These two are getting married in a couple of weeks! Anthony and I did an engagement shoot for them back in July, but other than posting the images from the set on facebook, I never got around to blogging it, so here it is.

Allison picked the Hermitage as the setting, a place she's familiar with from running excursions. Though the forecast called for thunderstorms the majority of the day, we got lucky, and the storm held off. The overcast skies actually made for some great conditions.

These guys were great and I had a blast getting these photos. I'm very excited to be covering their wedding!

Ian, a big Pittsburgh fan proposed with the aid of a very nice looking custom jersey. So good in fact, they couldn't pass up the opportunity to sport them!

I don't get the opportunity to do a lot of maternity sessions, so building a maternity portfolio is a slow process. Fortunately, with a willing and pregnant subject at home, I've had the opportunity to practice, and experiment with some different shots.

These were shot in studio, lighting provided by a single 200Ws D-Lite into a Deep Octa softbox with a gold deflector. The quality, softness and warmth of the light generated by this combination is outstanding!

This one is my absolute favourite from the set, and started out as an attempt to do a silhouette, but ended up way cooler! The lighting in this frame resulted from feathering the Deep Octa. It was basically pointed directly at the background, a few feet directly in front of her belly (camera left), with spill from the side of the softbox casting a nice little highlight on her.

These were taken a few weeks back, so there will be more to come!

Getting family portraits with two little ones isn't easy. It isn't easy for the family, and can be touch and go for the photographer also. I'd envisioned doing some outdoor shots at the park in addition to some shots at their house, but of course it rained.

It's getting cooler here, and with fall just around the corner, maybe we'll revisit the park idea against a backdrop of autumn leaves and colours.

It doesn't get much cuter than this one, a brother and sister holding hands, looking and smiling:

Mike couldn't resist getting this one in while I was shooting a test frame to check lighting:

In the end, we ended up getting some great shots, and everyone had fun!

The lighting in most of these was provided by a pair of 580EX IIs through Lastolite EzyBox softboxes.

Sabrina Olivieri, owner of Klementine Designs in Bolton, has styled Vivien with her fashions for the last six years. Her clothes have danced with us, cruised with us, and have had a few pina coladas spilled on them.

Sabrina was gracious enough to offer me free reign of her hobby farm to snap away at her various "pets" for my portfolio. Here's her pet turkey, Cranberry:

This past weekend, Sabrina invited Vivien to model (and me to photograph) for a fundraiser that she organized on behalf of Long Run Retirement. Long Run is an organization that finds new homes for retired racehorses. The event was full of great food (thanks to Daniel's of Nobleton) and great people.

On a spur of the moment, we packed a few things and went over to the park to shoot some maternity photos. At 20 weeks, Kelly is still sporting a fairly small baby bump, but nevertheless, with Ella in tow, I setup a single light and we snapped away for about 30 minutes.

Though the fallen tree ended up being too low for comfort, it is the same tree that Ella and her friends love to bounce and ride on.

Ella enjoyed tickling and offering leaves to the baby, as well as trying to listen to see if she could hear what he was saying. :)