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I arrived at Mary’s grandparents’ farm for her grad photo session and her grandfather showed me around. He pointed out a bunch of trees out the back and said, “This is where photographers usually like to take our photos”. Then he took me inside to where there were some photos hanging on their wall. “Here are the photos we’ve had in the past”. I replied, “Yeah, today’s photos won’t look anything like that”. We started out with some photos of Marys’ date’s family and then, when Mary was ready, we did a few of the two of them as well as Mary on her own.

It’s funny how it worked out with the hay bale. When I was driving in I saw a few and thought, “Hmm. I wonder if we could use any of those?” Then I saw that they’d put one aside specially for the shoot. The car is the same car that Mary’s grandfather and mother had both used to attend their grads. Mary rode to her graduation in a limousine with her friends, but we had to include the car in the photos!

Mary was really fun to shoot with and here are some of her images.

Grace is a local model and a really fun person to have on a shoot.  Take a look at the photos and you’ll see what I mean!    I did this shoot with Jessica, whom I will be introducing on this blog very soon.  Grace was awesome to work with!  She was really naturally talented and hard-working, too.  I love how she was able to add her own flair to create something that really suited the clothes and environment.  It was more like she took on the role of a character and acted it out than just simply posed.  Very cool.  Check out the crazy clothing she wore when we hit the alley downtown!  It was so funny; she turned so many heads when we were setting up and shooting that scene.    One car actually drove past us, then stopped and reversed so the people in it could stare at her.  Lol!  That’s the first time I’ve had that on a shoot.  Hmm.  Perhaps if I dressed like that I’d get it more often.  What do you think—should I borrow that outfit for my next wedding? 

Congrats to Shaun and Pam!  They were married in May at Lethbridge’s Galt Museum.  After a moving ceremony filled with tears and laughter, we did some quick family photos on the steps of the Galt and then headed down to the river bottom for the rest of their portraits.  We’ve had a few large wedding parties in a row this year, so it was a nice fast session this time round.  Fewer people mean less time setting up lighting and that sort of thing, so we flew through the wedding party group photos in around 15 minutes and then were able to spend over an hour with just Shaun and Pam.   Just like during their engagement session, they were relaxed and easy to take photos of.  Thanks to Brad, the groomsman, for holding a flash for me and Jen, the bridesmaid, for braving the high-level bridge. 

Thanks also to Lethbridge Limousines, who stayed an extra 20 minutes or so after they were supposed to head back, so the whole wedding party was able to ride in style to their reception at the Italian-Canadian club.

Oh, check out the photo of the two flowergirls cuddling each other.  Isn’t that the cutest photo ever?  I love how their flip-flops match their dresses.  Too cute. 

Jaylene is such a natural in front of the camera. I think I even asked her if she had done any modeling, which is hard to ask and not sound like a creepy old guy. Lol! But, seriously, we work with all kinds of different people, from models to people who’ve practically never had their photo taken, and I have to say that I’ve never had such a natural to work with as Jaylene. We’d be setting up and I’d be ready to tell her how to pose and I’d say, “Just turn a little . . . oh! You’ve already done it!” I love it when people make my job easy. 

We did some studio-style work first, though I’ve pretty much entirely phased that out in favour of on-location photography, and then we hit up the Henotic and a few other local locations here in Lethbridge. I’ve been going through a bit of a Henotic phase!     It’s quite nice in there, but I’m giving it a bit of a break for now so I can keep diversifying. Lethbridge doesn’t have a wealth of different locations to choose from, but I do try to do something different every session. I can’t stand to repeat myself! 

Jaylene was such an natural to work with and also a really easy-going person. Here are some of her photos.

Recently I had the pleasure of working with up-and-coming model Chantal and her boyfriend Andy on a shoot that was recorded for Global TV. I think this is my fourth time on TV and I’m actually getting used to it now! Man, the first time was freaky, even for someone who used to perform in live bands and act in amateur theatre! But this time it was a breeze and Chantal and Andy were very easy to work with as well. Of course, it certainly helped that our cameraman, Chris from COGO Productions, was super calm and professional, too.

The idea was to do a regular engagement-style session and record it for a TV commercial for Global. So I went through the sort of things that I would do for an engagement shoot and directed Chantal and Andy, telling them to interact and pose in ways that suited their personalities. We had a lot of fun. Chantal, especially, was really into the whole image-making process and both of them were up for anything, so we ended up shooting for quite a while, continuing long after Chris had packed up his video gear and gone home for dinner.

We started out in the Henotic restaurant and then spent a bit of time in an alleyway, before heading out to a nice big field just outside of town.

You can see the commercial on Global’s network, mostly around the 6pm to 7pm timeslot during the next couple of weeks or so. And here is a selection of images we got from the shoot.

Congratulations to Panos and Donell! They were married here in Lethbridge at the Ukrainian Orthodox church and Sherri and I were honoured to be their photographers for the day.

Panos, whose name is apparently pronounced to sound similar to Bono—though I think I kept messing it up on the day—and Donell are a great couple who were so easy to work with. They were relaxed and fun and generous. We started out at Reflections hair salon near the old fire hall, which is currently my favourite hair salon to take photos in. It has big windows that let in lots of bright sunlight, which is more flattering than artificial lighting, and the booths where you get your hair done are fairly close together. You always capture more fun moments when the bride and bridesmaids can talk with each other without yelling across the room. There’s a tip if you’re taking notes.

Then I left Sherri with the girls and headed out to take photos of Panos and the groomsmen. As soon as I arrived Panos offered me something to drink and gave me a set of cufflinks. It felt more like I’d popped over for lunch than was working. I surprised the guys by choosing to take their photos in the basement—”Oh, you won’t want to take photos down there”, they said—ha! And then I headed off for more photos of the girls. Donell was going over her vows and laughing with her bridesmaids, which makes it easy to get fun shots!

I’ll say one thing about traditional Greek Orthodox ceremonies: they give you plenty of time to get a bunch of different and interesting images! I actually enjoyed it, even though it was a long ceremony. It was really hot that day, but I like the heat, too.

The reception was catered by Luigis on the north side and the food was excellent. The dessert was the best I have ever had at a wedding so far. I never usually eat sweet stuff and I ate the whole thing. The DJ was Shad, from Sound Barrier Entertainment, and he did a great job of keeping the music and lighting rolling. I gave him a bunch of photos from the wedding day and he was able to project them onto a screen right then and there. The night finished for us with everyone doing Greek dancing, which is super fun to take photos of!

I’ve posted some photos and also a short slideshow at the top. Click on the play button and give it some time to load—it’s short but big.