Unique Images Photography | Weddings | Portraits | Fashion » Wedding, Portrait, and Fashion Photography Blog

One of our recent Banff weddings was recently featured on the Wedding Obsession blog in their Real Weddings area. Melissa, who runs the place, has a great site that features the talents of local Albertan photographers and I’m really happy to have one of our weddings up there. You can see our entry HERE. Thanks for having us, Melissa!

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!

Chantal and I have worked together once before, on a Global TV commercial, and although it’s been a long time coming, we finally got back together for this speedy Calgary photo session. We chose a location on the south side of Calgary and when we arrived I saw they were doing some construction work. As soon as I saw the trucks there I thought, “Photo props!” The workers were knocking off for the day and they let Chantal clamber over the equipment in the name of photography, which was pretty cool of them. I suppose she’d have to try really, really hard to break one. I like the juxtaposition between the trucks, which are all dirty, imposing, and grungy-looking and Chantal, who . . . isn’t.

After doing some photos around the machinery for about forty minutes, I had one specific photo in mind that I really wanted to try out. It involved quite a bit of prep work, since we’d never actually done this before, so Chantal and I got to sit in the car with the heat pumping out while my assistant put it all together for us—thanks, Doug! I wanted to create a wall of fire effect behind Chantal and so I’d brought a pre-assembled wooden wall that Doug rebuilt and fixed in place. Then I set up my lights, called Chantal over from the warm car, and had two minutes to get the shot. And, yay, we got the shot!

I look forward to our next shoot, whenever that may be.

As most wedding photographers already know, Neil van Niekerk is one of the foremost lighting experts in the field of wedding photography. As well as being a working photographer he also travels the world doing lighting workshops and teaching flash techniques. He is also a published author with a book detailing all this stuff, too. But the main thing Neil is known for is his blog. Among wedding photographers it is one of the best learning resources out there, and has been for quite some time.

Last November—has it been that long already?—Neil contacted me and asked if I’d do a guest spot on his blog. I asked what I should talk about and Neil said, “Something lighting-related”. So, of course, I ignored him and did my own thing. Actually, I just got thinking about stuff I do and somehow got onto a tangent of my own. In any case, if you want to learn all my secrets and inner-most thoughts, click on over to Neil Van Niekerk’s ‘Tangents’ blog to see my little article. Ok, so you won’t learn all my secrets, but maybe there will be one or two things that interest you.

Oh, I also thought I’d explain a couple of things here, quickly, because my Tangents post is very much slanted towards complicated portrait setups for weddings. So I want to kinda state the obvious and say that during the ceremony and reception times I am as unobtrusive as possible. However, when it comes to the portrait time, I like to put all my energy into getting something that is unique for my couples. If you read through the Tangents article you’ll see that my main idea was based on something the bride had requested, because I always base my ideas on what each couple will like. Essentially, I tailor my coverage to suit each client’s personality. I’m saying this in case anyone is horrified at the thought of their portrait time being a circus. That won’t happen. (However, if you are planning on a circus, let me know; I can juggle).

Also, if you are a former bride, please don’t feel left out if I didn’t send you a sketch. Although I frequently jot down ideas this was the only time I ever revealed one. When you see the sketch you’ll understand. Anyways, enough preamble, click, man, click!

Here are some images from a bridal fashion session we did in Kelowna. There will be another follow-up post to this one later. You’ll see why.

Our models for the day were Dan and Caitlin—who are actually engaged to be married—Tonya, Steven, and Jesyca. They were all great to work with!

Dan is none other than “Tarzan Dan” Freeman, a radio personality from Toronto who now lives and works in Kelowna. For anyone who has listened to him and is wondering: yes, he is as crazy in real life as he is on the air. Dan, I am still bummed that I forgot to set up a shot of you being sprayed with the hose at Summerhill Winery. Caitlin was originally a last-minute addition to the shoot, but I am so glad we had her along! She was super helpful and excellent in front of the camera. Caitlin is a very skilled ballet dancer and has abundant natural grace. Oh, and I should mention on behalf of Caitlin that her actual wedding dress was not worn for these images. Dan and Caitlin had a fantastic chemistry and a great sense of fun. It was so easy to get cool photos of them.

Tonya was awesomely professional to work with! Even when I had her out in blinding sunlight on a yacht in the Okanagan Lake at noon she was striking pose after pose for me, with no complaints.

Steven was one of the most enthusiastic and patient guys I’ve ever had out on a shoot! We went way later than expected and he wasn’t in as many of the photos as the girls were, but he was so into the whole process and was great to have with us.

Jesyca was really quiet during the day, but always up for whatever I suggested, even my crazy evening shots in the Okanagan Lake. I think we got some very cool images, thanks to her.

More details and an update in a later post. I’ll stop this one now, before I hit my smiley quota.

There will be more.  Stay tuned. 

Anyone who reads the Lethbridge Living Magazine will know that I shoot for them each issue. Until now I’ve never been able to show any images prior to publication, due to a standard publishing agreement with the magazine. However, with the way the web has become such a large part of peoples’ lives, magazines everywhere are seeing the benefits to having more of an online presence. So, for your viewing pleasure and tantalisation, I present to you the first ever pre-publication glimpse at an upcoming article! Well, one of the images, anyways.

These are actually some of the most challenging shoots I ever do, believe it or not. Even though I don’t have to come away with nearly as many images as I do when shooting portraits or weddings, the dynamic is very different. Recently I’ve had more flexibility in my shoots, but quite often I only get a 15-minute window to capture several images of a busy business person in their cluttered workplace who doesn’t want their photos taken in the first place! Oh, and these photos will be published and make their way into thousands and thousands of homes and businesses in and around Lethbridge, so they better be good. Now you see what I mean, eh? Also, due to the nature of the magazine printing process, the colours of my images don’t turn out quite right. But that’s the way it goes for online viewing, too. Unless everyone’s monitors are all properly calibrated with external calibration devices, photos can appear too bright, or too blue, or too dark, or whatever. I just have to let it go and not be such a perfectionist about these things. Either that or go and calibrate the monitors of everyone who visits my site. Argh!

But I do enjoy it. I love the challenges involved. And Jenn and Tim, the owners of the magazine since 2006, are very easy to work for and have a great vision for the future of the Lethbridge Living. They’ve really pumped some new life into it since they took over and it’s exciting to work with people who are able to set optimistic goals and then exceed them.

The image below was taken for the upcoming summer issue and should be on the cover. It’s supporting an article on Lethbridge’s Softball Valley. I also have some photos supporting an article on Fort McLeod’s South County Fair.  Look for it on shelves in July.