December was a pretty mild offering this year. Ella and James’s wedding didn’t look like it was going to have any snow, that is, until the day before. You couldn’t have asked for better timing—in the summer you hope for a little sun, but in the winter you hope for that magic line between too cold, and just cold enough. The snow clinging to the branches in the above shot had fallen only hours before Ella and James had arrived. Details like that can’t be faked (not without an expensive movie crew on location) so it’s nice when you get lucky sometimes.
Kristen and Jeff moved from Ontario, Canada out to the Bay Area of California about two years ago. At first they only had each other and the insanely beautiful Cali weather to rely on but they’ve since built up a great new community of friends. Shooting their engagement photos (and an upcoming engagement video!) I was honoured to experience and document the new life they’ve built. Jeff’s a good friend of mine and training partner in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. When he asked me whether we should do the shoot in Cali or here in Southern Ontario, on one of their return visits, it’s not hard to guess what my suggestion was! There are few places I enjoy visiting as much as San Francisco (see this video), and was intrigued by the chance to use it as a shooting locale.
Kate and Andrew were kind and trusting enough to let me into very private moments of their day and not hold back at all. We had arranged for them to meet in a little clearing by a creek, in the shade of a gigantic tree, where they took turns reading vows to each other a few hours before the ceremony (sometimes called a “first look”). The experience was truly a powerful one, and something I won’t soon forget.
TL;DW (Too Long; Didn’t Watch): This is the 10-15 minute Feature Edit of their wedding! For their Highlight Edit, which clocks in at about 3 minutes, check out my previous K+A blog entry. The “Feature Edit” allows a wedding film to breath a little, and really delve into the personalities and quirks of the couple. One scene in particular gets me laughing every time: look for the little red and white mushrooms in Kate’s hair, and the unique history lesson she invokes regarding them. If you fall in love with Kate and Andrew (which is very likely) and just can’t get enough of them, check out their engagement photos as well!
Ella and James met in class at the University of Waterloo… we snuck into a classroom to recreate the moment when they first met. James assures me this is exactly how it went down:
