JAMES HODGINS PHOTOGRAPHY » Sudbury Ontario Wedding Photography

I missed my bride and groom!

jameshodgins — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:59:12 +0000

After reviewing our AMAZING weddings this summer I discovered that I never showed off the images of ASHLEY & CHRIS. I can’t believe that I missed this blog post and I am totally embarrassed. I hope that all our brides and grooms had as much fun as we did this year. We tried our hardest to give each of our weddings the best images possible with a huge variety and a quality of photography that shows professionalism and experience. Thank you again to all our brides & grooms for the amazing wedding season this year. I know our 2011 season will be just as fun and now that we are booking for 2012 we have something to look forward after next year. So without further blabbing from me, here is a look inside the wedding of Ashley & Chris.

Rollin In The Hay

jameshodgins — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:24:42 +0000

When you let kids just be kids you can get some amazing images. If you find the right light, with the right location, it can all come together. Just after we finished the family session I quickly had mom and dad move away as Lucas here was in the right spot, at the right time, doing the right stuff.

A Look At Kayla & Shaun’s Wedding

jameshodgins — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:17:27 +0000

Boy did it rain that day, buckets and buckets. We got a little wet, but when you are having fun a little rain doesn’t hurt.

The Other Side Of The Family

jameshodgins — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:19:22 +0000

Over the past decade or so we have been photographing the Kinsella family several times a year. We always laugh when we are at their home as we call it the “Gallery Of Hodgins Photography” as they have well over 35 different framed images hanging on their walls throughout the house. Anywhere from 5×7′s to 30 inch Canvas Gallery Wraps. In the past it has always been Jamie & Dana or the Kinsella Side of the family, but this past Saturday we had the pleasure of photographing the Pratt side for a change (Although the location was on the Kinsella property in Azilda). 3 kids, an active sun that couldn’t set fast enough was the challenge of the day but in the end we created some great images and we finished off the day with an amazing meal by Chef Dana. I will posting images from this sessions through the next few weeks as there are LOADS to chose from. Here is the LAST frame of the day as the sun was behind them illuminating the colored leaves in the trees.

Felix The Kitten

jameshodgins — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:05:33 +0000

Last week Sylvie brought in her kitten “Felix” to be photographed as part of our Adopt-A-Pet Program we have with the Local SPCA. Kittens are a lot harder to photograph than dogs (just read the post about our two cats here) but if you let them roam around for awhile and get their bearings you can get them to settle down enough to grab a few great images. Thanks again Sylvie for taking advantage of the program, it’s just another way Joce and I get to say “thank you” to those who open their hearts and homes to unwanted pets.

A Moment With Ma Mere

jameshodgins — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:52:25 +0000

Jennifer new exactly what she wanted when she booked us. She wanted a non posed, storytelling image of her Ma Mere and her 2 kids and that is exactly what we gave her. It was as simple as asking Ma Mere to sit on the bench (because I was going to photograph her by herself) and next thing you know Owen & Lindsey climbed up and cuddled in. I will be honest, I did put “some” thought into it, I liked how the bench was in a bit of shade, but the sun was still poking through the leaves and skimming across Ma Mere’s hair. I loved the way that the three of them starting interacting with each other immediately and you can tell that the three of them are very close. We were all having so much fun with this session (Joce was quickly losing the throwing the leaves battle with the kids) we could have kept on going for hours. Thanks again Haw family for making us part of this special time in your kids lives (and Ma Mere’s). Like we talked about today, we look forward to photographing the Haw family next year.

Have a great Turkey Weekend.

A Couple And Their Car

jameshodgins — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:01:02 +0000

Yesterday we had the chance (again) to photograph Chantal and her husband John. We first photographed them 5 years ago after we photographed Chantal’s friend Samantha & Matt’s wedding in Blind River and then again this past July for Julie & Derek’s wedding in Geraldton Ontario. We decided to meet them on the outskirts of Sudbury in Nairn Center and cruz some of the backroads from there to Worthington Ontario (my stompin grounds). John trucked his Rat Rod with them so that we could capture a few images of the car. Of course we photographed the two of them with Bronx their Dog but that’s another story. Here is a quick vid to show you a bit of the setup I used.

Ok, it’s 20 minutes later and I was going through the images and I thought I would post this one of “Bronx”

Well Now THAT Was A KICKASS Day!!!

jameshodgins — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:19:57 +0000

What a way to end our 2010 Wedding Season. We kicked it off with a blast with Lynn & Ryan and their huge wedding party. The weather was looking pretty meek for today as it was calling for a high of 6 degrees with rain and SNOW? But I was prepared and performed the photographers sundance last night and it seemed to have paid off. What is this photographers sundance you ask? Well, if your a photographer, and you want great weather for your wedding, then just simple do this. The night before the wedding, at exactly 7:17pm run around the outside of your house, 3 times, counter-clockwise, backwards. Naked. It works. Anyways, back to today. Lynn and the girls were troopers, 6 degrees out? Bah, that’s nothing, and the guys didn’t complain one bit when we hit dynamic earth with the gusty winds. If I could sum up this wedding in one word it would FUN!. We were laughing all day, with the best one-liner Jocelyne ever said at a wedding “I’LL SHOW YOU A BACK ALLEY!”. If we had liquid in our mouths it would have come out our noses. We are sad and happy at the same time. Sad that it’s our last wedding of the season, but happy that every one of our weddings this summer has been unique, fun and memorable. Lynn & Ryan we want to thank the both of you and your bridal party, you were all AMAZING! Even you douche. We had laughs, we had rain, we had sun, we had McDonalds, we had Timmies and we even had the famous Bick Pickles Shoes make an appearance. People are probably reading this wondering “what went on at this wedding”, well I can only tell you, you HAD to be there.

