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

Arctic/Amazon Mural at TMU

We’re so honoured to have photographed the making of a public large scale art installation by Indigenous artists Niap (Nancy Saunders) from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Quebec, and Olinda Reshijabe Silvano from Lima, Peru. This installation is a part of a larger project, from the press announcement: “Arctic/Amazon: Networks of Global Indigeneity, an expansive curatorial program originated by the Wapatah Centre for Indigenous Visual Knowledge. Curated by Gerald McMaster, the mural is a collaboration between Indigenous artists Niap (Nancy Saunders), and Olinda Reshinjabe Silvano who respectively hail from these two regions.”

We spent a few days with the artists as they worked from their base at OCAD creating the mural from beginning to end. It’s always interesting and fun to see other artists as they work, and even more so in this capacity; two very different artists, with some of a language barrier, collaborating. As much as our assignment is to photograph the process of this mural being created it was important to us to not be too intrusive and disrupt their workflow so we took turns shooting from afar, only seldomly using flash, and every so often choosing the right moment to get in close for more detail focused shots.

Upon completion the mural was photographed, printed in a more weather-proof paper, and enlarged to 12 x 8 metres. The installation is located on the west facing wall of Kerr Hall at Gould Street and Nelson Mandela Walk. Read more about the project on TMU’s site here and about the Arctic/Amazon on the Wapatah site here.

Click the photos below to enlarge and browse through

University College Revitalization Project

It has been so exciting exploring this new avenue of photography! In school we took an architecture course and while Ethan enjoyed it, I (Stef) did not necessarily find it to be my calling haha. The more we balance our time between editorial work and weddings the more I begin to love the stress of a high pressure day; when things are moving quickly, when you get so few chances to get things right, when you have to know how to improvise; high risk high reward you know. And interior / architecture photography is not quite that; it is a lot of patience and making small, intentional, adjustments along the way.

I wouldn’t consider ourselves full-fledged interior photographers but when the opportunity came up to photograph the newly revitalized spaces at University College we couldn’t say no. The spaces themselves are beautiful and having worked with the University of Toronto many times before we know we’re in good company.

Click the photos to enlarge and browse through.

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.

Click the photos to enlarge and browse through