This summer we have had the treat of shooting a number of weddings away from home. In August we headed out on a two week road trip and right in the middle of it we got to spend a beautifully stormy Okanagan day with Katie and Tyson at Paddle Wheel Park in Vernon BC. When we were scouting locations a few days before the wedding we were a bit worried about the weather because it was so so hot. I fear I have really become an Islander now as I don’t enjoy the searing heat quite as much as I did when I used to live in it! The morning of the wedding we became a bit more concerned about the wind, rain, and potential thunder and lightening than hot sunshine! The weather ended up being perfect as the breeze kept us cool and the skies gave us beautiful cloudy textures and the rain waited until just before the reception. Tyson and Katie found us through his sister Shani who we have had the great pleasure of working with before. It was so much fun to reconnect with Shani and her family and to make new friends in Tyson and Katie. Tyson is really into fly fishing so there were fly hooks in the boutonnieres and a fishing bride cake topper snagging her groom. Tyson and Katie received a lot of help from friends and family as they live in Ontario and planned the wedding from afar. Shani and her friends did a lot of the decorating, which resulted in one of the prettiest ceremony setups that we have seen, and the evening ended with Tyson and Katie dancing to a live trumpet performance by Katie’s brother Dan. Thanks so much to Shani for recommending us for this day and to Tyson and Katie for being so much fun. Here are some of our favourites from the day and all the best wishes to you both!! E&A
A wet boat, salty camera, learning the intricacies of iMovie, and over 2200 stills later we have the Team Kula 470 stop motion to release upon the world. My brother Fraser McMillan, and his team mate Eric van der Pol have been training and competing for the last few years working towards the goal of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. As the “official photogs” of Team Kula while they are at the Olympics, I feel a need to help out where I can. Since 470 coaching is not exactly my forte, I take photos of them for their promotional materials. Hope you enjoy.
aaron.
ps. they are underfunded canadian athletes. If you feel so inclined to do so, donations can be made @ kula470.ca
Welcome to Emmy’s second style segment. I am hoping to make this a regular thing and when wedding season slows down a bit in the fall you can expect a lot more of these. I am a bit design/craft crazy. I love making and designing things for gifts and for the designer fair that I run every Christmas so I always have my eye out for talented artists with a unique perspective. Recently I was checking out the vendors on a site for a local show when I found this one called Little Yellow Basket. The name is really cute and caught my interest so I looked up the site and found the most gorgeous vintage style feather hair accessories. I love it when brides have great hair accessories. Something simple and elegant can really complete a look and if you are a non-traditional gal and don’t want a veil this is a great alternative or an addition once the veil comes off. I contacted founder Alexis to ask if I could photograph her work for this segment and she gave me a bit of background on the name and her designs: “Little Yellow Basket Design’s was named after my favorite song sung by Ella Fitzgerald as a tribute and homage of my love for the past and all this with a vintage feel. When women wore their best pearl’s just to go to the grocery store or putting on red lipstick to get the newspaper. My piece’s speak to me like old hollywood silver screen star’s or old song’s sung by the lovely Ella. Each piece is named after one or the other! I want to take that vintage feel, the old time glam and make everyone feel like they just stepped out of the old silverscreen. I make each piece unique and treasure worthy so you will want to hold on to them for your daughter’s or granddaughter’s to come.” I have to admit there were two pieces I had to keep for myself after this shoot. Who doesn’t want to wear a peacock feathered headband! Wether you are a bride planning your perfect look or someone like me just wanting some glam in a headband these pieces by Alexis are gorgeous. The clips could also be very cool boutonnieres, everyone does flowers why not try feathers! Because Alexis is local she could do custom colours to match your day. You can find info on purchasing them on her site or see what is in stock at Sapphire Bridal shop on Fort St. in Victoria. If there is a style trend that you would like to have featured please send some info my way Happy Tuesday!!
