Ricky and Queenie Lifestyle

Queenie and Ricky was referred by Carmen and Jon, another fantastic couple that we shot their wedding – so first off, thank you so much for the warm referral! Ironically enough, they are also friends and university classmates with Gi. When I first met Queenie and Ricky, I got the sense right off the bat that these two potential prospects would be awesome clients. They are both creative people and appreciated art. Their lifestyle shoot was a great example of this as they chose great areas like the distillery district and Queen West. The day was fun and as always, I look forward to seeing the video side of the images as they signed on with my good friend Nick Li from www.group45.com. The lifestyle shoot ended with all us grabbing some brunch at good ol’ Frans :) I look forward to the big day!

Sincerely, Leon Chai

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Leon and Gi (Trash the dress, without trashing the dress)

Location - Everywhere!

Make Up & Hair - Maggie Ng (www.maggieng.com)

When we were planning our wedding I made three requests 1) I want to photograph our wedding 2) I wanted to MC our wedding 3) Given that I love vw’s … I wanted our wedding party to roll in the original VW Bugs. 0-3 was the final score.

But, my wife was more then stoked in us doing a “Trash the Dress” session. We always had so many ideas where we would want to shoot if time was not of the essence and today was that day. I guess one part that holds kind dear to me with these images is it followed suit with the lifestyle shoot I did when we went to Chicago. I had this wacky idea to shoot our own lifestyle session (aka, tripod and remote) and wanted to continue this same concept with our wedding after shoot. So we booked make up and hair artist - www.maggieeng.com, whose work is absolutely amazing and headed out starting from around our house to downtown and ending in Etobicoke.

For any photographers out there reading this post and using a 5D mark II, the RC1 remote rocks and the good old ST-E2 worked great for off camera flash if anyone is thinking of doing some self portraits. The day lasted 8 hours but Gi and I are pretty happy with the results. Special thanks to my wife for always supporting my wacky ideas and doing things with a smile ALL the time.

Love you so much Gi. Your husband, Leon Chai

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Claire and Griffin After Shoot

With every shoot I do, I always ask each client if there is any special location that has significant meaning to them? As photographers, we can always find a beautiful backdrop regardless where the location is. For Claire and Griffin, one spot/ area that has significant meaning is the Humber Bay Arch Bridge. They spend lots of time together there and over by the beach side. It is where they first met playing volleyball. So when I met Claire and Griffin in the afternoon (literally the day after their wedding) they were both tired but were energized and enthusiastic for the shoot. The master plan was to shoot within the area, surprise their friend that were playing on the beach, and then get to the bridge before the sunset. You can see the plan in action below!

Thanks again for the great memories!

Your Friend, Leon Chai

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Charles and Jennifer Lifestyle Shoot

Charles and Gi are good friends and they go way back. I remember before I was dating Gi, I met Charles a few times and talked photography with him...as every photographer loves to meet any photog enthusiast. When Charles and Jen got engaged I was honored that they chose me to capture their big day.

Our lifestyle session began by meeting downtown at Front and Esplanade and we took it from there. The weather wasn’t really the best but it didn’t stop us – they were both troopers! Before starting the shoot, three things dawned to me 1) Charles is very stylish and 2) Jen if super fit and ripped… which lead 3) I need to hit the gym again :)

Its funny, we choose some locations to shoot and got some great shots but not realizing a film crew was shooting a movie and we were actually on set…oops! Here are some of my favorite pics of the shoot.

Your friend, Leon Chai

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Claire and Griffin Wedding

Venue – The Old Mill Inn

I can honestly say that I have not been to a wedding as emotional as Claire and Griffin’s. The sense of joy and happiness was overwhelming from all the family, friends, and of course the loving couple. You guys are one amazing couple and I felt like I learned so much about you both from listening to your great speech (while of course focusing on capturing each moment :) ). There is no doubt in my heart you guys are truly meant for each other. Thanks you so much for having me as a part of your special day.

Your friend, Leon Chai

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Wendy and Wesley Lifestyle Session

Location – The EX!!

“Let go to the Ex”.. I wonder if there is any legal repercussions using their tag line..hehe. Wendy and Wesley is a couple I met last year and as the small world as it is, it looks like we have some mutual friends J

This day was perfect, weather wise and they both looked awesome. We started off in the grounds of the Toronto Exhibition and worked our way down to Atlantis Pavilion. The grounds where we stared was super cool, as they were prepping for the Toronto Indy and we had some great unique back drops to use. This included an off limit bleacher stand, don’t worry…I took an engineering course in University one semester way back and it looked safe :P

Needless to say, they are such an easy going couple and I look forward to their big day!

Your Friend, Leon Chai

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