University of Toronto’s Bruce Kidd retires | Imajing Photography | Toronto event photographer

2010/05/25 by Jing

After 19 years at the helm of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Physical Education and Health, Bruce Kidd is retiring and riding off into the sunset on his trusty bicycle. I had the pleasure of photographing the first of his many send-off events on Tuesday, May 25th at the beautiful Great Hall at Hart House. Bruce was surrounded by people from all aspects of his life. We were all touched and amazed as his colleagues and friends fondly recalled their personal Bruce stories.

Bruce is not only an academic and activist, but also an Olympian, a member of the U of T and the Canadian Sports Halls of Fame and the Order of Canada. During my time as a student-athlete and then later as an employee at U of T, Bruce was one of my favourite senior administrators. He also happens to be my neighbour and I’m always happy to bump into him at local haunts like the Wychwood Barns or Fiesta Farms where we each go for our Gryfes bagel fix.

You can read more about the event on the U of T website.

Bruce Kidd with his mentor and Olympic gold medallist Sir Murray Halberg

Advocate Placement headshots | Imajing Photography | Toronto Corporate Headshots

2010/05/18 by Jing

You never know where a relationship with a wedding client will take you over the years. Julie Chapman and I joke that I’m her personal photographer with exclusive rights on capturing her life. Since her 2006 wedding to Andrew, she has referred me to Rhiannon and Eric’s wedding and then back to her own family once her daughter Lyla joined the family. Julie contacted me again when she returned to the corporate world after her maternity leave for a headshot. Next thing we know, I’m shooting headshots for all three executives at Advocate Placement, a recruiting firm for legal professionals.

During my initial consultation and site visit I discovered that founder Anita Lerek is a lawyer by profession, she is a creative spirit and an avid art and music lover. As I write this they haven’t picked their new photos yet, but if you read through their online bios you’ll see that Anita and Julie met at a creative writing course. So much like inspiration, you never know where you will find a new client, friend or employer!

Caillie | Imajing Photography | Toronto Baby Photographer

2010/05/13 by Jing

Here she is, little miss Caillie! After rescheduling her shoot last week due to a raging photographer’s cold I finally got to meet Caillie and family. I’ve already heard lots about Kim, Robb and Caillie from the Morrow family, and from Kim’s sister Allison whose wedding I will be shooting in June. I knew that Kim runs her own chiropractic practice on the Danforth (Fusion Chiropractic) and that Robb is a contractor who has done gorgeous work on their building’s apartment space. What they didn’t tell me about was George.

Adorable, fuzzy, sweet George who up to six weeks ago was the baby of the family. While he has resigned to the fact that he is now last on the dance card, he quietly inserted himself beside the focus of all the attention (that being Caillie) during the whole shoot. He successfully made it into several shots on pure charm but we did have to ask him to move most of time.

Caillie is not only adorable but also very alert and loves to be upright. Look at these eyes! She was such a good sport, putting up with outfit changes and funny hats, until she called the end of the shoot by rubbing her own eyes (which is incredibly coordinated for such a young baby). Looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks at Allison and Dan’s wedding!

Sofia | Imajing Photography | Toronto GTA baby photographer

2010/05/02 by Jing

I had the pleasure of photographing little Sofia and her mom a few days ago in their home in Vaughn. They were referred to me by my wonderful client, Shazeen (see a few posts ago, she’s the one who could teach a course on what to wear for your family portraits).

Sofia has the most gorgeous big brown eyes, and a shock of thick black hair. I know you can’t help but notice the hemangioma birthmark over her right eye, but honestly after a few minutes with her, and in editing the photos, I don’t notice it anymore. This birthmark should fade and disappear as Sofia grows up so the question is, do we photoshop it out as if it never existed or leave it be? My personal philosophy is that photoshop should not change history, only enhance your memory of it. So for example, I wouldn’t photoshop an ex-boyfriend out of a group photo, but I would happily fade out stretch marks on an expectant mom’s belly after a maternity shoot. Anyhow, I’m getting off-topic, but it does lead to an interesting debate right?

I was inspired from the previous week’s wedding so asked Sofia’s mom to bring out some of her saris and scarves to use as backdrops. Sofia told us quickly that she didn’t enjoy the prickly sequins on the beautiful fuschia scarf so we improvised quickly and draped it around her instead. Here are just a few from the shoot. Enjoy!