Then, we headed back inside for the reception, where guests were invited to sing a song with the word “love” to make the happy couple kiss.

Hola!

I recently returned from an 8-day trip to Samaná, Dominican Republic, where I photographed Toronto couple Kim & Matt’s beautiful wedding. We stayed at Cayo Levantado, a luxury, all-inclusive resort, located on its own island in Samaná Bay.

As you may recall, I made engagement photos of Kim & Matt last fall at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works, one of which became one of the most popular posts on my photography fan page on Facebook.

Having never photographed a destination wedding before, I was really excited for this experience. On top of that, I got the opportunity to jump on a plane in the dead of winter and then relax by the beach in 30ºC weather for a week. Pretty hard to turn down.

After landing at the tiny Samaná airport, we were whisked onto a coach bus and drove for about an hour through a very poverty-stricken landscape and arrived at Cayo Levantado’s mainland pier. The bus loaded onto a small passenger ferry and took a short boat trip over to what is known as Bacardi Island.

The rooms are split up into 20-something villas, spread out all over the island. Our room was beautiful, spacious and had a floor-to-ceiling window/door that led to a balcony, overlooking the ocean. The strangest thing about the room was the gigantic window from the bedroom into the bathroom, which rendered the entire room privacy-less. The trade-off was that I could look out at the ocean, while brushing my teeth.

That night, Kim & Matt invited their guests to join them for welcome drinks in the Daiquiri Bar, where I met Matt’s twin brother, Andy. Over the course of the week, I had to look closely to figure out which brother was which.

One of the first days of the trip, Kim & Matt took the guests of their wedding on a whale watching tour off the coast of Samaná. We saw a lot of jumping and one of the whales kept waving its fin at us.

Despite feeling incredibly sea sick by the end of it, it was an amazing experience.

Tuesday was Kim & Matt’s wedding day. It was a photographer’s dream to have such picturesque backgrounds to use for photos.

Matt and the boys cooled down with a Cerveza Presidente, Dominican’s national beer, before the ceremony. Meanwhile, Kim was finishing up her preparations.

Kim and Matt opted to not get married on the beach, which I agreed was a wise choice, considering the wind that comes off the ocean is very strong and there would have been sunbathing people in the background of all their ceremony photos. They cleared a section of the main dining area for the ceremony. It was a beautiful spot for a wedding.

After the ceremony, the staff brought out champaign for all of the guests for a toast by Kim’s brother.

Cayo Levantado was an incredible resort to use for photography locations. I had a lot of fun exploring and scouting and then eventually taking Kim and Matt to all the locations I had planned for us to use.

Before the week was over, Kim, Matt and I took a trip into Samaná to take some casual portraits of the newlyweds.

Matt even made a friend while we were in town.

It was a wonderful week, a beautiful wedding and I had a lot of fun with Kim, Matt and their guests. Thanks to Kim and Matt for showing me a wonderful time in paradise. All the best to you both.

After shooting portraits of Isla this fall, her friend Keaton and his parents, Kyle & Echoe met me at Isla’s family’s beautiful property, which is surrounded by trees.  During the fall season, the Schiedel’s property shows off the incredible range of colours autumn has to offer.

Keaton was so much fun to work with during this shoot. Since I hadn’t met him before, he was a little shy at first, but by the end of the hour, whenever I would point the camera at him, he would yell “Cheese Ben!” It was very cute.

I believe strongly in approaching every photo project differently. The look and feel of each shoot I take on is unique, because I allow myself to be inspired and influenced by the personalities and relationships of the people I photograph. Despite the fact that this shoot occurred in the same location and directly after my shoot with Isla, I approached the aesthetic very differently.

A great headshot is a necessity for performers like actors to bring to auditions. Scott, Thompson and Reid (pictured above, respectively) are all actors, who have recently hired me to photograph headshots for them.

Reid and Thompson both studied theatre at University of Waterloo and acted on stage for Stratford Festival.

Scott, on the other hand, studied Acting for Film and Television at Niagara College and then moved to Toronto to start a career in voice acting. He ordered a number of prints from me and within a couple weeks, landed representation by Fountainhead Talent Inc. Scott’s professional headshots showed potential agents that he takes his work seriously and give them a sense of his personality, even before they heard his demo reel.

