Author Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio for Trent Magazine

We got a last minute call from Trent University when they had a sudden change of plans for their upcoming alumni magazine cover shoot— they had to pivot for their new feature with Jennilee and they needed someone to shoot with her at her Queen West home, and turnaround the session ASAP. Say no more, this is not unusual for us! After a quick brief with the editorial team we learned that Jennilee is (unsurprisingly) a Trent alumna and recently published her first novel, Reuniting with Strangers. She also still works in communications so the urgency of this shoot was not lost on her, and we were told multiple times that “she’s in comms, she knows what we’re going through”. Right from our first email Jennilee was sooo inviting and so warm, and immediately invited us to stay for dinner after our shoot! I (Stef) come from two backgrounds (Portuguese & Chinese) where food is our love language, both sharing and making it for others, so immediately being given an assortment of snacks upon arrival and then being able to share dinner together afterwards really hit right in my love language. As we were shooting, and even all of these months after, those feelings all stayed true; we have not photographed someone as light hearted, and as lovely Jennilee (and by proxy, her husband because he was there too, and both of them together are the sweetest).

My favourite part of our shoot was the beginning, for both getting to meet and play with her dog, Cheeseburger (yes, Cheeseburger!!!), and for my favourite note of all time: when Jennilee was asking for wardrobe feedback and said “I want to look as Filipino as possible”. Her text after the feature was published where she said “I look SOOO Filipino and it makes me super happy!” makes me feel like we were successful ;) Her debut novel speaks to the Filipino immigrant experience, touching on themes of “displacement, estrangement, resilience and healing that happen behind closed doors” so being able to make photograph Jennilee in a light and clothing style that both speaks to her own Filipino heritage and touches on her book makes us feel proud.

Click the photos below to enlarge and browse through

Personal Photo Session with Stephen

While we mainly specialize in editorial, branding, and professional headshot photography commissions, every so often we have someone reach out looking to do a personal photoshoot. In Stephen’s case, he and his wife recently welcomed their first child and they each wanted to commemorate this special occasion with their own portraits. The way he described it was that they have these photos of their own families that have been past down for generations, just really beautiful portraits, and they thought it was time to take their own so that one day they too can pass them down to their future generations. His wife, of course, had her photo session during her pregnancy and while Stephen intended to do his earlier, we ended up shooting after their baby was born because #newbornlife. We were originally planning a mini photo session (yes, we do those, shoot us an email for more info!) but after some consideration Stephen decided that he wanted to an extended shoot so we could spend some time in a sentimental and meaningful location to him— at Wychood. We’re no stranger to the area, regularly shooting at the Native Men’s Residence around the corner, and there’s no doubt that in general this is such a beautiful neighbourhood, but Stephen took us through a stroll of the private home trail where he and his family take their daily stroll through and w o w!

We spent the morning walking around, shooting, and both listening to and seeing Stephen light up talking about his newborn, it was so heartwarming and we are honoured to capture these special photos for him and his family!

Click the photos to enlarge and browse through

UofT Dentistry Michael Glogauer

We have had so much fun working with UofT Dentistry over the last couple of years, especially at being able to take a little peek behind the curtain at the faculty, labs, and students working away in the practical lab. This year we had the honour of photographing Professor at UofT and Dentist-in-Chief at UNH, Michael Glogauer. Of the few times we have shot around campus this was the first time that we were taken into a lab and were able to get some ‘at work’ photos of someone, not in the practical lab. Though neither of us have a scientific bone in our body (being right brained, am I right lol) Michael was kind enough to put up with us as we hustle and bustle around him shooting.

We are always so so appreciative of folks who are not rushing to finish up, and Michael is a prime example of that. He was so so generous with his time and we are very grateful. Any photographer knows that saying “ok just one more shot” is never really “just one more shot” and we dropped that line multiple times with him and he so kindly rolled with the punches.

Click the photos to enlarge and browse through

Western Sydney University Alum, Allison Hawks for WSU Gradlife

We’re so excited to find our work resonating with folks on the other side of the world, so much so that we got a call from Australia! More specifically from Western Sydney University. It’s so cool to be able to do what we do here, but for someone else on another corner of the planet. When they assigned us this project with their alum, Allison Hawks, we knew exactly what to do and how to do it! Though born and raised in Toronto, Allison spent her student days at Western Sydney University. She has been out of school and back home for some time so we connected with her one beautiful afternoon, meeting at Humber Bay, to shoot a few photos of her in her WSU gear.

Click the photos below to enlarge and browse through