Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I can hardly believe that another year has passed. It has been fun for me to look over the last twelve months of this blog to see all of the photo shoots that I was lucky enough to be a part of. As I predicted at the end of 2007, 2008 was definitely the year of the baby! It seemed as though everyone (and their sister!) had a baby and I had a lot of fun photographing them all. Already 2009 is shaping up with the promise of being a great year. I have so many great weddings and portraits to look forward to. Thank you to all of my fabulous clients - you make my life that much brighter!

Cheers,
Jessica

[Here is one of my favourite images from a recent session with L'il K. This was me practising with my new baby - Canon 5D Mark II!]

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you much laughter + love this holiday season.

Cheers,
Jessica

[Main image taken at the Temple-in-the-Sea, Trinidad. Overlay image taken at the Basilica of St. Archillius (10th c.), Greece]

Wedding Bells Feature!

Have you seen the new Spring & Summer issue of Wedding Bells yet? If not, pick up a copy and check out my photos featuring Caroline + Vav's fabulous wedding! Roseanne Dela Rosa was also kind enough to give me a shout out on her blog. Thanks Rosie! To see the whole story on Wedding Bells, please click here.

Holiday Cards!

T'is the time to start thinking about holidays cards to send out to your friends and family! I have designed a few layouts that can easily fit any photo. Please inquiry for more details if you are interested in ordering some cards.

Typical Timing

My Beautiful Clients,

Since we are into one of my busiest times of the year, I wanted to remind you of my timing and policies for things. As you know, I am currently an one-woman operation. This is why you like me right - everything has my personal touch! I work as fast as humanly possible on my photographs, however, I still must maintain regular human life that includes eating, sleeping and spending time with my family and friends.

• For Weddings: within a couple of weeks of your wedding, I will post a "sneak peek" of your photos on my blog. Within a couple of weeks of this, you will then hear from me that your photos are ready for pick up.
• For boudoir sessions: within a few days of the session, you will receive a link to an online gallery of your photos. From there, you need to choose your top twenty favourites. Once you make this choice and tell me it, I need approximately two weeks to do the additional retouching and burn you a disc.
• For print orders: Once you have requested any prints, I will have them made for you within two to three weeks of the order date.
• For Thank You Cards orders: Once you choose the photos and specifications for your cards, I need approximately one week to create the layout. Once the layout is approved, the cards typically arrive within three weeks of the approval date.
• If you are unable to pick up your prints/cards/albums from me, there is the option of having it shipped. If you would like it shipped, your prints/cards/albums must be paid in full before anything is mailed. For this, I will email you an invoice, you can send me a cheque and once I receive it, I will ship your package.
• I require a retainer to reserve any date of photography. For this, I will email you an invoice. Once I receive the payment, we are all set for your session!

I do my best to get everything to my clients as timely as possible. I would prefer you to get your prints/cards/albums as soon as possible rather than having them sit at my place! Please keep in mind any deadlines that you may have with my timelines and let me know as soon as possible if you have any concerns.

Cheers,
Jessica

I Have Returned!

I have returned from sunny Trinidad & Tobago after spending a lovely week photographing Andrea + Ravi's wedding! Stayed tuned for lots of photos from their awesome wedding!

I appreciate your patience in waiting for a response from me to all of your emails and phone messages!

Cheers,
Jessica

I'm Back!

I am back from my fabulous holidays in Europe! Yesterday morning I woke up in Greece, had lunch at Windsor Castle in London and then arrived in Toronto late in the evening! I'm a little jet-lagged and am slowly catching up on all of your emails and phone messages. I appreciate your patience in waiting to get a response from me!

Stayed tuned for photos from my trip - I can hardly wait to work on them!

Cheers,
Jessica

Away Notice Heads-Up!

I wanted to give everyone a heads-up that very soon I will be doing a bit of travel and hence, will be away from the office. This means that all of you wedding clients wanting to order any albums, you must get the orders in as soon as possible so that I can get rolling on the design before I leave.

On June 25th, I will be heading to Europe for twenty glorious days of traveling fun that will include ATTENDING two weddings! That is right, attending, not photographing! I cannot remember the last wedding that I was at where I did not shoot it. No doubt my camera will be in tow but from a more relaxed standpoint. I am then away again from July 29th until August 7th to photograph the lovely Andrea + Ravi's wedding in Trinidad!

Wild Week!

This past week was a pretty crazy one for me! I had so many fabulous photography sessions: a maternity, an engagement, a boudoir/maternity, a fantastic wedding and two boudoir sessions! I now have lots of post-production to get rolling on!

