Dawn & Kaitlin

This was such a treat! 

I love doing pictures for family. My sister-in-law Dawn has been asking me to do photos of her and her girlfriend Kaitlin for a while. So when we finally get time, it is of course on the windiest and coldest day of the year.  I think the tears in our eyes froze.

We still got some fun stuff. Kaitlin also got a few done with her brother Jamie. Not a bad Christmas present. We then quickly ducked intoa building and used their staircase for some of the warmer shots.

Enjoy!

Karena & Justin

One of the things we really love about shooting weddings is meeting the bridal party that surrounds the couple on their big day. Last year, when Brad & I shot Robert & Melissa's wedding at TELUS Field, we got to know their friends. 

Since then, we are now booked to shoot the wedding of Alicia and Rob and a few weeks ago got to shoot another bridesmaid Karena and her husband Justin. We had been planning it for a few days and it turned out that the day we finally chose, was the first big snow of the season. 

We ran outside, got some quick shots around Saskatchewan Drive, then headed into the Three Boars restaurant to warm up (and snap a few shots).

Enjoy!

Marika, Steven and Max at 6 Months

One of the great things about what we do is the ability to document people as they move through their lives. Engagement shoot becomes Wedding shoot. Wedding shoot becomes maternity photos… then newborn photos etc.

With Marika and Stephen we have been able to capture their maternity photos then a session with little Max when he was only a few days old. We met with the family recently to capture images of Max at 6 months old.

The day we met happened to be the day the first snow fell here in Edmonton. Just so Max didn’t get too cold outside we headed in to Rosso Pizzeria for a coffee and a little bite to eat. We sat back and took photos of the family spending time together.

We took to the streets after our fantastic coffee to take advantage of the beauty of the newly fallen snow for some nice outdoor photos. With the shoot finished, Max was whisked away by his parents to the warmth of the family vehicle.

We look forward to seeing Max grow through the years. 

Here are some of the images from our most recent session:

Shelby & Brandon - A Beautiful Canmore Wedding

I think we hit every type of weather on this big day. Rain, fog,  blue skies, sun & snow. I have to say, it feels like it worked in our favour. Shelby and Brandon were used to being in not ideal weather from our engagement session with them a few months back. 

​This group was incredible! We had such a great time. The mountains revealed themselves at the exact right time. The snow fell right at dinner. It was a perfect day.

Enjoy these selected images from the day and check out our other wedding photos here!​

- d & b

Marika & Steven - Maternity

We got to these shots right in time! Two days after these pictures were taken, Marika gave birth to the lovely, little Max.

​With the weather being as cold as it has been, as late into the year as it has been, we took advantage of the long days and feet deep snow. When the cold got to us, we decided to return home and capture the last few moments before this couple became three.

Shelby & Brandon - Engaged

Man... winter can be cold. Even when it is only -3, the cold can hit you quickly. We had initially set up Shelby and Brandon to do their session in the fall, but schedules just didn't work out. So mid-February it was!

​We had a blast hanging out in some alleys and traipsing through the snow, however, when the cold finally got to us, the folks at the Mercer Tavern were gracious enough to let us in and take some shots there. 

​Check out what we got and other shoots like this in the Portraits section of the page.

We'll see these two again soon for their Canmore wedding.​​

who prays for snow on their wedding day?

When I sat down with clients Mike and Linda for our final pre-wedding meeting, Linda was as giddy as a schoolgirl. Why? Because (much to my dismay) it had finally started snowing here in Edmonton. An important thing to point out about this final pre-wedding meeting is that it was actually the first time I ever met Mike and Linda. They live in Australia.

“I am writing to you from Australia. I was given your name after having a wedding consult with Rev Kathryn Cardinal while she was here in Australia recently.”

Kathryn is a friend and former co-worker who performs weddings. Linda found her by doing a simple Google search. As fate would have it, Kathryn was on her way to Australia for a conference. She met up with Linda and it was decided that Kathryn would be performing the ceremony for them. When asked if she knew any photographers, Kathryn was kind enough to throw my name out there.

