This past weekend, we had the awesome opportunity to be a part of the 29th Genie Awards held in Ottawa, April 4th.  The event celebrating the best in Canadian film was held none other than at the Nation's Capital Canada Aviation Museum, which was transformed beautifully to host the main event.  Definitely huge props (pun intended!) to the people that put the event together as it was a huge success!  The feel you get when you enter the building is that this was larger-than-life.  It was amazing to be surrounded by massive aircrafts and to experience the excitement and anticipation as the night went on!

Tulips and Maple was the esteemed caterer for the cocktail event and we were honoured to be chosen to work with them in capturing the evening.  Mark, owner and visioneer, along with his staff did an incredible job in staging the food and presentation!  Here, the chef and his staff are working hard behind the scene meticulously...
 

And the food was exquisite!
  

It was great to be amongst Canadians and to celebrate excellence and achievement in Canadian film.  There is a sense of national pride and awareness that we could see as we participated in the event.  They were definitely a fun crowd with a great sense of humour and unique style.  We've captured some of the gorgeous people that we've had the pleasure of meeting and talking with.  Thanks to everyone who worked it out in front of our cameras, you guys are beautiful and we love you! 

The awards ceremony was hosted by the hilarious, Dave Foley.
 

Also presenting the awards was Kristin Booth, who also won Best Supporting Actress (for her film, Young People F***ing).  Her coveted dress was custom designed by Rosemarie Umetsu, so that is who I'll be checking out ladies! :)

Our last shot of the night... (another self portrait as we tried to not drop the camera, as shown by the concern on my face!)

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!  Thank you for sharing your work with us.  Special thanks to Mark and his team at Tulips and Maple for being super fabulous! We wish you all the success and look forward to working with you at the next event.

Much love,
Sam and Mary

Hey, everyone!  We are so very excited to officially announce our **newly launched** Sam and Mary Photography blog and website.  It was time to update both with a fresh new look featuring larger images and a cleaner design. 

We have lots of wedding and engagements sessions which we will be posting in the coming weeks, so it will be an all new start to our blog!  As well, we will have to start over with all the comments as we were unable to move them over to this new blog along with the past year's posts.  Believe me, we tried! 

Thank you to all of you --our blog readers, friends (whether online or in person) and clients, who read and follow us here on our blog.  Thanks for the comments and words of encouragement you have left with us over the past few years.  It means a lot to us.  We are totally grateful for the chance to share our work and lives with all of you!

Thanks again for checking us out and while you're here, please let us know you've stopped in by leaving us a comment.  We'd love to hear from you, don't be shy!

Here's to happy bloggin'!
Sam and Mary

...and your one-arm-bandits crashin'

Whew what a rush.  4 days in Las Vegas at the WPPI convention and I managed to make it home alive and up $10!  The annual gathering of wedding and portrait photographers is a great place to talk shop, share ideas and just plain party.  It was awesome to meet up with old friends and make new ones.  Of course, it wasn't all wild parties, high stakes poker and go-go girls.  I did manage to do some "work" at the DQ Quikeys Booth with Dave and Quin Cheung.

Some pics from my trip!

We stayed on the 27th floor of the MGM Grand with a view of New York New York and enjoyed a splendid Japanese dinner at Shibuya right in the MGM Grand.  Beef sashimi and mushrooms laced in truffle oil.  Absolutely devine!

This was taken while goofin' off at Becker's party.  His parties are always a hit during WPPI.

Later at the Rouge, I ran into the crew from Colorati who were buying the drinks! By the end of the evening, their calling cards could be found all over the casino.

WPPI would not be complete without the much anticipated Bludomain party - featuring the Mammoth Men

On the very last day, we treated ourselves to a ride on the rollercoaster at New York New York.  This is also where I got busted for pulling out my camera!

Among the many, here are just a few of the friends and fellow photographers I ran into while in vegas: Dane Sanders, Britney Gardner and Joe Rumore, Ken and Stan and the crew from Renaissance Albums, Leon Sandoval from Colorati, of course Dave and Quin, Harold Jankowiak, Matt Sloan, Jasmine Star, The Becker, Joe Photo and Spiderman,  and Mel Barlow.  Oh, and guess who I bumped into at the Washington airport! My good friend, Barack Obama.

To all the folks I bumped into at WPPI - thanks for a fantastic time, for inspiring and for the cool friendships and connections.  I'm already looking forward to next year's show!

Big hugs all around, Sam.

Just some exciting news we wanted to share! We have been chosen and published in Weddingbells, featuring Alania and Brett's backyard "Garden State" wedding. You can read up on Alania and Brett's full wedding story online as well. Here's a glimpse of the Real Weddings feature, along with an editorial feature on our work and our ad (top left and right photos):

The magazine is now available in stores, so go pick up a copy today!
Thanks for all our brides and blog readers for your continued support and for cheering us on :)

This week, Stacy Price and her crew at Marry Me Productions put together a fun night of appreciation for all of us who has worked with her this past year. The swank celebration was held at Lago down at Dow's Lake in their newly renovated reception hall! There was plenty of drinks and good conversation.

The best part of the night was to connect real faces to the names of vendors who had worked from florists, to make up artists, caterers, and even officiants! Although we had tried to mingle and meet everyone, there's always a few we missed this year, so we hope to catch up in the coming year!

Funny, the largest group of us there, was the wedding photographers! It was great to chat with everyone and hang out that night. They are such a warm and fun group of people and we couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of this community of photographers and to share our passions.. and tech talk! haha.

So... if you're wondering who's who, here we are from left to right: Frank Cava, Suzanne, Miv Fournier, Derrick Rice, Stephanie (wife to Andrew V), Moi, Andrew Geddes, Sam, Andrew Van Beek, Ron Zeitlan, and Bonnie Findley .

photo by the lovely assistant from Miv Photography

A special thanks to Stacey and Marry Me Productions, as well as the folks at Lago for hosting this event and your warm hospitality!

Much love,
Mary ( & Sam)