Tina is officially the reigning champion of 6:8 Photography’s ‘Most Smiley Bride’ award. We may have to shoot another 100 weddings before someone is able to unseat her. Greg is the reigning champion of our “Rennaisaince Man’ award. Let me tell you – it is going to take something pretty spectacular to bump him and his homemade butternut squash soup that he made for everyone following the ceremony.

We met up with Sarah and Don this week for their engagement session. If you’ve been following our blog for a while you might recognize Don from Carolyn & Jordan’s wedding back in 2008. It’s neat because we’re going to be hanging out with that crowd twice this summer as Don is Carolyn’s brother and Jaryn is Jordan’s sister. When they arrived we noticed they were driving a 4×4 truck. Now, I clearly realize that when you ask a guy whether or not he wants to take his truck off-roading it’s a rhetorical question but we felt compelled to, just to make sure. Sarah and Don were more than up for an adventure and we spent the afternoon exploring a few of the logging roads in the area. The light was perfect and had a really warm tone to it, almost a spring-like feel (which might explain the lack of snow!).

Here’s a few of my favourites!

It was hard for me to pick a favourite from their engagement session but I think the image below is a top contender!

We were introduced to Tina and Greg through a coworker of my brother Steve.  Their wedding is coming up here pretty quickly (this weekend!) in High River and I think it’s going to be a blast!  Both of them are pretty laid-back and it didn’t seem like they were at all stressed about the fact that their wedding is just around the corner.  They were more than willing to walk around with us through a couple alleys, sit on a rickety old bench with a broken leg, and lay down on the entrance ramp of a parking garage for a few pictures.  It makes me wonder whether or not our clients are afraid to say no to us when we come up with some of our ideas!

Here’s a few of my favourite shots from their engagement session.  Be sure to check back next week to see some of their wedding pictures!

I think this last one is my favourite.  I love how all the lines in the picture lead your eyes right to Tina and Greg.

I had a potential bride ask me the other day about why we include the engagement sessions with all of our wedding commissions, and I thought that there are probably a few other people out there who have had a similar thought at some point.

You might laugh, but the reason has very little to do with the actual photographs! It’s mostly about having a chance to connect with our clients once prior to shooting one of the biggest days of their lives. We believe that it is so important that our clients are comfortable with Duane and I and how we operate when we are shooting. It gives us an opportunity to learn about the day and how our clients envision it unfolding.

Duane and I are often along on wedding days for a lot of hours, so it is so important that you feel comfortable that we are going to be a positive addition to things! If the photographers are a drag it can really bring the whole day down.

Finally, we want our clients to be relaxed about the photography going into things. The last thing that they need to be thinking about it whether the photographers know what they are doing! It’s one thing to see great pictures of other people and hope that we can create something similar again for, and its another thing altogether to have the proof. If we’ve done our job right then they are excited for what we can create and what the experience will be like!

We met Jaryn fairly early on in our business when we covered her brother Jordan’s wedding (Carolyn and Jordan) and we were super excited when she contacted us last fall about her and Steve’s Banff wedding in September.

They have this awesome Great Dane, Lexus, so we decided to head down to the dog park (where there must have been a million people and their dogs enjoying the nice weather.) I’m pretty sure that Jaryn and Steve never stopped laughing the entire time during the session!

It was a lot of fun for Duane and I, because we used the session to break out of some routines that we often fall back on. We spend so much time looking for clean, even light (nothing wrong with that!) and we decided going into things that we were going to experiment with some strong directional sunlight to see what we could come up with. I’m glad that we did – it was a lot of fun to force ourselves to see things a little differently!

I’m really looking forward to their wedding this September.  It will be the first wedding I’ve been to in the past three years where I am attending as a “guest” and not a photographer.  I’ve been given explicit instructions that I’m not to touch a camera that day (Kevan is the official photographer for their wedding) but I have a feeling I might be drafted into holding a light now and then!  Enough talk though, below are a few pictures!

This one is one of the most legitimately dicey positions that I have ever seen clients go to during an engagement session! If you’re a member of the facebook fan page, you’ll see that it has unofficially been dubbed ‘Sketchy Ridge” which is fairly apt! Let’s just say that the drop off on either side was fairly intimidating and full of lots of things that you wouldn’t want to bounce off of! I think it was worth it though!

Thanks guys! Have fun at the Olympics!

The scene as the final torch bearer ran the flame up to the steps of City Hall. I’m not necessarily a huge Olympics guy, but it was a pretty neat moment.

Eric was talking over on our facebook fan page about how his cruel photographers made them sit in the snow, and how he didn’t manage to get warm for hours afterwards. This, of course, is all true. However, I would like to offer this next shot as proof that we never make our clients suffer alone!

