No drama past this point

I'm a strong believer in the philosophy of "No Drama." It's often not the case, sadly enough, in everyday life. Weddings are the epicenter of dramatic activity. Whether it's a nervous bride or groom, a high-strung in-law, or a small child that is bored to tears, drama always seems to unfold at a wedding.

Wedding days should be happy events, mine was, I was so happy on my wedding day. I had my best friends and my closest family there to watch me marry my wife, Anne. It was amazing. We both wore dresses (which to everyone's surprise, Anne actually wanted to wear), and the only tears were those of happiness. No drama, and really there should have been, half the gay community of Saint John was there!! HAHAHA! Seriously though, it was an amazing day, which every wedding day should be, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, number of guests, or whether the couple broke the bank to throw the thing. I've seen some beautiful weddings done on small budgets, and I've seen some bad weddings done on too large of a budget. Sadly, the latter usually includes drama, but that's a fact of life and a fact of weddings that I deal with.

Sadly, there is no way to defeat this being known as Drama...he is everywhere. Some people even thrive on his existence, trust me, I know some of these people and I'm sure you do too. All I can say is, drama should be left to the TV and real life should be taken for what it's worth...not what it could be if we added some crying and stress to the picture.

What do you say?

What do you say when you really don't have anything to say? It's irritating to me that I started a blog and have nothing interesting to say today. And trust me when I say (people who know me will attest to this) that I am rarely at a loss for words!

So this post will be brief, and feature photographs rather than making you read my ramblings...CHEERS!

Autumn is coming...

If you fall in the fall, you'll see...
September can be heavenly...

Sorry, that was me breaking out into song...blog style. Autumn is coming, only 2 weeks until Autumn Equinox; the season of cold nights and warm days, apples and pumpkins, Thanksgiving and Halloween, and of course beautiful landscapes seemingly changing their colours daily.

I love Autumn, all but the part where it leads into winter. It's colourful and the easiest season to photograph in. People WANT to have their photos taken when the leaves are changing. They WANT to smile with teeth.

I'd have to say that my favourite Saint John spot, to go for Autumn pictures, would have to be Rockwood Park. Now, don't get me wrong, the Irving Nature Park is breathtaking, but it's mainly full of coniferous trees, so there isn't much in the way of colour, other than green. Rockwood has a mixture of landscapes, plant life and even wild life. It's splendid.

Ahhh...Autumn in Saint John.

Strictly weddings...

I love shooting weddings. Dealing with grumpy kids, temperamental parents, nervous grooms and Bridezillas makes for an interesting day.

I've only had a few instances where I had a horrible time shooting a wedding. There have been funny moments and sad ones. Every wedding though, has its ups and downs. Brides are lucky when the only thing they have to complain about is the weather. And believe me, I've heard some complaining!

No details here on specific weddings, I'll just say that regardless of who the moody one is (and there always is one!), the weddings always end up with smiling brides and grooms.

Blogs away!

I keep trying to come up with cheesy titles for these blogs, since I'm compelled to name them...beware!

I've been randomly uploading pictures, in no particular order, and have heard that I seem to have forgotten some people. Sadly, I have only a handful of pictures of my wife where she isn't blinking. She's a compulsive blinker...but she's cute, so it's ok.

These pictures are of her and of a few of our other close friends. HAPPY Brad!? :)

School on the brain

As I sit here, with my morning coffee, I am thinking about my nephew Adrian. Today is his first day of school. The Boy is just shy of 5, and could almost pass for a pre-teen...he's way too tall for his own good, something he gets from his mother.

The last two pictures here are of him, the second with Melissa, his mom. It was the first time I got a good smile, in a studio shot, out of Adrian since he was a toddler!

I've taken pictures of Adrian his whole life. Truth be told, he was easier to photograph when he was a baby, less moving around. My wife, who is biologically his aunt, is like his play thing, so whenever I try to get pictures of him when she's around, it's impossible. He's due for new pictures too...I'll have to get a head-start because Johnston's will be hopping into every school in the province to shoot those generic pictures that we all remember. Now I am fully expecting to have one of these cookie-cutter pictures of Adrian, it's his first year of school...it wouldn't be right, even if there's a photographer in the family, it's a rite of passage, especially since it's his first year of school.

Here we go...

So I was going through the pictures in my Facebook group album and was shocked to see that I had over 200 images. With that in mind, I chose a modest amount to sample here on the blog. Granted, I probably will end up adding more as time goes on, but five per post is my limit, so I can't go nuts.

I thought I'd add some wedding shots, just a few from various weddings I've shot over the years.

One thing I have learned after shooting weddings for almost 10 years: Every wedding has a story...