When the bride and groom mentioned that they will get married at Chateau Le Parc, I could barely curb my enthusiasm. The modern venue is splendid in many Toronto wedding photographers dream of shooting there.
During my consultations before the big day, I emphasize the importance of the couple letting me know of any surprises or special events. Often, the bride and groom forget that we are professionals hired to document the wedding day and not enjoy the festivities and they keep us out of the loop so that we don't spoil the guests' surprise. Obviously, on very rare occasions we even know the guests.
It is imperative that the brides and grooms let us know if they prepared any surprises so that we are ready to document them properly. While we are wildly considered some of the best wedding photographers in Toronto, we are definitely no psychics. As such, we beg our beautiful brides to send us the timelines as soon as possible and include any extraordinary events.
In this special event, the couple told us they will exchange letters so we were ready when he started reading them.
In this particular photograph, I captured the moment when the groom opened a letter from his bride to be and started reading it. When I noticed the groom picking up the envelope containing the letter, I asked him kindly to head towards the window so that the light would shine directly on his face. He was happy to oblige and while he was reading the letter, he looked out the window and smiled. It was on that moment when I captured this beautiful shot.
The groom's chiselled figure jumps out of the frame because his white face contrasts with the dark background. On his cheek, we can see the inverted triangle of light, the signature of the Rembrandt lighting pattern I managed to create here.
In post-processing, I did not have to do much. As usual, I perform colour correction, I adjusted the levels and curves, sharpen the image ever so slightly and added a selective vignette.
While this is not an award-winning photograph, it is one of the most favourites of the couple and of the groom's parents.
Location: 1745 Langstaff Rd, Concord, ON L4K 2H2.
