For those of you who know fashion… or more specifically, wedding fashion, Vera Wang is known as one of the top, if not the best wedding dress designer around.  Period.

Recently, one of our lovely brides (hi Vivian!) was invited to the Vera Wang bridal salon in Yorkville (Toronto) – she had her (lovely) gown created there and the staff were very kind in letting us capture some images of Vivian in their shop and on the property.

So, if you are looking for something different – and simply beautiful to wear as you walk down the aisle, check out Vera Wang’s Bridal Salon in Yorkville.

And now for something a little different…

For you ladies who like to come to our fair city for a day of theatre and SHOPPING, I am really happy to announce the recent opening of Danna Nicole in downtown Stratford.

Danna (the owner) is a friend of ours who has redefined customer service (for the better) in retail, but most importantly, she has an amazing eye for fashion, colour and texture.  If you are looking for the perfect outfit – for a prom, cocktail party, the theatre – or even for the bridesmaids in a wedding, you owe yourself a visit to Danna Nicole.   I promise you that you won’t be disappointed.

You can find Danna Nicole at:

87 Ontario Street
Stratford, Ontario  N5A 3H1
(519) 305-5536
www.dannanicole.com

Tell Danna we said hi!

My apologies as my last post was a bit rushed… I was trying to complete it when I heard the boarding announcement for my flight home from Venice.

As you know, I just spent the past week with Joe McNally in Italy.  IMHO, he doesn’t need an introduction to fellow photographers or his clients… he is one of the world’s finest photographers.   For those of you who are not familiar with his work, his images have graced the covers of National Geographic, Life Magazine and Sports Illustrated… just to name a few publications.

Joe is a master of light and he uses some incredibly complex lighting setups (I’ve never met anyone who travels with 12 speedlights!). Watching Joe work and having the opportunity to shoot along side him was an amazing experience, to say the least. Whether I was shooting on my own or helping Joe setup his lighting, it is amazing how much you can learn from him.

Our week together had us working pretty late into the evening and one day, we even started working at 4am to photograph some lovely ballerinas at sunrise (yawn). I must say that I was exhausted by the end of the week – and it was an incredibly rewarding experience.

To the other photographers who were present in Venice: it was truly a pleasure to meet all of you.  And to my friend Rob in Ottawa: thank you again for this wonderful opportunity.

Joe: thank you for a phenomenal week and I hope our paths cross again.

Here are a few images that I shot during the week…

Our regular readers will have noticed that I have been absent for the past week…. but it as been one heck of a week!

Once in a while a guy gets really lucky… and lady luck has been smiling at a lot at me lately.

I am sitting in Venice airport waiting for my flight home.  I just spent the past 6 days shooting with legendary photographer and author, Joe McNally (special thanks to my friend Rob in Ottawa for giving me this great opportunity).  Joe, IMHO, is the best photographer alive on the planet … period.  It has been an exhausting week but my head is spinning with all of the great things we did.

Anyway, my flight is being called… I will post a few more images once I land and get a little sleep

Ciao bella,
Roel

More great news about one of my clients.

I just found out that Kymmy, another great model I worked with in Detroit earlier this year, made it into the Harley Davidson Calendar for 2009. And needless to say, I am thrilled for her!

You can see some of the images I shot of Kymmy by clicking here.

Congratulations Kymmy (or should I say, “Miss November”)… well done!

P.S. Ralph – eat your heart out!

I had the pleasure of working with Stacia from Detroit this past spring… she’s a fantastic model in addition to being an exceptionally pleasant person.

I recently found out that Stacia was named one of the 20 finalists for Detroit’s Top Model, which is part of America’s Top Model contest.  Needless to say, I am thrilled for her and all of us at Roël Photography hope that she is chosen for the top honour.

You can view the competition at www.cw50detroit.com and even vote for Stacia there. You can see Stacia’s entry here.

Congratulations Stacia!

You can view some of Stacia’s images that we photographed last spring here.

You can also view Stacia’s images on facebook.

Thank you to all of you for a great day. I hope to see you again soon.

I hope you enjoy the rest of these images as much as I had capturing them.

Another great model I had the pleasure of working with recently is Olja from Kitchener. Not only is she great in front of the camera, she is great behind it too (she is Ralph Heinze’s assistant).