I recently shot a Montreal engagement shoot in the Old Port with the dashing couple Farbod & Anne-Claire. Along with them, their Vespa and balloons!
Can we do the shoot early? Like at 5 in the morning? they had asked me.
When someone asks you if you want to start work at 5 in the morning, you usually turn around and start running away. But for photoshoots? That's the kind of thing you want. So when your clients propose it themselves, it’s music to my ears. As long as the photographer and subjects manage to wake up, it’s wonderful for a shoot. We get empty streets free of distractions, on-lookers, and cars (this was especially important for the Vespa shots). And most importantly, we have great light. It went really well, we had a great time, and I think I’ll start proposing 5AM shoots more often to clients. And if they look at me wide-eyed and ask me if I’m crazy, I’ll just laugh and say Just kidding, just kidding.
So here’s a funny thing about the balloons. You know the movie Up? I believe in it now. Two of the balloons were massive. Heavy enough to make your arms sore. (Reverse-heavy?) So we were doing the shoot, walking around in the Old Port. Eventually a lady comes up to us and tells Farbod & Anne-Claire that the number of balloons is the number of kids they’re going to have. We laugh and Farbod says That’s right! One, two, three, four, five, SIX kids! We continue on and a moment later Anne-Claire realizes. Wait. 6? We bought 7 balloons!
We couldn’t find the missing one. We look up in the sky and way in the distance, there's an orange dot. Going back in the pictures, I could tell the exact moment when it slipped away from our grasp. One frame it was there, the next, in the air. Rest in peace, massive orange balloon. Hope you landed in balloon heaven. Thanks guys for the awesome shoot. Looking forward to your wedding in a few weeks!