Duane’s shot; my favourite!

In keeping with the theme from above, I would like to point out that they did this to themselves! =)

As a side note, for those of you on facebook, we actually did a sneak release of these images on our fan page. It’s a great way to stay connected with what we are doing!

I told you that the snow was deep! Quinn kept letting Zoe break trail for him – very manly eh? Especially seeing as Zoe was wearing a skirt.

I think this mound of snow doubles as  picnic table in the summer…

Our end-of-the-year contest is back!

It was like deja vu last night as we tried to narrow down all the images we took this past year to get our top fifteen shots.  The process was just as long and arduous as I remember it from last year!  Tonight was spent in long debate about why we strongly felt that certain shots should be included. There was sadness from both of us as we went through and removed some really good shots from the running to get it down to just fifteen. We realize that this is always a highly subjective thing – invariably we have chosen something that you might not have; such is the nature of things in choosing favourites though!

So, just like last year, this contest ends with a prize!  At the bottom of this post there is a survey that we’ve set up so that you, our loyal blog readers, can make the final decision on what you think was the absolute best shot of 2009.  The couple whose shot receives the highest number of votes by midnight, December 31st (Mountain Time) will receive one of our fine-art canvases of their favourite image from their wedding.  The voting is open to anyone so please, encourage your families and friends to vote.  Last year we had a lot of people leave comments trying to convince others of why they thought a specific shot should win so please don’t hesitate to let your voice be heard!

We want to thank all of our clients, their families, and their friends for another great year and look forward to doing it again in 2010! We met a lot of cool people and made a bunch of new friends. If you’re not connected with us on Facebook we’d love to have you join our Fan Page simply by clicking the link.

PS – You’ll notice that we are busting out our new logo in the images below. It’s just a pre-cursor of what is to come in the next little while here! Stay tuned!

Sheena and Kyle came home from Dubai to have their wedding in Fernie and were determined to have their wedding pictures done outside despite the 75 degree temperature difference from what they had grown accustomed to!  You would never know from this shot that the temperature that day was a brisk -36ºC with the wind chill!

While shooting at Maiden Lake in Fernie for Rebecca and JJ’s wedding we bumped into a couple of people playing hockey and asked them to borrow their sticks for a few shots.  As it turns out, JJ played quite a bit of hockey when he was younger and you can see the competitive spirit in his eyes as soon as he got his hands on the stick.

Carmen and Mike’s wedding reception was at the Banff Springs Hotel, one of the nicest venues in Western Canada.  It’s full of history and there’s an elegance in the air when you’re in the building. They got permission from the hotel to light a few sparklers during the dance, but I don’t think that the hotel anticipated nearly 50 being lit all at the same time. We’re sure glad that it worked though – the natural light in this shot really gives it a neat character. We’re also glad that the sprinklers didn’t go off!

For those of you who have followed our blog for a while, you’ll know that Leif appeared on our blog twice, the first time in 2008 at his brother Quinn’s wedding, and the second in May 2009 when he and married Laura at the Pine Brook Golf & Country Club in Calgary.  We stopped on a side-road on the way to Bragg Creek to get this shot and it was one of six times throughout the year where we had to cross a barbed-wire fence to get to where we wanted to do our shooting!  Our couples are awesome!  I love the starkness of the field behind them in this picture with the dramatic light on Laura and Leif as a storm passes by in the background.

When we showed up to Aleefa’s house in the morning when she and her girls were getting ready we came across the first dress we’ve seen that required TWO hangers to hold it up.  It was a pretty heavy dress, weighing in at close to 20lbs!  Aleefa told us she had been working out prior to their wedding in preparation of having to wear it all day!  She was more than happy to take a few moments to sit down with Ellis at Hotel Arts in Calgary while we set this shot up in the lounge and it’s one of our favourites because it’s so simple and clean.
This next one gets an honourable mention.  During Aleefa & Ellis’ ceremony Duane was changing angles and happened to walk past a nearly empty row near the back of the church.  We are pretty sure that the nun in the picture was simply attending the ceremony and is deep in prayer.  It’s one of those shots that you would expect to get in a cathedral in Europe, not in downtown Calgary. As a side note, we’ve decided that if this shot wins we will give a donation to the local food bank and give the fine-art canvas to the second place finisher. Choose wisely though, because you can only vote once!

One of the emotional high-points of a wedding day happens right as the couple is walking down the aisle after the ceremony is over as it starts to sink in that they’re actually married.  I love Madisen’s expression as she and Cole exit the church and she’s able to make eye contact with one of their friends.

