Hi and welcome to the blog of Taylor Roades Photography. I am Taylor…a photographer, a writer, and avid traveller. I photograph incredible couples and their weddings, my travels and other stories that catch my eye in the Guelph/Toronto area (my home!) and all over the world.

“beautiful, insane, – in the rain”
― Jack Kerouac

I like to think I have an great internal navigation system. I refuse to use a GPS because I feel more oriented looking up directions, following a map, searching for landmarks. As I drove into Collingwood Ontario at the beginning of May this year and saw Blue Mountain rise above the highway I knew I was headed the right way to Britt and Mike’s wedding.

Brittney and Michael were married at the summit of the mountain with a view over the village like no other. The band played and a dance party was had on a beautiful day at Blue Mountain Resort. A quick look at their wedding photos below with a full story of photographs to come next week.

“Brittany you look beautiful” Brittany’s mom Sue spoke in almost a whisper.

“…and you were mine first…”

Brittany’s eyes lock with Sue’s in the hustle of wedding preparations, and they both smile that same closed mouth, lips turned up, quiet smile, that because of genetics or possibly a lifetime together mirrors the other. I can only wonder what Sue is thinking; if she is remembering tying Britt’s shoes before her first day of kindergarden, or if she thinks back to when she waited up on the couch sipping tea as Brittany broke curfew at sixteen. Maybe my imagination is limited by where I believe my own mother’s thoughts might go on her daughter’s wedding day.

The day rolled on and together the girls headed up the mountain where Brittany would meet Mike, and above the city of Collingwood they would start life together. Sue stood in front of the couple at the start of the ceremony, and like any mother would spoke from the heart.

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Happy Mother’s Day.

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The arrival of spring always feels immaculate and pristine. A spotless perfection full of hope and optimism, and fresh possibilities. I could spend several serene hours simply being content with this stranger we call the sun – letting it cover, lift, and warm me from within. This type of peace only comes during the first signs of this season.

We anticipate it for months and once it comes, it consumes us. It’s presence never leaves our minds and we rest with it, inhale it, inflate our hearts with it. This conscious appreciation fades with time and we become accustomed. We forget about the dead of winter. The dreariness, the chilled stillness, the dark and depression.  The shiver melts out of our bones and pours from our bodies as we accept this newfound sunlight. We drink the humidity and dance in warm rains. Then the buds come, and we embrace them. We love them like we love our favorite melodies, but once they’ve bloomed into flowers, we neglect to notice. We walk by, spoiled and ignorant, and viewing the world with summer soaked eyes. An over saturation of goodness turns into an immunity to the acknowledgement of beauty.

Spring is only sincerely appreciated after an honest winter.

Just as peace can only be fully understood after war, or joy can only be truly experienced after great sadness, we must shake hands with the worst in order to grasp the best. Despite the desire to flush our minds of past pain, we must allow remnants of the cold, violence, and anguish to remain, simply as a reminder. It is only then that we are able to value the flowers and entirely experience the season they represent.

Spring is here. The sun is shining today, and will again tomorrow. Birds are chirping happily and the warm wind is all embracing. Allow your porous soul to sponge up this season, and refuse to wring it dry.

-Author Unknown.

[Portland Oregon, Mt Tabor April 2013]

Mary and Joel are good friends of mine and photographers from Portland Oregon, they showed me their city, their spring, and let me loiter in their life last weekend as we attended Collaborations for a Cause, a conference for photographers and NGOs. I owe them the biggest thank you, and am waiting to return the favour on the east coast. The weekend was the end of a two week trip west, and now back in Guelph, Ontario I’m buying memory cards that I should have bought tax free in Oregon, and getting ready for weddings to start. Many photos to come this summer, many to make, many to share.

adelante caminante

“I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future.”

On the Road – Jack Kerouac