Cathy and Dave picked this as their favourite image:

“I love this photo because when I was thanking my Dad in my speech I was very emotional and didn’t have the guts to look at him. However his reaction to what I was saying was important to me and I would have never seen it had this photo never captured it…thanks Mike.”

My favourite image from their wedding was the result of a bunch of things that all came together in just the right way.

First, I was scheduled to be with them for the reception, which meant that I would be with them at dusk. Second, they had a room at the Weston (beside the Congress Centre where their reception was) with a huge balcony over­looking the city. Third, it rained for their wedding day, which resulted in wet streets, which then resulted in nice reflec­tions from the city lights. Finally, and most impor­tantly, Cathy and Dave trusted me, so that when I told them I could make a killer shot if we ducked out for a few minutes during the reception, they went for it.

This is the result:

This is actually made up of 9 separate photographs, painstak­ingly stitched together to form this panoramic image. Here is a sample of the detail visible:

…Mike

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Sally’s favourite image is this one:

“Picking just one as our favourite pic…that’s a bit more difficult than it sounds for us! But by a resounding unan­imous decision by all our friends and family during all the many picture viewings it would have to be the picture used on the front cover of our album.

We love this shot espe­cially because it captures a bit of our person­ality in a candid and un-traditional photo. We also love the brick wall behind us, it really shows off Mark’s uniform and my red shoes!”

Believe it or not, that image was taken in late December! A far cry from all the snow we had last year.

This is the image I am most proud of:

The subtlety of the light illus­trates the evening setting as Sally and her Dad descend the main staircase just before the ceremony. I primarily photo­graph using found light, because it most accu­rately reflects the memory of the people in atten­dance, and this on was lit beau­ti­fully by the lights in the hallway. This was a full spread image in their album.

…Mike

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Claude wrote back to tell me why they like this one the best:

“This is our fave pic of the wedding. As to why it’s our favourite…

We not only like this photo because it’s truly a beau­tiful picture that just begs to be noticed, but also because it’s a rather inter­esting shot. All too often, wedding port­folios all follow the same ‘formula’ and one would be hard-pressed to tell them apart if it weren’t for the faces of the bride and groom! But this photo was rather unique and stands out not only within our own wedding album, but also among the many others we’ve seen.”

This was a tough wedding for Claude: only 3 days earlier, he had emer­gency surgery to remove his appendix! So for me, my fave of the day illus­trates that:

…Mike

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I was very excited to see that Melissa had chosen an infrared image as her favourite:

“So, we are more than happy to help!!!! But it is completely unfair that we have to pick just one!!!!!!!

We have to pick the infrared photo of us walking on the hill with the light reflection in the left hand corner. We absolutely love the this photo. At first it appears to be a simple photo that captures your interest with the vast land­scape and rich texture of the trees and the clouds.

But then looking closer you happen to notice the people in the photo. It is just the two of us taking the time to slow down and enjoy a quiet moment together. While this is a great photo that stands on its own, to us it means so much more, and symbolizes all the memories that we have from that great day.

We really can’t thank you enough for capturing our thoughts and feelings as well as the little things that we would have forgot about.”

Interestingly, my favourite image from their wedding was taken about 3 minutes before this one, as they wound up the path towards Champlain Point:

I have a thing for panoramic images, and this one works so well with the magical light and the cool geometry.

…Mike

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George wrote back to let me know of his favourite image:

““My favorite photo is this one of Gillian and I, with the great bokeh. Dark, romantic and intense. A private moment amongst 30 of our favorite people. This is how I remember our wedding night. With all eyes upon us, our nervousness at it’s peak, we shared a private moment, and Mike was there to capture it perfectly. You can feel the intensity of the moment with this photo.”

Gillian and George had an intimate wedding in a small location, and it was chal­lenging to create candid imagery in such close quarters. But I did capture this image, and it is my fave from their wedding:

…Mike

More about the Favourite Image project

ps. George gets extra points for using the word “Bokeh” correctly in a sentence