After we shot at Pillitteri Estates, we decided to do an outfit change and head into downtown Niagara on the Lake to finish off the engagement pictures. Nina and Phil looked great getting all dressed up. We went all over, and even got lucky to capture an amazing sunset!

I can’t lie, Nina and Phil made my job extremely easy with how comfortable they were in front of the camera. They told me they were a little camera shy, but I think the pictures speak for themselves with how happy they are together!

Balls Falls is one of my favourite places to take pictures at and we had beautiful weather for their pictures!

Kimber and Mike were great! They were up for every idea I had, and the camera loves them! Their wedding is in June and I can’t wait for it. They’re great people and I have no doubt their wedding will be awesome!

I had the awesome opportunity to photograph her at the ripe age of 14 days!

I love doing new born shoots. It’s amazing to capture someone so young, fragile and new to this world! You can see in their eyes how amazing everything is to them.  And the speed babies grow at is incredible! Capturing those moments when they are just a few days old is something special that I love about my job and something I think every parent should have.

If you are expecting to have your own baby soon, or want to give a gift card to an expecting mother, please email me for more info.

Now on to Molly!

The first one up is Cristina and Brandon’s engagements. I shot their wedding in Hamilton back in August, and you can see the pictures from their wedding by clicking here.

We were lucky to even be able to shoot Cristina and Brandon’s engagement pictures. They both run a very busy schedule and there was only one weekend that the two of them would be available before their wedding. The weather was nice enough to cooperate and we got  a beautiful, 90+ degree day! We decided to go out to Jaycee Park in St Catharines to start their engagement session, and we finished it on the beach in beautiful Port Dalhousie. I love shooting engagement pictures in Port Dalhousie, it’s so nice there!

While taking pictures on the beach in Port Dalhousie, I asked if they wanted to try a silhouette shot. They agreed and we headed over to a spot that I like. When we got there, the colours looked beautiful and we had perfect timing with someone paddling a canoe across the water! I grabbed the shot just in the nick of time before the canoe was gone. It’s one of my favourite pictures I took in 2011.

Anyways, on to some engagement pictures!

This blog post is going to focus on weddings, model shoots, travel and a few miscellaneous shoots as well. I plan to make another that documents some of my favourite engagement and newborn photos from the year in a follow up blog post. Check back to see that one very soon!

Anyways, on to 2011 in review!

In January, Enchantment Makeup Artistry and I did a model shoot out in the bitter cold snow with Meghan. Although she froze, she did an amazing job!

I then had the opportunity to shoot Jason and Lisa’s gorgeous winter wedding in Niagara Falls at the Americana. During their portraits it even began to snow lightly!

In early February we did a fun studio photo shoot with one of my favourite models, Brittney.

I took a road trip to Myrtle Beach in April, I loved this shot under the pier.

Two of my best friends got married in May and I had the opportunity to shoot their wedding for them! We got lucky and the only day it didn’t rain that week was on their wedding day.

In June I shot Jason and Leanne’s wedding. They had an awesome wedding in St Catharines and Leanne looked gorgeous!

We then took a little trip to Boston. I fell in love with Boston within 5 minutes of being there. We even went on a whale watching tour out in the ocean!

This year I decided I wanted to try my hand at maternity and newborn photos. I love capturing weddings, but I want to grow with my clients so I can capture all of their milestones throughout their lives. I’ve included some samples of maternity photos in this blog post, and will have samples of newborn photos in my next blog post which documents engagement and newborn photos from 2011.  Here is a silhouette of Shannon.

I then shot Andrea and Kevin’s wedding in July. Such a nice couple, and what an amazing car!!

The next week I shot Rebecca and Mike’s wedding at Bridgewater Country Club. Rebecca looked like she came straight out of a magazine! Such a pretty bride!

Although I mentioned previously I will be posting my favourite engagement photos in another blog post, I had to post this one. It’s up there as one of my favourite photographs I have ever taken. A beautiful silhouette in Port Dalhousie.

Late in July I shot Eryn and Nimo’s wedding at Luina Gardens on what might have been the hottest day I have ever experienced. But the two of them didn’t let that bother them one bit!

I then shot another maternity shoot, one of my good friends Amber!

In early August, Enchantment Makeup Artistry and I had the chance to work with a stunningly beautiful and highly talented model, Andrea!

Later that week I shot Cristina and Brandon’s wedding on the beach of Lake Ontario! We had a little sun for the ceremony, but then it started to pour out. That didn’t stop either of them from having fun and we captured some great shots of them in the rain and water!

I then shot two of the nicest people you will ever meet, Jeremy and Karen at the Ancaster Old Mill.

Lauren and Geoff’s wedding was next. It was the most beautifully decorated back yard wedding I have ever seen!

I then had the chance to capture another friends maternity photos. Amanda and her husband Trevor and I went out in Port Dalhousie and got some great shots!

