Night Shooting: Distillery District, Toronto

Went out for some night shooting in the Distillery District with some fellow photographers this weekend. The rules were simple, focus on composition and include people in every shot. The low light was challenging, slow shutter speeds and it was hard for the camera to focus automatically in such low light, but it was a beautiful night to be out and it was fun! Enjoy!

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More then a week’s worth of images…

Well, I haven’t had much of a chance to update my blog since my daughter went away…and now she’s home again! So, in chronological order, here’s the last week and a bit.

Noah and I passed the time well, and spent a lot of time at the park:

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On his last day of weekly tennis lessons, we managed to get to the park before the wading pool was emptied, we didn’t exactly have our swimsuit on, but that didn’t stop us from joining in on the fun!

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Love the bokeh in the next two shots, such a summery feel to the images as well:

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Yeah! Rebecca is home and happy!!!

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She came with me to pick up her brother from camp, they bonded on the way home:

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On Canada Day we went to the park, since the wading pool was open for the day. A low key day to recover from the long travel day (for Rebecca) the day before:

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Noah very much enjoyed the water!

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As did Rebecca:

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After Rebecca got out, and was lying on her towel beside me drying off, she suddenly exclaimed that she saw a bunny across the school yard, and took off. Sure enough this little guy was over by the school, among the plants:

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And even more surprising this ‘little’ guy was over on the grass, all by himself, just sitting there, and not moving. Rebecca sat with this one for a long time, but didn’t touch him (or her), through I know she was very tempted to because he’s so cute!

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To give you an idea of just how small this bunny was, those are my daughter’s hands on either side. Another mom almost stepped on him!

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After she sat with him for over an hour she came back to the wading pool:

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As did Noah:

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LOVE the bokeh in this shot! So cool when shot wide open:

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A rare caught moment between brother and sister:

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We then went home for a few hours, had dinner, and came back as sometimes they have fireworks in the park (but they didn’t seem to this year). As we were starting to head out of the park, to go home for the night, we saw the bunnies again! I’m pretty sure this is the tiny one from the grass:

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Who then went into a flower bed, and just sat by the wall and didn’t move (again!). Perfectly camouflaged, you probably wouldn’t even notice if you weren’t looking for a bunny!

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We went to take a look at the other flower bed (which is full of foliage, so a better hiding place for bunnies), and two bunnies came out and then ran back in! I don’t know where all these little guys are coming from, or, as Noah says “Where their Mudder is”, but I guess we’ll be hunting for bunnies the next time we make it over to the park…will post updates if we see them again!

SofiaJuly 2, 2008 - 9:22 pm

Wow just love your pictures, I have been coming out every week to see what’s new and about with your blog… love love the bokehness just amazing.
keep up the great work always looking forward of what you’ll put up next.

HollyJuly 3, 2008 - 11:33 am

Wow, thanks Sofia! So nice of you to write! 🙂

BelleJuly 8, 2008 - 6:53 pm

lovely images!!!! love the bokeh!

Last Day of School and Off to Camp

It was my daughter’s last day of school yesterday as she went off to camp today in Alberta (for 10 days!!!).

So yesterday I focused on getting some nice shots of her:

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Don’t you just love those movable walkways at the airport?

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Here she was laughing at her brother, who kept goofing around with her…I think he’s going to miss her. I know I will.

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After a bit of a teary goodbye, I dragged Noah over to this spot as I knew the bokeh would be cool:

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Airports are rather cool places to shoot in!

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Here’s that walkway again!

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Being a ‘bit’ of a goof! lol

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So many cool backgrounds when you are shooting with a wide aperture!

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I expect the next 10 days will go by quickly for her, and for me, but I sure do look forward to her return home!

KristiJune 21, 2008 - 8:18 pm

Wide open , baby!!! Looks great. I can tell you are loving the new lenses. Enjoy the time with Noah. it will go slowly at first and then quickly……

Kimberly KyleJune 24, 2008 - 7:38 pm

Precious kiddos! I hope she has a blast at camp!! Love the airport bokeh and backgrounds!

