The Caccamo Family can be considered the first family of Curt O’Neil Photographer. This was the very first family shoot for me and also still ranks as the largest. Adding it up there were four generations and twelve family members for the shoot.

We started the shoot out at their residence on St. Joseph’s Island which is east of Sault Ste. Marie. From there we made our way around the island to some spots that they thought of before the shoot and some others we thought of while driving around.

It took no time at all before everyone was comfortable with me there shooting them and they started behaving like the loving family they are. It was great to be able to shoot them interacting with each other and not worrying about how they looked and if they had the perfect smile on their face. The next few shots are some of my favourite shots from previous shoots – they capture real moments and that is what I love about photography and the way I shoot. I love being able to capture these real moments that the family is unaware of at the time.

Leaving the apple orchard from the shots above and driving down the country roads I asked Mark to pull over as the road was just perfect for a large family shot.

From there we went looking for some hay bales. I knew if we were able to get into a farmer’s field and be able to play with some of the bales we’d get some fun shots. Another reason why the Caccamo’s were simply awesome was they were up for all of these ideas and knew of places that would be perfect to use.

I’ll end this off with three shots that were possible because once again they were willing to try anything. As we were scoping the field out for a few shots I asked Luke how high he thought he could throw one of his kids in the air. The first shot below is his attempt at it. After the other kids saw it they all wanted to be tossed so Matt suggested that the brothers toss their children between them – now how wild is that? A simple suggestion by me, modified by them turned into unique shots that they will all remember.

To the Caccamo’s thank you for being so awesome and open to any idea that I threw your way. It was your openness that let us get some of the amazing shots we did. After I showed Luke the shots from this session he sent me one of the best quotes I have ever seen (which is also featured on my about me page):

“You are the largest, most full, over-flowing bag of wicked in the history of ever.”

Thanks Luke!

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Here is the complete slideshow from the Jeannette and Anthony wedding shot back on December 27th here in Sault Ste. Marie. To those viewing this at work there is music to the show so watch your speaker volume.

Feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you think.

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In the first of many look back posts I bring you Donna and Rob. This was technically a family shoot but they are a family of two so it was treated as a mixture family shoot and engagement shoot. This was done back on November 5th which was probably the last nice day here in Sault Ste. Marie.

We started the day off at Dish, a local espresso bar and cafe.

Donna is another local photographer who covers the entertainment scene for one of our online news sites. We met a few years back when I was shooting local bands at some of our local hot spots. Rob fancies himself a audiophile and can also be found where the local bands are playing. Donna also likes graffiti and has tried the art form out here or there so we made our way downtown to some of her favourite walls.

We continued downtown looking for that urban, edgy, rock feel. We dodged in and out of alley ways looking for the best walls and textures to shoot against. I love shooting with architecture that has texture and uniqueness to it.

It also wouldn’t be Donna and Rob if they didn’t have one of their classic poses. This isn’t a one off shot either, I think we came away with 3 or 4 similar to this by the end of the shoot. Every time I’d have them posing together this would be the first result I’d get.

We finally made it to the old brewery downtown. The building is somewhat falling apart since the brewery went under a few years ago. This once again is a bonus as it provides a great background to the rest of the shots.

It was a great day for a shoot. Thanks Donna and Rob for hanging out with me for the afternoon. How I miss being able to put my camera down on the ground and realize that it is not sinking into a pile of snow.

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Megan and Andre get official credit and recognition as being my first couple who brought a wardrobe change along for their engagement shoot. In hindsight, one can possibly say that the idea of the change may have been a little silly but who is really able to predict that heels just don’t work on a snow covered path on a nature trail in the middle of a Sault Ste. Marie snow storm? As a plus we were able to say hi to the nice couple who were snowshoeing.

One of my favourite moments of shooting engagement shoots is when the couple actually becomes comfortable with you there and start acting how they normally act with each other. You are able to capture moments that they aren’t even aware that are happening.

After our mini-adventure at the Soo Canal we headed downtown to get a more urban feel for our shots. We started out behind Loplops on Queen St, made our way onto Queen then into some back parking lots and alley ways to find things that interested us.

Megan and Andre were great throughout the day. Even if Andre became extremely cold he persisted on. They were willing to do any of the ridiculous things I asked of them without even questioning me or telling me that I was completely nuts and there was no way that they’d do it. This included walking through about two feet of snow to get to the fire escape seen in the shot below.

As a back story to the next shot I just had an idea for it as we were walking. Knowing that Megan and Andre were already up for all of the dumb ideas I was having during the day they ran with it. The premise was that we were reprising the shot from The Notebook – now this was hard for Andre and myself as we never ever ever saw the movie – sports or something was on when it was out. The first alley we turned down had the graffiti on a wall seen in the shot. Andre joked about shooting it there so we did.

Megan and Andre were simply awesome throughout the day. They rolled with the good and disregarded the bad. They humoured me and went along with any of the off the wall situations I wanted to put them in and they also offered their own suggestions on what they thought would be a shot that represented them.

I’m looking forward to shooting their wedding on August 1st of this year. It should be a great time and I’m already thinking of crazy situations to put them into.

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Here is a sneak peek into the Dugas-Orazietti wedding shot on December 27. We were all hoping for cool temperatures and a nice snowy day instead we ended up with warm temperatures above 0C which is extremely rare for us at this time of year and a rain, snow and sleet mixture. The day was still awesome however and the bridal party were troopers and ventured out into the elements for some fun shots.

We started early in the morning at the salon with the girls. For any guy venturing into a salon for multiple hours with girls getting ready for a wedding it is a very daunting task. Luckily I’ve known most of them for over ten years as we all went to high school together so lots of laughs were shared.

After the ceremony we drove north to shoot our unformal formals. I semi-guilted Jeannette into heading outside as I just bought a new pair of snow pants and I was already wearing them so they couldn’t be returned. It worked and I think Jeannette and Anthony were extremely happy that we did head out.

From there it was warm-up time and time to head to the reception. Once again the reception was a blast and the hall decorated by Miranda Porco looked amazing and fit the theme of the winter wedding perfectly. I was also able to steal the happy couple away for about 30 minutes where we were able to do a couple of fun shots in the basement of the hall.

To Jeannette and Anthony, thanks for the awesome day and for the laughs through out. As I mentioned above their decorating was done by Miranda Porco, the guys suits were from TipTop Tailors in the Station Mall and girls were hooked up by the Bridal Closet. Jeannette made all the invites and other printed material for the day. She also makes some sweet looking and tasting cakes. You can check her out at Greenleaf Studios (a new site will be coming soon for her I am told completely updated). The Marconi Hall was the location for the reception and the meal was fantastic.

Thanks for the great time to everyone involved.

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