This is by far my favourite reception shot from 2009.  We were given the heads-up on the morning of Ashly’s wedding that they were going to do something a little different for the father/daughter dance.  Apparently it’s tradition that Ashly and her dad do a little Blues Brothers routine during family events – you should have heard the room when they busted out the sunglasses!

We had been looking forward to Mariah and Greg’s wedding all summer as it gave us a chance to go shoot at the University of Lethbridge where we both got our degrees.  This image is a great example of how we approach our portrait sessions by focusing on creating a space for our couples to connect, while we then work from the sidelines.  I love everything about this shot!

Gail and Dwayne had one of the most unique weddings we’ve ever shot.  Just their parents and kids, their pastor and his wife, and us at their wedding on the shores of Lake Koocanusa.  For their portrait session we jumped in their boat and went exploring and couldn’t help but stop to grab some shots of them with the light streaming in behind them through the trees!

Sometimes it just takes a different perspective to tell a story. It was so fun to shoot Kirk and Amrita’s day – with two ceremonies, a Christian and a Hindu, it was full of colour and culture.

It all starts with good light, and that is what this shot is all about. If Angie and Stu win this contest, they’ll have to choose a different image than this one for their canvas, because they already have this one hanging in their home. I wish I could convince all of our clients to get their canvas in black and white – they look so good!

We always strive to capture authentic natural moments in our photography. But every now and then it’s fun to take a concept and explore to see how we can make it happen. In this case, Lisa threw out a general idea of what she was envisioning, and we all chatted it around for a few minutes before we came up with this. Because we were on a narrow, winding road at the time we even had Cam’s daughters playing traffic police so that we wouldn’t get run over by one of the wedding guests heading up to the Lodge!

We actually pre-visualized this shot about 5 months prior to Tiff and Ian’s wedding, when we happened upon it during a training ride for Kevan’s bike race this summer. We knew that we had to have a 4×4 to get there, and we knew that Tiff and Ian would probably be game to make it happen. Ian was excited like a fat kid for a smartie when we told him that we wanted to go mudding on his wedding day! =)

I love this shot of Dani and Devin. They eye is naturally drawn to highlights, so in this shot your first instinct is to go straight to the couple. But if you let your eye stay for a moment and explore you will see that there is a lot more going on in the periphery than you might have first thought.

]]> http://68photography.ca/2009/12/a-contest-top-shots-of-2009/feed/ 14 http://68photography.ca/2009/12/kirstin-and-troy-fernie-bc/ http://68photography.ca/2009/12/kirstin-and-troy-fernie-bc/#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:25:26 +0000 6:8 http://68photography.ca/blog/?p=4253 Yikes! Scathing emails abound in the past few days about our atrocious lack of blogging activity! Well, we received at least one email anyway. It’s hard to say anything in our defense. Our strategy of late has been to sheepishly look at the ground wondering how it got to be a month between posts. We’ve got a whole bunch on the go right now, including a project here in Fernie to promote it as a wedding destination. If you are a potential Fernie bride check out: www.fernieweddings.ca – it’s not a finished product by any means, but we are slowly getting there. We’ve also been working really hard on another project that we hope to unveil in the next little while here. Stay tuned!

Anyway, pictures – that’s why you came here right? Well, yesterday Duane and I had the opportunity to do a quick photo session with our good friends Troy and Kirstin from Lethbridge. It was friggin’ cold out so the session didn’t last quite as long as normal, but I think that we got some good stuff anyway. It was really neat to do this session because we go way back with these two – I actually crashed their wedding reception, nine years ago, as a pesky first-year University student. Leah and I even ended up buying their apartment in Airdrie when we moved there after University and they were moving back to Lethbridge. Even though they are not that much older than us, Troy and Kirst have always been mentors to Leah and I; and we always cherish opportunities to connect with them. It’s always a privilege to be around people who have a really strong bond and deep friendship. The fact that it is this evident, even nine years into their journey together makes it that much more special.

Love this shot that Duane grabbed!

Marni came all the way from Eureka for her senior portraits. She was awesome and had no qualms about wading through the brush, climbing up on big rocks, or hiking down to the river in her dress shoes. At one point during the session I jokingly told her I wanted a shot of her wading in the river (the water is pretty cold this time of year!) and she was ready to take her shoes & socks off and jump right in.  I guess some people just take me too seriously!  Anyway, thanks for coming all the way to Fernie Marni!  A few of our favourites from your session are below!

The bridesmaids giving the official stamp of approval during Christine’s hair appointment.

Out of the limo and into the church!

Bryce’s mom during the ceremony.

I really like how this portrait of Christine turned out.

These guys met at this golf course when they were both working here back in the day. They wanted to have some pictures done here and were originally worried about staying out of golfer’s way while they went out on the course. Funny enough, but there were no golfers present on Saturday.