After getting the news about his new agent, Scott left me a comment:

Thank you Ben so much for your support throughout this process. I would gladly recommend anyone who is seeking good headshots to talk to this man! Ben was professional, passionate, and punctual. Within the same day as our hour long shoot, I was alreadyreceiving polished final cuts of the pictures through e-mail. Within a week, I had a lovely series of very high quality prints (I imagine Ben pulls them out of some magic hat at his home) which I was super eager to send out to potential agents. Within a week, I had already received word from one of the agents, seeking to have a meeting with me… WOW! I cannot thank you enough, Ben, for your great work and for your huge heart! Thanks so much, friend!

With social media becoming an integral part of networking, professionals in all fields are utilizing Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as well as personal websites to expand their professional network. Image is everything and in order to show potential employers and clients that you are a professional who takes their business seriously, a cropped cell phone photo of you at last year’s Christmas party isn’t going to cut it. Your online profile is like a handshake with hundreds or thousands of professionals who will get you to where you want to take your career. Make their first impression of you a good one.

In the fall, Terra & Andrew invited me to take portraits of them with their adorable son, Finley. We met in a park near their home in New Hamburg, Ontario on a rainy, fall afternoon.

Finely is one of the happiest, most co-operative kids I’ve worked with. He seemed to enjoy every minute of our hour-long walk and I was happy to have captured many of his big infectious smiles.

I had a great time with the Gateman family and I hope to get a chance to photograph this beautiful family for years to come.

Kim & Matt will be bringing me with them, to capture their wedding at a luxury resort on an island off the coast of Samana, Dominican Republic in Feburary. We had an engagement shoot this fall at Toronto’s historic Evergreen Brick Works.

I had a great time wandering around Evergreen Brick Works with Kim & Matt for a couple hours, while I encouraged the couple to relax, be themselves and joke around. They did a great job and I’m really looking forward to photographing them again in paradise.

Kim & Matt’s will be my first destination wedding. I so excited for this opportunity to photograph a wedding in a drastically different geographical location.

As the sun set, Kim, Matt & I hiked up the hill in Brick Works park, for a beautiful view of the Toronto skyline. Kim & Matt were so easy to work with and I loved photographing in such a unique location. I’m looking forward to meeting their families and bridal party in the Dominican in a couple months.

To keep up with all of my photography, Like my facebook page: Ben Lariviere Photography

You may remember Isla from family portraits I did with her and her parents last October. She’s even more adorable now than she was last year. I had a lot of fun walking around her family’s beautiful property this fall.

Luke and Ali decided to get one family photo this time around, so I suggested they bring a chair outside. I love how it turned out.

After Isla’s shoot, I had family portraits booked with Isla’s friend Keaton’s family. So I grabbed a couple shots of the two of them walking in the forest together. So adorable.

The Ramseyer family contacted me to take family portraits for them. They had me meet them at a beautiful residential property on a country road in Ayr, Ontario.

The Ramseyers family brought a lot of ideas to this shoot and were a lot of fun to work with. I hope to work with them in years to come.

For information about booking, email me at: Photos@BenLariviere.com

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When I first met with Asheley & Jason, they told me that they wanted me to do my thing and had almost no direction whatsoever as to how I should capture their day. When couples give me their full confidence, I’m able to experiment with their photos and capture their wedding day in a style that I think represents their personalities and their relationship.

I was surprised that when I arrived at Asheley’s house, several hours before the ceremony, that she was already ready. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful – not what you would normally expect right before a wedding.

The ceremony took place behind the Rotary Glen in Brampton, ON. It was bright and beautiful, without a cloud in the sky.

During the reception, the newlyweds were told they would be participating in a game that may involve removing some clothing. Moments later, Asheley’s brother took the mic and asked Asheley & Jason to sit back-to-back on two chairs and exchange one shoe with the other. Now bearing one of their own shoes and one of their spouse’s, they were asked questions such as “Who will be doing most of the cooking?” At that point, Asheley and Jason each had to raise one of the shoes in their hands, to represent either themselves or their significant other.

After some delicious dessert, the couple shared their first dance and celebrated a wonderful day they are sure to never forget.