Not only was it a beautiful weekend but it was extremely busy for me. I had a sunrise mat shoot on Saturday, then we took the boys to centre island with some friends and then Monday I got together with a few photographers and we had a few models come out and we had a great time photographing all of them.

Lots of beautiful kiddos and big smiles and we even had a few pregnant ladies model for us as well.

We started off at U of T and then went down to the distillery and I’ve never heard so many camera’s clicking all at once, it was beautiful,lol.

The models were great and the photographers were all wonderful ladies and it was a pleasure to meet every one of them. Can’t wait to do it again.

The girls

So looking forward to doing this again soon.

I had butterflies in my tummy and I was running on adrenaline cuz I really can’t eat in the morning and boy was this an early shoot.

I don’t get that much of a chance to do shoots like this but when it happens, I get beyond excited and almost can’t sleep the night before. After all what 8 month pregnant mom to be wants to wake up before dawn and get herself all pretty and head on down to the beach to take shots of her in front of the sun, who? Not many, I wish there were more, so you can understand how excited I was about this shoot.

Not only is Natalie beautiful and cute and a perfect prego model but she’s also family, my husband’s cousin and she lives all the way in Ottawa, and she drove 5 hours to come and do a session with me. I was so touched.

They were calling for rain on Saturday but I knew, I prayed and I knew that it was going to be ok, wether the sun came out or not. As we woke up at 4am and looked out we saw lots of clouds but clear spots and no rain, woo hoo. The only other thing was that it was just about FREEZING,lol. Only cuz it was so windy by the water did it make it feel like it was winter again,lol. Natalie and her hubby Jeff braved it out though and Nat fought the wind with all her might, a few times I thought she was going to be swept away by that gush of wind as she’s a tiny little thing, that didn’t happen fortunately,lol.

What did happen was awesome though, sun came out a little later than expected, but it came out and we got some wonderful and beautiful shots of this happy couple who are excitingly expecting their first and are waiting to find out if this is a girl or boy at the birth, now that’s patience.

I could go on and on about this session, but I’ll let the images speak for themselves, it was an awesome day and I can’t thank Nat and Jeff for driving all that way, waking up in the middle of the night,lol,  and for allowing me to capture such a special time in their lives.

I have sooo many more that I want to edit, but I wanted to get a few out now and I will add a few more to this post in the next day or so.

There is nothing more fun than a bunch of young girls getting together and hiring a photographer to follow them around for a few hours and capture them in their youth.  This is not only a day they will remember but I day I will remember as well.

These were all beautiful girls who serve the Lord and live their life for Him, they are from a youth group at Forward baptist church, which happens to be my church as well and I know they were all excited and didn’t know what to expect, but I was more excited because I knew it was going to be a special day.

It was perfect day and I not only got to photograph these beautiful girls, but I also got to know them a bit more and they exude God’s beauty inside and out.

A fun day was had by all, even the older leaders of the group enjoyed themselves, and as you will notice, its hard to tell the leaders from the teens.

It was a wonderful pleasure photographing you ladies, and I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to capture you all. God bless.

I’m a little late in posting, I try to get a post out every Monday if not twice a week, but its been crazy busy and it doesn’t look like its going to settle down anytime soon as I’m booked until the end of July and now booking for August and September and the fall, so if you want to do a fun shoot with me, give me a call or email me soon, and remember prices go up July 1st, so contact me before then to set up a date and to get the old prices.

I was looking forward to meeting Jacklyne and even though it was really cloudy out it was still nice, and we decided to go to the beach for this session and it was a perfect location for this beauty.

We were both excited and had alot of fun and had a few bystanders interested in this session as well,lol. It was all good though, because this cutie did her thing in front of  the camera and I was fortunate enough to capture it.  She even got in the freezing cold water to do a shot or two or ten, brave girl, loved that she was totally into the idea and jumped right on in.

She has a sweet smile and a delightful personality and I enjoyed our session. Here is the sneak peek of Jacklyne.

If my best friend and I didn’t go to Jamaica, things may have been different but I strongly believe that that trip was the reason why my best is now engaged. After our trip in Oct. 2008 my best friend met her future husband and its all cuz of a pic I took. Although Stella is very beautiful, she’s shy in front of the camera and doesn’t like being the centre of attention so she didn’t have many pics of herself for that reason. That is until we went to Jamaica and I forced her to model for me and maybe its cuz we are so close that she opened up and blossomed into a flower on film. The pics from Jamaica were beautiful and Stella really liked them too. I even forced her to wake up at 4am with me to do a sunrise bridal shoot, I bought her a wedding dress, and a veil and we gathered a few flowers and made a small bouquet and off we went to the beach at 5AM, and those pics are some of my faves to this day.

