Last weekend we photographed a fantastic Medieval theme wedding.
It reminded me that we had one on Youtube that I posted last year and
so here it is on my blog. Stay tuned for the recent shots in a week
or so…
Recently I decided to research the history of my building on Gladstone Avenue. The shape of the building always puzzled me and the City Archives finally solved the mystery.
Couvrette Studio was built in 1910 as a Livery (horse and carriage depot)by one of Ottawa`s top hotels, The Alexandria on Bank Street, founded by entrepreneur Thomas Babin. By 1923 it became Horner Motor Sales, the first automobile showroom in the city. In the mid thirties it was the home of Progressive Printers and was heavily reinforced to hold huge presses on the second floor. The building is so solid that it easily withstood a car crashing in the front window last year.
Kinda reminds me of my company, which has withstood three recessions so far and counting. Yes, we started in 1977…making us one of the longest standing studios in the city.
Dollco took over the printing business and 430 Gladstone became one of Ottawa`s original hi tech companies in the mid sixties.I purchased the building in the mid 1990’s and after extensive renos…voila, Couvrette Studio.
When I started my business there were 15 studios owned by photographers in the downtown core, bounded by Bronson, the Ottawa River, the Queensway and the Rideau River. How times change…now its just us……STABLE .you betcha! (its a joke,…livery (stable) oh well.
It sure would be nice to have some shots of horses and Model T`s in front of our building…maybe a project for the 100th anniversary next year!
Here are two more from the session…
Want more...click here!
Something prospective brides might consider when comparing photographers is how well they do portraits. Photojournalism is fine and dandy, but a talented photographer should also know how to make the bride look great. Frankly, even our assistants in training can manage to get a few lucky shots, but they need a couple of years training to do great portraits. Take a look at entire sites, and not just cherry picked wedding shots. Better yet, ask to see an entire wedding…thats when you really know how to judge a photographers talent.
Here is a shot from a recent session in our Centretown Studio. Luckily this nice young lady was OK with us posting it online. At the studio we have hundreds of other sessions that we can show you. A lot of our brides are doing these as wedding gifts and of course Valentines Day is always a busy time for these sessions. For women who are too shy to shoot these with a male, we do have a female photographer on site.
Looking for a referral to a wedding musician?
Well..here is one you might want to check out. She also has a neat
list of offbeat ideas for wedding venues and locations on her site.
http://www.louiseebeltoft.com/gallery/index.php
Another group of dependable professionals is http://www.classicalsounds.com/
….wait for it.
Glamour and Boudoir portraits are lots of fun…and great gifts that we often do for brides to be…
Here is some digital magic we did just to see how far we could push it. Take a look at it on
Youtube itself if you really want to see the detail and of course push the “view in hi res” button.
We have an extensive set of examples on our site, but better yet, set an appointment to come by the studio to see lots more. Shooting this style in a natural offshoot of our wedding work…and I wonder sometimes if a lot of photographers have lost the art of making women look good.
We posted this wedding on Youtube not too long ago and now its up over 2000 hits…wow.
The bride is coming in for a pregnancy portrait next week…I guess that’s a
testimonial to my work…and theirs.
I just couldn`t resist putting this on my blog…click and you`ll see why.
A bride to be asked me today what I thought was the most photogenic wedding dress.
Thats easy… anything by Justina McCaffrey. Now I am not just saying that because I shot her wedding (ok, I`m name dropping, but its true…come by and I`ll show you some shots)…I simply like clean classic lines and the quality of materiels she uses simply look better in photographs.
A little tip though…look up Janine Adamyk on Bank….a local talent that is often missed. She creates custom designs that rival the top stuff you will see in all the mags…for a lot less $$$$$
