Blake Portrait shoot

It was my nephew's 2nd birthday last week. His parents wanted photos to mark the occasion and it just so happened that we booked the photo shoot for a few hours before his birthday party...so it made for a long day for both him and me. ;-)

I bought some fabric from work to try out as a white backdrop. I think it worked out fairly well.

He's a snappy looking little guys, isn't he? His vocabulary is so good, it's hard to believe that he only just turned two.

He seemed to like having his photo taken, which makes my job a lot easier. Or maybe he just likes hanging out with his Uncle Mike.

Upside down!

He still likes his Bumbo chair.

He loves his books. No wonder he's such a smart kid.

Here he is with his new little brother. The little guy wasn't in a great mood that day...and Blake didn't want to get too close. This was about as close as I could get them.

Did I mention that the little guy wasn't in a good mood?

Eventually he calmed down a bit...well, for about 10 seconds.

Wedding Photos

These are from my first wedding of the season, which I shot with another photographer. Having two of us, really allowed us to get great coverage of the wedding and it allowed me some time to get creative.

The weather on the day of the wedding was great, it reached 30 degrees that day, which is amazing, considering that it was the May long weekend. There could easily have been two feet of snow that day, so we were very happy with that.

My day started at the Groom's parent's house where I was able to get a few detail shots.



We headed to the church quite early because we had planned to shoot the formals before the ceremony. Many people don't like doing it that way, because of the common tradition that the groom shouldn't see the bride until the actual ceremony...but it can make the day go a lot smoother and give us more time for photos.

Still, I did stage a 'first sight' for them by hiding the groom outside the back of the church and having the bride on the other side of the door.

They had booked City Hall, so that was our first stop. It's a very grandeur venue for photos and it has an enormous stair case and many balconies, not to mention a glass pyramid for a roof.

After the formal family shots, we tried a few fun shots like this...

After City Hall, we went to the Ledge Grounds, which is the most common location for wedding photography. It was early in the year and early in the day...so it wasn't too crowded but if you show up there at 2:00 on a Saturday during the summer months, you will have to fight for your shooting location.

This spot is a favorite of mine.

From there, we rushed back to the church for the ceremony...a little late, but none the worse for wear. The ceremony was short and sweet (my favorite kind) and then they greeted their guests with a receiving line.

We took a few more shots with some family who hadn't made it out to City Hall and then we took the Bride & Groom to the U of A campus for some more private photos.

This is just outside the Arts Building. I wanted a Gothic feel for this photo to go along with the old architecture. Do you like it, or did I over do it?

This was a nice little spot we found on Campus. I wish the sun flare wasn't right on their faces but it looks pretty nice otherwise.

By the time we were done with the photos, we were all getting hot and hungry. We headed to the reception, a little late (again) but in good shape.

One of the obstacles of being a wedding photographer these days...is that just about everybody and their dog has a digital camera and they are constantly snapping pics. When you can't beat them, join them... :-)