I then showed my good friend Denis the one picture of Stella and he just had to meet her and so they did, and as they say, the rest is history.

Last September Denis proposed to my bff under a bridge and I can still remember her calling me and screaming and all I could understand was “I’m engaged”!!! It was awesome, she was so happy and they are the cutest couple and I know they love each other like crazy. I can’t wait to see them married this July.

Along with the proposal came a big decision for me, to photograph the wedding or be a part of bridal party. I thought about it and I decided that I really wanted to celebrate my bf’s special day and not have to work on that day, so I choose to be in the bridal party. I did promise to do the engagement party as well as an engagement session and bridal shower and I will bring the camera to the wedding but it won’t be my job so I can have fun and celebrate and take pics too.

So here are a FEW from their engagement session, we may do another one as we have a few more ideas for shots, so you may see another engagement session in a few weeks but for now, have fun looking at these, cuz I know we had SO much fun shooting them. Here is there engagement party that I photographed http://mphphotography.net/blog/2010/01/stella-konstantinos-engaged/

We first went to the beach, to the same bridge that Denis proposed under and did a few shots there and then we went to the cherry blossoms, always wanted to go but it was PACKED, I mean crazy packed, we waited for almost an hour just to get in and find a parking spot, but it was worth the wait.

My best friend

Go back to sleep please, just for a few more hours is what my hubby said to me the night I was in labour with our 2nd child. In his defense he was exhausted, it was 1am and with our first it was a long 44 hour labour so I agreed with him and went back to bed. He slept and I tossed and turned until about 4am when I couldn’t toss and turn anymore. It’s time, I told him and off we went. This was not like the first time, the pain was there but not half as bad, and then we got to the hospital then all of a sudden the pain got worse, alot worse.  I mean I couldn’t talk, and when I can’t talk that means I’m in pain. I could barely call out for help from the bathroom where I thought I was going to have Nik for a minute cuz I couldn’t move. Fortunately the midwife got there and helped me to the bed and as I tried to tell her I want an epi, she said “we don’t have time for that” and I freaked. The pain with my first labour was unbearable, I mean I was screaming for the epi for hours until I finally got it and then felt nothing, Hallelujah! So this time, I was thinking, I’m in pain and can’t take anything, and just as I was starting to lose it, the contractions started like a tidal wave, I couldn’t control them, and with the 2nd or 3rd push Nikolaos was out and boy did I feel great!!!  In fact, just a few hours later I was discharged. It ended up being a wonderful birth and although we forgot to call anyone and forgot to start the video and forgot to take pics and even when I did, my camera decided to die right then and there, ugh, it was still a wonderful and blessed day.

4 years later we are celebrating his birthday and its not fair that time goes so quick, he’ll be 14 before I know it and I so want to hold on to them being children. Even when I’m pulling out my hair cuz they are fighting over the wii or being silly for hours, or not wanting to go to bed and making up every excuse they can, its on the birthdays when you realize time flies and moments like these are fleeting, so I try to cherish everyone of these moments as much as I can. Before I know it, they will be grown up and I won’t be reading a bedtime story to them, or cutting up their food, or washing their hair for them, soon they won’t need me anymore. Ok, maybe not that soon, but its soon enough for me,lol. For now, I’ll just relive Nik’s birthday through these pics. It was a small party this year, just a few friends, it was still alot of fun and yummy cake was enjoyed by all. Until next year my sweet lil baby boy, God bless you and always remember how much mommy loves you.

I love weddings, big, small, destination weddings, wherever, I want to be there. I don’t know wether its a girl thing, a greek thing, a crazy thing or what, but I’m crazy about weddings. The dress, the rings, the cake, yes, I’m a cake freak too, love me some cake, I couldn’t ask for a better event to photograph. The love of two families celebrating two hearts joining together is beautiful, its romantic, its awesome.

So when Deandrea contacted me and asked me to to photograph her special day, I was more than thrilled. This time was a little different as Dea and Imed already got married but I was to photograph them all dressed up in their bridal attire before they went off to celebrate their union at their reception.

Their reception was held at the beautiful Grand Victorian Convention Centre in Mississuaga and we were well taken care of by Danny Irani and his staff. Everyone was very pleasant and helpful and I was quite impressed at how beautiful the place is. With a gazebo on the roof and a huge ballroom with the lights changing to different colours made it even more enchanting. Lots of lovely spots to take pictures in and we used many of those spots for our shoot as well.

It was also a celebration of their daughter Emika’s 1st Communion and oh my goodness, this child is beautiful, stunning, just like her mommy and she was a mini bride with her pretty white dress. She hugged me at the end and told me that I was very nice, and that was the icing on the cake for me.

I wish Dea and Imed and Emika all the happiness in the world, thank you for letting me share your special day with you. Enjoy your sneak peeks.

I’m soo thrilled to announce that my image is on the cover of this year’s Today’s Parent – Toronto’s Baby Guide cover and special thanks goes to my little model Maya and her mom Amy for hiring me to do a shoot of their precious family in the first place last summer.

I only just found out this morning, and I tell you, what a great way to wake up. Yesterday wasn’t a bad day either as my hubby bought me a 70-200L 2.8 IS USM lens that I’ve been wanting for awhile and then today the news about the cover. It’s definitely been a great week and really I am just so grateful to be able to do what I love doing and then when stuff like this happens, it helps to reaffirm my decision a few years back to quit Canada post and do this full time, boy am I glad I did. I was scared to death to quit my job but looking back now, it was definitely the right decision.

Today’s Parent will be at the Spring BabyTime show this coming May and I for one can’t wait to check out their booth this year. Just about every parent in the GTA knows about the Annual Spring BabyTime show at the International Centre located at Airport rd, its the Ultimate Event for Pregnancy, Birth, Baby and Toddler. Here is the link to the event http://www.babytimeshows.ca/ and its on from April 30-May 2, you may just see me there on Saturday, as I plan to go and check it out. Added to say that Samantha says that there will be copies of the baby guide there as well,  for anyone that wants one.

Here’s just a few things you can do there…

SHOP! TRY & BUY from over 200 Manufacturers, Retailers and Artisans.

REGISTER for all your baby needs with Babies “R”Us.

TALK TO THE EXPERTS behind your favourite brands and take advantage of great show specials.

LEARN from Top Pregnancy and Parenting Experts.  Click on the Speakers tab to read up on the experts.

MEET AND GREET your favourite characters.  When visiting the babyshow link please click on the features tab to see what characters are on stage and who’s doing a meet and greet this year!

Here is the link to Today’s Parent – Toronto Baby Guide from last year http://www.todaysparent.com/toronto/baby-guide AND below is my image and the new cover of the guide for 2010.

I was excited to meet Alona and her hubby who were referred to me by a bridesmaid of a wedding I shot recently. We met this past Sunday and it was a perfect day for this session, not cold and not hot, just right.

I love it when clients are excited before a session and Alona kept telling me just how excited she was, which I find so endearing. I’m humbled when people tell me they love my work, I truly feel blessed that God has given me this gift and I get so excited before every shoot as I know people are putting their faith and trust into me to produce something special for them, which I try very hard to do.

I love my couples and Alona and Peter were so sweet and wonderful and we enjoyed our session as we chatted about different things including their faith, being that they are Jewish orthodox. I learned alot and had a fun time as well.

Thanks again Alona for choosing me to photograph you both, your gallery will be ready soon but for now here are a few sneak peeks from our session.

I took this shot while I was waiting for them to arrive.

I have been getting so many referrals lately and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am as word of mouth has been my best form of advertising. I have to say a HUGE thank you to all my wonderful clients for spreading the word, without you all, I wouldn’t be doing what I love to do so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sabrina was referred to me by Justine, a client whose family I photographed awhile ago, and also a distant cousin of Sabrina’s.  We set up a session and it happened to be a really nice day this past Sunday when I drove up to Mississauga to their beautiful home to meet this beautiful family. Little Sophia is only 3 months old and she’s such a little cutie. She kept fighting off falling asleep to stay awake for her photo shoot, but eventually she dozed off in her mommy’s arm. She had a short little cat nap as we took some sleepy shots and then became wide awake again at the end.

Sabrina and Dave love their little Sophia so much, and I had such a enjoyable time capturing them while they cuddled and played and tickled their little baby girl.

Thanks for letting me be a part of your life for a day Sabrina, it was such a joy spending time with you and your precious family, I hope you enjoy your sneak peeks, and your album should be ready soon.