toronto engagements Archives - Boakview Photography

2019 Year in Review – Couples

January 29, 2020

2019 – what a year! We had so many wonderful adventures with so many amazing couples! It’s been one for the books for sure! As in pervious years, we went down memory lane and reminisced about our favourite moments of the year. And, as in previous years, it is, once again, time for our annual 2019 year in review – couples slideshow!

Reflecting on this year, I can honestly say that it taught us some big lessons. For one, it taught us not to take anything for granted! The work we do and the people we work with are precious and the memories we capture are equally so. We are so lucky to be able to capture love, intimacy, genuine emotion and to immortalize it for our couples and families. And that is a precious gift!

This year, as with other years in the past, we were able to step outside of our comfort zones with our couples. We had new adventures, new experiences, and are once again humbled by the trust all of you place in us. Thank you! We feel so very blessed that our couples trust us and our quirky requests. But also that we can work together as partners to create some pretty amazing memories! Photography is, after all, a relationship, a team effort, not a solitary enterprise!

This year when I was putting together our annual 2019 year in review – couples, I was struck by how much more comfortable I am with going outside of my own comfort zone! (Does that make sense?) I no longer doubt (or care) if a shot is not perfectly lit, or positioned. For me, this year has been about exploring the human connection with our couples. It was about capturing raw human emotion, as opposed to the perfect composition. This year was all about the feels! (Check out some of those feels here – hope they give you goosebumps! 🙂

As usual, the endeavour of selecting images for this year’s slideshow was not easy. Choosing some of our favourite photos is like choosing a favourite child or pet! And as you know, we love our children and we love our Bubi! But I, somehow, managed come up with a lovely assortment of some of our most favourite captures. These are not exclusive by any means, and if we could find a song that was longer than a mere 3 minutes, we would include more photos!

So lovers, that is it! Another year older and another year wiser (maybe?!) With another season to look forward to, more couples to meet, collaborate with, laugh with, cry with, dance with and make memories with – we cannot wait to get started! In the mean time, turn up the volume, sit back and enjoy while we share this…

Intimate Toronto Engagement

April 11, 2019

So here’s the thing – when a couple asks us to come to their home and take photos of them hanging out and doing their thing we will NEVER say no! We squeal in excitement, nod our heads, pack our gear and zoom right over! And that is exactly what we did when Megan and Eddie asked us to capture their intimate Toronto engagement session in their home – this is what we live for as photographers!

Because we are lucky to work with couples who put their trust in us & our (sometimes) quirky ideas, we have been able to capture some pretty amazing e-sessions in some pretty amazing locations all over Canada and beyond! (Ahem – super cool Fredericton e-session in the water -yup that’s still one of our faves!) But that also means that we have an ever-growing wish list of places and spaces we want to photograph. An at-home intimate Toronto engagement session has been on the top of our list for a while for several reasons, the main being that your home is a space where you feel most comfortable, cozy, and hyggelig – which can translate into some really beautiful moments, both on and off camera (although we make sure to capture most of them!)

There are oodles of advantages for having a session in your own home – a big bonus is that you can enjoy a glass of wine (or two) to ease that camera shyness (see we are always thinking practically!) But aside from the beverages, your home is also a place that you are most familiar with and that comfort level can instantly create a sense of intimacy and calm in your photos. When we plan e-sessions with our couples one of the first questions we always ask is, “What speaks to you as a couple?” Followed by, “What is it that you love to do together?” Whether that translates into a cozy engagement session in your own home, or a walk to the beach – we encourage you to think about the places and spaces you love to frequent together and are reflective of you both.

Don’t worry about limiting your choices to one location, usually the 2 hours we book together are long enough to travel to two separate places as long as they are not super far apart! For Megan and Eddie we started in their home and then made our way to a park that Megan used to go to when she was little – both locations were near and dear to the couples’ hearts and translated into a pretty rad engagement session! Check out their photos below, and if you can’t get enough you can also see their full gallery here! Enjoy lovers!

Intimate Toronto Engagement Session at home

Intimate Toronto Engagement Session out of focus

Best of 2017 ~ Engagements

February 14, 2018

Words truly cannot express how grateful we are for the couples we work with! You guys truly make what we do absolutely magical. Being around so much emotion always reminds us that love, just like life, is a journey never a destination – it is fluid, adaptive, forgiving, & selfless and we have the absolute privilege to be able to capture it as best we can and to immortalized its beauty. 2017 has been a bit of a tough year for me – running a business and having a baby at the same time is not an easy endeavour but going into 2018 I’m making a point of staying positive and grateful for the wonderful job I have (I get to photograph love! Thats pretty neat!) So to remind myself of how much I truly love what I do despite some of the difficulties, I have been going through our photos from last year and I couldn’t help but smile at all the wonderful memories we created! So part two of our “Best of…” series includes some of our favourite engagement moments and serves as a reminder of the amazing couples we get to hang out with and their love which we get to document. So turn up the music lovers, and enjoy!

