me right away. I can (and will) show you Meaghan looking spectacular in her dress and I can show you Justin, G’d up from the feet up but I have a soft spot for this one.
I just learned what Flip Cup was 10 minutes before this happened. Meaghan’s Dad, Bob, was the anchor for the unbeatable ‘Team 3′ flip cup champs. They trounced everyone for years. If you dont know, the objective is to drink the glass of beer, place the cup on the edge of the table and flip it so that it lands on the table, top down. It’s a relay and there are 4 per team and each team lines up one opposing sides of the table.
Team 3 is unbeatable and they know it. Some might say they’re even a little cocky about it. Team shirts, team photos and tales of victory at the cottage.
So near the end of the night Team 3 was piling up the victories and the empties and it was now Team 3 vs Meaghan’s team. Meaghan was the anchor so it was her against her Dad. Team 3 beat them handily but my favourite part is Bob’s reaction. Every other win had him three feet in the air, arms raised in a V but its bittersweet to beat your daughter at Flip Cup on her wedding day. I totally get that. I lose at hide and seek every time even though Lola hides in the middle of the kitchen floor. I hope I get to party w Ruby and Lola like Bob does with his kids.
Moments like this are, without a doubt, one of my favourite parts of wedding photography. People like this are my favourite part.
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I don’t know what it is about Cape Breton weddings but there’s something intangible that just brings them to a whole different level for me. It’s impossible to describe but there’s no mistaking it every time I get to shoot there.
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Aside from shooting in wet socks and shoes, I love everything about rainy weddings. It brings everyone closer together and the peaks and troughs of emotion are elevated to a whole new level. It’s aways a tradeoff. You get rain, but you also get this incredible light during and after the rain…and sometimes you get a bride who throws her arms in the air and celebrates.
Pretty girls and positive attitudes trump rain every time.
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About a year ago I went to PEI with my very talented photographer friends, Jeff Cooke and Heather Crosby-Gionet. We did somewhat of a trash the dress marathon over 15 hours. I shot some behind the scenes video and we hung out with some very creative and talented people from the Island.
Through the magic of Facebook someone found that video online and thought it would be interesting to shoot a pilot based on three wedding photographers. The next thing you know we’re in a production meeting w ArcadiaEntertainment and planning to shoot a pilot.
So you would think I’d be on my best behaviour in a first meeting with talented people who are willing to invest time and money into you. No, not me. I had picked up a bug from the girls and wasn’t feeling all the best but I fought my way through the meeting. As we were getting the tour of the studio I awkwardly excused myself to go down three flights of stairs, run down the driveway and throw up in the back parking lot. I then spent the next half hour curled up and shivering in the backseat of my car until Jeff and Heather came out and Marcia came to pick me up. Great first impression Applehead.
We found out today that we could finally show the teaser video we shot at Studio 2540 last February. I think we lived up to expectations because we smashed some gear, threw a bride off a ladder, threw a bride off a trampoline and threw feathers at another bride.
I’m a huge fan of these collaborative shoots, especially w good friends like Jeff and Heather. It’s a lot of fun to combine different ideas and personalities into one shoot. As Jeff puts it, Adult Contemporary, Top 40 and Rock n Roll.
Thanks you John Wesley Chisholm and the entire crew at Arcadia for taking an interest in what we do and giving us this opportunity to just hang out and shoot together.
Christa and the girls at Felicity Bridal never let us down when it comes to a bridal shoot. Thank you so much Christa for trusting us with any dresses we ever ask you for!
Makeup: Vicky Mina Perfect, as always.
Hair: Cara MacInnis (you can find her on Facebook. She’s got super hair skills!)
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If you’re going to get married then this is the way to do it. Gather all your Cape Breton (New Waterford) and Polish friends and family, put them in a room at the Prince George and let Update Events take care of the decor. Open up the bar, crank the tunes and leave all your worries and stress behind.
I don’t even know where to begin to tell you how much fun this was. Everything was perfect from beginning to end. We were supposed to set up the crazy booth but I had a feeling the action was going to be on the dance floor so we left the white roll of paper behind and just tried to capture the celebration as it happened. Steph and I pulled out of there around 1.30am only because we had run out of memory cards and battery power.
Magda and Robert…thank you! Good luck in Montreal. I know there are more than a few people in Halifax counting the days until you return.