The lovely ladies! As a side note, all of the floral creations that you see in this post were done by Bryce’s sister Stephanie who owns Stems Floral Gallery in Red Deer.

The Capri Hotel looked amazing!

This shot makes me laugh.

The morning was so relaxed, I even had a chance to take the girls out for a couple of photos before the ceremony! Trust me when I tell you that this almost never happens.

Mick’s reaction to seeing Jenn for the first time.

Jenn’s bridesmaid trying to hold it together during the ceremony…

Thanks guys! We will talk to you soon! Slideshow below!

Some details:

Not too often that the groom is with the bride in the morning at the hair appointment. Richard was quickly put to work with a very important task.

This maneuver almost cost him his life when Carling found out…

Let’s just say that Richard’s trusty iphone let him down when it came to learning how fold a pocket square.

They were married on the grounds of the legislature. The light was awesome!

Check out their slideshow below.

Thanks again guys! Have fun on your Mediterranean cruise!

The ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful Juniper Hotel.

Devin and the rest of his guys were setting up for the ceremony right below Dani’s room in the morning. This is a shot of Dani taking a peek of Devin and the progress.

One last check over the dress before putting it on.

My favourite.

I love it when the grandparents dance. I think they were busting a move to ‘Mambo #5′ here.

Check out their slideshow below.

Well, almost anyway; this past weekend, summer held on in style for Ashlee and Bryan. A beautiful day near Red Deer, and since they had an early reception and a delayed flight out of Calgary that night (three big cheers for Air Canada – thbbppp) we decided to take our time and travel some of the range roads back south. Now there is a luxury that we are not used to – it was great fun! All the best to you guys as you start out on this new path!

Update! I almost forgot. Check out the picture of Bryan and his best man engaging in some aerobatics. 5th picture down from the top!

Delicious early morning light!

Ashlee just before entering the church.

Bryan’s parents watching the ceremony.

Duane going to great lengths to get the shot. Bryan was too nice to close the hood on him…

Check out Ashlee & Bryan’s slideshow below for more!

Pictures right? We were really excited to shoot in Fernie again this summer, because we had two new locations that we have been dying to use. As you’ll see below, I think they were worth it.

I don’t think that many will accuse the male species of being terribly great at long-term planning. In the face of this obvious deficiency I think we have proven to be highly adaptable though…

The Lizard Range decided that the time we had allotted for Tiffany and Ian’s first look would be an ideal time to release the rain that it had been holding back all morning. I suppose that the Elk View Lodge was an adequate backup plan.

It was going to take a little more than rain though to keep these two from having an adventure with us.

The first new location required a 4×4 to get to, which happily Ian was able to provide. On the way to the spot we came across some dirt bikers, and Ian managed to talk them into lending him one of the bikes for a few minutes. Given that he still had to get married in that suit I don’t know how excited Tiffany was for this development.

Worth the 4×4 trip right? (I should mention that Ian was more than a little giddy about being able to 4×4 on his wedding day)

I love this next shot. I think its the gum-boots.

We were recently informed, by some good friends, that Fernie is home to the world’s oldest grove of black cotton-wood trees. Umm… okay. 

And then there was the little matter of a wedding to attend to.

During the cocktail hour, they let us steal them up to the crow’s nest for a few minutes.

As a surprise, Ian’s grandmother made Ian’s favorite Danish casserole for him.

Tiffany’s grandfather still has the moves!

Check out their slideshow below for more!

It was great to be able to see the connection that she has with Ryan. You can tell right away that they are one of those couples that compliment one another very well. Thanks for including us guys – looking forward to hanging out with you guys sometime this winter when you come down to catch some turns up on the hill!

Slideshow is below!

It’s funny how a week away can sometimes be all that you need to approach things with a fresh set of eyes. After taking a weekend off to race, it felt like a lifetime since I last picked up the camera. I was excited to get back at things and Saturday was absolutely perfect. A smokin’ beautiful day in the mountains, a gorgeous venue at Island Lake Lodge, a bride who has an amazing sense of fashion and style, and a couple that was absolutely intent on enjoying their day in a laid-back and down-to-earth sort of way. Like I said – perfect.

The backdrop for Island Lake is amazing. Follow this ridge far enough over and you eventually run into the ski hill – but right here is where the amazing powder is. Island Lake Lodge is world-famous for its cat-skiing operation and has been visited by some of the biggest names and film crews in the ski industry. It’s definitely on both of our bucket lists to ski here. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Anyway, it makes a pretty good backdrop for a wedding in the summer as well!

