This is a wedding i shot in the summer time! It took place along a beautiful river in the country amongst the trees.
The ceiling of the reception tent was decorated with these green paper lanterns, and the tables with limes and pink flowers. I really loved the colours!
Perfect summer footwear! 
Instead of a traditional guest book, the couple chose to purchase some polaroid film and they had a table of costume accessories so that the guests could put something on and snap a picture! Cool idea
The couple also had glass bottles hanging from the trees.
I love detail shots so much! Especially when the details are so pretty, and yummy.
I have been meaning to write a blog post with these images for a while now. I was reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls on a flight I took to Windsor earlier in the spring. I read the quote and immediately felt that i could connect with it, and that I too, felt this way at times. I knew I had to create images inspired by these words.
“He hated all the people who lived in air-conditioned houses with the windows permanently sealed, and drove air-conditioned cars to nine-to-five jobs in air-conditioned office buildings that he said were little more than gussied-up prisons. Just the sight of those people on their way to work made him feel hemmed in and itchy. He began complaining that we were all getting too soft, too dependent on creature comforts, and that we were losing touch with the natural order of the world.”
In the spring and summer I spend my time working outdoors walking through the forest (up here in the north, we call it the bush) collecting data and doing an “inventory” of the forest. I live in remote bush camps with no running water. It can be strenuous at times, and downright depressing (especially waking up to the sounds of rain)! But I get to see things that many people don’t. I travel down old logging roads and walk kilometers through the forest every day and i get to see moose, deer, lynx, wolves, and bears on a regular basis! I get to walk in areas that hardly anyone has walked across before, and I see so much beauty and nature. Plus, i get to spend my evenings fishing (mmmm fish fry!).
Sure I have to walk around in the rain some times, and get eaten by bugs and occasionally stung by wasps. When I think about it though, I am lucky to get to experience so much of what I do. It isn’t natural to me to even think about having a job where I wake up with an alarm every morning to go to a job i don’t really care about behind a desk in an air conditioned space. So many people are in this routine, maybe even you. Sometimes, I think we need to find our way back to nature to find what is truly important in our lives. Taking time away from the television, the internet, and even the cell phone to experience what the world actually has to offer is freeing. It is the time to eliminate distractions, even if only for a couple of hours. I look forward to my season out there, living minimally, and working in nature.
above: “Hemmed in and Itchy”
above: “Renewal”
Model in both images: Bridney Ashlin
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This will be my first “behind the scenes” attempt. I have learned a lot from photographers sharing some behind the scenes videos and tips so it is about time that I give a little back
This photo was made for my friend Ryan for his birthday. It was a belated present of course! He is a student of biology and does really well with his school work. I don’t have a second camera but i decided that for this video i would compile every single image i snapped (something like 127 photos or so?) into a stop motion video. This will allow you to see how i went about creating the image. I hope that you find it helpful The beginning images are from me adjusting my camera settings and choosing which white balance to use, and the last couple are extra shots of the set so that i could expand the image if i wanted to. To do this i set my camera on a tripod and then used my remote to take the pictures. This way i could be sure that the camera would move as little as possible.
I wanted to start maintaining a blog so i deleted all of my old posts on here so that i may start fresh! I thought it would be nice to start by blogging the wedding of my two friends which i had the pleasure of photographing last June here in Thunder Bay. This was the first wedding i ever shot, and i would like to do more!
To begin, this is my favourite from their engagement session!
The day started early with a trip to the salon with Alina while she had her hair done.
The hair dresser then went with Alina back to her home to style more hair! This is the Bride’s mother having her hair done. Note the pickled eggs for the reception later 
I love this part of the day most, when everyone is preparing for the ceremony. I like the candid moments like this one where Alina is having her makeup done and the maid of honour, the groom, and her mother are all watching and everyone is smiling and excited
Excitement started to grow as friends and family began to gather.
A couple detail shots from the morning:
Her dress was absolutely beautiful! It was detailed like this from top to bottom!
Well a groom has hair too! It was Tom’s turn to get ready now. 
In this case, the bride and groom both got ready in the same place.
After some casual visiting and drinks it was time to head to the Thunder Bay Conservatory where Tom and Alina would be married on this hot, sunny afternoon.
The ceremony was short and sweet after a round of applause it was time for some photos of the bride and groom with their wedding party, friends, and family. We only had about an hour or so to do this so we stayed at the location. Since it was so hot outside no one wanted to have photos inside the greenhouse.
These two loved to jump for the camera, so here we are setting up for a group jump shot!
Ryan was the host for the evening and had the bride and groom answer questions by holding up their shoes to answer. The game was pretty funny and everyone in the room was laughing!
In all it was an amazing day and everyone had a great time. Dancing continues late into the night
As my first ever wedding this was a great learning experience for me. I look forward to more weddings in the future. It is an honour to provide this service and document such a special day in a couple’s life together.
