Union Photography Blog » Wedding, Portrait, Maternity and Lifestyle Photography by Jon Thorpe

Christmas brunch is perfuming the air here and I am surrounded by great family and friends. It’s easily said that the Holiday season is one of my favorite times of the year and I wish to spread my joy with you all!

Just a quick note regarding my Holiday schedule :

For the first week of January, I will be down in Mystic, CT for Mystic 5, which is a series of workshops where some of the best photographers in the world gather to share their experience (and rounds of beer). You can bet that I will be walking away with many new ideas that spark new creativity for the 2010 year.

I will try to keep on top of the emails and phone calls, but please expect a delay of a couple days for most communications until things get back to normal on the 8th of January.

Best wishes for the holidays!

- Jon

Through the course of the wedding season I am usually quite busy managing my own weddings, but I occasionally have the opportunity to work with other photographers to create some truly fantastic collaborative work. I am not going to do full posts on these weddings, but thought I would toss up a few selects for you to enjoy!

The crisp fall air and changing leaves in Sudbury, Ontario provided the setting for a fantastic day and evening of celebration for Kate & Dave’s wedding. I was shooting along side the fantabulous Catherine Farquharson who had been climbing Mt.Kilimanjaro only a day prior and required me to be available as a stand-in just in case. It of course never came to that, as Catherine is a seasoned jet setter, so headed out to enjoy a fantastic fall shoot with a fun couple!

I Just LOVE red roses. The simplicity of Kate’s bouquet really set things off and I just couldn’t keep my lens off it!

Faye & Micheal’s wedding was shot with Dave, who is one half of Dave & Charlotte. The Berkeley Event Center was the setting and is a Toronto location that I truly love shooting at. It was my 3rd wedding captured there and the weather was absolutely perfect as was the ambiance of the venue.

One thing that I love about the Berkley Church is the combination of vibrancy and texture that all of the different hallways, rooms, nooks and cranny’s provide. I feel like I can shoot there 100 times and have a different feel and flavor each time.

I love weddings that take place in the country! It’s a fantastic break from the hustle of the city and the picturesque landscapes make for truly fantastic backdrops for portraits.

Autumn and Alex’s wedding took place on a cute little piece of property outside of Newtonville Ontario. I’m glad that they provided me with directions too – because the location didn’t even show up on Google maps!  Things started off inside the country home as Autumn prepared for the big day and then, for the ceremony, transitioned to a beautiful gazebo overlooking a pond.

I had my good friend Sebastian as my assistant photographer for the day and he did a fantastic job of gathering the details of the event. Thanks!

I love the photo of Autumn spinning in her beautiful dress!! The flower details on her shoes also looked fantastic. Flats were definitely the smart choice, as the dancing was pretty intense later in the evening!

The afternoon light was just starting to soften up as we headed out for some quick portraits on a quiet side road. They both love their Sky convertible and I just had to squeeze it into one of the shots for a bit of play!

The mix of color temperatures really punched up the vibrancy of the above images. The pond made for a perfect reflecting pool with the mist just starting to dance across the surface.  In the last image, I am actually catching a guests camera flash – one of those unexpected treats that I sometimes get when sorting through the days images!

Enjoy!

I have to say that I am extremely excited to be sharing this ’spilling of the beans’ with you right now!

For the past 6 months or so, I have been working on a secret project which has consumed nearly every spare second of my life and today is the day that I get to share the first tidbits of information with you. It all started off as a simple idea and skyrocketed from there. I wanted to create a classic photo booth with a very modern flair and not only did I want it to look sexy, but I also wanted its design to be influenced by my background in professional event photography.

And thus it was born – A photo booth created by a photographer. Simply and affectionately called ‘booth’.

There will be more information coming soon and the website www.getthebooth.com will be the place to find all of the details as I release them. The booth is, as of today, available for pre-bookings for the Holiday season and it will undoubtedly be very popular with both weddings and corporate parties.

So stay tuned and please let me know what you think of the booth!

I was quite fortunate to be able to assist Judy of Elementz of Fotographie for the beautiful and vibrant wedding of Bina and Craig. I think that the multiculturalism and tradition made this one extremely memorable event for both sides of the family.

You will notice that there are quite a few more photos of Craig than Bina in this collection which is mainly due to the fact that I was tasked to shadow Craig for much of the day. It’s not often that I get to hang out with the groom so much, so I took full advantage and had a fantastic time!

It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun photographing the two ceremonies that day. Bina had her traditional ceremony under the Mandap, while Craig enjoyed a civil ceremony outside in the sun.