Jessica and Dusty love music, tattoos, their pup, and each other! Surrounded by all the people who love them the most they got married on the beach under a driftwood arch that Dusty built. It was a perfect breezy sunny love filled day and we were so excited to be there to witness it. We knew that this wedding would have style when we first met Jessie and Dusty with their tattoos of trees, roses, and gypsy wagons. Their ceremony was held at a family friend’s property in Deep Cove and the cocktail reception was at the fabulous the Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse in Saanichton. We didn’t do a prep session with these two and Aaron was up at the road waiting for Jess to arrive so the first time I saw her was as she came down the aisle and I think everyone gasped with me at how gorgeous she was. Her Martina Liana dress is stunning and so perfect for a breezy day. Her gorgeous flowers, that are so stunning and filled with daisies, poppy heads, and luscious greenery were done by friend Claudia Logan who really should sharing her gift with everyone! Their something blue was a cool vintage ride in a Plymouth GTX. The very sweet Mr. McKay of Deep Cove let us use his gorgeous Garry Oak meadow which held a most perfect lone tree that was just waiting for us. We then headed to a beach to catch the late day calm of the inlet before the tide came in. I was in my wellies focusing on not getting too low on the water with the camera when I heard Aaron running and scuffling behind me as he rescued my floating dress shoe and our reflector from a trip on the sea! The night ended with views over the Sea Cidery’s orchard, cigars on the patio, delicious appies, chilled cider cocktails, and the best dessert bar ever created by the lovely ladies of Jam Tarts. I think Aaron is still daydreaming about the oreo truffles! These two had the most unique and personal guestbook – a painted tree filled with the fingerprints of their guests turned into art. Jess and Dusty were so happy on this day and we could just feel it in the way they looked at each other. We also saw why these two are so loved by their friends and family – all the best to such a sweet couple!
I don’t even know where to begin with this wedding! We are being seriously spoiled with fantastic weddings this summer, such a treat! (get ready there are a lot of exclamation marks coming up ) We knew that these two were our kind of people from the very first email. Jess wrote that she and Rob were getting married “under a LONE TREE IN A FIELD!!!” If any of you have read the E/A Who? page on our main site you will know that I, Emmy, have a thing for making photographs of lone trees in fields, bit of an obession really. Anyway Jess and Rob really do live a dream life. Jess is a lover of horses and what better life than to run Foxstone Stables at Glenora Farm and also live right above the stable with 300 acres of Cowichan Valley paradise including your own natural spring swimming pond, meadows with lone trees, and gorgeousness everywhere you look! There is so much beauty here that we are going to head back up there in the fall for a day of photo making because we felt like kids in a candy store with not quite enough time to fill our pockets. This dreamy day was a hip-nouveau-country-handle-bar-moustache-ray-ban-sunglasses-with-a-dash-of-vintage perfection! There were so many personal touches and such wonderful details that the result is that I have a lot of images to share!! To start with Jess’ dress is stunning and so perfect for a vintage country wedding. Her rings, carried in little leather pouches, were Rob’s Grandmother’s and her vintage bracelet has been worn by the other women in Rob’s family on their wedding day. All through their home are old family photos and antique treasures that I couldn’t help but photograph. These old photos were inspiring so the tintype looking shot at the end is a shout out to American Gothic and old family images. The ceremony seats were bales of hay with Jess’ baby quilts made by her mom, the bridal party entered through the field with Jess’ first man in her life, her old pup Jackson, looking so so proud in his bow-tie, the flowers with daisies and sunflowers and red gingham table clothes were so perfect and the weather was hot and sunny! Many of the guests set up camp in a nearby field with vans and tents to make a weekend of the event. In honour of Rob’s ‘stache many of his friends grew their own and the groomsmen bought stick ons that you could shape in different styles. The sun set really low on the horizon leaving the reception drenched in buttery late daylight. Instead of a wedding cake these two ordered a table full of pies!!!!!! Best idea ever! It was really hard to photograph them and not sneak a taste. After the ceremony we headed up the hill to the old red barn for some shelter from the heat. You have heard the famous saying don’t work with kids or animals – well we usually love working with both and the kids were fantastic it was the darn goats that couldn’t take the hint that it wasn’t their day! One really wanted his picture taken, after he tasted a bridesmaid’s bouquet of course. At first it was funny until I had to push him out of the way by his bottom, goats are stubborn. We left the barn via tractor and at dusk the music started, the lanterns came on and man could these folks dance! I have never seen grannies with such moves, so so much fun. Jess and Rob are so in love and their wedding day was perfect from beginning to end. We know we will see them and Jackson, and probably the goat many more times in the future. At the end of the day we were still hot, a little sweaty, and so so grateful to our new friends Jess and Rob for sharing their sweet day with us!
