Scones!

Who wants tea and crumpets when you can have tea and one of "Langford Foods" scones! Yum!!

 I was asked to shoot some scones for my Uncle's new website.

Langford Foods

The shoot went incredibly well! What's more important are that the scones are AMAZING.  I personally do not like scones they are a dry and blah pastry to go with your tea.  However, these are truly delightful and full of flavour and are not dry at all.  They are sold at Pusateri's and can be wholesaled through the Langford Foods website.

The scones have been such a great hit that I even have a monthly bulk order at my work place. That good; I wouldn't lie! Taste them yourself!

They exceed all tastebud expectations!

Coke

REFLECTIONS

During my small product photography class we had to bring in and shoot an aluminium pop can.  

We had to shoot it without reflection.... Ha-ha! 

I had a little difficulty as it reflected everything!!

In post we had to place it on a white background.

This was the best I could get; not bad :P

Make Up Advertising

I am currently enrolled in one of my final photography classes at Sheridan College.  The course I am taking is Small Product Photography.  I am learning the basics of Photoshop and had to edit my photo.

I shot these products which were not brand related.  I had to position them in a flattering way which showcased their contents.  I chose "MAC" as my focal brand so I had to remove the labels off two of the products and then touch up the individual eye shadow squares.  I added a the brand and Bam! There's my ad! Ha-ha!

I made it sound so easy...it really wasn't lol  You would be surprised how much actually goes into small products and advertising.  It is not just point your camera at it and shoot.
However, Look how pretty it looks....this ad says "you want to wear me"......... have I sold you on the products yet? :P

Katie & Adam Engagment

Save The Date!!

Last year in my wedding photography class I recruited my friend Katie and her Fiancé Adam as one of my couples for one of my 'engagement assignments'.  

Later that year I was able to shoot their actual photos with fellow photographer Derek Kneblewski.

It was a beautiful day and with a great assemblage of people on board for the shoot I couldn't have asked for anything better.

{This is final photo chosen with filter for their "STD" invites as Katie put it. Ha-Ha!}

Katie and Adam compliment each other perfectly, they have a convivial sense of humour and are happily in love.  I wish them nothing but the best and can't wait to be personally shooting their wedding this year with Jason Miles Photography

Langford Foods Catering

The latest and greatest kitchen making great foods to grace and tantalize your taste buds.

This Toronto based delight is the next up and coming great food find.  The owner and operator of Langford Foods is my Uncle Andre who was formally the creator of dash kitchen on the Danforth.

Langford Foods will be at Pusateri's Mother's Day weekend.  Come and sample the new 'ready to bake' scone product line.  Langford Foods' frozen food' entree line will soon be available on their website.

'A gourmet chef in you freezer'!

Langford Foods Website

Martin & Wendy Engagement

My Mom's oldest brother my Uncle Martin is engaged!

Of course I took this opportunity to use them as my models for my Wedding photography class. 

These photos were taken on campus and turned out rather well :) 

They were awesome as they stood in for "faux" family wedding formals all day long before we were actually able to get to their engagement photos.

I am happy I was able to take part in something so special for them!  Wishing my Uncle Martin and soon to be Aunt Wendy all the best!

Behind the Scenes

Life infront and behind the camera

I love taking shots of what people normally do not get to see, therefore giving you "the whole picture."

I think that is the documenter in me, creating photo essays to remember and show how or why something has come to be...or..not to be :P 

The process if you will or chronological sequence of how things pan out.

For starters I was called in for an airing on the Shopping Channel.  A curling rod, to which they wanted my quaff in all its glory, untamed!! Ha-ha! No smiling of course, I had to be "very sad" that I had such a ferocious fro!

 

After the "Before" shots were taken we went into the process of curling my hair.  My hair goes down to my lower back so it took a little bit of time.  They left a small section out on my bangs to show on air how simple it was.  Then Viola! like magic I went from 'Sad Fro Girl' to 'Happy Mermaid Hair' hahaha!!

And that kids, is Magic! ;)

Carolyn & Mitch Engagement

If I could pick any two people in the world to get married it would be Carolyn and Mitch.  They are by far my most favourite couple!  Super in love and ALWAYS HAPPY!  If you are ever in need of some positive vibes, go see those two!

