Winter Mini-Vacay :)

So, this week we spent a few days up in the always lovely Algonquin Park - no, not camping as many people asked with shrill voices and raised eyebrows, but at a great hostel just outside the west gates of the park. We saw the most amazing frozen-edged waterfall...

went for a walk around a frozen and snow-covered lake...

and spent about half an hour captivated by the details of the snowflakes falling on our scarves :)

        

Everyone Loves Flowers :)

Don't get me wrong - I've been enjoying the snow lately and especially the way the light catches a fresh patch of it just before dipping below the horizon - but I have decided that it wouldn't hurt to look at some bright and colourful flowers for a change...
Here are some of my favourite bridal bouquets and wedding floral arrangements of the past little while:

These were from an October wedding, and I LOVED all of the fall colours and the variety of textures and shapes - all day I just never got sick of looking at them!

Reviewed on TheWeddingRing.ca !

We are super-excited to have been reviewed recently by the lovely ladies at The Wedding Ring! For those of you who don't know them yet, it's a magazine and website focused on helping couples in the Toronto and London areas to plan their weddings.. they aim to give referals and information of the sort that you would get from your best friend or sister who just got married. They are distributed at all the major wedding shows, and also available for sale at Chapters stores.

Anyways, here's a link to the review:

http://www.theweddingring.ca/reviews-in-the-ring/jessica-lin-photography

check it out and let us know what you think! Even better, if you know and love us - let them know about it through the comments section at the bottom of the review :)

Countdown To My Sister's Wedding...

Now that it's less than a month away (!) it's really starting to sink in that my little sister Amanda is really getting married! We are all really excited of course and looking forward to the big day, but I have to admit that it's been a bit hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of going to a wedding and "relaxing" - I kept trying to picture how I was going to be able to do all these things like setting up equipment while wearing a dress and heels (even just walking in heels is a challenge for me!) and actually had to be reminded that I'm not going to be the one setting anything up for once. As the older sister, it's also been my habit in the past to maybe be a bit on the bossy side (you other older sisters know what it's like..) so this had been a good experience for both of us I think, for me to learn how to back off and not make decisions, and to just be more of a "research and support"-type lady, and for her to listen to her own opinion and trust that she knows how to do it all perfectly. Phew! Who knew a wedding could be so much work when you aren't even "working" at it??

Some of the details I'm really excited about:

1. The fantastic venue - The Augusta House in Kensington market - not only does the place look super-swanky, but Kim the owner has been really great to work with
2. Getting hair and make-up done by my favourite make-up artist in the world, the lovely and super-talented Dorota Buczel at her great new studio in the Junction
3. The awesome band that will be playing, The Mad Housewives  - they never fail to entertain!

I'll be sure to share some pictures of these and all the other great parts of Amanda and Tim's big day...

Happy New Year!

Hello and welcome!

My name is Jessica, I'm a professional freelance photographer in Toronto, and I love what I do.

The purpose of this blog is to share with you some of my adventures in photography and life, which I hope you find enjoyable, perhaps entertaining, and - if I'm really lucky! - inspiring in some way.

I do two main types of photography - commercial images for local independant designers, and wedding and portrait work. For a long time I tried to choose between the two as the direction I wanted for my business and for myself as a creative professional, but I really love the variety and the balance of the two so decided to keep them both. The commercial work I do is almost always in studio, and although it's often creative (and I'm always working with amazing creative people), it's a very controlled environment. Weddings on the other hand, are anything but controlled most of the time - but the thrill of the unpredictable and the beauty of emotions and relationships at a wedding is unbeatable.

I have two websites (one for each "branch") - the commercial one is www.JessicaLin.ca, and the wedding one is www.JessicaLinPhotography.ca. I'm working on a facebook page, and I'll let you know when it's up and running..

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit, and I hope you enjoy :)