Location: Glenora Farm, Duncan BC. Dress: Priscilla of Boston. Flowers: Leaf and Petal
I LOVE Rock ‘n Roll Bride! If you guys haven’t heard of it before click the icon and run run over there for some seriously creative wedding inspiration. We have been featured a few times on this blog and since our first feature of Pam and Dave’s vibrant day this blog has become super super popular with its creator, the fabulous Kat,winning a best of blogs award, regular features in Pro Photo magazine, and the latest is her win for Best Wedding Style Blog from the Wedding Channel (go over there and vote for her to win best overall blog!). Kat started out as a bride looking for something different and became really interested in wedding style and photography. Now she shares the most unique and inspiring artists from around the world. We are really excited to not only be featured but to also be named as an Approved Rockstar Vendor! Remember Sarah and Travis’ sweet elopement - well it has been featured on Rock ‘n Roll Bride and you can see the full feature by clicking here or on the image below!!
The old song “At Last” comes to mind with these two and their families. Dani and Kevin have been in love with each other for a long time and now they are finally Mr. and Mrs. The past few years have seen them travelling around the world for Kevin’s job and not too long ago they were able to slow the world down, gather on a beach on a beautiful sunny day with all of their friends and family, and promise their future to each other. We had a lot of fun with these two. Dani and her girls got ready for the I Do’s at the beautiful Villa Marco Polo in Rockland (We love gorgeous prep locations!), the ceremony was held at Saxe Point Park with sail boats floating by behind them, and Kevin kept us entertained on our location shoots by acting out movie scenes. I think our favourites were Steve Irwin in the brush and Russel Crow running his hands through the grass from Gladiator – are you sure you didn’t miss your calling Kevin ! It was a really hot day and you guys were so great with just the right amount of silliness (see below when we asked them to pick a spot to fix their gaze). Congrats on your beautiful new family!
A little while ago on one of our first warm summer evenings we met up with James and his Grandma Helga in the park for a mini session. Helga also brought her very sweet pup named Sophie to join in with us. Knowing that we would be shooting a Grandma and Grandson it got us thinking about grandparents. My Grandpa was a pilot when he was young and is in love with airplanes. There are photographs of him as a child with his balsa gliders and when I was a child there are photographs of him and I, at the little airstrip near their summer home in Beachburg Ont., with his remote control airplanes and balsa gliders. Aaron has taken to these little gliders and at one point I had to reclaim the china cabinet, to make room for actual china, as he had turned it into a hanger for balsa gliders, bi-planes, elastic wind-up prop planes and more. Sitting to have your photograph taken may not be the thrill of a second grader’s evening so we thought we would make it more fun by bringing along a little memory of mine and a new hobby of Aaron’s. Helga and James have a special little bond that you can just feel when you are around them. Helga moved out here when James was wee to be able to be a bigger part of his life. Along with her came James’ little sidekick Sophie. We followed them around the grassy oak meadow as they tossed the glider, played in the grass, and laughed with each other. Their little ways of being together were so sweet to watch and we had such a great time chasing around behind them with our cameras. Thank you so much James and Helga for sharing your sunny afternoon of new memories with us.
