My Daughter - The Bride

 

This is my beautiful daughter Kary Ann. For the last assignment of the photography course my daughter was gracious enough to be my model for the wedding day shoot.  She played the role perfectly and was wonderful to work with. The dress was borrowed from Carla Evans in my class and it fit her perfectly. We shot at the Holiday Inn and Sheridan College. I think I'm going to use her more often to get my practicing in.

The Move is On!

I've been at this building a little over 4 years...many other people over 25 years. It's the building you see as you travel along Lake Shore and along Queens Quay. But, for many of us, the time has come to move downtown to another Rogers building.

I will miss the free parking! ;)

In all seriousness...

Remembering Radio of Yesteryear by Ian Anthony, Rogers Historian - this is a great history lesson of this building and Ted Rogers influence.

http://www.antique67.com/articles.php?article=25

Pretty In Pink Spa Studio

Looking for the perfect cupcake bomb... go no further than prettyinpinkspa.ca. They are located in Oakville and you'll be able to conveniently order on-line soon. The boutique is filled with organic 100% natural products from soaps, lotions and body scrubs. You'll find the Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream that was featured on Dr. Oz and in the January 2012 issue of People Magazine. I've only mentioned a small number of products so when you're in the Oakville area you'll have to pop in and check out all Pretty In Pink Spa Studio has to offer. I better not forget that the Feeling Smitten cupcake bath bomb was featured on Oprah's favourite list... you've got to drop in!

Treat yourself and take the drive.

prettyinpinkspa.ca

Descending - OLN

Descending is a new show on OLN. You might recognize two of the guys. Scott and Andre, co-host and cinematographer from Departures. They have teamed up with a close friend from New Zealand, Ellis, to show you the world below the blue. It's a world you want to know about and experience. Do it with the guys that will make you feel a part of their experience. Travel every week to new and challenging places... check out your local listings on OLN.

I was one of the lucky ones to attend their launch on Friday night at The Royal in Toronto where they packed the house.

Don't miss Descending on OLN.  http://descendingtv.com

Wedding Shoes

 

 

 The exercise was to re-shoot an existing photo of a pair of wedding shoes. After trying to get the lighting and shadows right I decided on 1 soft box with the diffuser on and had it low to the ground in the upper left corner angled down and facing the left shoe. This helped to give me some dark showers on the right shoe which I needed if I was to recreate the shot of the yellow shoes and shadows. I used a 18-50 2.8 lens. The angle of the shoes were considered to achieve the over all coverage in the sample pic and I used a darker grey background since the shoes were darker than the sample shot and felt it complimented the shoes better than anything lighter. I was standing over the shoes. Even though I didn't have the exact shoes I feel I did a good job at recreating the shot.

One thing to remember is that if I was shooting this at a actual wedding shoot I'd probably only have minutes.... I took a bit longer than that to do this shot. ;)

Novotel

Novotel, Mississauga, ON

Looking for a location for your wedding or reception check out the Novotel in Mississauga. They are prepared to handle an intimate group or a group of hundreds. The hotel features a restaurant, onsite parking and a heated indoor swimming pool.

Novotel is close to Square One, Hwy 403/401 and approx. 15 minutes from the airport. There are many locations to visit if your party decides to stay.... Playdium, Living Arts Centre and Niagara Falls is only an hours drive away.

Sounds like a great option... check out their various rates and family packages.

Aaron's Apple - 'Caring to the Core' Gala

Aaron Maresky, Mandy Maresky and Sarah Jarrett (Citytv)

http://www.aaronsapple.com

http://www.postcity.com/Post-City-Magazines/Arts-and-Events/Events-Calendar/index.php/name/Caring-To-The-Core-Gala-To-Benefit-Aarons-Apple/event/9104

I had the pleasure of attending 'Caring to the Core' Gala to Benefit Aaron's Apple on Saturday night. It was a celebration of the achievements Aaron has made and everyone that has supported the cause.  The monies raised from the evening will go toward providing financial support to children suffering from Crohn's disease, Ulcerative colitis, Rheumatoid arthritis and other auto-immune diseases.  Costs can be very overwhelming but with the help of Aaron's Apple they don't need to be.

