Helena ❤️ Julian: a downtown Toronto engagement

(warning: This blog details some unlawful sneaking around. Not for the faint of heart.*)

she/her: resilient, assertive, passionate

he/him: empathic, caring, fighter

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Helena and Julian are wonderful. It felt like our meeting was meant to be.😍

From the very first time we chatted on Instagram, I could feel that they were welcoming & joyful & artful, and the kind of people who had an awesome vision about their April wedding in Toronto: quirky, doing things exactly their own way.

Of course, their engagement session was equally unique.

We met up at a downtown Toronto cafe (which was actually far too busy on an early Monday afternoon to accommodate us, so we moved to a near-by restaurant), I chatted with them as they grabbed a bite to eat, and then I took some photos as they explored the city.

They indulged my whims to take an artsy shot inside the Eaton’s centre, then we snuck into a greenhouse, where one of the rooms smelled of feet (one of the plants apparently gives off this lovely odour…), but even so, it was a beautiful place to spend thirty minutes (and also warm! Helena and Julian are both warm-loving people, like me, so we sought out every opportunity for indoor heat).

Julian is camera shy, and yet he still wanted to smooch with Helena ALL THE TIME, especially once he eased into our time together. I tell myself it’s because I ramble, which has the side-effect of putting people at ease (if not boring them). So I definitely grabbed lots of kissy photos of the two of them, while trying to make sure they felt good about the whole thing. I’m always aiming for a friendly paparazzo kind of vibe. Like, I want them to feel special, to realize that their gestures with each other are so CUTE and need to be documented perfectly, but without making them feel tense about it.

This dynamic is so important to me in all my work - with families & couples alike.

Some photographers claim that you don’t need to earn the subject’s trust to take a good photograph.

Perhaps that is true, but there’s so much more to photographing people well than just getting a good photo. (yes, that’s right). Because you can’t have a good and fulfilling experience without mutual trust and kindness, and this is actually TO ME the most important aspect of photography. ☺️

I cannot thank Helena and Julian enough for taking time our of their hectic schedules to meet with me, and trust me to capture some adorable moments of them together in their city 🙏

Some of my favourite moments of them have a slight motion blur, because it was this spontaneity that personifies them. So I ended up keeping a few of these “blurry” photos that I loved.

I hope you enjoy the photos, and if you do, please leave me a comment below.

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*PS. The sneaking into the greenhouse was easier than you might think. I’d read that there are security guards everywhere, but actually the staff were super kind. They told us no photoshoots were allowed, but what we were doing wasn’t really a photoshoot. It was just friends, hanging out, visiting the plants, and taking a photo here and there. Right? Oh, there are so many perks of being a photojournalist…