Calabogie Lodge Wedding.

Our photogs ended up at Calabogie quite a few times this summer....here are a few shots from this great location atop the ski hill.

Wedding on a boat on the Ottawa River.

This summer we have a few brides who have discovered that not only is a boat wedding kinda fun, but the prices are really reasonable for catering too. Elena shot this great image and now has a second boat wedding this summer...I`m jealous.

A wedding album...a la Serge.

I keep mentioning that the best way to judge a wedding photographer is to look at a whole job.
Take a look at a recent wedding by one of our photographers... Serge. Like all major studios we have a number of photographers, all trained by myself and all extremely competent...on top of being a lot of fun. Serge, Elena and Rachelle have created half of what you see on my site...You didn`t think I did it all myself did you???

Enjoy.....

Reputation, reputation,reputation.

The web is a great place to compare services, but it has its limitations. It doesn`t take much to set up a website or a blog with a few shots that look really cool.
Want the real story.....Google the actual names of a few photographers you like...then ignore their sites and see what others say about them, who has hired them in the past and what unbiased sources say about their work. Checking out the Ottawa Better Business bureau rating may really floor you...but don`t say we didn`t mention it.

http://www.bbb.org/ottawa/business-reviews/photographers-commercial/paul-couvrette-photography-in-ottawa-on-10588

You`ll learn a lot more by looking at words than looking at pretty pictures...even ours.

Here`s mine to start....




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Ottawa Wedding Makeup

Looking over the post below, it occurs to me that I should mention some dependable and talented
Ottawa wedding makeup artists. We have worked with quite a few and while style is very individual (ask for a test run) professionalism and timing are what impresses us.
First, I would stay away from most hair/makeup salons unless they can guarantee that you are the only wedding there that morning. Hair salons tend to overbook and we have seen more lateness from salons than from individual artists that go to your location. No matter how great your hair and makeup look for that critical 12hrs, your photographs will be around for many thousand times those hours...and all the makeup in the world won`t hide a look of stress....The most dependable salon if you do go that route in town...Rinaldos.
As far as individual services, Weddings by Tracy and Ottawa Makeup Artists are really professional. We also like the work we have seen from Seema Haider..but have not shot with her yet.

Medieval Wedding Ottawa

Last weekend we photographed a fantastic Medieval theme wedding.
It reminded me that we had one on Youtube that I posted last year and
so here it is on my blog. Stay tuned for the recent shots in a week
or so...

Ottawa Wedding Musicians

Looking for a referral to a wedding musician?
Well..here is one you might want to check out. She also has a neat
list of offbeat ideas for wedding venues and locations on her site.

http://www.louiseebeltoft.com/gallery/index.php

Another group of dependable professionals is http://www.classicalsounds.com/

Ottawa Wedding Consultants and Planners.

Recently an Ottawa firm that produces training videos for wedding planners hired me to
help them create a Professional Planning Secrets dvd for sale to wedding consultants worldwide.
Frankly, appearing on camera was not my favorite thing...I prefer the other side.

It occured to me that I should write a few words about wedding consultants locally. First, let me say that I have seen some extremely cool decor and some great ideas by a few local firms. That said, I have had the unfortunate experience of photographing some of the most ill timed weddings of my career...that were organized by wedding planners!

Sadly, I have had a number of these planners offer to refer our services...for a fee, which makes
me wonder about a large number of these services. To add to that, of the twenty or so current
wedding planners, only two have taken the time to come by and chat about our services...yet they all claim to advise you on the best suppliers in town...hmmmmn. Whats funny is that I asked the owners of a few of the other top studios in town and they said exactly the same thing..double hmmmmn. We have a thirty year history of specializing in weddings yet the average wedding planner seems to last three to four years in Ottawa...triple hmmmn..lol.

Given that one of the key players in making your wedding run smoothly is a photographer with
style, tact, personality and a cool disposition under pressure....why not ask us who we have worked with...we promise that we don`t take payola. We just want you to have a great day..so
smooth that we can get great shots. To top it all off...we don`t even charge for our 30 years of
experience in the local wedding industry.

Btw..for anyone wanting to start a career in Wedding Planning...the course mentioned above seems very pro.
Take a look...yup...thats me bottom left.


Update: We recently photographed a beautiful Medieval wedding at the Chateau Laurier and the cool decor was by an Ottawa company named Wedecor...check them out....here is their work.

Ottawa Wedding Photographers Referrals

Since next summer is looking like a busy one and we already have a couple of dates that are fully booked, we get emails asking who we would refer. Frankly, its a tough
call, because we are extremely picky about our own photographers...and even more picky when we think of sending clients to others.
Sadly, I have seen over 800 photographers come and go over the 30 years of Couvrette Studio and have taken numerous calls from panicked brides a day before the wedding whose photographers simply vanished...despite having been in business for a few years and having a nice portfolio and a friendly demeanor. Sadly, what is seen on a web site is often NOT what is produced for the client. As well, one needs more than a good eye to run a successful photography business.

Selecting a wedding photographer should be based on a combination of talent,reputation, longevity and the personality of the photographer and staff.
With those benchmarks, I can safely say that Photolux and GR Martin are two shining examples which possess all of the above.

Strathmere wedding photos

Color like this can`t be missed. I believe the thing that seperates a run of the mill photographer from a very good one is simply the ability to visualize things that others don`t see and then have the technical skills to record them. Having trained dozens of local photographers, many of whom are still shooting for Couvrette Studio, it becomes apparent really quickly which ones have the gift.