“We don’t want to turn anyone down… No child should suffer and not have access to what they need.” Mandy Maresky

Quarry's Outreach Trip to San Pedro, Belize

Click here to tune into updates on the Belize outreach trip: http://quarryoutreach.wordpress.com/

Jon left this morning bright and early to head to Belize... we wish the entire team a great trip and look forward to everyone coming home safe and sound!

 

 

Krista Fox - Verve Photo - Wedding Photographer

Krista Fox is one photographer that you want to have with you on your destination wedding. She goes the extra mile to scope out off resort locations that will make your wedding album unique. A shot that she loves to get is under water ... they are unbelievable and breath taking. You have to have a look!!!

Spend some time looking at Krista's website and see what she can do for you at home or abroad. You can also look at Krista and her teams 6 page editorial spread in WedLuxe ... 'da vinci renaissance'.

Check out Krista's site at: http://vervephotoco.com

Rasta: A Soul's Journey

It's Black History Month and in celebrating this I attended a screening on February 1, 2012 of RasTa: A Soul's Journey at the ROM in Toronto. Bob Marley's granddaughter, Donisha Prendergast was there to help tell the story of the origins of the Rastafarian movement happening around the world. It's not just about dreadlocks and reggae music... there's such a deeper meaning that lives within the Rastafari culture and their soul. If you get a chance to have a look it's worth your time....enjoy!

For more information go to: http://www.rastaonline.ca/

Tyler & Beth - Photographers

 

Tyler and Beth came to my wedding photography class to discuss their experiences in the field. They were very down to earth and it was a pleasure to hear their stories and see their work. Both have been in the business for several years. Even though they date each other they have two separate businesses and book and shoot on their own. You'll see Beth's work in the Wedluxe Magazine/ wedluxe.com and stylemepretty.com.

Check out their websites... you won't be disappointed!

www.elizabethinlove.com

www.tylerjamesportfolio.com

Saw Dogs

OLN has a new original show that premiered last week called Saw Dogs. Paul Frenette, from Kitchener, ON,  is one of the guest carvers on the show. He visited work today to do some press and I was lucky enough to have brought my camera to take some media photos. What a great guy!

The show brings together the world's top chainsaw sculptors where they're given budgets and deadlines to complete a series of commissioned carvings. Tune into OLN Tuesdays at 9pm.

Portrait of Kary Ann

This weekend I wanted to try and get portraits done of Kary Ann. Directing your daughter is not an easy task. She knows what she wants and sometimes wished I shot faster. She is not a patient kid or should I say adult since she turned 20 this past week. At some point I think she started to have fun and we ended up with some really nice shots that she was proud of and could use as head shots. I used my lighting kit for the shoot with a black background.

Pearl Assignment

 

As part of my photo assignment I had to shoot an existing photo that had to do with pearls. I came to this shot from iStockphoto. I used my light box and studio lights.  The studio lights have two 85 watt florescent lamps with 20" soft boxes. I think the shoot went well and looks pretty good for a copycat.

Photography and Me

 

I'm not an artist or painter as my partner Jon is...as you can see by his beautiful painting of a sunflower which he painted for me when we met.

I found that taking pictures was my way of expression and giving back. I like to capture the moment and love hearing people say "wow, I'm so glad you got that" or "Karen's here...no worries we'll have pictures and they'll be up on Facebook by tomorrow"

I love taking the candid shots when people least expect it. They're worried sometimes that I may not have gotten their good side but I reassure them that I did. They're always happy. 

To capture a moment in time and have it forever is the reason I keep taking pictures.

Engagement backdrop - Nautical theme

 

Shawn and Amy wanted to have engagement shots done and they wanted to tie in their love of sailing and the water. They live at Queens Quay and what better backdrop than that to get the perfect shots. They thought it would be great for the engagement shots to have a nautical theme since they were wanting that for their wedding. I came across this spot at Spadina and Lake Shore Blvd. in Toronto .... it's perfect for their engagement shoot. The colours are bright and vibrate and would make for a great lead in to their wedding day.