It all started this first day of kindergarten. My mom will tell you that until I was older I really could have cared less whether my clothes were clean, let alone matching, my hair was done, or if I had peanut butter on my face. Up until the first day I kindergarten I hadn’t really thought much about what I put on my feet and then everything changed when I met a pair of little red canvas slip-ons and their lucky owner Natasha. I come from a really small town and I grew up a good distance from that town, one could say it was in the bush. Those shoes did not come from town where all we had was a Fields and a Sears catalogue delivery office. My sinlge most vivid memory of that first year of school is those little red shoes. Natasha topped off my shoe envy by moving to a town named Summerland – seriously!!! She had perfect shoes and she got to live in place that was always summer – not fair! Well I survived that first experience of shoe envy only to become plagued by it. I have bad, narrow, flat, skinny, boney, hurt-in-anything-cute feet. To my dismay, sturdy, practical, stiff soled mary jane’s with orthodics are was make my feet happiest. But in my heart when I close my eyes I am really wearing a pair of super-cute-stop-you-in-your-tracks works of art. Soooo when I decided to start highlighting local style hot spots for brides and grooms it was a no brainer that I would start with shoes. I love it when brides and grooms really strut their style with a hot pair of shoes and I love photographing them! In some dresses you can’t always see the hot shoes – but you know they are there when they peek out while you are walking, sitting, or showing them off. In shorter dresses the shoes complete the look. On our wedding day I wore a pair of cherry red patent leather Steve Madden heels with an ivory strap – they are the only comfy heels I have ever found and I adore them! Why have plain white when really you can do whatever you want and have a fantastic pair of shoes to show off later. In Victoria’s Trounce Alley their is a little piece of shoe lover heaven found at Shelagh Macartney’s shop She She Shoes. A couple of weeks ago I headed down to She She with an old luggage trunk – that I have been waiting for years to use in just the right shoot, and our old milk crate to spend some time with the other love of my life – beautiful shoes. There are so many gorgeous pairs of shoes in this shop it was hard to pick which ones to photograph!! The shop manager Agnes was so helpful and is a sweetheart – if you don’t have a girlfriend to help you pick out the perfect pair Agnes is your gal! There were a few brides in there while I was shooting trying on Nina’s Elga (see below). And for all you gals having outdoor weddings and afraid you’ll sink in the grass with those stilettos – check out Clean Heels. Jen had them at her wedding and they were fantastic. I hope you enjoy these lovelies as much as I do and thank you so much to the ladies of She She shoes for letting me indulge my fantasy of having all these fabulous shoes to myself – if only for a couple of hours. We will have more of these style segments in the future so if you know of an amazing accessory, location, or decor theme let us know so we can share it!
Here is post number three on Raj and Pia’s epic wedding {if you are just coming into these posts check out the first two here and here and their engagement session here}. They are so gorgeous we know that you want to see more so here is the portrait session held the day after the ceremonies and right before their reception (which was soooo much fun and warrants its own post soon to come!). We had these grand visions of sunlit soaked afternoon light as the day before was one of the few really sunny days in our cold overcast spring. However, nature had other plans and we woke up to a chilly drizzle. Which meant that they looked super hot while I (Em) was stylin in my MEC rain pants and purple Hunter wellies! The four of us were quite the combo and definitely got noticed but more so for Pia’s gorgeous dress – seriously have you ever seen anything or anyone so beautiful! Sometimes the rain is a good thing as it makes us consider locations we may have overlooked on sunnier days. A Market Square empty storefront and entrance gave us the perfect cover from rain and in between sets of drizzle we made it out onto the old Blue Bridge at the bottom of Johnson St. and to the pier in Sidney. Amidst all the business of this event it was really great to get out with just Raj and Pia. We had such a great time with these two that we know we will be seeing more of them in the future. Now I will let you get to the images of these two beautiful people.
E/A Photography is based in Victoria, BC Canada and will travel wherever the work takes us. Please contact us for pricing information and to book a consultation... because having your photograph taken should be fun.
Happy Tuesday!!
