Glasses.  Whether it was their own designer frames or their too-cool aviators, I thought the glasses really stood out at Diana and Neil’s wedding.  It was another tremendous fall day, and even though the chilly wind may not have agreed with the bridesmaids in their dresses, I think the autumn colours we got in some of the shots will be more than worth it.  Diana and Neil really set the tone for the wedding with their relaxed and fun approach to the whole day – a really pleasant and enjoyable wedding to shoot.  Some of my favorites from the day:

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This has been one of the nicest Octobers that I can remember for taking pictures – cool and crisp days with big blue skies and that slightly softer light from the autumn sun.  Though a little breezy, Amanda and Dwayne picked as nice a day as you could ask for to do their engagement session.  I met them at the St-Boniface Basilica and got to take some great shots of them in that golden afternoon light.  Though we started out with just Amanda and Dwayne, it wasn’t long before we decided to rouse the little man Jackson, who had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the shoot.  It didn’t Jackson long to shake the cobwebs out and start motoring around and exploring the church grounds – he must have felt pretty rested because we must have followed him around the entire ruins a good two or three times.  Most importantly, his catnap didn’t mess up his awesome little mohawk.  Some faves from the session:

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Always a privilege to work again with a family, the last time I had seen Shelly and Naushad was at Shelly’s sister’s wedding last year.  On a visit back to town, they came into the studio and it was a morning full of action trying to keep up with their two kids – wonderfully precocious and just awesome smiles.  Some faves from the session:

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This is the second set of images from a pregnancy/maternity series I’m doing with Crystal.  We’d already done a number of quick shoots through the summer documenting her growing belly and the plan was to do a longer session once she was close to full term.  It was a bit of touch and go as Crystal was showing signs of being ready to pop, but we managed to get into the studio before it happened!  This time, she brought along the family and Shane and Allyson got to share in the spotlight with mom and the belly.  Through all the shoots so far, Crystal has had that “radiant expectant mother” look about her, and though it took its time getting there, her belly by the end was fabulously big and round.  I’m pretty excited about the album that’s going to come out of all these sessions!  In the meantime, a handful of favorites from this particular session:

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Stephanie loves her cats.  Kyle is a huge Kyle Busch fan.  From the colours of the wedding, to the little details at the recpetion, to the pit stop at McDonald’s drive-thru, to the laughter and shenanigans with their wedding party – everything about their day just seemed to capture Stephanie and Kyle so well as a couple.

At first, I was worried the day was going to get off on the wrong foot when the limo failed to arrive to take the girls to the ceremony.  Nope – not a chance.  Stephanie just shrugged it off, as we piled half of the girls into our car and the other half into a bridesmaid’s car and we sped to the ceremony in our own wheels.  Aside from this momentary hiccup, Steph – always quick with a joke and smile – was as sunny and pretty as her wedding day.  Kyle is a big man with a contagious laugh, and with his entourage full of characters, there was no shortage of merriment all day (I have to say Kyle good-naturedly took one of the better roasts I’ve heard).

It was a great group to work with, especially having worked with some of the bridesmaids before – it was great to see Amber again as, in a reversal of last year when Stephanie was the maid of honour at her wedding, Amber took on the duties of the matron of honour this time at Steph’s wedding.  Tons of fun shots and lots of cool artsy stuff too.  A quick sneak peek:

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