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That's right. And she was pretty darn good too.
It was a bit of a hectic day. We were a little rushed through preps, and once the photo session came, and I saw how cool the place was, I wished for 5 more hours. But when you're crunched on time, you buckle down and get down to business. As I was setting up a guys' group shot (there were 11 of them - and they were a touch rowdy), I was thinking: do i just get the shot done well and move on so we can make the most of our time, or do I pull out my radiopoppers, screw on the antennae, velcro them to my flashes, tape the doohickey to my infrared sensor, set my flashes to slave/master, put one on a camera, hide one under a truck, do test shots, go all drill-sergeant, and do the shot the justice that it deserves?
For those who know me, you know which way I went.
Despite a bit of hurrying around, Teresa and Marco's day went flawlessly. Perfect weather, awesome locations, and a lot of happiness.
And one of the really fun parts of the day was after dinner when we pulled out the printer bar. Teresa and Marco had opted for the having their guests be able to make their own free prints at their reception. Ok, so here's the idea: Uncle Bob (yes, we all love him) takes a few pics at the ceremony that he wants to print. He pulls out his memory stick, plugs it in, and lets our printers to their magic. He can take the print home or give it to Teresa and Marco. A lot of their guests ended up donating their prints to Teresa and Marco's guest book cause.
A special thanks goes out to Danielle from Mind|Castle (again) for doing such an awesome job. She and I will be shooting a few times more this year, which I'm really excited for.
We went out to two places for Link and Ngoc's pre-wedding shoots -the place where they first met (Santa Clara University) and their reception venue (Nestledown).
The great thing about Link and Ngoc is their energy. Ngoc is a grownup version of a 5 year old. She's cute, lively, and really, you just want to hug her. But the best thing of all is just how much they love each other. You may remember their Love Story.
This (below), is their way of checking in with each other, saying “Hi. I'm here.”
Vietnamese and Guyanese…two very different cultures coming together in the marriage of Vy and Navin. But while there are so many differences, there is one common denominator. Rice.
During their engagement session, we incorporated the many things that make them who they are. From symbolic dragon racing tributes to a 3-legged cow (to be explained in a blog post to come after their wedding), there are many photos in their gallery which only Vy and Navin will get (for now anyways).
Here are a few that I've been working on (no real cows were harmed in the making of these photos).
Griffen and Curtis had a lot of attention during their Trash the Dress session. At the time, the Cinematography team was holding a workshop in California, and they decided to bring their students to the shoot. It was Patrick, Konrad, Jaime and myself, with students Big Shawn, Little Shawn (sorry Little Shawn), and Jim. Not to mention all the spectators along the way! We started out close to Napa Valley at a vineyard and corresponding castle. What an incredible place! We went deep underground to where the barrels were kept and along the way we found a torture room, musty nooks and crannies, and about a million photo opportunities. It was pretty chilly down there, which was nice since it was scorching hot just outside. According to my estimates, it must have been at least 35 Celsius, 95 Fahrenheit. We took some shots outside and then headed to the coast…where it was freezing! We were wearing fleece sweaters and shivering to bits - especially Patrick and Griffen who went swimming for a few shots. Because we went to 2 vastly different locations, we got an amazing variety of photographs.
-Amina
Griffen + Curtis’ Trash the Dress Shoot in CA from StillMotion on Vimeo.
Last April, Patrick, Michael, John and I flew to LA for a wedding. We drove about 2 hours north from the airport to Santa Barbara, where the wedding took place.
Except for the preparations - hair, makeup, dressing - everything was outdoors. It was a beautiful, sunny day, about 20 degrees Celsius, with lots of decor. The location was spectacular - a (roughly) 2-acre lot with a pond, pool, guest house and an incredible residence that was perfect for some more classical photographs.
Of course, in true StillMotion style, we got a little adventurous and started carrying couches around the pond… Read more…
Just inspiring. The day was full of colour, excitement and great people. A big thanks goes out to Anay who helped us navigate our way through the traditions and who showed a lot of devoted appreciation for our work.
Darshan and Raina scheduled a few different photo locations, including downtown Columbus, where we simply walked the streets with our cameras. We also had a little nature to work with to give us totally different feels throughout the day.
I tried to narrow the blog images down to 4 or 5, but there was no way. So here are my favourite 13. You can also check out their same day edit here.
The drive to Java, NY was spectacular - rolling hills, farmland and little Victorian cottages that lined the roads. On my way down, the weather was beautiful, with a cool breeze and a few fluffy clouds. As the day went on we had a mix of sun and rain, with heavy rain at times (see photo below).
Overall, it was an amazing day. Erica and Jay were exceptionally fun to work with, and had absolutely no problem going in the pouring rain. They even rowed themselves over to the reception, which was across the lake from their ceremony.
Here are a few photos that I especially liked.
-Amina
Last June, I had the pleasure of shooting Natalie and Mike, an awesome couple whose wedding was at a historical site in Vineland, ON.
I had been looking forward to their wedding so much since we first met just over a year earlier. It seemed that right from the get-go, they put all their trust in me, knowing that the more freedom I had, the more amazing their photos (and day) would be.
Their day was quite unique. The girls had a yoga session in the morning to relax themselves, and then they went to put some final touches into their reception decorations. After they were all dressed and done up, they drove to the chapel in a Mustang convertible, giving Natalie's hair a good dose of adventure. She looked awesome.
But the best part of the day for me was when Natalie and Mike crawled into the waterfall. It was 15 minutes before the reception was to start, and Natalie commented on how refreshing the water looked. Next thing I knew, we were all in the water doing an “on-the-wedding-day” trash the dress shoot!
So a big thanks goes out to Natalie and Mike for being so awesome, and to Cyndal as well, who was a great help in general (she came out and assisted me with some photo-related things).
Sylvia and Nuno have always been super-excited about working with us, and it certainly was contagious. Their photo session was in downtown Toronto, and when the family formals were done, we all just said “let's go,” and we went for a little photo excursion. We found so many cool places to shoot, and we let the opportunities just hit us. It was moment-by-moment inspiration. Here are some of my favourite shots of the day.
We had the pleasure of shooting David and Johanna's engagement session in an old market place very close to London Bridge. There was so much to shoot in every direction, more than in any other location in which we've shot. We started there and made our way by foot toward their house, which was about 15 minutes away. Of course, with so many photo ops, it took us muuuch longer than 15 minutes to get there…
Here are some of my favourites from the shoot:
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Amina Wojcik, Toronto, Canada
Vendor: Photography
Website: Still Motion
About Me: Amina is sassy, easily combustible, and eclectic. Her images are both timeless and edgy, but most importantly, her images are emotional. They tell not only the grander story of the day, but also the peripheral moments that make up the final feature. She is inspired by both photojournalism and fashion photography, creating a truly unique approach and experience.