Thanks again everyone, you finished off our season with a BANG!!! A big shout out to Barb Weir of Barb Weir Photography for coming from London to hang out and help us out.

Another Family Is On The Wall

jameshodgins — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:05:53 +0000

Lorna Leroy just picked up her finished family portraits and is now ready to create her wall montage. Planning ahead and deciding what size images, how many, and where to showcase them is all part of the Portrait Process. Lorna knew what she wanted and with a few suggestions from Jocelyne and myself she now has what she needs to decoratively display her family photos.

Neutralized and Re-Vitalized at NSI

jameshodgins — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:06:25 +0000

Now that everyone has their images I thought I post some more from our sessions at Niagara School Of Imaging. It’s a lot of work teaching 20 photographers everything you know in 4 days but you roll with the punches and you do what you can right? I probably get more out of NSI than my students do. First it makes me stop and look at our photography and business and see what changes we can make to improve both, and second I always learn something from my students, either business strategy or photography technique. This year was no different. Although I was 100% drained emotionally and physically, mentally the wheels were turning the minute I started to drive home and this is a good thing. I would like to thank my kickass class again YOU GUYS ROCKED! Looking forward to watching your photography and business grow.
Here are a few images that from our Trash The Dress Session. I let the students create their own images when they were in the water.

Some behind the scenes that my students snapped

I had to show the girls how to “play” in the water.

I would also like to personally thank the “Hotness Girls” for coming out that day and getting wet and dirty.

Stacey Chamberlain, Erika Smith, Meaghan Chapin and Melissa McIntyre (2nd year in a row)
Thanks again ladies, you were all just beautiful.

Sudbury Senior Model

jameshodgins — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:30:58 +0000

Last night we photographed one of our Senior Models for James Hodgins Photography. Taylor is now a Senior at Lockerby Composite and will be representing James Hodgins Photography for the 2010/2011 year. Wow is she photogenic and was also a natural in front of the camera. We have many more shoots scheduled for Taylor including a Trash the Prom Dress, dance shoot and a few other creative ideas we discussed. Taylor receives her “model for a day” session free, plus other goodies in return for spreading the word about Kick*butt Senior Photography. Stay tuned for more images of the stunning Taylor Austin.

Fan Mail Is Greatly Appreciated

jameshodgins — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:32:22 +0000

Just received this today. Thank you so much Julie & Derek, we had a blast.

“Dear James & Jocelyne,

We wanted to post this on your website however, we couldn’t seem to figure out how lol… This is long overdue but Derek and I MUST thank you again!
We cannot tell you guys HOW many people have come up to us (and our parents) to compliment our wedding photographs… They just cannot believe them
James, you did an OUTSTANDING job capturing our wedding day. We are kind of stumped trying to find words because you really left us speechless! We have to be honest, we never hired a professional wedding VIDEOgrapher because we couldn’t find one…We were pretty dissapointed because we wanted to really “feel” and re-live our day every time we would watch the video…HOWEVER, after we saw our pictures and our AMAZING Wedding Story DVD, we no longer thought about the video lol…Everytime we watch the DVD (which is LOTS, because everyone wants to see it) , I cry (not Derek tho haha), and relive the day!!! IT truly is an amazing feeling….There is no price to the gift you have given us…It will be cherished forever…and Jocelyne, you are such an amazing person as well! You just ALWAYS know where to be, and what to be doing…You guys are a STELLAR couple!
Again, we could go on and on about how pleased we are…but I don’t want to waste too much of your photography time! haha….
You will DEFINITELY be seeing us for all photography sessions to come (ie: Trash the Dress, Baby (NOT PREGNANT YET hahaha!), kids, family ETC!!!! I just wouldn’t have it any other way…

Thank you (X a gazillion) for capturing our day
We appreciate it more than you’ll ever know!

Take care,

Julie & Derek”

Finally, the Geraldton Wedding Pics

jameshodgins — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:27:21 +0000

We have been so busy lately that I just haven’t had a chance to keep up with my blogging, it’s a good thing, but a bad thing as well as I love sharing our images and stories with you all. I pretty well summed up the Geraldton wedding of Julie & Derek with their sneak peak blog post and I will say it again it was a blast. So without much further a due, here are some more images for your viewing pleasure.

Natural Light Babies Are The Best

jameshodgins — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:39:39 +0000

Having discussions on Natural light photography on our NoBs Blog and Forum I am always reminded just how beautiful natural light can be. Off Camera Flash is fine and dandy for “some” photographs if the type of portrait created can benefit from OCF (this is something I see too many photographers using just for the sake of using it, and the photographs are not what they could be).

I headed back out to my cottage yesterday to photograph my other cousins little one Sadie. We photographed Sadie last August in our Studio using lights and softboxes but yesterday I did not have that equipment with me, all I had was my camera and lens and therefore opted to use natural light. Now with natural light you can’t just expect to place your subject anywhere and have flattering light. You need to “find” the light, know the quality, the direction and where to put your subject so that the subject can benefit from that light.

The below image was created using some open shade that was created with a bank of trees behind Sadie. Lighting was coming across the tops of the trees but giving a soft even light in the spot where I wanted to photograph. She was sitting on the side of a small fountain which had a very light bottom, reflecting light back up into my subject acting as a natural reflector. Sometimes Natural light is the easiest light to use, but it does require some technical thought to get the most out of it.

At Camp With Kids And More Kids

jameshodgins — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:07:18 +0000

The last time I photographed Piper was February (Click here to see Blog Post)

My cousin Krista along with her husband Craig and their son Christopher showed up shortly after. This was the first meeting of the baby cousins.

I photographed Christopher almost one year ago on my way home from NSI.
(Click here to see blog post)

THEY GROW UP FAST!

Laurie……………Sadie’s next.