I have known Carolyn since grade 2.  She is the most genuine, kind hearted person that I know. When Carolyn and Mitch had first met we were still in high school.  Carolyn brought me to Pizza Hut where they both worked, to "check him out" and to see if he was dating material.. Haha!!  My first impressions of Mitch were very good! I thought that he was very charming, really nice and he had a great personality.  Above all he was head over heels for my friend.  From there they started dating; I couldn't be happier for Carolyn to have found the love of her life amongst pizza dough and pepperonis Ha-ha!

In these pictures I had asked them to come out for this engagement shoot as models for a class project.   I hope to shoot their real engagment photos this year at some point as they are perfect on every level for each other.

New Toys

I recently upgraded some of my photography equipment to the professional line Canon has to offer.  My little Rebel has done a fantastic job teaching me how to use and operate a DSLR and has come on numerous trips around the world with me!  Since I have quite a bit of people interested in my work I felt this investment was necessary.

My new baby is the Canon 5D mark II.  For starters I paired it with the 24/105mm f/4 (I know not the greatest lens but good to start with!) and shooting indoors is nothing slight of amazing with this thing!

The photo junkie that I am I immediately took pictures with my next available camera...lol... my iPhone 4 :) .... and then posted to Instagram! hahaha!!

Go BIG or Go Home

You have such gorgeous hair!

I heard this a few times from a young man sitting by the pool when I would walk by during a vacation I was on last year.  LOL!

My immediate reaction was "ok pal..for a dude you seem to really, 'really' like hair Ha-ha!!"

A year later I am happy to say I have an awesome friend who is not only super sweet but extremely talented!  No presentation is necessary this boy oozes talent and it shows in all his work but none the less may I present to you, Giancarlo Intini! 

Giancarlo is a make-up Artist, Art Director and Beauty Expert whose talents lay in transforming the "regular into sensational." He recruited me as a hair model for a Salon Collage hair shoot last summer, which was a first for me with this type of modeling.  I was very excited during the whole process and then became extremely nervous when it was my time to shine! bahaha!! 

In the end nervous or not he still made me look beautiful with my Beyonce sized locks!  In this picture it is 100% mine, no extensions!

Giancarlo Intini Website

Salon Collage Website

Kristina's Darling Engagement

~ Kristina & Brad ~

Photographing the love!

I had the opportunity to shoot my cousins engagement photos.  Out of all my cousins she is the first to get married which was very exciting for our family!  She asked me to take some photos of her and her Fiance Brad so they could have some to display around the wedding! (So sweet!, Thanks Cuz!)

A huge part of their relationship is their love for pets!  They have a mini farm at their house ranging from dogs, cats, rabbits to reptiles!  A must was a family photo with their beloved dog Bronx.  

Your bestest Homies

The Bridal Party

Selecting your Bridal Party can be a breeze or a tedious task.

For school this year I had to shoot a bridal party.  I quickly rounded up all available friends that weren't already working.  Needless to say they were troopers, as my classmates and I took turns shuffling them around the school and putting them in different poses; like this one! Ha-Ha!

From Princess Catherine Middleton's bridal party of 1, her sister, to a full party of how ever many you decide to choose.  Remember to select friends and family that are important to you!

Below is an article out of "The Knot" on helping you to choose who and what suits your wedding.

The Knot: 9 Tips for Who to Pick

Good Luck!

Desserts yumm!! :P

Looks so good that it looks like I took this from a magazine ;)

Wrong! This is all skillzzz baby! hehe!

I am very new to studio work.  The only studio shots I have taken were in my intermediate and advanced photography classes in school.  We touched on portraiture and small product.  This particular assignment was desserts, it's where we learned all the tricks and ins and outs of shooting a dessert so mouth watering we would want to eat it off the screen!  On having doubles just in case one falls apart..or another photographer gets hungry and eats yours! Ha-ha!

I picked up these cookies from Pusateri's in yorkville.  They didn't taste as yummy as they looked but they photographed amazing!

I did very well on this assignment and had a lot of fun shooting it. 

My Shananagins

I am smiling from ear to ear as this picture makes me giddy.  During a field trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens, to shoot yet another school project (For Wedding Level 1) I caught this quick jigg Shannon danced as I told her she needed to go outside in the cold. Shannon was my Bride for this mock wedding shoot. It was freezing and the poor girl had nothing to cover up with; she was a trooper! Ha! Love her!

