they love the beach

Nicole and Jeremy get married this summer… and we are lucky enough to have the honour of photographing their wedding.  Here are a few samples from the first engagement shoot we did on that glorious Good Friday we had in April.

Wedding season is here and I couldn’t be happier. Here are two sneak peek samples from last weekends weddings… more coming soon!!

Cuba is an island of the world’s most beautiful beaches, an island of warmth and natural beauty. It is also an island with history… from the Spanish days of global expansion and long before that. Everything on this island (except for the modern resorts) is old. The cars are old, the buildings are old, the cities are old and the grave yards are even older. Every town in Cuba has one grave yard, at the edge of town. We wanted to see the “real” Cuba , so we hired a taxi and went to some very “non” tourist destinations…One of the locations I NEEDED to get to was a real Cuban grave yard. I find beauty in these old weathered statues, I love the sky we had that day too.

To Charlotte… may you find peace until we meet again.  You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten.

But the thing about Autentica Cuba is the people. Cuban people by nature are quick to smile, shy to laugh and inspite of  working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week,  they love life.  This is an island of hard working, warm generous people, much like most Canadians.. I think hard work and tough conditions make people more humble and kind. (I say as I look outside watching the snow fall and thinking about having to clean the driveway.) The other thing about the real Cuba is everything looks old and tired and reused. From the cars, to the clothing, to the tin or clay roofs on the homes… We could sure learn a thing or two about reusing and recycling from the Cuban people.  

Over the next couple of weeks I will post some images of Cuba.  I would like to introduce you to Jose, he is a tabacco farmer (Tabaquero in Cuba) he lives and works outside the city of Santa Clara. Hard working, quick to smile and not a word of english, and me with my 6-7 words of Spanish.. we were able to communicate. Why? because a smile is the same in any language.  I can’t help thinking that this beautiful country and wonderful people would be total lost if America ever lifts it’s embargo… the day I see a McDonald’s in Cuba, I will know it’s the end… In the mean time, I can’t wait to go back.

I am finding that the typical wedding season is no more, our last wedding of 2011 was in late November and our first wedding of 2012 is in mid February. However that’s more than ok.. it’s wonderful. You see, we love what we do. We really do.

Dave and Arlete got married, yes they did. What a wonderful couple, married on a wonderful day, in a wonderful little town and in a wonderful little “Church”… Well, it was a church. Now it is the Brick Church bed and breakfast, small event venue located in Manilla Ontario hosted by two wonderful hosts. The Bride looked stunning and the location suited them perfectly. A noon wedding on a sunny, warm, fall day followed by an small intimate catered dinner that was cooked on location by two wonderful chefs. Wow, such a nice idea and a wonderful way to celebrate. We met with Dave and Arlete in a coffee shop near to them and we talked and the more Arlete described her vision of her day, the more clear I could see it in my mind and conversely the more we wanted to photograph their wedding. Arlete and I spoke about the amount of time she would need to cover such a small intimate celebration. This is always a questions most brides ask. I never try to up sell my clients EVER… I may suggest if something is a better value, but that’s it. You can get a wonderful wedding story of images with any of our packages. It all depends on what you want covered. With Dave and Arlete, we were able to cover their celebration with 4 hours of coverage. We love what we do.

These are some samples of my latest two engagement sessions. I find shooting engagement sessions a wonderful way to get to know our couples a little better… it also allows us to have some fun and laughs and we both have a chance to work with each other in a relaxed manner so that on the wedding day when your nervous or excited or things aren’t going exactly as planned…  you will feel comfortable and relaxed.  We love what we do…it’s that simple.

Sometimes…it’s magic.

Thank you John.