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Meaghan + Rick got married down south on a sandy beach however they decided they wanted to do some pre and post wedding shooting…sort of like an engagement shoot before and a fearless bridal session after the wedding. Official shoot waivers would show Jeff Cooke shot the engagement shoot and Applehead Studio shot the fearless bridal but we decided right away we’d collaborate on both shoots.
Remember those old school electric mixers with the two metal beaters you could lick the chocolate off when your Mom was done with them. Well, watching Jeff and I shoot together is a lot like watching those beaters. Everything is all over the place and things get mixed up along the way and if you stick your finger in while its happening you’ll get hurt. We had one goal going into the shoot and that was something paintball related. Meaghan and Rick wanted something colorful but they said there were really no limits. So we picked up some paintball kits in Dartmouth and headed to the oceanside out in Yorke Redoubt, threw in dream clients, a bunch of flash and a few ideas into the mixer and this was what we came out with…
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Stacey + Brad (and Lyla) had their wedding a few weeks ago at the Compass Room at Casino Nova Scotia and it had all the ingredients that make for a spectacular wedding to shoot. My buddy Scott from True North was the DJ, Patricia Pardy from Its Your Event was doing the decor and planning and from the stories I heard from Stacey + Brad…the crowd was going to party.
Everyone was on their best behaviour until the dinner was over and the lights went down. Steph and I shot for hours into the dance and laughed the whole way. I loveed every single moment of this wedding and we pulled out of there wanting to do it all over again. It’s not often i drink and/or dance when I’m shooting a wedding but I made an exception this time.
Stacey + Brad, you set the bar for the 2011 wedding season. Thanks for having us!
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This is what Meaghan thinks of the 1st period.
This is what Rick thinks about Vancouver.
Wanna see more? Click here
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I stopped in to visit Christa at Felicity Bridal about a year ago and she had a client and her mom in trying on dresses. This client came out to look in the mirror and I could not help but comment on the dress and how incredible it looked. Normally I sit quietly and flip through bridal magazines when Im at Felicity but for some reason I piped up this time. The next thing you know we are exchanging contact information and in a few weeks we’ll be heading down to Crombie House to shoot the wedding of Lisa and Lucas. I swear I don’t hang around bridal shops trying to pick up clients but I’m pretty glad I was in the right place at the right time.
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Nowhere in my business plan does it state that I want to be the wedding photographer for everyone. Sometimes I think about it all the time and sometimes I don’t think about it at all…but I had a conversation with a couple a few weeks ago and they had decided to go with another photographer who was a bit more traditional. Sometimes rejection is the greatest compliment.
When Steph and I shoot engagement sessions there’s a lot of PDA. Go stand over there and kiss…now go stand over there and kiss….ok, one more time, go hop up there and kiss. Sometimes we all need to take a break from the necking in public and let it all hang out with something a little different. Who said engagement shoots have to be all kisses and hugs around Halifax anyway?
Amber + Greg…you killed it. We love you guys!
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Here’s a b side from a shoot Steph and I did for Gio a few weeks ago and this was something we tried along the way to the final image.
The final version…
The Gio page on facebook has a chance to win dinner for 6 hosted by Vince and if someone wins it I just ask you take Marse and I with you. Please. We had dinner there one night and we both slipped into the most wonderful food coma in the back seat of the cab on the way home. For three days we talked about the boar. Vince is not just some guy who makes fancy food on white plates. He’s an artist and his passion for what he does is something to be admired.
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I’m sure everyone gets dressed up a little for photo shoots but putting on your wedding dress and and your wedding suit is about as dressed up as you can get. Fearless bridal, trash the dress, rock the dress…call it whatever you want, it’s one of my favourite things to shoot.
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The last time we shot with Robert + Magda it was freezing. Cold bitter winds brought tears to our eyes and I swore we’d shoot again under warm sunny skies. So we waited 3 months for sun and decided on settling for warmth alone.
I’m looking forward to this wedding for three reasons.
1. there are a lot of wedding industry friends of mine all working on this wedding so I know its going to be incredible.
2. it brings together a bunch of people I consider friends and not clients and they all love to rock.
3. Robert + Magda (and her incredible dress) are up for anything and have this incredible chemistry that is so easy to photograph.
I think they were a bit skeptical when we met at Dal. They didn’t really want it to scream ‘school’ and I promised it wouldn’t.
Only a few more weeks until the wedding.
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