Selvia & Jeffry ~ A Vintage Engagement in Toronto

April 27, 2016

One chilly November afternoon, I met with Jeffry and Selvia downtown Toronto. Despite the cold weather, these two were all smiles ready to have me follow them around downtown and capture their obvious adoration for each other. Jeffry and Selvia’s story is an epic international tale. The two met in school on their first day in university in summer 2006 in Asia. They were instantly smitten with one another and went out of their way to spend as much time together as possible – they secretly signed up for all of the same group projects and any free time they had was spent talking, laughing, and dreaming about their future together. But even despite their mutual commitment and love for each other they had some bumps along the way. Selvia decided to continue her studies abroad in Japan for five years without Jeffry and they endured a long distance relationship for that entire time. After such a long time apart they just couldn’t imagine being away from one another for any longer and both came to Toronto, Canada to study together. After just two years in Toronto, Jeffry popped the question and without any hesitation Selvia said “YES”! This May the two will be tying the knot in Indonesia and although we can’t be part of their big celebration we are so lucky have captured their love in the city where they re-connected and solidified their future together!

This engagement session was featured on The Wedding Co.

We were thrilled to have shot this session with Dipak Parmar, see more of Dipak’s work here!

Engaged ~ Orla & Ian

January 21, 2016

Orla and Ian’s story is an international affair! Orla, an Irish expat, met Ian while working in Toronto – the two fell in love almost instantly and have been inseparable ever since, so much so that Orla now calls Canada her home. Although Toronto is the city where they met, they decided to be married in Wicklow, Ireland this coming spring – how romantic is that? In order to stay true to their whimsical wedding plans (they will be married in an Abbey in the Irish country-side – swoom!) we wanted to re-create that same kind of magic right here in the middle of the city. What better place to do that than in High Park. Nestled in the midst of the busy West end of Toronto, we took Orla and Ian through the quiet and peaceful park and snapped as the two cuddled, kissed, and laughed. Orla, a lover of wild flowers, brought with her a hand-made bouquet that matched the mid-autumn colours of the surroundings and we couldn’t help but be reminded of the Irish country-side. We are also super excited to mention that Orla and Ian’s whimsical engagement session was also featured on JoyWed, see their story here!

Engaged ~ Jeff & Michelle

December 3, 2015

If we had to use one word to describe Jeff and Michelle it would be “adorable”! Their fun-loving energy and obvious adoration for each other is absolutely infectious, not to mention that they are hilarious and have us in stitches almost every time we meet. Although there is some confusion as to how these two met (Jeff claims Michelle picked him up at a club, to which Michelle retorts, “In your dreams!”) we sure are glad that they did!

Because Michelle and Jeff are city folk through and through, we decided to take them for a walk through Fort York and City Place for their engagement. So on a chilly and snowy early December afternoon, we strolled through the beautiful urban Toronto landscape and snapped the happy couple as they chatted, kissed, snuggled, and drank tea to keep warm.

Engaged ~ Cayley & Sean

October 29, 2015

It was love at first sight…and we mean between us and Cayley and Sean! When we first met this adorable couple we instantly wanted to be their friends. Their energy is contagious and their humour infectious. For their engagement session we decided to keep it simple and bring them for a walk along Lake Ontario. Also, because Cayley and Sean met at a pub close to the university they both attended, it only made sense to incorporate a few pints of Guinness into the mix. And what a mix it was, these two had us giggling the entire time! Their love for one another is so evident (and swoon-worthy) that we truly felt like the paparazzi snapping away as they cuddled, kissed, laughed, and chatted through our walk together. Here are some snaps from their chilly but amazing engagement session!

Grey likes us!

September 22, 2015

For a long while we have been following the beautiful photography, stories, and inspiration of Grey Likes Weddings! So when a few weeks ago we were approached to be part of their collective, we jumped with joy. We are so honoured to be part of such a creative team. See our profile here!

Engaged ~ Joanna & Andy

September 16, 2015

Just in time for the fall season, we thought that we would share this lovely rustic engagement session. As soon as we met Andy and Joanna we knew wanted to photograph their wedding. The chemistry between them is so evident and so sweet we can’t help but sigh as soon as we see them together. In addition to their affection and love for each other, Andy and Joanna both have an adventurous streak, which we are always attracted to. This became especially clear when the couple suggested scaling high rock walls and stone ridges in order to get just the right shot! We also love the location they chose for their engagement session, a marina that once belonged to Joanna’s grandmother. It’s nestled in Ontario’s beautiful Georgian Bay and offers some spectacular views of rivers, lakes, and of course, the province’s beautiful cottage country…

The long-lasting beauty of film…

July 3, 2015

A few years ago, before the rise in popularity of digital photography, we were gifted with an SLR (film) camera. This little baby changed the way we looked at the world and was our first real introduction to the beautiful world of photography. Initially, both Hugh and I found it frustrating and went through many rolls of film that were only fit for a garbage can and not much else, but with a lot of practice and even more patience both of us started to get the hang of it and fell head over heels in love with the art of film photography. So much so, in fact, that while living & travelling in Asia, despite having a cool new Digital SLR, our little NIKON F65 became our primary lens through which to document our life in South Korea – we even went as far as developing our own film a few times (and let me tell you that, in and of itself, is an art form!) Fast-forward a few years into the future when I came across on old roll of film that never saw the developing desk. Blowing the dust off I took it to our neighbourhood film store and had it developed. I was blown away that after sitting in a box for 6 years (yup 6!) the photo quality remained unchanged! This inspired both Hugh and I to once again experiment with the beauty of film. So after several years of collecting dust on the shelf our trusty old F65 is being put into circulation again – and we are so excited! In conclusion to our little rant, here are some of the photos that are 6 years in the making, along with some new ones we shot during two recent engagement sessions. Enjoy!

Jeju-do, South Korea (circa 2008/2009) Nikon F65 / Fujichrome Provia 400x