Just a reminder that I will be on vacation beginning June 25th and will return on July 15th. This means, that if you are looking to order any prints/albums or to book a session, please contact me as soon as possible. The summer is already quite booked up!

Happy Monday!

Cheers,
Jessica

Busy girl!

This week is crazy busy for me! With all of these photography shoots, there is tons of post-production to get done. Just look at how productive I am being! (I love my discs!)

My Photo Exhibit - Mexican Holgas

I currently have an exhibit of my work at the Queen Mother Cafe at 208 Queen Street West in Toronto. This show is of my Mexican Holgas and it has been two years in the making! If you are ever in that neighbourhood, please stop by the Queen Mother and tell me what you think!

An excerpt from the description of the exhibit:
Mexican Holgas is a project that Jessica has been working on for the past two years. Her frequent visits to Mexico have enabled her to travel from coast to coast of the country always with her Holga camera in tow. The Holga camera enables her to create images that give the viewer a sense of nostalgia and familiarity to the places in them.

Happy Monday, cupcake!

Happy Monday! The past three days have been FILLED with photography for me! Friday I photographed four families, three of which were for the tv show Save Us From Our House. Saturday I photographed Jennifer + Joe's lovely wedding. Sunday I hung up my show (details to come soon!) and then met up with Ravi + Andrea for an engagement portrait session. Stayed tuned for LOTS of new images!

Happy Monday!

I saw this sign the other day after dropping off my car at the shop a few days ago and could not pass up taking a photo. Happy Monday!

Saturday, May 10th 11am Boudoir Session Available!

I now have an opening for a boudoir portrait session on Saturday, May 10th at 11am as the bride booked for this session has had to change the date with me.

My boudoir portraits take place at my studio located near downtown Toronto. The cost of a session is $330 and includes a disc containing high resolution files of all final photographs, including your top twenty favourite portraits all retouched so that they are as close to perfect as possible! The fabulous Megan Paiswill be doing make-up. Please contact me if you would like to book this session or if you have any questions about my boudoir sessions! I am also currently taking bookings for my next Boudoir Marathon on Sunday, August 24th (details below).

Cheers,
Jessica

Trash the Dress!

It is the time of year to start booking your Trash the Dress portrait session! What is a Trash the Dress session? It is a portrait session that takes place after your wedding where you get dressed up in your wedding clothes again. Often these sessions take place near some sort of body of water during sunset. The results of the session are nice and relaxed portraits taken without all of the hectic activity from the actual wedding day! Please contact me (weddings at jbsmithphotography dot com) for more information on booking a session!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday! This past weekend was filled with photography for me. Stayed tuned for a ton of new photos, including ones of Andrea + Duncan with their adorable dogs!

New Product: Photo Composites!

Photo composites are a great way to hang your favourites photos together as one! You choose your favourite images and I will make a custom layout for them. The end product is a 16" x 20" photograph.

Before + After

I get asked a lot by clients about my additional retouching. When you hire me for boudoir portraits, I have you choose twenty of your favourite images and do this additional retouching to the images. For this, I take out any imperfections, smooth out the skin and pump up the contrast to make it the perfect image that you then see! Here is a sample of the before and after of a photograph that I took of a lovely bride this past weekend.

I'm Back!

I have returned from a lovely vacation that included visiting my sister in Mexico City and traveling to Veracruz to spend a few days in the sun! I have hundreds of photographs to go through from my trip so stay tuned for lots of new images. Now begins the task of responding to all emails and phone calls from when I was away. I appreciate your patience!

Cheers,
Jessica

VACATION ALERT

I wanted to let you all know that I am going to be out of the country from March 12th to March 25th. Voy a visitar mi hermana en Ciudad de Mexico! I am also going to be working on some personal photography projects that have been in the works for a while now. And don't worry, I am bringing my Holga camera!

While I am away my access to email and phone will be extremely limited so I appreciate your patience in waiting for a response to any inquiries!

Cheers,
Jessica

Vacation Heads-Up!

I wanted to give you all a heads-up that I am going to be out of the country from March 12th to March 25th. Voy a visitar mi hermana en Ciudad de Mexico!

That means any of you looking for that last minute Gift Certificate (thanks Karen!) for your friend's baby or wedding shower had best contact me as soon as possible! :)

I'm ba-ack!

I have returned from my weekend away in the wild and fabulous Las Vegas. Stay tuned for some images from the trip! In the meantime, here I am at the Valley of Fire.

