Montreal Street Portraits

And now for something not so wedding related:

Every once in a while I hit the streets of Montreal and I try to capture the people that make this city special. It is about 10 degrees in the evenings these days but you wouldn’t know it from the number of people out and about, behaving like it’s summer already. In fact as you will see in the following photos, some people were not just acting like it, but they were even dressed like it too.:)

This is my friend Glen from glenpepin.com who joined me on this rather impromptu photo shoot. He is sporting a 580EXII on a stick along with his good old 5D.

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Trash the Dress session: Sheila and Julio

So I’ve been wanting to blog about this session from last year for a while now. Why? Well the photos that came out of this session were probably the best shots I’ve taken to date anywhere. Not only were Sheila and Julio super hot, they were super cool too!

It was impossible to get a bad shot of this couple. Every move they took looked good on film and best of all, they were really easy going and they trusted us to work our magic and never once questioned what we asked them to do. It is not everyday that I meet a bride who is so eager to shoot a trash the dress session. So when Sheila came to me and told me she was looking forward to trashing her dress, I was delighted.

I remember the first meeting I had with Sheila; she came to visit me with her parents in law and we got along immediately. I just new that this was going to be a fun wedding to shoot. When I started talking about the trash-the-dress session, Sheila’s reaction was; “no way I am trashing my dress”, so I moved on. However, the next time I met Sheila sometime before her wedding, she told me that her mother in law had talked her into doing the ttd session. I was like YES!!!

A month after her wedding day Sheila and Julio called and told me they were ready to do the ttd session and asked where we should go to shoot this. Sheila said she really didn’t care what happens to her dress. I’ve always wanted to do this session and I had a few locations in mind. One of those locations was the beach.

The day of the session was predicted to be a rainy day with thunder storm warning which in my mind translated into super cool skies. All was needed was for the rain to stop long enough for the photo session. I suggested to the couple to go to Oka beach which is local beach about 45 minutes away from Montreal. By the time we all got there, the sky had become filled with clouds and you could tell a storm was brewing. In fact it started pouring as soon as we were getting ready to begin the session. My assistant and I immediately covered our equipment and we took shelter under the nearby trees.  The rain lasted for almost an hour which meant we barely had an hour of light left in order to do the shoot. The sky was still cloudy but the colors were out of this world. Here are some of the photos we took that day:

The white dots on the shot below are mosquitoes! I had countless bites at the end of the session. A few bug repellent are on the list for next time we go there , that’s for sure.

Sheila and Julio waiting out the rain under a tree.

The heavy rain had stopped at this point so we started shooting despite the light drizzle. I am glad we did this since this is probably the best shot of the day.

Sheila and Julio go deeper into the water.

My favorite shot of the day, and probably my best shot ever. Novel cover material that’s for sure.

Last shot of the day. All I can say is wow, Sheila is stunning and my hat off to her for maintain her grace in spite of all the mosquitoes!

All and all, it was one of the most memorable session from last year. Very few brides will do this to their wedding dress, but how many end up with shots like this?

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Engagement Session: Christine and Faustin

Being new to the blog world, I find myself struggling to write something about what I do. I find it much easier to let the photos speak for themselves.

On a nice summer day last year I got together with Christine and Faustin to shoot their engagement session. It was one of those Montreal summer days where the weather was perfect and the air loaded with mosquitoes which we found out as soon as the sun started to set. We quickly ran out of the heart of this tiny forest in Ville Saint Laurent, where most of the bugs liked to hang out. Somehow, I still managed to snap a few gorgeous shots of this dynamic couple even though we were all doing what we now refer to as the mosquito dance in between shots. Let’s just say it was a great bonding experience.

After living in Vegas 8 years ago I got used to the almost daily stunning sunset “shows”. The skies in Vegas would literally catch on fire with views that easily took my breath away. It is not common here in MOntreal to have beautiful sunsets but on this particular day the sky was exploding with colors. The session which normally takes 2 hours tops lasted for almost 3 hours becasue the sky kept getting more and more beautiful until dark.

Here are some incredible shots from that photo session with a few shots of that beautiful sunset sky:

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Engagement Session: Crystal and Adam

And here’s one of the most romantic e-sessions from last year. Crystal’s natural beauty and Adam adoration for her made this session a memorable one. Here are some shots from that day:

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Engagement Session: Pascale and Stephan

E-sessions are loads of fun and they are a great opportunity for the couple to see me, their soon-to-be wedding photographer, in action. It is also an opportunity for me to see how the couple behave in front of the camera and how they interact with one another.

From the very first moment I met Stephan and Pascale I knew they had great chemistry together and I could tell that photographing them was going to be a joy. The fact that they’re both super photogenic made it all that much more fun to do.

They chose to do the session at Montreal’s Old Port, which is one of my favorite locations to shoot at. Here are some of the photos from that session:

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Michelle and Micheal’s Wedding

Here’s one of my favorite weddings from 2009.

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Beautifoto signature shots

Well, I thought a lot about what my first post should be about, and I finally decided it would be a good idea to start with my signature shots. These are photographs that carry the beautifoto signature look. Here are some of those shots:

The Kiss Shot


The Dress Shot

This shot is the reason I always scout the area where the bride is getting ready before I start the session.

The dress hanging from a tree is a shot I always try to do while the bride is getting ready. I like how it shows the time of year the wedding took place.

If there are no tree in the area, then a little creativity is required.:)

Oh and if it rains, no worry, I have a few tricks up my sleave

The Limo Shot

The limo shot is probably my favorite shot to do. I could be wrong, but as far as I know, no other wedding photographer has attempted this shot before. We follow the couple on the way to the reception and we take their photo paparazzi style. In this shot I am also twisting my wrist as I snap the shot to get the nice motion blur which I find makes the photo more dynamic. Oh and don't worry, my assistant is the one driving my car.:)

The Bridal Party

Another one of those shots that is a lot of fun to do. I also like it because it gets everyone in the bridal party involved into creating the shot.

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