Portrait Session at Pitt Meadows

While our trip out to BC this past summer was more to see friends and family, and to admire the mountains, we thought if we could set up a shoot, if the timing worked out, if all of the stars aligned for this then we’d love to do it... and it did, and we did! I can’t tell you the last time that we actually had a personal shoot to ourselves, to just collaborate, hang out in a beautiful location, and have absolutely no pressure or expectations out of it. So even though this wasn’t top priority for our vacation, we were really excited to make the time for this shoot. We connected with our wonderful stylist, Jasmine Kamboj over Instagram (where else do ppl meet these days lol) and she was such an invaluable, boots on the ground, resource for this. In addition to her great styling, she also connected us with Callum’s modelling agency, Richards Models, and badda bing badda boom it all came together.

I (Stef) was eager to shoot somewhere unlike Toronto and the first thing that came to mind was the mountains. Not being from the area I wasn’t sure what the logistics of shooting in the city is (permits, special requests, what times to avoid peak crowds?) so after some quick research we opted for a public area of Pitt Meadows, starting just before the crack of dawn. I was hoping for a clear morning so we could get an epic sunrise over the mountains but 1. it was an overcast morning so there was so no sun, and 2. we were not east facing (which I didn’t realize until leaving lol). The ambience of the clouds added to the session and prompted us to use some fun flash moments I don’t think we would have otherwise done.

It was a fun morning with a fun crew, we’re so thankful for people who go along with our ‘hey call time is 5am is that ok?’ schemes, and we can’t wait to do it again next time we’re in the area! Maybe not at sunrise though haha.

We’re also really excited to have a photo from this session featured on Photo Vogue!

Click the photos below to enlarge and browse through

Model: Callum at Richards Models / Stylist: Jasmine Kamboj

Time Off at River Mountain

Ethan has had two pandemic birthdays so this year, with the world in better shape, I (Stef) surprised him with a trip to River Mountain in Everett, Pennsylvania! Listen, knowing your strengths and weaknesses is important and while Ethan is an outdoorsy guy, I (again, Stef) am not lol so I knew glamping is definitely how we can split the difference and both enjoy ourselves.

For a while now we have wanted to invest in a smaller camera mainly for travel and leisure. Something compact, high quality, with the same or a similar amount of control as a professional camera, and something easy to use. Whenever we travel we end up bringing one of our cameras (Nikon D800) with high hopes of taking tons and tons of photos and documenting our time so beautifully, but we inevitably neglect to actually use it because who wants to be carrying around a massive, heavy, camera all day? Ethan came across the Fuji X100V and after some back and forth we ended up getting it. I’ll admit that I was skeptical at first; not full frame, Fuji (we’re Nikon shooters!?), fixed lens? It all seemed liked chaos but after a few months of taking it out here and there it has definitely become our go-to for personal snapshots.

River Mountain was a fun little getaway for Ethan’s birthday, from winter, and before our schedules really begin to ramp up with both wedding season and the possibility of finally getting back to shooting outdoors again.

Here are a few little informal snaps from our time there, click the photos to enlarge and browse through.

PS. Creepy post-apocalyptic scenery brought to you by an abandoned turnpike that felt 10x scarier in person

Saana at Kensington Market

We love any and every excuse to photograph someone, and sometimes the best excuse is no excuse! We loved taking these 'just because portraits of Saana at one of her favourite places in the city, Kensington Market. It was a busy evening and not feeling the most comfortable with the crowds (I feel that!) we ducked into various alleyways for some privacy and to shoot against the colourful graffiti. All shot with natural light on a beautiful summer evening.

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Portrait Session with Fran at The Guild

it’s been such a long time since we’ve had a no pressure, casual, photo session

So when Fran approached us about shooting we were so excited! We had a few ideas of location but narrowed it down to The Guild as it was somewhere both sentimental and familiar to her. We worked on a few other logistics like outfit changes and then later popping back into her house for a few extra indoor photos, but overall it was a hang out with a camera more than an actual formal photo session. This was something that we didn’t know we needed and was a really great refresh to our creative juices.

When we planned this session we didn’t know for certain what the weather was going to be like. We had actually planned to shoot more in summer but kept (unintentionally) scheduling on days with severe heat warnings that we felt just wasn’t safe, or comfortable, to be outside in sunlight for a couple of hours. We lucked out on this day in that there wasn’t any end of summer storms happening, but it wasn’t a crystal clear day either. We worked with what we had though and shot with the ambient, sometimes overcast light. We did not have a permit to shoot around The Guild so we opted to not use any off camera lighting in case we had to pack up and quickly leave.

See more photos down below, click the photos to enlarge and browse through