I've been really busy this month, but I hate to leave the blog with no new posts. And when I say busy, I mean it. I just came back from work and, this week, I'm shooting every single day till next Sunday. This means I'm taking pictures 9 days in a row! Still I can't really complain - I got to do what I love and there will be plenty of time to rest during the winter. I'm actually writing this post while I export some wedding images on Lightroom. :)

This is Shannon and Graham's E-Session - we started at the UofT and finished our day at the Humber Bridge - two favorites of mine! Although we spent more time than planned sitting in traffic and got to the Lake Shore way after we were supposed to, we still got lots of great shots over there. Do I need to say how much I loved Shannon's dress? Gorgeous bride-to-be and I'm extremely excited to be shooting their wedding this Fall at the King Edward Hotel!

Colin was really good making Michelle smile and I must say I'm really lucky to get nice grooms-to-be most of the time. In the end, I can tell couples what to do during their e-shoot, but it's up to the couple to make the "magic" happens. It's funny that during my meetings EVERYBODY stops on the same picture from my wedding album sample saying how they love that particular photo (one couple's first dance) and, the thing is, YOU gotta give me that moment. And that was exactly what Colin and Michelle did: I told them all the poses they were supposed to do, and it works so well because they look so in love. I call that chemistry. :)

Oh... and this was my first engagement shoot here in Whitby! Although I have many couples getting married that live around (thanks to Aileen and Brandon!), all of them choose to have their engagement pictures done in Toronto. It was great working 5 min away from home! :)

Really excited about their wedding this August!

I never had a client so worried about what to wear - I lost count of the number of e-mails we exchanged discussing outfits. In the end all the hard work that this mom had thinking of combination of colors, etc. paid off... the family looks beautiful!

This year I've been thinking of not shooting families anymore since I'm getting really exhausted shooting weddings almost every weekend, dealing with a two year old, editing photos till 3AM in the morning, and taking family shoots on weekdays, but it's hard to say no to families wanting their pictures taken after we see these results.

Between feedings and putting baby furniture together (yes, that rocking chair you see below was assembled during our shoot!), we got some amazing shots. Let me share my favorites with you. :)

p.s.: If you didn't know this yet, I do offer Gift Certificates and you're able to purchase them online! That's a great gift idea for baby showers. Just click on GIFT CERTIFICATES on the menu above.

I always say you have to meet the photographer you're hiring to shoot your wedding to make sure you guys click, but that was not possible for Hayley and David since they don't live in Canada anymore. Even though her mom was pretty sure we would get along, I must say I was a bit worried about that. Besides liking your photographer's style, you also need to be comfortable with him/her and that's why pre-consultations are so important.

But her mom was completely right - they were such a cute couple with a lot of chemistry and I had so much fun working with them! Now I really can't wait for their big day at the Eglinton Grand this summer. :)

I've been doing plenty of baby pictures during this winter and it's funny how parents usually expect their baby to behave and cooperate during the photo session. Reality is, most of them don't! Of course if you're just looking at my portfolio and not actually having your pictures taken, you'll think that all babies featured in here look so calm and peaceful. Want to know the truth? Babies cry - sometimes A LOT. And that's normal - that's what they're supposed to do. Sometimes we have to stop the photo session and just wait for them to calm down (usually feeding works wonders).

Although that was not the case for Julia - that baby loved my camera, you can see she was pretty much looking all the time at me!, I'm writing this because every now and then I get parents saying they feel bad for me and they would never imagine their baby would be so much work. Parents, I'm used to it! Don't feel bad about it. Especially now that I have a toddler and know exactly how it is. I never rush Baby Photo Shoots - if you need to feed/change/calm down the baby, I'll wait. If we need to just have the shoot another day, that's fine! Babies are one of my favorites subjects to work with, just because there's so much love in the pictures. And this shoot is a great example of it. :)

But back to this photo shoot - I had a really great morning with these boys. Dylan and Jaden were just adorable - their parents are doing a wonderful job raising these two. After a super busy week, I was so lucky to get amazing kids to work with. Please enjoy their images. :)

And the problem with taking so long to post about a past wedding is that I don't remember much to write about. Lisa and Edward's was definitely one of my favorites to shoot. It was really intimate and beautiful. They didn't care about throwing a huge party/reception aftwards, which is rare nowadays. They just wanted to gather all the loved ones to celebrate this important day at church.

After the ceremony, we had a delicious lunch and drove to the Bluffer's park for some portraits. It was pretty windy and cold, but they came out gorgeous!! We had a bit of sunshine for about 2 min and with that tiny amount of time I got my favorite wedding image from last year. You'll see when you scroll down (it's also on my portfolio). Love that place.

Congrats, Lisa and Edward! Wishing you all the best in your life. :)

Let me introduce their newest addition to the family: baby Amanda. Believe or not, she was only two weeks old - definitely one of the cutest newborns I've ever seen! Claudia and Robinson, congrats, may Amanda fill your hearts with joy! :)