AshleyJune 29, 2008 - 11:47 am

Oh my gosh! These are great! Love them. You are so blessed – and gifted;-)

Toronto Family Photography Session

This was a large family shoot! The four siblings are planning something special for their parent’s 50th in August.

I had a great time shooting the children on their own. First up was Helena, who helped me find the ‘light’ in the backyard. Love this shot, love the stray hair coming across her face, she has fabulous hair!

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I love the background in this shot:

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Charlie was a bit of a tough cookie, but I love this serious shot of him:

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Charlie’s older brother Ben, love the sparkle in his eyes!

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Love this serious shot of Pearce. Like me he is more comfortable behind the camera then in front of it. (I can relate Pearce!)

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Pearce’s older sister Madeleine, doesn’t she have the most amazing eyes? Love how the background colours match her eyes too.

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She is gorgeous in black and white too!

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Love this shot of Claire, another beautiful red head with curls!

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Love the contrasting green in the background against the red curls of Claire’s hair:

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Claire’s older sister Grace. Love the serious direct look she’s giving me in this shot:

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Gotta love a twinkle in the eyes!

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Love this moment of ‘just the boys’!

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And here are all the parents!

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We were fortunate to be able to work around the weather! (I sure hope that settles down as summer begins!)

Thanks to everyone for being such good sports and putting up with the long shoot that was necessary to capture everyone! 🙂

AshleyJune 18, 2008 - 6:23 pm

WOW! These are fantastic, Holly! I love them all. You are one amazing photographer!

Cherie YostJune 18, 2008 - 6:25 pm

I love the last group shot. What good looking kids!

LalaJune 18, 2008 - 10:07 pm

Great work, love the light!

DeannaJune 19, 2008 - 1:10 am

HOLY COW!!!!!!! what a large session…I love all the captures of the children! (arent they just the best part) I am loving pearce’s portrait…its stunning!

emily e.June 19, 2008 - 8:50 pm

Wow! You did awesome especially for such a large group =) You captured everyone soooo beautifully.

kristiJune 21, 2008 - 1:07 pm

Holly, these are soo good! They must love them. You can just sense that you really captured the kids personalities. nicely done!

Kimberly KyleJune 24, 2008 - 7:41 pm

Beautiful job! Love all the different backgrounds and how they compliment each person.

Saturday, Out and About, In the Park, Out to Dinner!

While Noah was off with a friend at an event, Rebecca and I ran some errands on our own.

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Caught this shot as we waited for our lunch to arrive:

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Noah had a great time at his event and came home with a wonderfully painted face! So once a friend of mine arrived we all headed over to the park:

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Oh, yes, one of the things we purchased yesterday was a hair colouring product (a mousse that, apparently, will wash out after 8–10 hair washes…I guess we’ll see!)

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Rebecca was thrilled to colour her hair!

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Depending on the light her hair has a very different tone to it, here is it darker and much more sophisticated.

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Caught some shots of Noah on the swing:

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Some shots of Rebecca with lovely bokeh in the background:

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This shot is very reminiscent of these series of shots, from my old blog.

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This one makes me think of Oliver Twist (“Please sir, can I have some more…?)

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Showing off our latest treasure:

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Then we decided we were ready for dinner, so we walked up Yonge Street to Terroni, here Noah was busy drinking some water and asked his sister to just ‘wait’ a second…

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I think he looks like a very cute little mouse nibbling his bread! lol

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Uh, bet you can’t guess what he choose to have for dinner?? 😉

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Looking a bit concerned…no idea why!

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A quiet moment:

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Rebecca on the way home:

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Noah on the way home (he’s lost quite a bit of his face make-up from eating his dinner):

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It ended up being a very nice day, and the weather was perfect too!