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When Elizabeth called to set up the time for their engagement session, she told me about their love of gardening and immediately had an idea that included something gardening-related. The three of us also share an off-beat sense of humour, so that crept into the photo as well. We actually ended up doing the photo—the first one below—in Jamie’s parent’s backyard, because it is so beautiful and verdant.

This was a very relaxing and enjoyable engagement session. We basically went for a walk along the river bottom in Lethbridge and whenever I saw something that looked like it would make for a good place for photos we stopped and hung around there for a while and then ambled off somewhere else. It was pretty loose and ad-libbed. And the light was so nice, too!

Here are some of my favourite images from their session. I look forward to photographing their wedding, which is very, very soon! Oh, and don’t worry Jamie, I’d never, ever mention that mysterious wet patch on your pants.

These guys were so much fun to photograph! They had a great sense of humour and were very easy-going.

Ryan and Shawna actually live in Edmonton, but we did their engagement session in Calgary. Like some of our other couples, their wedding will be in a beautiful outdoor location—in this case, Summerhill Winery in Kelowna—and so they wanted a contrasting urban setting for their engagement photos. We spent the afternoon visiting several locations around Calgary, including the Calgary Zoo (where they got to pat a python), some abandoned railway tracks (I don’t photograph on live tracks), and a couple of other places round the city.

Shawna asked me to get a photo of her engagement ring during their session. Her ring is a unique, custom-made design and it looks very cool! She said that she had tried to get photos herself, but they never turned out well. So hopefully I got something a bit better.

I’m really looking forward to this wedding! Not only are they a very cool couple to hang out with, but Kelowna is one of my favourite places to shoot weddings.

Mike and Elva are such a fun couple! I have so many photos of them laughing. I love it when our couples are fun or obviously in love and these guys fit both categories, so it was a blast hanging out with them to take their photos. Although they live in Calgary, their wedding is taking place in Waterton and they asked if they could have contrasting engagement images—something with a more urban feel compared to how their wedding photos will be. So we visited a few locations in the city, often just walking around and taking advantage of whatever presented itself as a good idea. They even danced to a busker’s music in the middle of Stephen Ave! It was a pretty easy-going time.

Thanks for being so fun and up for anything!

I had a fun engagement session the other day with Ryan and Kendra, just outside of Lethbridge. We started out at their home in Coalhurst and just kinda hung out, with me taking photos of the kinda things they do as hobbies. They had this mostly-finished jigsaw puzzle where all the remaining pieces were almost identical and while I was photographing them they had a burst of inspiration and managed to complete some more. But for the sake of client confidentiality I won’t say who won their foosball match. Your secret is safe with me, Kendra. After a few quick photos of their energetic Jack Russell terrier, we took off down to highway to a place just outside of town for their portraits.

Ryan has a super-cool Harley Davidson bike that we worked into a few of their shots. I had to get him to turn it around a lot for the photos, though. Apparently they’re not light or easy to turn around on small dirt trails. We finished with a sweet, romantic time. Well, they did; I just watched. Wait, that doesn’t sound much better . . .

Here are a handful of their engagement photos.

Stephanie and Kyle are an active couple who love the outdoors and asked to have their engagement session in the Kananaskis mountains, which I was happy to do. Of course, I didn’t know when I agreed to it that I’d end up halfway up a mountain in a blizzard.

The Kananskis is a beautiful, peaceful area in the Rocky Mountains about forty minutes from Banff. During ski season there are people on the slopes, but this day we had the mountains almost totally to ourselves. Kyle and Stephanie had brought their skis and we started off with photos of them around the lift and on the hill, skiing. Then we went to a second location that Kyle had picked out. We parked our cars and talked about where he wanted to go. “There’s a ledge just up there that I think would be cool”, he said, waving his hand towards a flat, rocky area about ten metres up. “Oh, that would be no problem”, I replied. “I can even bring a load of photo gear”. So we started climbing up. It began to snow. After a minute we passed the ledge and kept going. I look at the ledge. I look at Kyle. “Yeah, there’s the ledge, up there”, he says, pointing out a speck of rocks through the pine trees, halfway up the mountain.

Kyle and Stephanie were kind enough to help me carry some of my gear, which they did with ease. As soon as we got to the ledge—which was really more of a scattering of rocks—we saw some darker clouds blowing in. I had time for about three photos before it hit us, knocking my light stand over and pelting us with snow. We retreated back down the mountain and spent the rest of the session around the river and the forest at the bottom. Stephanie and Kyle were awesome to take photos of—really easy-going and obviously in love. Here are some of my favourite photos from the day:

One of our engagement sessions was recently featured on Beyond Beyond, the website of a wedding invitations and inspirations company based in London, England. They make very cool invitations, with fresh and funky designs. I recommend you check their invitations and Etsy store as well as their inspirations blog.

Thanks for having us!

I’ve been wanting to take a couple into a car wrecking yard for nearly a year and a half now. About a year ago DQ Studios did portraits of Sherri and I in a wrecking yard, which was really cool, but it’s different being in front of the camera to behind it, so when Julie told me that she wanted something kinda edgy for their portraits I saw my chance.

Jake and Julie are a great couple and so cool to work with. It would be hard to get a bad photo of them! They were so easy in front of the camera and just so relaxed with each other and in love. We hit a few locations in Calgary, starting with a car wrecking yard and then heading north to see what cool locations we could use in the city centre. We ended up at Stephen Ave, which is such a rich location for photography, especially when they have the lights up in winter. Plus, the pubs and restaurants have really nice ambiance for indoor photos.

We are looking forward to their wedding this year. Here are some of their engagement images.

Hot on the heals of the Banff wedding we did for Jordan and Leanne is a Banff engagement with fun couple Samson and Donna. Kudos to them for braving the cold for the outside photos! That wind was a killer!

We started out in the Bow Falls area before heading to the Fairmont Banff Springs to shelter from the wind and also get some indoor portraits. Samson and Donna are great dancers and we were able to get the Mount Stephen Ballroom totally to ourselves. (I’ve never seen that before!) So Samson got to twirl Donna all around around whole the floor—a private moment in a normally very public place. It was pretty cool, actually.

We only had a limited time for this engagement session, so we made the best use of the nearby areas around the Mount Stephen Ballroom for the whole time we were there. Donna and Samson were a great, open couple and I really look forward to their wedding day.

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!

Actually, we just shot their wedding, so I’m only going to post my four favourite photos from the engagement session.  And their wedding will be next! 

Pam was hoping to get some photos in the river bottom, but it was really blowing a gale that day.  We did get a few romantic images, sheltered behind the concrete pylons under the west side bridge, but then we headed into town for more sheltered areas.  I tested out a new location and some new lighting techniques and equipment.  Gotta keep everything fresh!    I love to experiment.  New locations, new people, new gear—it all gets my mind whirling with creative opportunities.

Shaun and Pam are a relaxed couple who were easy to photograph and here are some of my favourite images from their session.