When Judy emailed me saying she has moved to Toronto from Ottawa with family, I was super excited and happy. We had done Judy’s two beautiful kids Sean and Sarah’s portraits back in 2009 in Ottawa. Judy gets her kids’ portraits done every winter in time for Christmas, so she can give them out to her close family and also update the picture frames around the house. Judy told me that last year she wanted to get the pictures done, but because she liked the portraits we did so much the previous year, and we weren’t in Ottawa anymore, she just didn’t bother getting them done! As luck would have it, we all reconvened back in Toronto and Judy asked us if we would come out and do the kids portraits again this year. Things were crazy busy with little Afroz and the wedding season, but we really wanted to see the kids and definitely get them their yearly pictures this year. So we picked a date, packed up and drove down to Judy’s beautiful house on the Beaches. We spent a couple of hours with the kids taking their pictures on the beach and in their rooms. We simply love how the pictures turned, and hope they like them too!

We’re extremely excited about sharing today’s wedding post. Our feature clients today our Farrah and Ahsan whose Oakville engagement shoot you must have seen on our blog previously. We covered their Mississauga wedding in September followed by their wedding reception in Ottawa one week apart.

Farrah is one of those super genius scientist types. I remember asking her at the engagement shoot what she did, and after two fairly long sentences of which I understood neither nouns nor verbs, there was a brief silence (I think I saw some tumbleweed roll by), followed by me saying in a retarded voice “I’m a photographer! I take pictures!” Seriously. Having explained that, the ama-zinc (snorty laugh) decor by SBD at the wedding will make a lot more sense.

The following week, we covered their valima in Ottawa getting some beautiful shots at the newly built and uber chic Ottawa Convention Centre. Check it out!

Wedding Planner & Designer: Sara Baig Designs
Make-up (Wedding): Maggie Wu
Make-up (Valima): Seema Haider

We are very excited to showcase today’s wedding featuring Puja and Keith. Their hindu wedding ceremony took place at the outside gazebo of West River Banquet Hall in Vaughn (Toronto). Though it was supposed to rain all day, the weather held out pretty much altogether and it actually got so sunny that the unprepared guests were seen holding up make shift umbrellas made out of papers, purses and whatever else they could gather. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful ceremony from beginning to end. Their ceremony was followed by an afternoon mini-reception inside West River. Finally the festivities carried out late into the night at the Rosehill Lounge in downtown Toronto.

We are most excited about sharing some creative shots from their wedding shoot. Check them out!

Woot Woot! We are super excited to share this bit of news. Our engagement shoot featuring Parag and Mona from earlier this summer that you can see here, was picked to be featured in Kismet magazine this year!

You can find the magazine at your local Chapters/Indigo location. To see a complete list of locations where you can find the magazine visit the Kismet Magazine’s website.

The year is 1995. I am sitting in my class highly annoyed. The teacher is going on and on trying to scare the shit out of the whole class about an upcoming test. I, on the other hand, am occupied with dodging my head trying to avoid the paper balls that are being bombarded at me and my giant head from behind. You see, I do have a giant head. On top of my giant head, God has gifted me super frizzy hair. And the punchline of His joke was to put me on this earth, of all the places, in Karachi what with it’s boiling temperature and all. (Girls with frizzy hair, you know where I’m coming from). Basically it’s an equation that successfully qualifies me to get up on the stage with a guitar and sing about shooting a sheriff. At the moment, however, I am sitting in the class, listening to my teacher, hating Arsalan and his cronies passionately.

Later that day, I am sitting in a school bus in the blistering heat of Karachi with a pounding headache. Next to me is sitting this girl going on and on about this guy she has a crush on. I listen using the least bit of my brain matter required to stay engaged in a conversation without looking aloof. All of a sudden she starts screaming, pointing at some guy walking outside. Her high-pitched note zapping the droopy part of my brain causing me to look outside and see Arsalan walking by. Ugh! I close my eyes and cover my face hoping it would drown out her annoying voice.

The year is 1998. It’s lunch time and Arsalan is bobbing about the whole school showing off his new camera. In a few minutes, he comes up to me and asks if I could take his picture. I grab the camera, press my nose next to its flat back, and peep through the viewfinder to find Arsalan standing with legs crossed giving the camera his best smoulder. I contain my laugh, click and hand him the camera.

A few days later, as I’m walking down the corridor with my friends, I hear Arsalan call me from the back. I turn around and he is waving a piece of paper in his hand. Ok, what’s this about now, I think. “Look, look, look at this picture you took!”. I take the piece of paper from his hand and it’s the picture I took of him. Smoulder and all. Yep. I look up at him inquisitively. “Where are my feet? There is all this space above my head and you cut off my feet? Who takes a picture of a person and cuts off their feet?”. “Your face is there at least, isn’t it?” I rebuttaled. But, of course, I wasn’t off the hook and had to hear about it for a long, long time.

The year is 2011. I’m in Canada, I’m married and I have a one month old baby. My phone rings and it is, lo and behold, Arsalan! We catch up on each others lives and he tells me he is getting married and wants me to photograph his wedding. He tells me his fiance Sarah, who we later find out has been following our blog religiously, will get in touch and sort out the details.

It’s a day before Arsalan’s wedding and I am on the phone with him arguing. He doesn’t want to go out for a photo shoot, Sarah does, so do we, but he just won’t be convinced. And for a minute I feel like I am back in Karachi sitting in my class dodging my head. Finally we hang up on an off note and I have no idea whether he would show up the next day for the photo shoot or not. But thankfully, as Asad would tell me later, he not only showed up, but was at his best behaviour throughout the night.

So Arsalan! Here is a trip down the memory lane. Many congratulations to you and Sarah, and we hope you’d have a beautiful life together. I also made sure your legs weren’t cut off this time :p Enjoy the pictures!