“Even though we had to choose from around 500 amazing pictures, the ONE that we both instantly agreed on to be our favorite, the one that we think represents our day the best and our relationship in general (and also the one family and friends are still talking about !!) is the one where Yves and I are up on that tank in front of the Manège Militaire de Hull.

Not only is that where we first met 10 years ago, but the tree colors are amazing, representing the beautiful day we had despite the rainy morning !! Fun and original … picture perfect

Thanks again, and the best for that new wedding season coming up !!”

I had a ton of fun with these two, especially at the Manège Militaire…you may recall this photo taken on the barrel of the same tank:

These two were troopers (pardon the pun), so there were a lot of really strong images from their wedding. It was difficult to choose just one. However, my favourite is this one:

The reason is simple. Christiane and Yves love each other, and this photo shows that. True expressions can’t be faked, and the honest closeness and intimacy of this photo is why I am a photographer. This was taken during their first dance together, and watching them it seemed as if the world just dropped away for them. It was beautiful.

I am a huge fan of the dramatic image, but at the end of the day it’s about two people in love, and creating an image that illustrates that love is the most difficult, and most rewarding, part of what I do.

Thanks Christiane and Yves, it was fun going through your images again.

…Mike

More about the Favourite Image project

This is a year-round position, but the majority of work will be between May and October, mostly on Saturdays. I won’t need you every week, but when I do it will be an all-day thing. I do some work on Sundays too but almost never on weekdays.

Some traits you should have before you send me an email:

Having a sense of humour is a huge plus, the dryer the better. If you don’t have one, you should at least appreciate one.

You should be able to follow instructions well, have a good memory, and be able to think for yourself. Clairvoyance and ESP will be helpful too, for when we are too far apart for me to yell at you to do something.

You should be good with driving directions, and know Ottawa well. If you can’t get to the grocery store without a GPS, please don’t email me. You must know how to drive a car with a manual transmission, too.

You will need conservative black dress with sensible shoes. You will be climbing stuff, walking up hills, through gravel, and in very quiet churches where loud/hard heels are too distracting.

People will come up to you to ask questions or verify schedules and plans. You will need to know what’s going on and have the confidence to answer. You must be polite and articulate, no matter what happens. If you have ever lost your temper and gotten into a fight, please don’t email me. Even as my assistant, you will be the face of Photos for Life. I need to know that you will represent the business properly. Judgment and tact are vital.

You will be carrying heavy bags, loading and unloading cars, and holding awkward stuff. Some physical strength is necessary.

If you can look at something and figure out how it works, bonus. Being good with electronics and doodads is a definite asset.

If interested, please email me.

…Mike

“Hi Mike,

Choose just ONE?!

Well we did it. And actually we both agreed right away. We chose this picture because it just so perfectly represents the ceremony — the sun shining (after the rain!), everyone smiling, our giddiness, the adorable officiant smiling so sweetly at us. It’s a very happy, heart-warming picture. And the lens flare is cool too

Thanks for this. It was fun going through the pictures again together.”

I had a lot of fun with Krista and Steve, both on their engagement session and their wedding…they are just fun people. However, to pick one image as my favourite there can be no doubt. If you have spent any time at all on my blog, you know which image I am going to select, as it is one of my favourite images ever. Sorry guys, but this one isn’t really of you at all! That’s right, the cat licking his ass:

We christened him “Mangy.” And if it was their wedding, it was definitely his farm. He spent the ceremony wandering through the crowd, sitting on empty seats, and generally taking no notice of what was going on. When he decided to…uhm…“clean” himself while I was shooting, well there was no question that I had to get a photo. The cool thing is that you can tell everyone is laughing, even though they are out of focus

I’ve been back to the farm a few times since then, and he’s still there, the king of the castle.

…Mike

More about the Favourite Image project

For the full image wrap-up, check out the Facebook fan page gallery. Thanks to everyone who attended.

…Mike

After much hand-wringing, design notes, planning, designing, drawing, designing and planning, the new look for the blog is finally live. A more polished look, easier on the eyes, and hopefully easier to find what you’re looking for.

In case you’re wondering, this is what a plan for a blog looks like:

Well, part of it anyway.

Enjoy!

…Mike

This fifth place image was taken at the NAC:

This fifth place image was taken at the Ottawa Hunt and Gold club, during Jessica and Mike’s wedding:

This one, also from Jessica and Mike’s wedding, placed eleventh in the “Pure Art” category. It was taken at the Manotic Mill.

Finally, a photo of Courtney’s dress place seventeenth in the “Dress” category:

…Mike

This image, also of my Mom and Francois, was awarded 7th place in the Ceremony category:

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

…Mike

It’s always fun hanging out with Dave, and we were lucky enough to meet up with other photographers who live in the area or who were there for the show…Kristin, Sarah (who is way taller than I expected!), Bill and especially Melissa and Rene: it was great to hang out with you all!

As for the show itself, I was one of about 6 people in the seminar entitled “Photoshop Extensibility” aka Photoshop for Geeks, in which I learned some new stuff that I plan to put to use in Proofmaker and Autoloader.

It was also neat-o to meet some of the giants in the world of Photoshop…people like John Nack and Russell Brown (that’s Russell and I holding the Photoshop World commemorative football, and yes I still have it

It was a great time!

…Mike

…Mike

“I found it very difficult to choose just one single picture as my favorite. I love so many photos for so many reasons. To me it is not so much what the photo is about but what it makes me remember about our day However, since the assignment was to only choose a single photo, I’d have to pick the one in the field where we are looking off into the distance at the clouds:”

“I remember the day starting out with rain, and then sun, more rain, hail, and more sun. The wind was pretty fierce and it was about 7 degrees. Driving to the reception we pulled over to admire some of the neatest looking storm clouds I’d ever seen. And maybe it’s just because I’m not facing the camera so you can’t see my runny nose or red cheeks, or maybe it’s the proximity to Shawn, or maybe it’s just that the breathtaking scene behind the trees had momentarily stopped my shivering, but I don’t look cold. I love that an impromptu stop at the side of the road yielded such a gorgeous shot.”

When I see something interesting, I try to take advantage of it, and that’s just what happened here: I saw some neat clouds that I knew would respond well to an infrared photo, so we pulled over I like this one too, but my fave was taken about 20 minutes earlier, in a forest in Fallowfield.

This was taken as we finished and we were on our way out. I’ve always like this image.

…Mike

More about the Favourite Image project