Li’l K and the Rainbow Tunnel

Rainbow Tunnel | Jessica Blaine SmithLi’l K and the rainbow tunnel. If you know me, you know how much I love my niece Li’l K. I try to do a little portrait session with her every year because we all know: kids grow much too quickly. This one just turned nine in July and is (very excitedly!) getting ready for grade four. She’s also quickly on her way to growing taller than me which I find slightly terrifying. (Stay small, Li’l K!) A couple of weeks ago she had a mini-vacation at our place. On our way to the Science Centre one day, I took a detour to that infamous rainbow tunnel that you can see from the DVP in Toronto. I didn’t tell her where we were going, just that we were going for a short walk. When we turned a corner, she yelled out “A rainbow!” and sprinted towards it. Because when you are nine, rainbows are one of your most favourite things. Photo by: Jessica Blaine Smith | http://jbsmithphotography.comRainbow Tunnel | Jessica Blaine SmithRainbow Tunnel | Jessica Blaine SmithRainbow Tunnel | Jessica Blaine SmithKid Portrait | Jessica Blaine SmithKid Portrait | Jessica Blaine SmithKid Portrait | Jessica Blaine Smith

Fara & Ben | Portraits in Nérac, France

Portraits in Nérac, France | Jessica Blaine Smith

I am pretty excited to share these photos that I recently took in Nérac, France. When Fara and Ben hired me to photograph their wedding in the South of France, I thought that I was dreaming. Luckily I wasn’t but I have to say, we did have a pretty dreamy time there. Since these two live in Los Angeles, we were not able to do an engagement session before heading to France. The day before their wedding we met up to do some portraits in Nérac, the closest town to where their wedding was held. This allowed them to have a little quiet time before the madness of the wedding and also to get some nice portraits of them in their everyday wear. We had a great time wandering the streets of this little village. Basically every direction that I looked was an image just waiting to be made.

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A West Queen West Engagement Session

West Queen West Engagement PortraitsOh Steph and Matt. How much do I like these two?! A whole heck of a lot. For these two, I planned a very urban West Queen West engagement session. We wanted images that would be much different than the ones taken on their wedding day which takes place next month in an apple orchard. (It’s going to be good!) I met these two in Parkdale and we immediately went into Miss Thing’s where they shared an Our Tai at the bar. From there, we chased the light along West Queen West stopping here and there for photos – including a quick ice cream break at Sweet Olenka’s – until we ended up at Bellwoods Brewery. Any engagement session that begins with a cocktail and ends with beers on a patio is pretty great in my books! West Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement PortraitsWest Queen West Engagement Portraits

Gloria & Ben | Roseville Estate Wedding, Cambridge

Roseville Estate Wedding | Jessica Blaine SmithI am so excited to share photos from Gloria and Ben’s wedding! Their wedding took place at the Roseville Estate in Cambridge and let me tell you: it was gorgeous! I love all of the details that Gloria took care of to make their wedding that much more awesome. This was my first time photographing at Roseville Estate and I was blown away. Everything here is set up to allow weddings to run smoothly and there are almost too many options for photo locations! I love that guests could lounge around the pool or play lawn games during the cocktail hour. After dinner, there was even a fire pit complete with a s’mores station. Between the awesome caterer (Indulge Catering), their awesome coordinators (Crystal & Gina of Distinct Occasions) and some great speeches, dinner ended up wrapping up an hour early. In my twelve years of photographing weddings, I cannot remember a wedding being so efficient! This allowed for lots of time for partying afterwards. If you are wondering about Gloria’s beautiful dress, it’s something that she imagined up herself and then had it custom-made. Congratulations Gloria & Ben!

Hair & Makeup – Sangri-la Salon
Dress – Catherine Langlois
Shoes – Betsey Johnson
Flowers & Decor – Special Events & Flowers
Coordinator – Distinct Occasions
Caterer – Indulge Catering
DJ – Thunderstorm Productions
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New Portraits on Sweet Potato Chronicles

Sweet Potato Chronicles | Jessica Blaine Smith

The lovely ladies at Sweet Potato Chronicles have launched their new website and in one word it is INCREDIBLE! I first met Ceri and Laura many years ago when they were fancy fashion editor/writers. Once they started having kids, their life focus changed and as a result, they left those lives to launch (and live out!) Sweet Potato Chroniclesthe never ending story of the well-fed family.  SPC has grown since it’s beginning and I am so proud of these ladies for taking a chance on this project and making it into such a success. A couple of weeks ago they came by the studio to update their portraits. I have lost track of how many times I have photographed these two but every time we have a lot of fun.

Please do check out the SPC site – in fact, you should make it a regular in your daily website visits. I recently read an article in the NY Times about health and a part of it is something that has really stuck with me:

“Far too many people, though, can manage to find an hour or more in their day to drive to the gym, exercise and then clean up afterward — but complain that there’s just no time to cook or prepare a healthful, home-cooked meal. If they would spend just half the time they do exercising trying to make a difference in the kitchen, they’d most likely see much better results.”

Taking the time to cook healthy meals leaves to living healthier lives. And SPC proves that doing so can be fun and easy.

Have a fun, healthy and happy long weekend everyone!

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Based in Toronto, Canada | Passport ready for travel.