I mentioned that Lisa has an amazing sense of style right? She’s working hard on launching a small-business in Calgary that focus on vintage apparel and accessories. Her touch was all over this wedding, but nowhere so apparent as in the dresses themselves. She not only made her dress, but also made the dresses of Cam’s daughters in the second photo down. We were impressed. If any of our other brides or blog-stalkers see something here that intrigues you, let me know and I’ll put you in contact with Lisa!

This was the ride. ‘The Thing.’ Cam is convinced that is a jeep and was more than happy to go bombing around on the long and twisty road up to Island Lake. Not to mention any alley that he could find!

We headed down to the townsite of Fernie to grab some of their romantic portraits.

Another one of Lisa’s amazing creations.

This shot makes me smile.

After the portrait session, it was time to actually get married!

Like I said, its a pretty good backdrop!

There was a bit of a break between the ceremony and reception, so the kids made sure to take full advantage of it.

And then we ran Corner Gas during the dance – good times!

If you get married at Island Lake, chances are that you’ll be working very closely with this immensely talented young lady. Sarah is the wedding coordinator at Island lake and was pretty darn good one at that I might add. Totally engaged, and totally on top of all the small details that make a wedding go smoothly.

The Island Lake kitchen and bar crew – seriously good at what they do!

As many of you probably know, I spent this past week competing in an endurance mountain bike race, with my brother Matt, known as the TransRockies. We left Panorama Village on August 8th and rolled into Fernie on Saturday afternoon. It’s a seven day stage race that spanned 540 km and features about 15,000 meters of climbing. To say that I felt relief at reaching the finish line is a bit of an understatement – it was far and away the hardest thing that I have ever done from both a physical and mental perspective.

Matt was a big fan of saying that everyday was a series of mental peaks and valleys and not just physical ones. I think he was right. Sometimes you felt amazing – like you could ride anything and climb forever. And then, often without warning, the bottom would fall out and you would feel really hopeless – like you would never make it to the finish line, or even be able to turn the pedal over another time. Even just a few days removed from the race, and my memories of it are mostly positive. I know though, that there were some pretty dark moments each day.

We hit some pretty brutal weather along the ride. There was one day in particular where we got hit with three separate storm systems as we ascended over various mountain passes. There wasn’t too many times when it actually felt like summer out there! And of course, the rain brought copious amounts of mud. One of the other riders described it as riding a 100 km on a giant marshmallow, which I thought was pretty accurate. I was surprised that bikes ran as smoothly as they did (or even at all) given the amount of junk that clogged the chains and derailleurs. Which isn’t to say that we escaped without any mechanical issues – blown tubes, sidewalls, Matt’s frame kept on coming unbolted on him for the first few days, and he actually sheared off a rear brake pad right before one of the trickiest descents of the entire week. I also lost my front brakes one day, which made for some interesting times. And then on the final day, Matt actually snapped off his shift lever first thing in the morning, forcing him to ride the final 70 km with one hand on his cross-bar to manually shift the bike. It was pretty impressive!

Of course, the first question that everyone likes to ask is ‘would you do it again?’ And you know, I think I would. I learned a lot about persevering through short-term pain (’cause no matter how brutal the ride, you always end up in camp showered and with a hot meal) and would like to tackle it again someday. I think now that I know what to expect I could train more effectively for it (lots and lots of long climbs =).

So there are a few pictures below that others took of Matt and I as we raced. Thanks to everyone for for all the well-wishes on facebook, and a huge thank-you to all of our family and friends who showed up at various stages of the race to help clean the bikes, transport us back and forth or just offer some much appreciated cheering!

Angie and Stu had their wedding out at her parent’s ranch in Water Valley.  It really was an amazing spot for a wedding with the ceremony happening right on the front yard with the river in the background and horses grazing in the field behind them.  We strolled around with Angie and Stu for a while after their ceremony to grab some pictures of them on the property before heading back to Calgary for their reception.

There was an old wood stove in the dining room that I wanted to use for the ring shots but wasn’t quite sure how to show it off and still have the rings clearly visible.  Kevan grabbed them and used the miniature version of the stove perched on top the life-sized one.  Brilliant!

There’s those horses I was talking about…Just to make it more authentic, at one point a couple of cowboys strolled past too!

Toss up between the next two for my favorite from the day.

I know the next shot isn’t technically great (bit of a lens flare!) but I had to post it.  The donkey really liked Allison’s dress so it tried to eat it.  At first she tried to ignore it but in the end I had to go chase it away so Kevan could get a proper picture!

We even found a few classic cars on the property…

So we’re at the reception and the DJ comes up to me and asks me whether or not I know about “the surprise.”  I told him I did not and then he told me to look outside and standing there was none other then Paul Brandt.  I don’t know the details of how they got him there but I do know that he is a pretty good entertainer.  His second song had the crowd in stitches!  Surprisingly enough though, this isn’t the first time we’ve been at a wedding where he’s made a guest appearance.  Same thing happened at Mike & Becky’s wedding last year!