VACATION ALERT! Viva Las Vegas!

I wanted to let you all know that I will be out of town until Wednesday, February 20th. I will not have access to my phone and email during this time and will respond to any messages when I return. I appreciate your patience!

I hope that you all enjoy the long weekend and stayed tuned for some images from my weekend away in Las Vegas!!

Cheers,
Jessica

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you a day filled with love.

New Website!

It has been a long time coming but it is finally up! Check it out!

Happy New Year!

Yesterday I finished off my 2007 photography with the fabulous wedding of Wendy + Ben! I cannot imagine a better wedding to finish off a great year! Stayed tuned in the new year for more images from their big day. In the meantime, here is one of my favourites.

Happy New Year!!

Cheers,
Jessica

Happy Holidays!

Over the next week and a half I will be in and out of the city, trying to enjoy a little bit of rest and relaxation with family + friends. Access to my email and phone will be limited during this time so I appreciate your patience in waiting to get a response to any inquiries. I will of course be back in Toronto to photograph Wendy + Ben's wedding on December 29th!

Thank you to all of my beautiful clients for making 2007 such a fabulous year. I feel blessed to have such great clients and have truly enjoyed photographing each and every one of you. I am looking forward to 2008 and to many new + exciting adventures. Already it is shaping up to be the year of the baby!!

All the best,
Jessica

Gift Certificates

A couple of people have asked me recently if I offer Gift Certificates. The answer is, yes! I can make a Gift Certificate for any service that I offer. Whether you want to give a friend a Family Portrait Session or if you are a bridesmaid looking to give the bride the gift of a Boudoir Portrait Session. Please contact me for more information!

Boudoir Marathon :: Just in Time for Valentine's Day!

UPDATE: Due to some unfortunate circumstance my client originally booked for the 2pm session has had to cancel. This session is now available!!

On Saturday, January 12th I will be doing a day of boudoir portrait sessions at my studio located near downtown Toronto. The cost of a session is $330 and includes a disc containing high resolution files of all final photographs, including your top twenty favourite portraits all retouched so that they are as close to perfect as possible! The fabulous Megan Pais will be doing make-up. Please contact me if you would like to book a session or if you have any questions about my boudoir sessions.

Saturday, January 12th, 2008
11:ooam - booked
12:30pm - booked
2:00pm -
3:30pm - booked

Recent Boudoir Feedback

I wanted to post some recent feedback that I received from a bride who I did boudoir portraits for this past weekend.

Her first email on Monday morning was:

Hi Jessica,
I just wanted to say thank you for Saturday. We had a great time. I have never felt more comfortable or at ease in front of the camera. It was like spending an afternoon with your closest friend.
Thank you for a great time. I can hardly wait to see the pictures!


And then this morning when she saw her photos, I received this message:


Hey Jessica!! The bestest photographer EVER!!!

All I could do was scream !! The pictures are even better then I thought they would be. I look beautiful, I can hardly believe it is me!


Later her friend, who I also photographed on Saturday, wrote me this:

She spoke for both of us when she said we truly had an AMAZING time! Seriously, I never thought I could say that I had fun while stipping to my smalls infront of a camera but I'm so proud of myself! It's truly a skill to make people feel completely comfortable in their skin while doing what you do best.....Thanks a million.

I love my clients and because of this, I love my job!

Turkey Time!

It is Thanksgiving weekend and I am heading out of town until Wednesday. Access to my email will be limited during this period. I love this time of year and plan to take many photos of the fall leaves, farm fields and rundown barns at my Mom's place. Stayed tuned for a bunch of upcoming blog postings including:

• Deborah Ann + Mark's wedding at the Doctor's House
• Sherri + Kevin's Trash the Dress session
• Annie + Scott's fabulous wedding at the Eglinton Grand

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers,
Jessica

Boudoir Marathon - Sunday, October 21st

Since there was so much interest in my first boudoir marathon session, I have decided to offer a second one on Sunday, October 21st at the studio in Toronto. The cost of a session is $330 and includes a disc containing high resolution files of all final photographs. The fabulous Megan Pais will be doing make-up. Please contact me if you would like to book a session or if you have any questions about my boudoir sessions.

Sunday, October 21st
11:ooam - booked
12:30pm - booked
2:00pm -
3:30pm -
5:00pm -

Published!

