Hi!  I'm Tessa, your photographer. I've been a professional photographer since 2009.

If you ask 10 photographers why they started their business, I bet you'll hear a lot about how they were the one who, for as long as they can remember, had a camera in their hands. Maybe they did photos for their high school yearbook. Or they were the friend who took all the photos on that trip to Europe. Well, my friend, that's not me. To this day, I'm not the mom who whips out her camera to take all the pictures. It might seem odd then that photography is my chosen path. The thing that makes my heart sing. That behind a camera is where I feel most at peace and most my authentic self. I've learned it boils down to this: there is a huge difference between cajoling my loved ones to stop for a moment to grab a quick snap versus intentionally, comfortably, and purposefully sitting with a client in my studio. Asking my children, family, and friends to hit pause on the fun breaks the spell for me. But, that moment when a client - often nervous, still unsure of what to expect - sits down in front of my lights and lens - that's when the magic starts.

I've always had an uncanny knack for making people feel comfortable. I remember sitting over cocktails with a colleague some 20 years ago, being told she was envious of how I can make the room laugh, and chatter, and really share. I was gob-smacked. To me, this girl (we were both so young, our first jobs out of university) had her sh*t together. She was all the things I wasn't, or so I thought. But, that string that's been invisible to me, because it's just innately there, has stayed with me.

I'm never going to be the photographer who jumps up and down, enthusiastically shouting commands, who seems larger than life. My approach is more quiet. Make no mistake, there will be laughter, there will be a lot of chatting and there will be comfort and authenticity, and a real connection and sharing that is two-sided. Of course, there will be direction and guidance, but it's calm, subtle, and specific. If that sounds like your vibe, then you've come to the right place and I am SO looking forward to collaborating with you.

Now here's the boring bit that helps others like you, find me, and lend some credibility to my resume.

I have a passion for creating stunning headshots for actors and business professionals from across the Greater Toronto Area.

As an accomplished commercial photographer, my work has been published in The New York Times, The Globe & Mail and featured in Canada-wide advertising campaigns. I'm also the corporate headshot photographer for one of Canada's Top 100 Employers.

Other career highlights include working as the behind-the-scenes photographer for Canon Canada's Plan Your Baby Moments app. In 2015, I travelled to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to assist in filming a newborn photographers instructional video for EduK. As Co-Founder of The Uncommon Creative, in 2018, we held Canada's first newborn and family photography conference.

I'm located in Burlington’s Aldershot Village and work in the surrounding areas of Burlington, Oakville, Hamilton, and the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario.  

I'm a mother to three wondrous children, a couple of drooly dogs, and two cuddly cats. I'm lucky to have married my very best friend. My family is the inspiration behind much of my imagery. I reside in Aldershot and wouldn't have it any other way.

 

 

*many thanks to Stephanie Robin for the artists image.