Slideshow is below.  Thanks Angie and Stu for an awesome day!

We had a chance to head out with Lisa and Cam during the nice part of the day today. They’re going to be having their wedding here in Fernie at Island Lake Lodge in a few weeks and we’re really excited to shoot up there with them. They had talked about heading out for a round of golf after their engagement session and I really hope they didn’t end up doing it…if they did they probably got a little wet!

Did I mention that I loved shooting a wedding full of colour and variety? This wedding featured three different changes of formal wear!

The first ceremony was on the patio of the Banff Springs hotel at 9:30 in the morning. The morning light was awesome!

A quick break to get ready for the Indian ceremony, which was held in the beautiful Mt. Stephen room, in the hotel and they were good to go. This is a shot of Amrita as she waited to be shown to Kirk.

When Amrita was brought into the ceremony, Kirk was covered so that he couldn’t see her. Amrita was carried around Kirk seven times before the covering was lowered and they could look at each other for the first time.

We had a little bit of time to go exploring after the second ceremony, so we decided to head out of the Banff townsite (what with it being a long weekend and all!)

And then it was back to the hotel to get ready for the reception – after one more change of clothing of course!

Slideshow!

I don’t know what it is about rock outcroppings, but both times that we have worked with these guys we seem to gravitate towards them!

Yet, another typical morning scene. While the girls slave away…

…the guys play! They tried protesting that they had it rough because they had to get up really early for their tee time.

Shauna coming down the ‘aisle.’

Koda kept a watchful eye on things while Shauna and Trent signed the register.

Cool idea! While they were having family portraits done, they had a caricature artist come and do sketches of the rest of the guests!

This might be my favorite from the day…

We had a couple of minutes before the reception so we ducked into Cochrane for a couple of portraits…

Duane’s favorite…

We got some shots with the family horses just after the ceremony. If there was any doubt about where Shauna gets it from – this is a shot of her mom running one of the horses around the pen… barefoot.

Slideshow is below!

You may recognize a couple of familiar faces in these next two shots.  On the left we have Jenn (one of our brides from three weeks ago) and on the right we have her sister Brandy.

Jody and Neil had their wedding at The Wedding Pavilion in Calgary and it was our first time shooting there.  It’s a pretty nice place and had everything from a nice open bridal room, staircase leading into the ceremony area, a few spots on the property for formals, and great catering for receptions.  They really take care of their couples so if you’re looking for something a little more hands-off for wedding planning definitely give them a call.

Jody’s dad is into old trucks and this was their ride to the ceremony.  Pretty sweet if you ask me!

I love this moment.  Neil was a bit too eager I guess!

As you’re driving out of Calgary on Highway 1 there’s a couple old barns just on the south side of town that I’ve always wanted to shoot at.  We talked to the owner a few weeks ago and got permission to shoot at them but they’re in the middle of a field full of grazing cows.  Needless to say it was a bit of an adventure to get to them.  Once we were there we wanted to get a shot of Jody and Neil kissing in front of them.  Apparently the cows really liked the show because they started mooing and getting excited.  After that it was pretty tough for Jody and Neil to keep straight faces.

There were more than a few funny moments during the speeches.

Thanks for making us part of your wedding day guys!  We had a great time.  For more pictures watch their slideshow below!

Gail and Dwayne doing a little high-five for keeping the whole thing a secret!

The water level in the lake this year is quite low so normally the sandbar they had the ceremony on is under water.  Not a bad location if you ask me!

How many brides can say they motored around in a boat from location to location?!

The next series of shots were all taken out in a open grassland just off the lake.  We parked the boat in a cove and went for a bit of a walk and I’ve never seen so many grasshoppers in my life!  Having them get stuck in your sandals was a little gross but the results were worth it!

Gail and Dwayne were even willing to get a little wet at the end of their shoot and waded out in the lake!

Finally, all the guests!

Gail and Dwayne, thanks again for including us.  It was an honour to be part of your wedding!

Check out the slideshow for more!

I put this one in here for guys. Guys have no idea what the girls do to get ready. None whatsoever. Here is a typical image of some organized chaos with the ladies on the morning of a wedding!

I really like Duane’s dress shot!

This was pretty funny! There are a lot of pop stars out there who would have been jealous of the treatment that these two got when they walked down the aisle!

Apparently Mike never cries…

Party Time!

Thanks again guys! Have a look at the slideshow!

I felt like I had an impossible task trying to narrow down the choices for the blog. So… I had planned to tell you all to make sure that you check out the slideshow below – but even that doesn’t feel like it does things justice! But check out the slideshow all the same!