Back in the spring I photographed baby Esme with her parents. If you check out the October issue of Canadian Family Magazine you will see some of my images from this session! They are published with an article about Esme's Mom, Ceri Marsh, who is the editor-in-chief of Fashion Magazine. Check them out on page thirty-eight!

Save Us From Our House Season 3

My television debut is coming up! Season three of the television show Save Us From Our House premieres on the W Network on Thursday, September 6th at 9:30pm. Look for me at the beginning of the episode and for my photos. Hopefully I have not embarrassed myself too much!

Cards!

I wanted to show a couple of samples of recent cards that I have had made. One is a Thank You card for Jenny & Tyler's May wedding. The second is a First Birthday card for Katerra. The cards that I offer are press-printed and are available in a number of finishes. Each set of cards is custom- designed by myself.

Boudoir Marathon - Sunday, August 19th

UPDATE: ALL BOOKED UP! I am currently all booked up for Sunday, August 19th. Stayed tuned for upcoming boudoir marathon dates. If you are interested in booking a session at one of these, please contact me and we can begin planning!

****

I have been so busy with boudoir portrait bookings lately that I have decided to have a "marathon" day on Sunday, August 19th at the studio in Toronto. The cost of a session will be $330 and includes a disc containing high resolution files of all final photographs. The fabulous Megan Pais will be doing make-up. I worked with her at my last boudoir portrait session and I just knew that we had to work together again! Please contact me know if you would like to book a session or if you have any questions about my boudoir sessions.

Sunday, August 19th
9:30am - booked
11:ooam - booked
12:30pm - booked
2:00pm - booked
3:30pm - booked
5:00pm - booked

Back in the City

I am back in the city after being away for a few days of photography and relaxing! I am very excited to post some new images in the coming days that include:

• Katerra's first birthday
• Heather + Philip's wedding that took place in Peterborough on Saturday
• Jenn + Brad post-wedding portrait session that took place in Southampton on Sunday
• And of course, there is always more boudoir portraits to show!

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos from the drive back to the city last night. The sunset was taunting us as we made our way back to reality. The fields were golden and the farmers were out harvesting the hay.

Out of Town Notice

I will be out of town until Tuesday, July 24th. Access to my phone and email will be limited during this time. I appreciate your patience in waiting to get a response to any inquiries. Today I am heading to Peterborough to photograph Heather & Philip's wedding. On Sunday I am heading to Southampton for a very special photo shoot. Keep your eyes on my blog to see the images from both of these sessions in the coming week!

Cheers,
Jessica

Happy Anniversary Gillian & Patrick!!

One of my best friends, Gillian, got married a year ago this weekend to the love of her life, Patrick. Happy Anniversary guys! I cannot believe that it has already been a year. Love you both!

Do I Travel?

I have been getting many inquiries lately asking if I travel for photography. The answer is Yes! I love to travel.

Trash the Dress in NYC? Most definitely!

Boudoir in Ottawa? For sure!

Please do not hesitate to contact me about wedding or portrait photography even if you are not close to Toronto. I am sure that we can work something out!

Out of Town Notice!

I wanted to let you know that I will be out of town for this long weekend. I will be back in the city on Wednesday. Access to my email during this time will be limited so I appreciate your patience in waiting for a reply to any inquiries.

Happy Canada Day!

Cheers,
Jessica

Out of Town Notice!

I wanted to let you all know that I will be out of town for the weekend. I am heading to Ottawa to photograph Melissa and Mark's wedding! Stayed tuned for the photos! :)

Cheers,
Jessica

Away From the Computer!

I wanted to let you all know that I will be away from my computer and email until Friday, June 1st. I appreciate your patience in my replying to any messages at this time. If you need to reach me immediately, please call me at 647 688 3875.

Cheers,
Jessica

I Do... Let's Eat!

Hello my Beautiful Brides & Grooms,

This past weekend I ran into an old Ryerson University friend who is working on the tv show I Do...Let's Eat! She told me that they for some "foodies" who are getting married in the coming months, particularly in June and July, who would want to be on the show. Please email me for more details!

Cheers,
Jessica

Babies in the Park!

At the beginning of May, I will be doing an afternoon of portrait sessions at Bellwoods Park. The idea is to get your little guys and gals out for some fun outdoor portraits. $10 from every session will go to the Canadian charity Partners in the Horn of Africa. See more details below and please email me if you would like to sign up for a session.


Current openings for Wednesday, May 2nd (raindate Friday, May 4th) are:
12:00pm -
12:45pm -
1:30pm -
2:15pm -
3:00pm -
3:45pm -
4:30pm -