July: Art to Inspiration

I'm beside myself that Sups from Chevrons & Éclairs has chosen one of my photographs for this month's A2I!

I thought I'd give a bit of background to this image, which is one from a series I shot for Aarti when she was starting up her yoga company, 'Healing Yoga with Aarti'. 

I love this quote from her practice:

 "Health is wealth, peace of mind is happiness, yoga shows the way" - Swami Vishnudevananda

Aarti was looking for yoga photos that weren't conventional (ie. sun-set-silhouette-type shots) but more of something organic with interesting body shapes and unique backdrops.  She was really open-minded so we tried some really cool things, like this shot of her in her beautiful lehenga out on the skating rink at the Harbourfront Centre across from our condo and the CN Tower in Toronto. Here, some other shots from her shoot.

Thank you Sups for choosing one of my pieces for this month's Art To Inspiration!

You'll be able to see the full A2I gallery over here.

Want to join Art to Inspiration? Just click here!

Throwback Monday: Toronto Beaches

Summer '06, Toronto Beaches.

Throwback Monday: Distillery District, Toronto, 2006

Today's Throwback is to Toronto's gorgeous Distillery District, which, when these were taken, was still an up-n-coming neighbourhood. With it's beautiful cobblestone walkways, old brick buildings with delightful cafes and chocolate shops, this area is popular for brunching and birthday brunching (yours truly). These were taken with the Nikon Coolpix 5200 in 2006.

One Year Ago...2011

Happy New Year Peeps!

2011 was a crazy year for us:

We moved from Toronto to Boston.

I said goodbye to my animation job (The Backyardigans, Justin Time) in Toronto to focus on professional photography full-time.

I shot two of my favourite families before we left: The Brights and The Hamiltons

I launched HOGGER & Co., consolidating three (Foodhogger, Fashionhogger, Photohogger) websites into one.

I shot at Boston Fashion Week within weeks of moving to Boston.

I reviewed some amazing restaurants like Nil Bleu in Montreal, Roy's in Hawaii and reviewed some interesting products like Olivado's Avacado Oil.

I shared some fun recipes, like Cardomom Cake, Spicy Tilapia and How to make Cake Pops.

We travelled to Hawaii, Quebec City, Montreal, Boston, Amsterdam and Greece.

I tweeted the Royal Wedding LIVE. With my Mom. Whilst we wore hats.

My photographs were selected for an exhibit at the Boston Convention Center and are ongoing until April 2012!

I met designers Zac Posen, Badgley Mischka, Roopal Patel and Bibhu Mohapatra while covering them for Neiman Marcus.

I met Mindy Kaling.

I got to know some cool Boston Bloggers at several fun events (Holiday Party, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Lit Boutique, Zoora)

We went home for Xmas.

One year ago on the blog.

Thank you for all the support through 2011; it was so nice to meet a few of you in person last year and I look forward to getting to know each of you better in 2012!

Let's do this!!!  

Merry Christmas, 2011!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the holiday season! We were so happy to be able to go home to Toronto for the holidays.  After moving to Boston in the summer, this was our first trip back, so it was really nice to catch up with family and friends and do not much of anything else.  Except eat, of course.  The following sums up our holiday fairly well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's strange for us to be celebrating Thanksgiving in November, as Canadian Thanksgiving falls in October (2nd Monday in Oct).  

Nevertheless, any excuse to eat, drink and be merry is a good one.  

It's been an unbelievable few months since our move to Boston from Toronto in August.  Boston is a lovely city and we've felt so welcome in many ways.  I've also had some very cool opportunities to shoot fun events in the city, and I'm thankful for each moment.

I'm also so very thankful for our family who've helped set up our new home, for the friends who've visited from Toronto and made the distance seem much closer.  And for the new people we've met so far who've made us feel at home.  

What are you thankful for this season?

 

(Image processed with Poladroid)

Lady Marmalade + Julius Caesar Part II

This is the Julius Caesar part of the ladies who brunch series, as seen here.

Our friend O played Calpurnia (Caesar's wife) on stage with Bard in the Park's theatre troupe at Kew Gardens in the Beaches.  She did a wonderful job as did the rest of the cast.  How on earth can they remember all those Shakespeare lines?  It got quite hot sitting in the sun, as you can tell by the coverups some of us threw on by the end of the afternoon.  

Lady Marmalade + Julius Caesar Part I

On Saturday I met up with some of my girlfriends for brunch at Lady Marmalade on Queen St. in Leslieville in Toronto.
A brought her bubbly 16 month old daughter Jasmine (who you've met before from their family photo shoot last June!).  Jasmine is a favourite of mine to shoot, along with  Anokhi, another close friend's baby.  The two of them have been shot several times by me since they've been born; see them together here.  I've even photographed them before they were born, at A's baby shower and K's baby bump shoot)!  So it was a real treat to see Jasmine again and capture her cheery laugh and sweet disposition (can you believe she can hold a fork and feed herself on her own?)  After brunch, we went to see O in a performance of Julius Caesar at Kew Gardens.  Look for that in a Part II.  Since we're moving to Boston in a few months, these gatherings with my girlfriends are really important to me and I treasure them, as I do their friendships.  I shall miss you guys immensely.  (Pic of me holding Jasmine taken by A)

Chinatown Hydrants

Oops, forgot to include these guys in the last hydrants post.

Queen Street

I spent a few hours walking around downtown Toronto taking some shots a few weeks ago. These were taken at Affordible Textile at the corner of Queen Street West and Augusta Avenue.