Hello!

A beautiful day, beautiful couple.

Andrew and Adele had chemistry that was so obvious, that I could not help but catch some great,

real moments! That’s what it’s all about for me!

Shot at Hotel Le Germain, with a reception at Palais Royale Ballroom in Toronto.

Here’s a few of my favs.

Congratulations Andrew and Adele.

Well it was long day, 14 hours!

But I have to say that shooting a Hindu wedding is unlike most weddings.

Things happen quickly,  often unscripted and they really tend to keep you on your toes!

The rich colorful details, beautiful customs, and warm family ties are what really draw me to photograph them.

Sonia and Sunil made a very cute couple, the chemistry between them was obvious and when you have that,

and all the other elements I mentioned above it makes for beautiful pictures.

Congratulations Sonia and Sunil!

Wow;

I am really excited and bit shocked!

I’ve won an award for best portrait photo from the Canadian Wedding Industry Awards.

The esteemed judging panel was comprised of Preston Bailey, Mindy Weiss and Laura Decarufel.

The winners will be announced in the upcoming issue of WedLuxe, on newstands next month.

If you’ve not seen Wedluxe, pick one up. It is BEAUTIFUL magazine!

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.

With another wedding season just starting up,

It has been a busy few weeks with pre wedding day sessions here.

It’s always nice to be able to interact with our couples on these shoots,

it’s a great way to get to know them a little better before

the big day!  It really helps put them at ease in front of our camera when they see how painless,

and sometimes even fun! I think Vicky and Gogi enjoyed themselves during this photo session as

much as I did taking them.

We are really looking forward to their wedding in a couple weeks.

Here’s a few of my favs we shot in my studio.

Well I am still going through all my images from my month in South India.

But thought I would post a sneak preview of Simone and George’s Wedding in Cochin.

These images were taken at the Beautiful Brunton Boatyard Hotel

in Historical Fort Cochin, India.  One of the nicest hotels I have stayed in.

With loads of Charm and Warm South Indian Hospitality!

Coming into my hotel room at night to find fresh Jasmine flowers on my pillow was

an unexpected and  welcome surprise after a day out.

(Women in South India often wear these beautiful fragrant flowers in their hair.)

Anyways; It was a fun photo session and I am so glad we were able to find a bit of time

before the actual wedding day for this, The location made for the perfect, relaxed setting.

To me that is what Kerala was all about! Relaxed!

I am looking forward to the reception here in July and will be posting more images from both events soon!

While in Cochin for a wedding a couple weeks ago I was invited to a fashion show.

Of course I had to bring my camera along and was allowed a few minutes behind the scenes

to grab a few shots of these beautiful models before they headed down the runway.

It was a fun night of Fashion, Beauty, and Style.

And a few too many Chili Pepper Vodka Sodas!!!

Thanks to Jude Felix from Kamikazee Events for a great show!

Well done!

So I made it back from India.  The Wedding in Cochin was beautiful.

I will be also shooting their reception in Toronto in early July and posting pics from both events soon after.

I’m still feeling a bit jet lagged, and trying to catch up on all the emails and phone messages.

Just thought I would take a moment and share this pic with all the ladies out there!

(and some of the guys too!!!)

I met Ismail in Cochin and he was kind enough to show me some of the sights

off the beaten track! I think he looks much better in his Dhoti than I do!!!

Don’t  you agree?

My first stop in Kerala, Varkala.  A quaint, little beach town in the south.  So peaceful,  a nice break from the busy, chaotic cities of India. I stayed at a beautiful guest house that sat atop a cliff overlooking the beach.  My host Ajay, from Villa Jacaranda was so amazingly helpful  even before I arrived, this place is just paradise and I highly recommend you stay here if you have a chance to visit beautiful Varkala!  I even had a temple elephant as my next door neighbor.

Here he is cooling off from the heat.

The view from the cliff top;

Next on my itinerary, a back waters cruise.

