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A big thanks to Ashton and Breanne for braving the cold in Calgary for their engagement session. And an extra big thanks for lending me a jacket when I forgot to bring mine!

We met up at Calgary’s Confederation Park and, unusually for me, stayed at that one location. But it’s such a nice area, with quite a few different cool little spots in it, that we didn’t need to go anywhere else. We started out in an underground walkway and I got grungy-style images in the tunnel there, while we dodged joggers and people walking their dogs, including one guy who was wearing two totally different shoes. That was pretty funny, though I won’t laugh too hard, because at least he had a jacket.

The leaves were just turning to their fall colours in the park, though it wasn’t until the end that I really worked them into the photographs. It’s funny how sometimes what’s right in front of me won’t inspire me, but something out of the way in a corner will really appeal to me. (There are a bunch more images with the fall colours in their private gallery, but I like the ones below best). Confederation Park has really tame ducks! We were able to get so close to them and we didn’t even have food. Ashton and Breanne tempted them over with leaves.

Anyways, it was great to meet you both and I look forward to seeing you again at your wedding next year!

Congrats to Mike and Gillian! They were recently married in a moving ceremony in Calgary’s Baker Park.

We did their engagement session back in February down in Lethbridge and they were both happy and easy-going, so it was great to catch up with them again on their wedding day. I started the day with the bride’s dress going on—well, photographing Gillian in it—while my assistant photographer Jessica photographed the guys. Their ceremony was outside at Baker Park, near the Bow river. The leaves were just starting to turn yellow for the fall—though most of them were still green—and it’s a beautiful place, full of trees and really peaceful. There were lots of smiles and tears throughout the ceremony, mostly tears from Gillian and smiles from Mike.

After their wedding ceremony we stayed in the park for nearly all their photos, stopping on the way back to the reception to wander through the Safeway where Gillian and Mike had met. Their reception was also an emotional affair with teary speeches and loads of laughs. Here are a handful of their images.

On the morning of Susanna and Greg’s wedding my wife Sherri went into labour. You can read more about that HERE.

My second photographer and I met Greg at the church as he was waiting for Susanna to arrive in an old fire truck. This was one of those weddings full of quirky personal touches, which make a wedding so memorable and fun. I really love the little old church they were married in! It’s like one of those tiny white wooden buildings you see as you drive through the prairies, sitting alone in the middle of a field. The light was so beautiful inside! It definitely had the best natural light of any wedding ceremony we have ever photographed. In fact, it is the first church we’ve been to that was actually bright inside and not dark. Ah, yes, the things that excite a wedding photographer.

Susanna and Greg had so many cool things worked into their ceremony. This is the second of three weddings we have this year with a Scottish bride or groom and Greg and his groomsmen were all done up in kilts and tartans and the other traditional Scottish garb. Not only were there personal touches to the ceremony, but their love for each other was so clear, with Greg wiping tears from his eyes and Susanna choking up as she saw Greg waiting for her. And I really liked the Scottish influences during the day. Greg even read Susanna a poem by Robert “Rabbie” Burns during the ceremony.

After their ceremony and toasts of scotch we did their photos on the same property, an historical village with a little old jail and loads of cool rustic buildings. There were tons of great spots and I could have photographed there for hours. Plus, the wedding party were fun and really easy to work with.

Their reception was back in Lethbridge and it was filled with lots of fun and laughter. They also had the most multicultural dinner I’ve ever seen, with dishes from about a dozen different countries. Their wedding reception tables were also named after different places that meant something to them and their families. Greg and Susanna also did a very nice thing for me, too. Because I was there while Sherri was in labour they sped up their reception events so that I could photograph them and leave. Although my second photographer, Jessica, was very capable of taking over in my absence and they really didn’t have to do this, they did their cake cutting, first dance, father-daughter/mother-son dances, and the bouquet and garter tosses all back to back. (In case you’re wondering I was with Sherri for the last three hours of the labour and birth. )

All the best to Susanna and Greg! Click below to start the slideshow and give it a little bit of time to load.

I recently wrote some tips for beginning wedding photographers on the Digital Wedding Forum—which is a handy resource for anyone wanting to learn more about wedding photography—and I thought I’d share them here as well, for the starting photographers who browse my blog. There are a lot of people getting into wedding photography these days and most of them find out the hard way that it can be very difficult and a lot of work. Many of the problems that beginning photographers—and even quite a few pros—face seem to pop up regularly. So here are my tips on how to avoid some of the more common pitfalls before they occur.

How To Not Suck: Avoiding Common Problems

1. Say ‘no’. People will approach you for all kinds of photography. If you really don’t want to do something let them go to another photographer who will happily do this work for them. The clients are happy, the other photographer is happy, and you don’t get the stress of accepting work you don’t like.

2. Do your research before accepting a job. When someone asks you to do something that you think might be outside of your experience, look into it and get back to them later. If you think you won’t enjoy it or might stuff it up, either turn it down or set aside enough time to learn how to do it well before you take it on. Scout locations to see what you’ll need to have or to know.

3. Learn to do things that you might need someday. For instance, even if you love to shoot in natural light, it still won’t hurt to learn how to use flash well. You are not obliged to use it just because you know how, but one day it might mean the difference between sucking and succeeding.

4. Know your gear. Learn to shoot with everything in manual mode. Although there plenty of photographers who get wonderful images shooting in a semi-auto modes, the more you are aware of how the settings effect the results, the better you’ll be at quickly adapting to challenging environments or gear malfunctions.

5. Get paid as a professional. We all have to start somewhere, but not charging professional rates hurts everyone. Very cheap sessions might seem like a good way to get work now, but it will bite you in the future.

6. There is no such thing as a casual agreement. Get everything in writing and cover as many points as you can as clearly as possible. Even if you are the best of friends with your client, get them to sign a contract. No one remembers every last detail you thought you explained to them.

7. Have back-up gear. Have back-up locations. Have a back-up plan. Have an emergency number in case you get stuck.

8. Buy a GPS. Buy a UPS. Buy a screen calibrator. Buy a backup solution for your computer.

9. Half of the websites out there have a bio that starts something like this: “I’ve always had a passion for photography and I love that I can do my passion as a career”. You need to really ask yourself why you like photography. Be specific. This will it make you a better photographer, because you will identify areas that you want to work towards or stay away from. For instance, you might realise that you really like photographing kids, but not adults. That helps you to direct your career and make it more rewarding.

10. Finally, some compositional tips: get close, find the action, find the light, explore the space, and plain backgrounds are everywhere.