I had to narrow it down to four shots from their first look. I think I could have chosen about fourteen.

Quick stop at Esquires Coffee shop before heading out on the photo-session.

We came across some awesome empty quanset buildings west of town and new that we had to use them!

This one may be one of my favorite shots that I have ever made. It’s like a geometry lesson!

We knew that we had to use the University for a few shots as well. It was a bit of a trip down nostalgia lane for Duane and I as we both went to school here (where we met actually) – lots of good memories for both of us! We headed down to the bottom of University Hall for most of our shooting. As a student here, I had never contemplated the merits of the building from a wedding photoraphy perspective. As a photographer I think I could shoot there for hours!

Shot on the right is Duane’s view.

My view.

One of the things that I love about Lethbridge is how the light gets very warm and heavy during the summer evenings. When Mariah and Greg told us about their ceremony plans I was really hoping that the sky would cooperate. I would say that it worked out okay.

Our good friend Troy delivered the message. I am trying to convince him and his lovely wife to get behind the camera a little later this summer – so hopefully you will get to see them in this space again!

A few sunset shots of them.

And a behind-the-scenes look at Duane working with Greg and Mariah. I love the expressions on both Duane’s and Greg’s faces!

Slideshow!

Sometimes we get asked why we don’t feature more pictures of the guys getting ready. Well, to be totally honest – there often is a lot to take pictures of. This is a pretty typical scene for the guys in the morning.

Lisa looked great! 

These two had their first date down in Kensington at the Oolong Tea House; so we decided to head down that way for a few shots. Amazingly, there weren’t very many people in the tea house (it’s been packed every time that I’ve ever been…) and we were able to get a few really neat arrangements. 

We asked the emcee how one obtains a suit like this. The answer, ‘many, many years and much patience grasshopper…’

A dance shot that caught my eye!

This was a really, erm… special… moment in the evening.

The biker provides a bit of context of how far we asked them to climb up!

After exploring Turner Valley we headed to the Big Rock in Okotoks. Good times and more climbing!

My favourite!

The second situation came when we were walking back to the limo.  We had passed by a bar on our way to the courts building and it had a really cool ambiance that was perfect for pictures.  Since having a bride in a wedding dress is pretty much a key to get into anywhere you want we decided to use the location.  Well, just out front of this bar was parked about a dozen or so buses full of drunk and energetic Stampeders (not the football type) ready to continue partying in the giant beer garden next to the bar.  I think those kids wanted off the buses.  They were rocking them in a way I don’t think buses were meant to be rocked all the while shouting out their congratulations to Jenn & Bram.  I honestly wasn’t sure if a couple of those buses weren’t going to roll over!  All I can say is I feel really bad for those bus drivers!

Anyway, on to the pictures!  First up are a few of the getting ready shots.  Jenn’s sister (the maid of honour) is a hairdresser so she had the opportunity to do Jenn’s hair in the morning.  It’s good to have family connections!

Kevan’s angle on the first kiss.  I think this is one of those “oops” shots when it happened but I really like the way it turned out.

Jenn and Bram are the type of people where we could just put them in a spot and they would just hang out there together.  They have a great connection with each other and I think these next four shots really show that.

I know the picture is a little small but we have a repeat visitor on the blog in this picture.  Jody (second from the left) of Jody and Neil, was one of Jenn’s bridesmaids and we’ll be shooting her wedding later this month!

Dance is a huge part of Jenn’s life.  She runs a dance studio called Alive Danceworks and some of her students came to their reception and did a dance.  They definitely set the stage for the rest of the evening. 

Some weddings we go to see a pretty weak showing on the floor for the garter toss.  Not this group!  These guys all had a pretty competitive spirit and you can see the anticipation for Bram to throw the garter!

A couple more detail shots.

To see a few more shots check out their slideshow below.  Thanks for a great day guys!

]]> http://68photography.ca/2009/07/jenn-and-bram-calgary-wedding/feed/ 2 http://68photography.ca/2009/07/carolyn-and-shay-calgary-wedding/ http://68photography.ca/2009/07/carolyn-and-shay-calgary-wedding/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:14:59 +0000 6:8 http://68photography.ca/blog/?p=3546 We had been looking forward to Carolyn and Shay’s wedding ever since we met them last fall, even though we knew that it was going to happen right during the heart of Stampede. Does it make me an unpatriotic Western Canadian to say that I hate Stampede? Because I do. A lot. Normally we try to be as far away from the city as we can during this time. Anyway, I am feeling a rant coming on, so I better get back on topic. Or better yet – I better show some pictures from a pretty spectacular day!