National Geographic Traveler Magazine has named it “one of the top ten paradises of world” and “one of the fifty must see destinations of lifetime. And I can see why! What a beautiful place!  Often referred to as the Venice of India. Every since I decided to come to South India I knew that doing a back waters cruise would be at the top of my list!  The scenery is just georgeous.  abundant wildlife, and drifting casually past day to day village life in the smaller canals was an experience I won’t soon forget.

Most people’s homes sit right on the river banks, and life is all about the water here.  In the late afternoon people could be seen doing laundry, washing dishes, or simply cooling off from the heat.  I was fortunate to also take a dip in the early afternoon. It was soooo refreshing!

When I approached this scene, it was so surreal!  A farmer burning something in his fields from behind this little boy fishing

helped give this image it’s painterly quality.  It was a great moment to photograph.

So I am now in Cochin, a few more days of seeing the sights here before my wedding. Then off to the Thrissur Pooram Festival.  A major festival in Kerala where about 50 temple elephants are decked out in their finest and paraded in the street!

Stay tuned! More pics to follow!

I am sitting on a train enroute to Kerala, India.
I have spent the last week in Tamil Nadu, visiting some amazing temples.
(I’ll post some pics soon!)
I’ve also had the privilege to visit some of Asha’s project sites.
My first one was a school for blind children just outside of Bangalore.
What an amazing experience this was.
As a photographer I have often wondered what I would do if I lost my sight!
This school showed me what these children have overcome,
and the great potential, and talent they have.
They are taught daily life skills from the start to be completely self sufficient.
They are also educated in computer skills, and have an excellent fine art program, where the children are
taught music, drama, and other talents.  They even put on a impromptu show for our visit! Singing traditional South Indian Folk songs. I was really impressed, and entertained!  The founder Muktha was very gracious and kind, inviting us to stay for lunch with the students.

After Bangalore I continued my journey South via train to Tamil Nadu, where I visited 3 day care centers funded by Asha, these were in rural slum areas of Trichy, The children age 2-5 were so cute! They welcomed me into their tiny classrooms, and I watched as they sang songs, and later were given a nutritional lunch.
I also visited a few Women’s groups supported by Asha through a micro finance program which loans these women start up funds for their own businesses.
The interest generated from these micro loans goes to support the children’s daycare centers. To learn more about this amazing program please visit Asha Canada’s website  and find out how you can also contribute to the future of these beautiful children!

I feel so blessed to have been given this great opportunity to see first hand and learn how the funds from the sale of my India photos has helped to contribute to this amazing
project.  I will be posting more images from this trip soon and will also be donating 100% of my proceeds from the images to Asha Canada.

So it’s been almost a week since I arrived in India.

After a long journey and 8 hour delay at Heathrow I finally made it to Bangalore.

Missed my train but managed to get to Mysore!

And believe me; by the time I got there I was sore!!!

A visit to a beautiful resort for an hours Ayurvedic message really hit the spot!

I had forgotten from my first trip to India almost 2 years ago how

intense it can be if your not used to it.

Chaotic,  unbelievably fast passed, the insane traffic, and people everywhere!

In the midst of all this; the precious cows, who seem totally

aloof to it all. In fact they seem to know they rule the roads here!!!

The people here are sooooo friendly, and so far I am LOVING South India!

I leave Bangalore in a few days to head South to Tamil Nadu where I will be visiting some

amazing temples, and then heading over to Kerala where I will be shooting a wedding in Cochin.

I will try to post images along the trip so do keep checking back!

I leave you with a few images I took  at the Devaraja flower and fruit market.

One of the most colourful and lively bazaars in South India.

A woman hand rolling incense.

These colorful piles of powder are called KumKum and are used  for bindi dots on the heads

of married women, as well as other religious rituals.

Beautiful glass jars containing scented oils.

Rajiv showed me how he makes these floral garlands used in marriage ceremonies.