My Favourite Photographs - July & August

Whoa. What a summer. My dog had surgery, I moved house, I photographed more weddings than I've ever photographed in a season, top it off with family photos sessions and my part-time job... it has been busy. But busy is good. I'm not complaining. Just relieved the summer weather looks like it's finally broken. #noairconditioning

This is all to say, I started my "gonna do a blog post each month with all my favourite images" and already am one month behind. So this month I'll do two months and try to remain on my self-imposed schedule for creativity! :) 

Here are some fun pics from July and August and why I like them. You can check out my first post in this series for more rules that I'll probably forget to follow. 

July 

This is my dog and this is my boyfriend. Obviously she's sticking her tongue out on purpose like a human, and so this image finds a place in my favourites. 

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There's something about how serene but also badass this cool pregnant woman looks. Julie eventually gave birth to a baby boy a few weeks later. To me, at least in this picture, she is a goddess. 

This is a photo of my nephew Henry. He loves bed time and Lego. Well, I think he's neutral on bedtime, but loves Lego, but here is with both things! However, the real reason I like this ultra grainy, probably shot at ISO 6400 image is because Henry's posture hearkens back to ancient sculpture, specifically the Dying Gaul. Despite it being a mundane evening scene, he looks like an Ancient Greek and it's just so cool! 

I asked my sister if she'd let me take her picture for some stock photographs. She's a farmer, and I photographed her in the garden, picking beans and weeding. This is right after the shoot (read: her doing hard physical labour while I take pictures). She's a bit tired, but the light is really awesome and glowing, and I really like the shadow on the top of her face as it just sort of seems more dramatic. 

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This is hilarous portrait of me, the nephews, and my sister. It cracks me up, because Henry is the lead singer of our band and he's really serious about it. ​

I photographed this at Fields on West Lake, while second shooting a wedding for Cait Lavoie. I mean, I don't think a lot of description is required here, it's a super fun picture people taking shots in a vortex of space and light. 

August

I love this image because there's something about it that makes me think of the late 1950's or early 1960's, definitely Mad Men era. She just looks so elegant and refined, it seems like something vintage, from a time when every woman wore lipstick, and it's application was like a ritual. ​

I love a close up, low depth of field portrait. I do them with many of my clients at both weddings and family sessions. Every once in a while you get someone you drops all their guard and just gives you it straight. That's why I like this picture. 

These are two sisters at the marriage of the sister on the right (they can also both be seen directly above). This was a Friday and on the following Tuesday the bride was moving away to Nova Scotia. This is their picture together. Typically, when people pose for an image, they stand next to each other and look towards the camera and smile. These two didn't. they just hugged and I was really touched. 

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These three young women were at Andrew and Jonathan's wedding at the Rockport Barn. They were super charming, we chatted some, and they reminded me of when I was a teenager/preteen and I felt sort of weepy. The three of them sitting on this giant rock made me think of something mythical, like sirens or muses and it there was a bit of magic there,  for me at least. 

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This is Andrew and Jonathan, having their first dance at their wedding. I love a good repetitive face composition, just like in last month's post. But I really love implied motion, but also the smiles on their faces. These two were clearly very happy to be together and it was a pleasure photographing them.