My friends Les and Fallon were next to get married! We took off to the Botanical Gardens in Niagara Falls for their wedding pictures.

I then had the chance to do a beach photo shoot with the unbelievably gorgeous Kata!

At the end of August I shot two of the coolest, most laid back people’s wedding at Peninsula Lake Golf Course and then the Botanical Gardens.

In early September I shot Kristl and Mike’s wedding at Luina Station in Hamilton. Such a gorgeous wedding! And an awesome couple! (notice she had 2 wedding dresses)

Then I shot two of the coolest people I have met, Jodie and Sean’s wedding. These two should be in a magazine they’re both so photogenic. And their wedding was just pure fun! Such a great group of people they have in their lives!

I then traveled up to Kitchener to shoot Nina and Phil’s wedding. Two of the most genuine, friendly people that there is. They even surprised me with an awesome custom present. Such an awesome couple!

And finally I ended the wedding season with Sam and Jen’s wedding. The second you meet these two, you feel like you have been friends with them forever. They had a great wedding!

And finally, the year finished up with an amazing trip to New York City right before Christmas! Such a beautiful city!

Oh New York City. What can I say about you other then you are amazing! A city that never sleeps and always has something fun to do.

We went to NYC just before Christmas. Having never visited before, I had no idea what to expect. Was it going to be as scary as some people say it is? Or was it going to be as amazing as others told me? The answer was definitely the latter! We arrived on no sleep after an early morning 8 hour train ride and went right away to exploring the city. The crowds, the million yellow taxis flying by and constantly honking, the massively tall concrete buildings surrounding us from all sides, its truly a sight to be seen in person. Until you get there you can’t truly appreciate what the city is like. Although TV and movies do a good job to romanticize the city, in my opinion they still can’t properly capture it.

On our first day there, we walked around taking pictures of everything we could see. We saw Times Square, walked to St Patrick’s Cathedral and watched people skating under the beautiful Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. Having no sleep finally started to catch up with us and we headed back to our hotel around dinner time for a nap.

When we woke up it was raining, but we went back out anyway’s to continue to explore. We ended up going to Bryant Park which had another beautiful Christmas tree and Christmas market to go along with its huge skating rink. We then walked to the massive New York Library and took some night shots there before we wondered off and found Grand Central Station.

Our second day in New York was spent going through many of the same areas we had seen the day before. We spent our evening going out to dinner and to go see the Nutcracker Ballet before a massive rain storm ended our night early.

The third day in New York was beautiful! We started off walking through parts of Central Park before ending up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then we took a taxi down to the financial district. There, we saw some of the Occupy Wall Street Protests, Trinity Church, The Freedom Tower, and we walked along the Brooklyn Bridge where I got a shot of the skyline at night.

On our way back to our hotel, we once again got hit by rain but this time we stayed out and took pictures under the cover of scaffolding The colours of the city looked beautiful drenched in the cold winter rain.

Our last full day there was spent doing some last minute Christmas shopping at Macy’s, and then we headed over to Top of the Rock for some city shots (The first picture of this post, and this shot of Central Park below). I absolutely loved the way the sky looked for our sunset shots, and the view we had of the Empire State Building was amazing!

The next day we were up at 5:30am to catch our train back home and to rest up from all of the walking we did while in New York.

I loved this trip and I can’t wait to go back! The city is amazing and there is so much to see and do. If you’re debating on seeing New York, my advice is to go now! I’m sure you will love it just as much as I did!

Rebecca is shaving her head to help raise money and support for the famine effecting  Africa through CARE Canada.

Please click here for more information on their efforts and how to donate.

Jen from Heavens Hair Studio in Ridgeway, Ontario was kind enough to donate her time to shaving Rebecca’s head. Here are the results!

Of course we had to get a before picture.

Getting ready…
The first cut!Then the clippers came out, no turning back after this!But she was happy and excited doing it.The final result!

They had a beautiful wedding last month that I had the privilege of photographing. We started the day off in Fort Erie, we then headed over to the Botanical Gardens in Niagara Falls and got lucky that it didn’t rain, and then finished our day at John Michael’s Banquet and Conference Centre for their reception.

One thing that is apparent when you meet Jen and Sam is that they both like to enjoy life to the fullest and have a great time with everything that they do. The first time I met them they immediately made me feel like I had known them for years! Everybody involved with their wedding was the same. Their wedding was a great day for everyone!

Congratulations guys

She wanted to get some portraits done, and I was in the mood for a model shoot. We came up with the idea of going for a hike and using whatever nature gave us as a backdrop. We decided on trying our luck at ShortHills Provincial Park.

Kayla did amazing! She looked great and she was up for anything, including climbing across a tree with a 20 foot drop beneath her! The combination of late afternoon light, fall colours and her red hair was perfect! The combination really made the photos pop.

Here are a few examples of what we came up with!