Last night I headed up to Brooklin, Ontario to shoot and engagement/portrait session for Daniela and Mike, and their 6 month old son Brandon.  I know Daniela from my “real job”, and was so excited when she hinted to me that I was going to shoot their upcoming wedding this July. 

I attempted to get some shots during the perfect twilight hour, however as the weather changes quickly up here in May - within 20 minutes my whole shot had changed.  The sun just wanted to hide behind the clouds I guess…and it was pretty windy and cold.  I had a couple shot ideas in mind, however because of the weather - and the location…..there was limits.

Brandon was my assistant for my first shot (the wide shot, with the single tree).  He chewed on his toy giraffe beside me - and would let our a little “yeah” from time to time.  It was chilly though, so we didn’t want to keep him out too long. 

Anyway - here are a few shots from the session.  They are a gorgeous family, and I will probably beg to shoot them again in the coming months if they will let me.  Mike is also a budding photographer, so maybe we can make it a couples thing….I’ll shoot them, and he can shoot me and Krista.  (How many photographers out there can agree that you have no pictures with your family, because you are always behind the lens…right?  right?)

So check out these pictures of an awesome couple, a gorgeous baby boy….and stay tuned for their beautiful wedding in July. 

As promised from my previous post, I thought I would take a second to show off some pictures from the workshopon the weekend.  I narrowed down my shots to about 35 of my favs…and here is just a couple that make my personal top.  (I really wish there was some sort of way to post my pictures and get a vote on which ones get the top marks…..)

I learned a lot of tricks at this workshop, which is why I love taking workshops.  The stuff that is usually on the agenda is awesome, but when I come away with a little something that was unplanned….it gets me jazzed. 

So with out further adue, let me know what you think of these….(and they are big….so be careful!)

First of all, if you want to find more about Dave and Charlotte, as well as their workshop, check them out here.  (Or visit www.daveandcharlotte.com).

I have to STRONGLY encourage you NOT to take this workshop.  I am a very selfish and jealous guy, so please do not take this workshop as it will make you a better photographer, get you amazing images, and get you thinking of ways to get better.  I want to keep this little secret to myself, so that I get better than you….so please, if you are a photographer in my area.  Do not take it.

But seriously….I am totally kidding.  Take this workshop.  It was awesome, and here is my take.

So, I was very nervous about taking this workshop.  I am not sure why I was nervous, because I knew that it was going to be worth it.  I was excited about getting the opportunity to shoot beautiful brides, beautiful details, and beautiful venues.  I was also excited about the chance to talk to successful wedding photographers that were totally cool, totally real, and totally genuine in trying to make me a better photographer. 

So we met at 10am at Berkley Church on Queen St. E in Toronto.  As I parked, I was almost in tears as to what a beautiful building this is.  Unfourtuantely, we did not get to shoot directly in the church as there was another event happening.  Instead, we were shooting in various awesome adjascent areas.  There was a court yard, a roof top, a bridal room, and a reception style hall.  All with great details and backdrops to shoot with.

The first part of the workshop was Dave and Charlotte talking about various topics such as blogging, social networks, slide shows, and marketing.  They also brought in as a special guest photographer to also speak and help by the name of Bryan Caporicci.  Someone told me that he was in his early 20’s….which just made me want to punch him in the face for being awesome.  Early 20’s?  Jeepers - I was so far from being awesome when I was that in my early 20’s.  I am quickly going to add Bryan’s website (here) to my bookmarks and stalk follow his work.

Then after lunch….It was on, like donkey kong!  Everyone dove into their camera bags like we were a S.W.A.T team ready for a drug bust.  LOCK AND LOAD!  We divided into two groups to allow Dave & Charlotte and Bryan to walk around with the groups and share some ideas, techniques, and real-life wedding situations.  That was a huge highlight…as I saw first hand what a couple different lighting options can do in various situation.

We divided into groups of two (one to shoot, and one to assist) and got a few minutes with each model for our very own creative time.  My partner Brian (his website is here) was great, and I was lucky to be partnered with a photographer with my taste, (and love of gear).  He was a huge help…and we had fun, and fun with our models.

I will keep the details of the locations until my next post - when I post the edited pictures.  Although I am spent from the day, and still have so many things running through my head from the workshop…I think I am going to try to get some quick edits done tonight for your feedback tomorrow.

So today was a great day.  An awesome workshop, from awesome people.  Check out Dave + Charlotte, but remember….they are ONLY my friends now, not yours….and the workshop is ONLY for me, not you.  *nudge*

This week has been an awesome week!  I don’t even know where to begin.  I really should blog post about all of them, which I probably will do, but here is the short of it, in a nutshell.

• I narrowed down my colours, my logo, packaging and upcoming brand.
• My wife placed 3rd in the fitness figure OPA Level 1!  (Pictures to come)
• I booked the a couple exciting projects this summer (if I told you, I would have to kill you)
• I am looking forward to this Sunday when I will be participating in the “Wicked Wedding” workshop by Dave + Charlotte this weekend.  (Obviously pictures will be coming from that as well….)

And last but not least, I got to shoot my favorite subjects!  The story behind this is that I set up the portable studio to take some shots of my little guy this week.  But, every time we went to shoot - he had done the 3 year old thing, and gotten messy!  So, when I saw that both kids were relatively clean….I jumped on it. 

We had some fun, jumping, posing, high fives, etc….they were great models.  This is one of the shots from the set. 

Stay tuned for more guys, I have more to post….I just need to keep up!