During the shoot Shannon thew her bouquet to climb a tree!  One of my classmates caught it and then turned proudly to the rest of us to show his super catching skills! Ha-Ha!  Ironically he is the next to get married! :P

Sadly at the end of the day I lost my first SD card loosing more than half of the pictures I shot of Shannon and Shawn at Royal Botanical Gardens.  This was all I could really recover from the second card.  Lesson learned: Glue your memory cards to you, Swallow them if you have to!  When your memory fades your pictures better be there to prove it happened!!

You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart.

It's October! One of the most colourful months of the year!

I want to say first off that I noticed that I really do suck at keeping up with this whole blog thing, mainly because it requires time to chill out and just take a moment to write.  Time which I have very little of.

I thought I would start off with a picture of me before getting the ball rolling on photo pieces I have taken (and some taken 'of' me :P) so far this year.

I mentioned before I have had a few posts in my drafts for sometime now and will hopefully get these posts up by the end of the week, whilst trying to keep everything in a relative chronologic order.

This year I have taken up my dancing again, and thus performing at the annual Carabram and Carassauga Multicultural Festivals.

During one of the shows a photographer took my picture and sent it to me. The second picture being a few of the girls in my group and I waiting to go on stage! Please enjoy the below video taken during Carabram 2011, while my group performs the "Fan Otea."

Freshness Guaranteed!

That's right...your local grocery store!

Who knew, that it was a world full of potentially great engagement backgrounds?!  I had worked for Metro for 10 years and wouldn't have ever thought to shoot something so romantic in a venue as simple as the local grocery store.  If you look closely though, the supermarket is a great place to set up those fun and memorable moments!  Who needs to eat?! Only everyone! :P 

The colours of the produce section!

OR

Maybe the couple met over a bag of cholotate milk and whip creme in the dairy department!

How about getting creative in the check out line?

Magazine..*BEEP*....bubble gum..*BEEP*...Bride to be......"Price Check Please!!"

Admire, Bestow, Assimilate.

While in class the other day my wonderful teacher asked us to blog about other photographers work.  Oh crap! I thought, as I am not too familiar with other photographers work; except for fellow classmates, who might I add are pretty darn good!  So the search began, filtering through thousands of pictures from the web and photographers blogs and websites... Yes, I could have picked any pictures really to write about but these selections I wanted to be a reflection of the quality of photos I would want my work to look like.  Something to aspire towards.  I say this in the most politest way possible but there is "a lot" of rubbish out there.  Photographers who have the full gear, websites and businesses; yet produce such drab photos and it boggles my mind!  Everyone with a camera seems to be a self proclaimed expert photographer yet sadly they are not.  It is not very good to say the least, and one the other hand I have seem some amazing amateurs!  Sorry, if I offended anyone but that was my rant! Ha-ha!

Here are my top picks 4 professional picks in ascending order!

The Engagement

(Photo By: Shannon Nicole Smith Photography)

Shannon Nicole Smith's engagement photos are the best.  This Florida based photographer does the the whole vintage chic theme very well.  They are always fun and cute photos that make you feel all mushy inside.

The Bride

(Photo By: Audrey Fotografie)

When it comes down to it the Bride is always stealing the show.  Audrey fotografie presents her work as "fine art." I find sometimes a little too much blur but it works for her.  This photo with the bride in the field has a dramatic sky that is fitting with this Bride.

The Bridal Party

(Photo By: Thorpe - Union Photography)

I really enjoy the style John Thorpe brings to the table.  It has a man's touch without being too dude-ish!  His photos remind us that the boys are very much apart of the wedding without stealing the Brides thunder!  I enjoy candids and positioned photos that are relaxed of the bridal party.  This style makes the party much more real and inviting, over rigid and stiff posing.

The Bride & Groom

(Photo By: Dave & Charlotte Lifestyle Photographers)

Last but not least... Dave and Charlotte.  Their photographs are pure, delightful eye candy.  They are beautiful and very pleasing to look at. Dave and Charlotte to me as an aspiring professional photographer  are the whole package; making each photograph a genius work of art.  I love the way the couples are embraced in each of these pictures, so gentle and loving. 

To end off with someone very worthy..

(Photos By: Jason Miles Photography)

I have had the pleasure to get to know Jason Miles personally, while together attending photography school.  He has helped me with pointers, post production and insight into the photography world.  His photographs are stunning and always impressive to me, and always capturing that special moment.  Jason has recently started his business into Wedding photography and I am delighted to share with you some of his work.