This is a collection of a few of my favourite natural-light portraits from recent shoots. I love people’s faces, and I love to go in for extremely close, intimate portraits. Whenever possible—whether it’s a wedding, engagement, or family shoot—I’ll try to find a time to grab a few of these super close-ups. My one rule is to never ask for a smile (or have ’em “say cheese”)… instead, I have to illicit a natural reaction. The technical aspects are important, but not nearly as important as an honest expression.
Ella and James met in class at the University of Waterloo… we snuck into a classroom to recreate the moment when they first met. James assures me this is exactly how it went down:
And now for something a little different. Well, Kate and Andrew are unique people. Their wedding was no-frills, old-fashioned, rustic bliss. I wanted the video to truly capture their sweet, playful personalities, and the character of the entire day. It’s rough around the edges, at times grainy and out-of-focus, like an old home movie. The Super-8’s from a time before video… the wedding itself could have been out of the same period.
The song is “The Thought of You and I” by Ma Petite (licensed through the artist). 2nd camera was Steven Yu, and my assistant was Jack Szatko. I shot Kate and Andrew’s engagement photos earlier in the year at the same location: check out the big gallery or the blog post!
