Happy new year!  Spent a nice Christmas holiday with the family and very much enjoyed the festivities and home cooking.  And now it’s time to catch up on some of the winter work I’ve recently shot.

While a silvery Christmas feel was the primary theme for Patti and Graham’s wedding, basketball was clearly a close second as these two ball players tied the knot shortly before Christmas.  The portrait session at the Legislative Building was really nice in that we had a really big chunk of time to work with, which allowed me to try more elaborate lighting with the wedding party shots.   The reception out at Bel Acres country club was chock full of basketball themes, including the bridal party being introduced like a starting lineup and guests having to successfully shoot a mini-ball into the basket to get the couple to kiss.  And almost as if on cue, the snow began to fall just as the dancing got underway and we managed to sneak out for a quick shot in the dark against the falling snowflakes.  Congrats Patti & Graham!  And here’s a sneak peek…

The wedding of Nunziata and Chris will be another Italian wedding of which I will have very fond memories.   They were surrounded all day long by tons of warm and supporting family members and friends, which makes it so easy to capture great, natural shots of people interacting with each other.   The meal at the reception was also one to remember, although I unfortunately didn’t pace myself well enough to save room for dessert.  Despite the lack of snow on the ground as Nunziata had hoped, the wedding still definitely had a wintery and festive feel to it and we were still able to get lots of great shots at the Millennium Centre and the Legislative Building.  My congratulations to the couple, and now a sneak peek into the wedding:

Their wedding is coming up fast, but we still managed to squeeze in an engagement shoot with Cassandra & Chris.  It was a very pleasant evening to shoot at the Legislative grounds, and it’s always nice to wander around the grounds at a more relaxed pace than a wedding.  Well, I enjoy wandering around at any rate, though I often wonder whether the client is as keen to follow me around on my whimsical quests for interesting light and locations.

That said, Cassandra & Chris seemed more than game and they even brought along their little dog for the shoot.  Not only did it not run away or jump all over everyone, but it also politely refused a doggie treat – don’t think I’ve ever seen that before!  In the end, we found some interesting light and all three of them photographed beautifully.

I’ve gotten to experience the full gamut of East Indian weddings lately, as I transitioned from a Sikh wedding two weeks ago to Manisha & Ace’s wedding which was a Hindu ceremony.  The wedding was unique in that it also incorporated elements of Ace’s Filipino heritage – even though the two families came from such distinct backgrounds, I was impressed at how seamlessly the traditions blended together and how readily each family embraced one another.

Like their families, Manisha and Ace have an easy and real interaction with each other, which made it fun and easy to photograph them together. Having shot Manisha’s cousin’s wedding several years ago, I once again had the pleasure of seeing and working with a whole bunch of familiar faces. Between the two families, there were so many animated characters that it was hard to ever put the camera down that night.  Congrats Manisha & Ace!  Hopefully the images are able to capture the energy of your day!

A beautiful red Viet Namese gown, a bright & sunny Saturday, a fabulous ten course meal at Kum Koon, and one of the nicest couples to work with.  All in all, a most enjoyable wedding to shoot.  Congratulations Kathy & Jay!