A few weeks ago, I spent the morning with the Easthope family in downtown Brampton at Gage Park, enjoying the beautiful weather and taking some family portraits. This was a session that had been delayed twice because of unruly weather conditions and we were so happy to have a nice morning to shoot. When doing any portrait session outside, the weather can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. Mother Nature was the former on this day.

Below are some examples of the photos we took. If you or any of your friends/family/colleagues are looking for relaxed, candid portraits, please contact me for your customized quote. As always, my details can be found on my Contact Me page.

And to the Easthope family, it was such a pleasure working with you. I hope you enjoy your photos!

t.

Back in the middle of July, my good friend Chris Kirkpatrick and I participated in Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photo Walk (Link here). For those of you who are unfamiliar, Scott Kelby is a professional photographer and a widely recognized Photoshop guru. How known is he you may ask? Well, to put things in perspective, his photo walk idea garnered over 32,000 participants in over 900 cities!!! That’s pretty popular if you ask me!

So Chris and I met up with 48 other photographers and began walking through the Distillery District in downtown Toronto. Photo walks are all about shooting with other photographers, and sharing ideas and techniques. Unfortunately, Chris and I had to leave early because of an unforeseen circumstance but I got to fire off 5 frames before we left.

This photo walk was also special because each participant was allowed to submit 2 images for judging and had the possibility of winning prizes…..many, many prizes. The leaders of each photo walk were to pick one image from their group to submit for judging on a global level.

….and low and behold, 1 of my five frames got selected! I was the winner of the Distillery District photo walk. What did I win you might ask? Well, I won a copy of Scott Kelby’s latest book: The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3 and the honour of having my image compete against 900 other images submitted from around the world. It is a complete honour to be in some great company and exciting to have been recognized like that.

Here is the image I submitted that won:

*EDIT* The winning images from the global competition were announced today and it looks like I didn’t win there but that is ok! If you are interesting in seeing the winning images, Click here.

Cheers!
t.

It was a dark room. I mean, really dark! But then again, The Opera House was not known for it’s outstanding lighting. The opening band “Dub Trio” (website here) had just left the stage and headlining Matisyahu was up next. I took my spot in the pit, conferred briefly with security (introducing myself, making sure they were cool in understanding the access I had been given, etc.) and set up shop. I didn’t really know what to expect, I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard of Matisyahu before a friend mentioned his name two weeks prior. But as the lights dimmed (can you believe that – it was already pitch black and it got darker!) and the first melodic notes were played, I was hooked!

A brief bio on Matisyahu from Wikipedia:

“Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979), better known by his Hebrew name Matisyahu, is an American Hasidic Jewish reggae musician.

Known for blending traditional Jewish themes with Reggae, rock and hip hop sounds, Matisyahu is most recognizable for his single “King Without a Crown”, which was a surprise Top 40 hit. Since 2004, he has released two studio albums as well as one live album, two remix CDs and one DVD featuring a live concert. Through his career, Matisyahu has worked with Bill Laswell and reggae producers Sly & Robbie. Matisyahu is set to release a new album titled LIGHT featuring the single “One Day” on August 25, 2009. A deluxe album pre-order is available now at iTunes.”

So needless to say, I had a blast. Matisyahu gained one new fan that evening. And I suggest that when his new album “Light” comes out on August 25th, don’t walk, run to your local record shop and pick up a copy!

Cheers!
t.

From the moment I met Jill and Andrew, I knew they were perfect for each other. Jill is strong, articulate, vibrant and beautiful and Andrew compliments her simply by…complimenting her!

No, In all seriousness, what makes their relationship work, at least in my eyes, is their uncanny ability to be what the other needs them to be – just at the right moment. You don’t always see this with every marriage, but it is clear these two wonderful souls have it. And by the time their wedding day arrived, they made it look like weddings were a piece of cake, floating through the day with style and grace.

Jill and Andrew’s wedding took place at Langdon Hall ( www.langdonhall.ca ) in Cambridge Ontario on July 4th, Independence Day in the States. They had a beautiful outdoor ceremony, followed by cocktails on the patio and dinner in the Orchard Room. The weather welcomed the union of Jill and Andrew by providing a bright, blue, sunny day, one that wasn’t too sweltering.

I extend a very heartfelt thanks to the Duling and Kunica family for allowing me to be a part of their special day. Below are some pictures I took during the days events.

t.