Rena + Stefan | Wedding | Canoe Restaurant and Bar

"Each diamond is 0.1 carats - one for each year we've been together", Stef explained as I took their rings to be photographed. Rena and Stef have been together for 14 years as of this August. On July 3, they celebrated their lifelong love with their family and friends. The wedding was a beautiful mix of Korean and Ukranian traditions and took place 54 floors above the city - amid the Toronto skyline at Canoe Restaurant and Bar.















I have to say that this next photo (on the right) is one of my favourites. Rena is so warm and caring and she was literally smiling from ear to ear the entire day. For this next photograph, I said, "now don't smile" and Rena obliged but burst into laughter immediately after I pressed the shutter.






























Rena and Stef requested lots of guest candids so I was glad to have my hubby Vince there as the second shooter. He really excels at candid photographs. Most of these next images are from his camera. My favourite one is the last one of the sleepy little boy over his dessert. So adorable!!









I think my favourite sequence is this next set of three photographs. I start to tear up every time I see them. The emotion of the evening was literally beyond words.









Their neighbour and friend, Peter Katz, played the perfect song ('Til You Come Home) for Rena and Stef's first dance.




Then one of my most favourite songs (Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole) for the father-daughter and mother-son dances. I love these dances because the parents always look so happy and proud.




The dancing portion of the evening was so incredibly fun. Rena and Stef's guests clearly like to ROCK IT OUT! Soon it was time for one of the highlights of the night - the Ukranian dancing. It was simply amazing!








Congratulations Rena and Stef - we wish you all the best for a wonderful life together! Your slideshow will be within the next few days. :)

Movement

We entered a room entirely draped with colourful fabric. We perched ourselves on little cushions atop weathered Persian rugs as the scent of anticipation and excitement enveloped us. The sound of stringed instruments and drums put the room into a hushed trance as we waited for the first dancer to enter.

Ten days ago, Tracy had asked if I wanted to attend an Al Khaima Performance at the Arabesque Dance Company. The lively show featured 15 professional bellydancers from around the world. The dancers took turns entering the tent to treat the audience to short improvised dances to live music. Each dancer was unique but all were artists in the truest sense of the word. This collection of photographs represents my interpretation of their movement.

As with most of my personal work, I used my 50mm f/1.8 II lens mounted on my 7D. All the images were shot with no flash at 800 ISO, f/1.8, and shutter at 1/50th of a second.

O Canada

Happy Canada Day! This photograph was taken on the shale beach at Craigleith Provincial Park just a few days ago.

If you like this card and wish to send it to someone special, please feel free to do so! Simply right click on the image, save the image to your computer, and attach the image to your e-mail message with a note of love. Please note that this card is scaled for web viewing only and is not suitable for printing.