That was the facebook message I received on January 3, 2010. Our first face-to-face meeting was 2 years and 6 days later. She went on to explain in her message that they were planning a vow renewal ceremony in Edmonton and wanted to know if I was available to take the photos of the event.

Mike is from Edmonton but Linda is from Australia. Several years ago they started chatting online. When they realized that over the course of a few years they had not spent a day without chatting with each other, they knew it was pretty serious. So serious in fact that Mike proposed to Linda - without ever meeting her!! She said yes!!

Shortly after that Mike moved to Australia to be with his new fiancé and they eventually got married there.

Feeling bad for Mike’s family who could not make the big trek to the other side of the world for the wedding, they decided to do it all over again – as a surprise - when they returned to Edmonton for their big visit.

Of course I said I would love to document this big event. And over the next 2 years I grew to know Mike and Linda via facebook. I should point out that Linda is a fantastic Canadian! She is a die-hard Edmonton Oilers fan, celebrates the Canadian holidays (Canada Day, Thanksgiving, opening day of the hockey season etc.) and is generally quite keen on all-things-Canada (especially our Moose for some reason?).

Don’t even get me started on her un-natural obsession with Michael Bublé.

Since it was a winter-themed celebration, the snow falling I mentioned earlier was the icing on the cake for Linda (again, it was not as thrilling to me, that’s for sure).

The day arrived and so did the falling temperature. It was C-O-L-D that day. We stayed out in the cold as long as we could to get some shots and even though we froze our butts off, it was all worth it since we were able to capture some great snow-filled outdoor moments of them.

After a nice ceremony at the Muttart Conservatory, we headed off to The Melting Pot (fondue restaurant!!) for the dinner. We were treated to a fantastic 3-course meal and had plenty of fun.

One special touch we were able to help out with was capturing portraits of the friends and family members near and dear to them both. These photos would serve as nice reminders for them when they returned to Australia.

Here are some of the shots Dave and I were able to capture for Mike and Linda. Hope you like them.

 


Alex & Frank - New Year's Nuptials

We met Alex and Frank several months ago amid a large traffic jam and some nice coffee at Transcend. As soon as Brad and I got to know them, we hed a good feeling about how their engagement and wedding sessions were going to go.

They are a couple knew what they wanted, had awesome ideas but were ready for us to let our creative juices flow. As you can see from the shoot we did for their engagement, the creative angle was one they embraced. When they brought the idea of a World War II coming home shoot, our imaginations lit up and to date, is one of Brad and mine's favourite sessions.

Now, on New Year's Eve comes their wedding and man was it cold. Not in the sense of the temperature, but there was a wicked wind running through the city that day and poor Alex and her bridesmaids were only in dresses and Uggs.

We started at their hotel and then moved to a downtown parkade. It wasn't until we were trying to get some nature type shots that the wind cut through my large coat that we called it a day. 

This wedding was a real treat for us. We had such a blast and it was a fantastic way to ring in the new year.

A huge thanks also goes out to Julianne Cragg at A Modern Proposal, the great staff at the Country Lodge and Raymond Laurie at Impark.

All the best Alex & Frank. Thanks for letting us be a part of the big day!

Check out other wedding shots we did in the Weddings section of our page.

- dave & brad

A Warm Family on a Cold Day

Happy New Year everyone!

I love being able to help out during the holidays. Chantal approached me wanting family photos that she could give as Christmas presents to her family. 

They hadn't had professional photos done in a long time and really wanted to capture a moment in time of their young family. 

We were more than happy to oblige. We met out at her family's farm, outside of Sherwood Park on a cold Sunday and had a blast. The kids were so great and seemed to be having a fun time, despite having to quickly run back into their cabin every five minutes or so to warm up.

Check out the Portraits section of our site for other family sessions we have done.

- dave