It`s probably possible to save a few hundred dollars on wedding photography...but isn`t that about 1 or 2% of the total spent on a wedding by everyone concerned from the engagement party to the honeymoon. It seems to come down to whether people really care about photographs and what I have discovered is that some people really don`t make that a top priority....and hey..thats ok...its just not my kind of client.

I wonder though..when they invite people to their home and look over the wedding shots a year down the road...do they feel good good about their decision.

BTW...for another shot of this Strathmere wedding scroll down to the bottom of the page and
see the shot of the bride and groom in a soy field...that's one of the many great locations out there.

Ottawa Wedding Portraits

Looking for light is what we do...and this is what we make of it....

Ottawa Wedding Ceremonies

It helps when the couple have fun ideas like this....the only drag is getting a bubble on your lense and not wiping it off for the next set of shots. To shoot weddings well you have to be part technician, part McGyver, somewhat a Psychologist and maybe a little bit of a romantic.

Wedding Photographers Ottawa

They wanted no posed shots....but were glad we did this one. Wouldn`t you be....

Montebello Quebec Wedding

BW really added a timeless look to this shot. The whole gang was from New York city and
simply came to Canada to have a wedding at Montebello Quebec....really romantic location indeed.

Wedding at Cordon Bleu

Coming down the "aisle" outside the Cordon Bleu on Laurier Avenue

Photojournalism / Ottawa Wedding Photographers

This "leaving the house"shot was one of my favorites from a Lebanese wedding. We also photographed her sisters wedding a couple of years before this one and it was nice the see
the whole gang again. I posted this shot because it really is true photojournalism. It really happened this way and we did not stop them three times to pose it. I see a lot of photographers calling themselves photojournalists but when I go to their sites I see images that will be the cliches of the future.
Much of what I see as "photojournalism" is just a series of badly lit shots passing for "art".

What do I see..

=Photoshop filters thrown on to rescue technically bad portraits in which the brides dress is a white explosion and the bridesmaids skin tone is something from a horror flick.
= Images that someone tries to pass for art but don`t even have even basic technical qualities
like proper color or lighting of the subtle colors of the dresses.
=The ones that will really be dated fast are those wide angle shots from below that people think are cool now, but are just the cliches of this era. Why someone would want to make themselves look twisted up on their wedding day..who knows. Then again, I never did the double expose the music sheet on the brides head..lol.

We are both portraitists and photojournalists and have been doing so all along....To see some recent editorial and photojournalism...go here. For a few examples of our photojournalistic wedding images go here. Great images never go out of style! We have been shooting candids
throughout the studio's history...I am just glad that now people are actually putting them into
their albums.

Are there good wedding photojournalists in town...yes, a handful. For most, its just the latest label to try to make a sale.

OK...Rant Off.

Ottawa Italian Wedding

An overcast fall day didn`t stop the girls from having a bit of fun.

Montebello Wedding

Ahh..digging back in the archives is fun. This is a shot from a Montebello wedding a few
years back.

Ottawa Wedding Photographer

Sooo....I dug back and started thinking about some of my faves over the last couple of

years. This is a page from the digital album of an Italian wedding at Sala San Marco.

Yes...the food was amazing.

Upper Canada village is such a great location...

Sala San Marco... all decked out.

Ok... we went a little wild here... infrared and filters.

One of our photojournalism snaps by my assistant....and yes, the rain did clear.

Just kicking back at the Museum of Civilization... some guys know how to have fun.

These are two noted musicians... I won't drop names... and yes, these

are their stage outfits. The shot was done in our studio on Gladstone Street.

Ottawa Wedding Photographers

So what I`d like to do first is post some of my faves over the last couple of years and

tell you a little bit about our style....

This engagement photograph was done this spring in my studio on Gladstone Street. The couple were a lot of fun to work with...and it really helped set the tone for their
wedding shoot a couple of months later. Many of their wedding images are now up on our new Flash site, which can be viewed here.

Here is the first wedding EVER at the new Metropolitan Bible Church...

We had a great time shooting at the Mill in Perth this summer. The area is full of great locations, some of which are also on the new Couvrette Site.

Got Bikes? We are the only studio in the city with the ability to shoot motorcycles in a controlled lighting setup. How about bringing your bike in for a coooool engagement portrait.

Here is the first shot of one of my favorite coverages of this summer...Bring on those Italian
Weddings.

Yes... that IS her home, not the Chateau Laurier. We covered this wedding last summer on a beautiful day at her house on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Sara was such a nice bride, relaxed, cordial, and yes, on time for the shoot.

A bit of photojournalism by one of my photographers at a fun country wedding...

Serge captured this one in an elevator... good one buddy.

Here's one I got on a crazy rainy day... we could not resist this old barn as we drove by on the way to the reception.

Once again, Serge caught this shot at what must have been his most fun assignment of the summer.

Okay... so we played with this one a bit in Photoshop.

If I was entering this in a competition I would probably entitle it "Runaway Bride"... but no, she did stay for the wedding.

I shot this at the Bride's parents soybean farm silo this fall. Who knows what you will find when you get out of the city. In Ottawa, some fancy architect would charge you a fortune to put this post modern look on your house...lol

Who says studio portraits can`t be cool...

This was taken at Strathmere... sometimes I see things at locations that many photographers walk right by...

What do you do when a couple comes in for an engagement portrait in full Korean Wedding dress... this was my solution. Somehow they wouldn't have looked right in a gritty street or running through a park... Each couple has a unique image... and our job is to find out how to capture it.