Where In Ottawa: Pink Lake | A Blog Series On Ottawa Best Locations For Wedding And Engagement Session

Where In Ottawa: Pink Lake | A Blog Series On Ottawa Best Locations For Wedding And Engagement Session

Despite its name, the lake is itself not pink at all, but rather green. It is named after the Pink family who had a farm close by back in the 1800s. Pink Lake is particularly unique because of its meromictic nature -  meaning its upper and lower layers of water never mix! A hike around the lake, on its well-maintained stairs and pathways, can take sixty to ninety minutes depending on your fitness level or how many stops you make on its various lookouts. Regardless of where you are on the trail, you will always have foliage and trees on one side and its beautiful turquoise-colored water on the other. I have been there once in the fall, and the lake reflects the vibrant colors of the changing leaves which make for a gorgeous mirrored effect! 

5 Tips for Amazing Getting-Ready Photos

5 Tips for Amazing Getting-Ready Photos

Getting ready is an important part of your wedding day. Think of it as a pre-game event. There are certain things that have to happen during “getting ready” that can set your wedding up for success. There is hair and makeup to be done, getting into your wedding-day attires (dresses and tuxes), pre-ceremony photos, and depending on your cultural background, there are pre-wedding rituals and celebrations. I photographed a "getting ready" portion of a wedding once where the whole groom's side of the family showed up and partied complete with dancing and drinking before going to the church! Needless to say, if you are getting your photographer to document this part of the day, there are certain things you can do to make you get the most out of your "getting-ready" photos. 

Where in Ottawa: Dominion Arboretum | A Blog Series on Ottawa's Best Locations for Wedding and Engagement Sessions

Where in Ottawa: Dominion Arboretum | A Blog Series on Ottawa's Best Locations for Wedding and Engagement Sessions

"Where In Ottawa" is a blog series featuring the best locations to have for your wedding or engagement photo sessions. For each post of this series, we will pick a spot, outline some of the highlights and challenges using the location, and show some photos we've shot for inspiration! 

5 things you shouldn't worry about on your wedding day. and what can help you avoid them!

5 things you shouldn't worry about on your wedding day. and what can help you avoid them!

The wedding day can be stressful. It is, after all, the culmination of a year's worth of planning and organization for most couples.  I have always said that my number goal as the wedding photographer is to ensure that my couples are as comfortable and relaxed as they could be. A comfortable and relax couple = amazing photos! Of course, it can't be help sometimes when couples worry about how the day is going to go. Is the weather going to cooperate? What happens if the DJ doesn't show up? How do I keep the guests entertained? These are some of the major worries couples have on the day of their wedding. And when you have a worried couple, it will often show in their faces, and will ultimately show on their wedding photos! And no photoshop skills can help with that, no matter how skilled we are at it!

How to Prepare for Your Engagement Session

How to Prepare for Your Engagement Session

Engagement photo shoots can be a bit daunting for many couples (you should do it!). It is likely the first time you and your fiancé(e) will devote an entire hour in front of the camera together. It is likely the first time you are working with a professional photographer, whose style and personality you have (hopefully) carefully considered. Depending on the location you have chosen for the photo shoot, you might be in a public space, where people will inevitably glance at you and your partner having, what many might consider to be, a private moment. 

How do you prepare for this? How do you act in front of the camera? What do you wear? These are some of the most common questions I generally get from my couples and I've come up with several tips I usually send to them in order to prepare them for what should be a fun photo shoot!