The Capone Family

When we were first approached with this job prospect it was a bit unnerving and not without a high level of intimidation; it’s not every day you get asked to shoot the Capone family.

Thankfully this wonderful family was located in Hamilton and not Chicago.

We were welcomed into a mansion made of marble by the head of the household John, and his lovely wife Julie, who then introduced us to their three very beautiful daughters.

They make for quite an attractive group but the star of this family was most definitely their grandson Jonathan who was all smiles for us, making it an entertaining afternoon.

The looks in the family however, clearly favored the Capone women, so we left the good fellas at home and took the ladies on a photo walk, stopping a few trains on our journeys.

It always makes for a great shoot when the sun is shining and your subjects are so photogenic, it also makes things a lot easier when we’re not worried about the need to enter into the witness relocation program after completing the job!

We had a great time with you all! Thanks for being such good sports!

For more from this shoot, click here

Eric & Tanya

Just days before Eric and Tanya's wedding we received a call from their photographers asking for our help. As a husband and wife team they had committed to shooting their friend's wedding but unforeseen circumstances were preventing it. Not wanting to leave them in a lurch, we cancelled Mark's birthday plans and instead he headed off to start taking pictures of the bride and her ladies.

From the moment we decided to shoot this wedding we started praying. Circumstances were not in anyone's favour and the weather was slated to be terrible. Fall weddings often boast unpredictable weather but when we awoke on September 8th it was downright miserable. Our warm balmy summer had turned frigid and the ominous black clouds dumping rain in sheets didn't bode well for our garden photo shoot.

As we have seen with absolutely every wedding we have shot, the Lord was merciful and as you'll see in the pictures below, it turned out to be a STUNNING day!

Eric and Tanya, we hope your marriage is as wonderful as your wedding day was. It was a pleasure to meet you both and capture the precious moments of your new life together.

God bless!

For more from their wedding click here

The Resendes Family

When Shelley contacted us to do portraits of her children we were excited! She was looking for the traditional studio style portraits and with so many of our shoots being outdoors, we were happy to have the change. So into the studio we went and what a great time! Shelley brought some of the Resendes family heirlooms and these treasures made for great props and added the right amount of sentiment to their pictures. I think we can all agree her children are beautiful and adorable! There's nothing quite like the awe and innocence of a child...

For more from this shoot click here

Eric & Jessie

One year ago when we shot their engagement pictures we had a blast with Eric and Jessie. They are such a fun loving and spirited couple that it made our job so easy!

Because of various elements of their wedding, we had many opportunities to get together leading up to their big day.  We got to know them so well that our excitement was building with them leading up to the big day.

After many texts and prayers the week preceding the wedding, we were blessed with a beautiful July day. Not only was it a blessing to watch these two friends commit their lives to each other, it was an honour to capture each moment on camera.

We love you guys and wish you a lifetime of joy as you experience all the blessings of marriage.

Introducing Noah Theophilus Elias

Clearly parenthood has consumed ALL of our time in the last while.  So much so that we haven't even had time to post about our little bundle of sweetness that we were so patiently waiting for last entry.

After a seemingly endless wait, we finally got to meet our son on Tuesday February 21st at 7:34am, weighing in at a very healthy 8lbs, 10oz.  He remained nameless for a few hours while we tried to decide just what fit.  Ironically enough, we settled on Noah Theophilus Elias.

When we first decided on a Noah's ark theme for the nursery, the name Noah never even entered our minds.  We both just loved the idea of teaching him all about animals through one of the greatest stories in the Bible.

On a Sunday afternoon in late January we decided to have a Starbucks date and brought along a bunch of baby name books. We were determined not to leave until we decided on both a girl's and boy's name since we didn't know what we were having. The girl's name was easy but the boy's name couldn't be agreed upon. That's how we knew it MUST be a boy! Mark loved the name Luke and while I like the name, I wanted to avoid it at all costs. Anyone who knows us well knows that Mark LOVES Star Wars. While he swears to this day that his reason for wanting to name our first son Luke is because it follows the gospel of Mark in the Bible, I just couldn't subject our son to all the jokes he would get in his life because his daddy is a Star Wars fan(atic).

In the end we wrote down our favourite four options and headed home to mull them over. Eventually we just decided to wait until we met him and when we did we both KNEW we wanted to name him Noah.  It was a really sweet moment at the hospital! As for his middle name, well that came with a bit of compromise - the gospel of Luke is dedicated to the most excellent Theophilus.

Now 5 months old, Noah has turned our whole world upside down and we're having a blast getting our balance.

Unfortunately for him, he was born to two photography parents.  While we have pretty much every day of his life documented, for now we'll just settle for a few.

And without further adieu, our son...

1 hour old

5 hours old

4 days old

2 weeks old

1 month old

2 months old

4 months old

5 months old

Our Little Family ♥

While We Wait...

In the spirit of Family Day Weekend, whilst also patiently awaiting the birth of my first child, I decided to lay down some perspective.

Some would say that our baby is now 12 days overdue; I however, recognize this period in time as the baby, or more specifically, God, waiting for us to be fully ready to take charge and become stewards of an eternal soul. In order to be effective stewards in this regard there is a hierarchy in life that needs to be dwelt upon and acknowledged.

My first responsibility as a human being is to recognize that I was fearfully and wonderfully made by the same individual that designed the entire universe. Therefore my first priority in life is to my God and Creator. Upon giving my life to Christ to do with as He sees fit, I have come to a good grasp of this concept and look forward to spending the rest of my life learning more about Him and how He wants me to use my years here on Earth.

But probably one of the most foreign concepts of God being number one in my life came when I married my wife. Not only did she accept this fact about my list of priorities in life, but she also vowed to stand by me forever ranked as number two. In a world full of people striving to be number one in everything, in a society where self-sufficiency is held in the highest regard, I was simply awestruck by a woman who pledged to be my life-mate and never have an expectation to be my first priority in life.

Which brings me here, to a blog for my firstborn, who will henceforth be priority number three in my life.

As I worship my Father in Heaven on a daily basis, I pray this child will recognize who my heart belongs to first and foremost. But I just wanted to make clear to this little one, that as my wife now approaches 10 months of pregnancy - she will always be my number two:

~ Sarena Noelle Elias ~

I thank my number one for bringing me my number two; and I thank my number two for enduring so long, through so much, to present me with my number three!

I am nothing, I deserve none of this - God is awesome!!!