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

Energetic, fun, vibrant, stylish… these are all words that I use to describe Jill and Dan. They are the kind of couple that you easily fall in love with and can’t stop photographing. It was definitely the case with this “Extended Play” engagement photo session!

You may also notice that I love shooting well into the evening. By doing so, I am able to capture a range of playful and sexy imagery, spanning different lighting conditions and scenes. It really gives my couples a lot of variety in their images and goes well beyond the realms of a typical engagement session.

I am not able to post everything from the session right now (It’s kinda crazy here at the studio this week) so I will leave you with these awesome teasers. Be sure to come back for the main course later on! Please comment!

### UPDATE###
This stylish and cute engagement shoot has now been featured on The Wedding Co. daily news. Click here for more photos!

I realize that I have been a little slow when it comes to posting blog content lately, so I am promising to push up a whole bunch of posts over the next week or so! Keep checking

So why have I not been posting as much recently? Well, the wedding season is now well under way, with a number of shoots now behind me and around 50 or so still to go (combined wedding and engagement shoots – a fully booked season), so needless to say, things are a little hectic, but I am keeping to my promise of a three week turn-around for weddings and less than 1 week for engagement shoots. Not too shabby!

There are a whole bunch of other developments happening here at Union Photography, some that I can hint at and some that are top secret. One big thing is that the photo booth side of things is rocking out and was just accepted into Style Me Pretty’s Invite-Only, Little Black Book. Thanks SMP!

Back to photography, with this sweet little engagement shoot that I had with Martha and Guy, who just so happen to live in the condo right above my Downtown Toronto studio! It’s always great to have fantastic neighbors!

We started things off right at home, with a natural light shoot in the roof top penthouse. The soft evening lighting was just fantastic and I could have stayed there all evening. For the rest of the night we chased light and looked for interesting opportunities within the downtown core. I just love how the night transforms the city and lends in producing unique imagery.

I had a fun time! See you at the wedding (or just around the building)!

I really love engagement shoots for the way that they allow me to connect with couples, make them feel comfortable and help them break down any walls that they may have when it comes to being in front of a camera. I had a fantastic time hanging out with Melanie & David for an evening and came out of the shoot with some fantastic and playful imagery that they will be able to cherish for a lifetime.

One thing that you will notice from these photos, is that my sessions are fairly long and can bridge a number of different environments and times of day. It allows me to provide my couples with a diverse range or imagery that is exciting, intimate and unique.

Thank you so much for spending an evening with me, Melanie & David. It was a pleasure working with the both of you!
I have to say that I am in LOVE with the last shot of you in your Toronto FC jerseys!

Some days I just can’t wait to get to work. Yes. You read that correctly!
I have been waiting all weekend to post these exciting images from my last little Lifestyle / Engagement shoot, featuring this all-too-cute couple.

We managed to beat the weather last Friday as the rain and clouds lifted and treated us to fantastic shooting conditions all through the evening. Beautiful summer like light, a vibrant twilight sky and temperatures that were on the mild side. It was absolutely perfect for a quick trip to the park, followed by a stop at a few more industrial locations to add some diversity to the imagery.

Please comment away!

Thanks Karen & Peter, for spending a fun evening in front of my lens! The next time I see the both of you, it will be as you walk down the aisle!

For many years, black and white photography took a back seat to the advancement of color imagery, along with the vibrancy and excitement that it brought along. Some will say that B&W was never left far behind, but it is also true that much of the art in it’s processing was lost to the “Convert to B&W” tool found in many photo editing programs.

Hand finished black and white photographs can give your moments an nostalgic feel by simply removing the distraction that color can sometimes bestow on an image. You can feel the emotion, the romance and timelessness of the subjects. The effort of dodging (brightening) elements of a photo can bring out life and energy in a subject, while a light burn (darkening) can provide a needed separation from the background, enhancing texture and balancing the tonal relationships within.

Each photograph ordered through my studio receives this loving and detailed treatment. If a picture is worth a thousand words, those words should be spoken with clarity.

For 2011, every photo that leaves the studio will be receiving a hand finishing that includes retouching, tone adjustments and more. It’s my dedication to quality service and to the art that photography is.

Below is a selection of imagery from this past season, showing how proper, subtle editing can further enhance great imagery.

I have some major house cleaning to do on the blog today… So get ready for a whole slew of posts!

Last week was a very rainy one, but I was lucky enough to have Tyler and Kristy brave the weather for a quick little engagement session out at some of my favorite Toronto locations, including the brickworks and the financial district.

Enjoying some time together while hiding from the rain

We found a few funky murals to play around with… Bee mine?

I always love reflections!

I can’t wait for the wedding on the water this coming weekend. It is going to be absolutely fantastic!

Elisabeth and Ian are yet another one of my fantastic 2009 wedding couples whom I have the pleasure of getting to know over the past number of months. All of my wedding commissions include an engagement (or fun shoot) which is not only a great opportunity to get some more casual photos taken, but also aids in elevating the comfort levels when it comes to having your photo taken! As you can see, the results are fabulous!

We ended up heading out to do a little street shooting up in the Yorkville area of Toronto. It’s a fantastic area that has a little bit of everything, including boutique shops, open air art installations, some fun architecture and plenty of quieter areas that yield great photographic opportunities!

I am looking forward to the wedding!

I had been looking forward to my engagement photo session with Jenn and Jeff ever since I met them for the first time at our initial consultation. We talked about what their wedding plans were, what they envisioned for their photography and how we could work together to bring it all together. As we continued to chat, they brought up their passion for film and the arts and spoke of how they wanted to tie some of that in with their photos – I quickly realized that they would be a fun couple to work with!

We actually broke the shoot into two days due to inclement weather and a theater manager who was out of the loop on a booking request we had made (it happens!). On the first day we headed off to one of my favorite indoor spots in the city – a beautifully maintained set of greenhouses which provides a nice break from the cold, wet and generally unfavorable late winter weather.

On the second day we headed off to a local movie theater complex for a quick 5 min shoot (strobist style!). We had to be speedy with things, as it was a busy afternoon at the downtown location and we had to be in and out before the next movie started rolling! Once the film was in the can, so to speak, we headed back outside and were greeted with a blast of balmy (for spring!) air! It made for a great afternoon of shooting with a great couple. Thanks Jenn & Jeff!

Toronto’s Entertainment District was the venue for a sunny day, spur-of-the-moment engagement shoot with a super fun couple! Conrad & Rebecca were extremely easy going and an absolute pleasure to work with. Seeing as I didn’t bring my car in, we decided to hoof it down King Street to see what we could find! I actually really like walking, versus driving from spot to spot, as you see things quite differently and often find beautiful little locations which would have been overlooked otherwise.

For the sake of mixing things up a little, I decided to process most of this set in black and white to give it that classical and timeless feel. I really love hot the tonal ranges pop out when the images are properly processed (vs. just doing a B&W conversion).

Enjoy!
- Jon

A few weeks ago I received a Facebook status update that Taylor Jackson, a fellow wedding photographer, would be in town and was looking to do a fun shoot with his girlfriend so that they could pass a few hours and get some pre-engagement photos of themselves. I answered the call and just a few hours later we were out on the town around the gallery for a quick session!

It’s simply amazing what can be captured within an hour when you have a couple that is fun and ready for adventure! The tandem bicycle is actually my ‘gallery bike’ and made a great prop for the shoot. I have to thank Kate for putting it all on the line, as Taylor awkwardly pushed forward on his first attempt at maneuvering the purple beast!

It was great fun photographing the both of you!

- Jon