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.

I met Samantha via email as she had contacted me about possibly using one of my photos for the cover of the digest for Toronto Today’s Parent magazine http://www.todaysparent.com/toronto/baby-guide/. I was more than excited and thrilled that they even considered one of my images for the cover. I find out their decision soon, hopefully by next week as they are currently deciding between mine and another image for the cover, and I’m saying a prayer that they pick mine. It was an honour to be asked regardless of wether they use the image or not. Just know I’ll be shouting it from the mountain top if they do pick mine.

In the meantime, Samantha booked a session with me to do mainly headshots for her two children. So, we set up a session date and went out and had a lovely time together, her kids are so cute and Cassidy is 10 1/2 and such a little lady, so poised and beautiful. Grady is full of life and such a cutie, he reminds me of my little one. Keep an eye out for this little guy as he just finished shooting a commercial for cheerios, can’t wait to see it, both these kids are little stars. They were also so well behaved and the whole family was such a pleasure to photograph.

Edited to add that I almost forgot that while I was shooting this adorable family, Grady not once but twice picked me some flowers to give to me, what a sweetheart, moments like those make me love my job even more!

Thanks again Samantha, I hope you enjoy your sneak peeks.

W-E-L-L-E-S-L-E-Y, Wellesley, Wellesley, Wellesley is our cry! That was our highschool  pep rally song and I can still hear the all girl school sing it to this day in my head, and it makes me proud to say I was a St. Joe’s girl. We all wore our kilts a little too high and non regulation pieces of clothing that the nuns would chastise us about and we dreaded initiation day in grade 9 but couldn’t wait to distribute some retribution  a year or two later. From Mr. Kolenko’s band class to Mr. Gagliano’s math class, the halls of St. Joe’s carries the heart and soul of thousands of young and impressionable girls. We grew into young woman while there and left with some awesome friendship and amazing memories.

Why am I going on about my highschool, because this past session was with an old classmate of mine, to think we haven’t seen each other in 20 years and now we are both married and we both have 2 children and loving life. I was so excited when Simone contacted me to reconnect on facebook and then shortly after that we set up a session date and I got to see her again after so many years.

It seems like yesterday when I saw her last and we were graduating and spending our prom at Harbour westin castle, but she opened the door and it took me right back. Only, she happens to be even prettier now and has the most beautiful children and her and her hubby make the cutest couple EVA! I was so excited to see her and I was enamored with her kids right away. Chloe is the sweetest little thing and oh so cute and quite the little princess, shy at first but she warmed up to me and we had a blast together, a cute little girl in a tutu and wings and me and my camera and I’m in heaven. I couldn’t stop taking pics of this beautiful family. The little boy is so adorable, such a handsome little guy and i wanted to take them both home with me, but Simone wouldn’t let me,lol.

Needless to say, I had SO much fun with this family and it was so great to see an old classmate again.

Thanks for letting me spend the day with you and your beautiful family Simone, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing you again soon for that playdate. For now, enjoy your sneak peeks.

Happy Couple

This may not be the last post I do of Miss Champagne,  as she is one beautiful model and I couldn’t take a bad picture of this woman if I tried. This is part 2, and there may be a part 3 even, we’ll see, but for now enjoy some more shots of Lady C!

Here’s post #1 of Lady C. http://mphphotography.net/blog/2010/03/chardonnay-mph-photography-toronto/

Is winter finally over??? I wouldn’t think so with this weather, cold and windy out, brrr, I just can’t wait until its warm out, but its coming soon, we are scheduled for a nice warm up this week so until then I will live in the past. One day in particular as it was so warm and nice out, that was the day of JM and Tim’s wedding.

I wanted to wait until I finished editing all the pictures, and I’m almost done but I just couldn’t wait any longer to post a few more from this fabulous event.

Here’s hoping everyone is enjoying the last cold weekend of this winter season (we hope,lol). If not, these pics will help warm you up,lol.

Have you ever had one of those sessions that’s just HAWT from start to finish, well I did… AGAIN!!! This is my 2nd time photographing Miss Chardonnay, we did a beach session last June, you can view the images here http://mphphotography.net/blog/2009/06/bikini-sunset-shoot/ and here http://mphphotography.net/blog/2009/06/and-more/ and this time we did a studio session, and although I oringinally thought that studio is nice but I just didn’t think it was going to be as great as it was outdoors, well I was wrong, cuz it was just as hot as the beach session if not hotter,lol. I actually prefer doing sessions outdoors but I think for this girl no matter where we do the sessions she’s going to look great, which is fortunate for me.

We turned on some tunes and had fun, and the session flew by, and I just couldn’t wait to get home and get to editing although my computer had other plans which forced me to take longer to post these delicious images.

I had so much fun with you Chardonnay, thanks for being such a doll, enjoy your sneak peeks.

I’ve been meaning to get this post out for a while now but it was a crazy week and I’m only getting around to posting this now, and have another post to make after this as well.

I went to do a corporate headshot session the board of directors of Webtech last week and I expected a room full of serious faces. I was pleasantly surprised as each member came down for their turn as they were all ready and they all smiled and they were laughing and I think they enjoyed themselves.

I’m only going to show you a few images though and unfortunately none of the men, but I’m going to show you Lisa and a shot of her team to compensate.

Thanks for hiring me Lisa, it was a pleasure meeting everyone.

All that I kept thinking all weekend was that time goes by so fast and children grow up too quickly, so we need to cherish everyday that we have with them. So with that in mind, I was determined to make the weekend a “just family” weekend. Plus I wanted to get myself out of my funk for not being able to attend WPPI again, sigh, next year I’m going for sure!