Word to the wise – if you make the photographer take a picture of your specialty dragon face, you better expect to see it on the blog! =)

I love it when our clients choose to see each other before the ceremony! It makes for such a relaxed day – they have time to connect with just each other and then when the ceremony comes around they don’t have to leave their family and friends to kill a couple of hours while waiting for the reception to start. If I had it all to do over again I would do it this way in a heartbeat!

Duane told the wedding party that they were going to be out-of-focus props in a shot that he was setting up. I think they were joking about that when I grabbed this shot.

My favourite!

Carolyn walking out to the ceremony…

A quick kiss after the recessional.

After the ceremony we stole them for twenty minutes to explore just below the golf course a bit.

Riding in style! We’ve traveled in many ways on wedding days before (limos, truck beds, helicopters…) but never on the back of a golf cart!

They had a bit of fun with their first dance, which I loved! They started across the room from one another and slowly started moving towards the middle.

Carolyn dancing with her grandfather.

We grabbed a quick shot with them at the end, when Shay decided to improvise a little…

…and then we figured that one good turn deserves another right?

Lots coming down the pipes in the next few days so stayed tuned.

Last night, as I waited for Fernie’s Canada Day fireworks up on our deck (we have a sweet view of Fernie up on the hill and could see the launch area perfectly) I noticed that there was a beautiful car parked below, also taking advantage of our street and the view that it affords. One of the things that Duane and I often talk about is shooting more just for personal enjoyment – it can be a tricky balancing act; especially now that we are in the middle of wedding season. Anyway, something about the way the late evening light was coming together inspired me; so Duane and I ran and grabbed the lightstands and headed out the front door.

The guy driving the car looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if we could take a couple of pictures of his car be said that it would be okay if we did.

I think it was worth it… how about you?

We’ve also been trying to find time every day to go out biking.  For those of you who don’t know, Kevan is training for the Trans-Rockies Mountain Bike Race this August.  This means that, by default, even though I’m not riding it I am training for it as well.  I’m amazed at all the amazing single-track biking here in Fernie and we’re continuing to find new trails to ride and sometimes fall off of!  It isn’t a proper ride unless one of us goes over the handlebars!  Today we rode up to the summit of Castle Mountain just outside of town.  The ride up was a bit of a slog but was well worth it for the view and then the ride back down!  Here’s a few shots from the iPhone from the top of the mountain.

Kevan snapped this shot of me sitting on the edge of the face on the south-western side of the mountain.  There was a great view of the ski hill but it was a little windy up there for my liking!

…and, because I love black & white shots, here’s another one of Fernie.

Well, this is it.  We’re in the calm before the storm.  Starting this weekend we have 9 weddings in 32 days!  That works out to one wedding every 3.5 days!  It’s going to be busy but it will also be a lot of fun.  Check back often to take a look at what we’re doing!

Thanks again Nadja! We’ve enjoyed getting to know you and wish you all the best in the future!

In keeping with the advice garnered from the last post (both on the blog and what was received via private messages) I went with about 25 images this time. More will be on the blog in the form of a slideshow very shortly!

Which leads me to Madisen and Cole. Like I said, there were so many shots that I wanted to share from this one. I love that our clients never seem to be stressed out at all on their wedding days – and I love that we occasionally have to tell our clients (*ahem* *Madisen*) that we should do a shot where they aren’t smiling. Just to prove that it can happen.

Yes, I realize that the image on the left is completely out of focus but it was a really funny moment! What you can’t see here is that there is a bridesmaid completely underneath that dress adjusting the crinolen.

Cole’s reaction to seeing Madisen for the first time.

The ceremony was held at Knox United Church in downtown Calgary – the same church that Madisen’s mom was married in!

My abstract shot of the week.

Cole has a killer smile here right? It may have been slightly affected by Madisen though….

Note to Madisen: if the photographers dare you to do something – you should probably not take them seriously!

So normally we don’t include two ring shots, but since these are a bit of the ‘Where’s Waldo?’ variety we went with two. I think a few of the guests thought we were crazy for playing with the center pieces and a coat hanger…

Love the fish-face Madisen!

I really like the dramatic lighting in this shot!

Duane was on fire during the ceremony – I love the shot of Ellis choking up as Aleefa is coming down the aisle! 

Haha – busted! Another Duane capture!

In keeping with the  of sweet random Duane captures, check out this shot that he grabbed as he moved to the front of the church to get a shot of Aleefa and Ellis signing the register!

After doing some ‘green’ shots we headed down to Hotel Arts for something with a bit more a contemporary feel. I had been really looking forward to shooting here last fall at one of our weddings, but unfortunately the schedule didn’t end up allowing for it. So I was very excited when we were able to shoot here this time!

The pay isn’t great, but it could be considered glamerous right? …. right?