And on with the photos – there are a lot!

There are so many things that I love about Niagara-on-the-lake, including the sweetness in the air before the grape harvests, watching the lake freighters float through the countryside in the canal (but I don’t like getting stuck at lift gates waiting for them to pass!), the hypnosis of driving past parallel rows of crops, the boutique shops, ‘pick your owns’ and the view of the lake at last light. One of the other things I love about Niagara-on-the-lake is photographing weddings there!

I had the pleasure of capturing Heather and Andrews lovely backyard wedding – of course, it’s also a bonus when your backyard is an orchard! We were also able to take a short little trip down to the lake before heading out to Stonechurch Winery for the reception. Enjoy the photos!

Oh, and I also wanted to thank Heather’s father for letting use his classic Mustang in some of the shots. Son or not, he still won’t let Andrew drive it. haha.

Well, I promised myself that I would get this beautiful wedding blogged today and here it is! Elisabeth and Ian’s boutique wedding took place at the George Restaurant and Verity Hotel under blue skies and… the roaring sound of Jet Fighters?  Luckily it was not an aerial invasion, but rather the high flying acrobatic maneuvers of F-18’s as they took part in the Toronto Air Show. Our minister had to speak up a little at times, but it was kind of neat having the extra entertainment!

So this is what you get when you combine a beautiful and fun couple with a fantastic venue on a beautiful day! It really could not get any better! I really have to thank Elisabeth and Ian for letting me steal themselves away from the party to take the last shot… It was well worth it!

Enjoy the memories!

Where has this summer gone? It seems like it was just a few days ago that I had photographed Joanne & John’s wedding in the city – yet weeks have passed. I really must get back on the blogging bandwagon – because I have so much to show all of you!

So back to the story. Joanne and John are one of those special couples whom can light up an entire room with their energy and passion for one another. I love working with couples like this as the energy translates into joyous, natural and generally fantastic imagery!

Their ceremony took place at the Toronto Korean Presbyterian Church, which I loved because of its bright interior, open format and modern architecture. This was followed by local photos (we found a few amazing spots at random!) and then a reception to remember at the Sheraton. Wow what a day!

You guys were awesome and I really feel privileged to have worked with you, your family and friends!

These guys had a ton of fun when it came to the kissing game! Superman imitation!

En route to Ashley and Jon’s wedding, the rain was coming down in buckets – no, make that bath tubs and visibility was poor at best. I could only think of how glad I was to leave plenty of extra time in getting there, as I always do. At the next intersection I noticed a police car stopped opposite to me, waiting for the signal to change. I came to a complete stop, and just as I did, a bolt of lighting ripped through the sky and touched down just yards away, with the percussion rattling my internal organs. Both myself and the officer made quick eye contact as if to share our consensus of disbelief, shock and awe. Crazy!

As I continued north, the clouds gave way to bright blue skies which were paired with thick and humid air – at least the rain would hold off for the ceremony!
But as I pulled into the resort, the distinct smell of diesel exhaust could mean only one thing. A power outage!

When I entered the bridal suite, I noticed Ashley and her bridesmaids all huddled around the window, trying to make use of the available light to do their hair and makeup. I have to admit that they did a great job too.
It’s also a good thing that I love photographing under available ambient light, as this day was full of it!

The kid’s at this wedding were way too cute – and there were a lot of them!

The rain held off just long enough for us to get the formal and couples photos in – and the power returned just in time for the reception party! Talk about good timing!

This was a truly beautiful wedding and it was a pleasure taking part in the documenting of it’s many great moments.

Thank you and congratulations Ashley & Jon!

I always get excited when photographing weddings at beautiful churches like St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica in London Ontario. I won’t lie, it does make my job a little easier when each photographic opportunity is greeted with stained glass, Gothic pillars and intricate murals!

Both Anna and Norbert are pretty artistic and you could see it shine through in all of the intricate details of their day. From Anna’s beautiful and stylish dress to the table settings which she designed. It must also be mentioned that Anna is also a photographer – so she knew just what she was looking for when contacting me. Fun, different and exciting photos! Needless to say, I enjoyed taking on the challenge and had a fantastic time working with them throughout the day!

Another great part of the day was working alongside my good friends at StillMotion, who were on hand to create a same day edit of the event. Check that out here. It’s stunning!

Thanks again to the both of you for a wonderful wedding! And remember - Rain on your wedding day brings fortune, abundance and luck! So I am sure you will be receiving plenty in the future!

- Jon