We packed up the kiddos and got in the car and just drove. The kids love looking at our city so sometimes we just drive around and look at everything, and its so awesome to hear them oooh and aaah over things that Chris and I have seen all our lives and have ended up taking for granted. Children help you see things in a different perspective, they are so curious about the world and life and have a wonderful explorative nature and their awe about everything is so endearing. I never want that to change, but I know it will.  So for now, we played and went out and spent time together and had a great time, and we even managed to do a little photo shoot on both days at the studio. I love it when daddy and I and the boys just spend time together being a family and enjoying each other. We went into the Toronto Humane society to look at dogs and cats and of course we were all wanting to take one home with us but Chris and I talked it over and we are not ready to have a pet just yet, we are hoping to in the next few years though. We also enjoyed eating some yummy treats thoughout the city and I had to bring home some desserts from the greek pastry store Select Bakery, and although I didn’t take any pics this time, you can check out their site and you will see a number of delectable desserts.

My brother even came with us on the Saturday and I managed to take just a few of him and the kids and even got a decent shot of myself thanks to my sweet hubby, so it was not only a great family weekend it was productive as well. The only person I didn’t shoot was my hubby,lol. Maybe next time….

Enjoy the pics from the weekend, and just a reminder that as spring approaches, I’m booking more and more sessions so if you want a spring or summer or even a fall session, now is the time to book.

For March it was unusually warm out, and with the sun beaming down on us it almost felt warm enough for shorts. It was definitely a great day for a wedding and I knew this was going to be a fun and unique wedding, one that I will never forget.

As I saw Mr. Jean-Marc striding up the path all dressed in his wedding attire, what with the sparkly shoes and the multi coloured checkered shirt or his white rimmed glasses or that stunning blue prada broach my eyes couldn’t contain their joy. So many beautiful things to photograph, never mind the tiffany and cartier wedding bands, and the louis vuitton dog collar were all fabulous too, and I so need one of those LV collars, it doesn’t matter that I don’t have a dog yet,lol. JM was a bit nervous but ready, soon the rest of the party joined us and then Tim strolled up with Louis their gorgeous little doogie and we were ready to go.

We did all the formal shots before the wedding at Allan gardens in downtown Toronto and once we were done we drove on over to Sassafraz in Yorkville for the ceremony and reception. In the heart of yorkville is this exquisite restuarant and I was so excited that the reception was being held there, we were greeted with smiles and lots of pretty faces, the waiters at Sassafraz are all good looking, and extremely cordial and polite. A special thank you goes out to the manager Jean-Valery Lacasse, who took such good care of the whole wedding party all night long, merci Jean!

Shortly after we all arrived the ceremony began. Everything went by so quickly, as often wedding days do and after the ceremony came the yummy appetizers and then a fantastic dinner. We had many choices but I chose beef tederloin with lobster pommes thermidor and mushroom spinach saute which melted in my mouth (can you tell I love food?). Right before the main course, I had baby spinach with blueberries and maple roasted walnuts and goat cheese, and I have to say that is my new favourite salad. Dessert, again a choice and I chose the decadent chocolate marquis with mousse and ganache and lavender raspberry sauce, I was so full that I could only manage a couple of bites but it was wonderful.

I can not express how much fun my team and I had, everyone was so warm and kind and affectionate and such a super fun wedding party, and we barely stopped smiling all day. My thanks go out to the happy couple, Tim and J.M. along with best wishes and a long happy life together. Enjoy your sneak peeks.

What a weekend, there were highs and lows and I’m pooped and its Monday and there is so much to get done this week before the fabulous wedding I’m shooting on Saturday, come back to see a sneak peek of that next weekend.

I was suppose to have two e-sessions this past weekend but for a few reasons they have been postponed, and I can’t tell you how disappointed I was as I was itching to get out there in the snow and take some fun shots of happy couples.  I know it will happen though, I just have to learn to be patient and wait a little longer. The good thing is that I’m booking up quickly and I’m so looking forward to this spring and summer as there are many wonderful sessions coming up,  so make sure you come back every so often as I promise to be posting like mad this spring/summer.

Speaking of spring, doesn’t it make you happy to know its around the corner, 19 more days officially, so basically winter is over, woo hoo, couldn’t come soon enough for me as I can’t wait to get out there and do outdoor sessions again, studio sessions are nice, but I love me my outdoor sessions best. In honour of spring being on a few weeks away, I’m sending my hubby to http://www.theweddingcakeshoppe.com/ to get me a cocount cupcake, and if you are in the GTA then I suggest you go grab yourself a decadent treat to celebrate too!!!!

So, instead of shooting, I immersed myself in the olympic games, with speed skating, skiing, curling and my most fave HOCKEY!!! It was so awesome when the Canadian girl hockey team won over the US and yesterday was the boys turn. I must say that we definitely rocked and we showed the world whose game this is!!!! I almost had a heart attack as the US tied the score in the last few seconds and forced us into overtime. I was holding my breath as they started overtime, squeezing whatever I could find so hard that I felt a few blood vessels burst,lol, but fortunately I didn’t have to do that for long as our hero, our young Canadian Sid Crosby took that puck and put it…. well in the net,lol. To say that the whole country celebrated is an understatement, as in just about ever city in Canada there were parties and parades and streets were being closed down for the grand celebration. I know we are proud Canadians but this made our wings sprout and turned us into boosting peacocks for a day. We’ll settle down eventually and become those quiet and kind Canadians again but for now we are PARTYING like there is no tomorrow, WTG CANADA!!!! This will be an olympic to remember….

When I don’t get to do a session for some reason, and I have an itchy finger and need to shoot something, I shoot my son,lol. At least one of my children will pose for me, the other will not, so until he does then I will have to only photograph the older one. So here is George, dressed up for church, lately its either all white or all black that he wants to wear to church, its funny, cute and a wee bit frustrating too as he can’t keep wearing only two outfits to church over and over again,lol.