Form submitted successfully, thank you.

Error submitting form, please try again.

documentographer bio picture

documentographer photo blog

Hello, welcome!  I'm Catherine Farquharson.  I'm a professional photographer, using photography as a way to expand, connect and create.

For my clients and subjects, this means what we do is real, and fun.  I shoot creative editorial portraits for publications, sometimes of well-known names like Clare Danes and Sarah Slean.  I also work with emerging artists and people-of-note to-be, as we develop branding, image and feelings that photos can portray and evoke through their portraits.

As a documentarian, I tell photo-stories from all over the world, including the recent first interracial prom in Charleston, Mississippi, where my photos were published in Oprah's magazine, the National Post, NPR.com, Seventeen magazine and more.

I especially revel in covering important life experiences, including weddings, relationships, and natural lifestyle portraits.  Those moments and events are what we remember and hold onto, and I am honoured by the opportunity for my photos to be the touchstone for those memories and feelings.

For me, photography of people is the capturing of their essence, and sharing back what I saw and felt.  Wherever, and whomever they are. Everywhere and anywhere. Connecting, understanding and sharing. 

Monthly Archives: September 2008

Why have a wedding day when you can have a wedding week?

One of the best elements of a destination wedding is that it's no longer just a wedding day.  It's a wedding week. This means you actually get to spend time and make memories with your favourite loved ones, not just see them for 45 seconds or less.  And when people are flying all around the world to be with you, this makes a big difference!

If you are hiring a photographer, say, me, for random argument's sake, it can be incredibly valuable to have me around for the days leading up to the wedding, in addition to the day of.  This way, all the other important days, all those juicy moments, are captured and shared as well.
That is what Gabriela and David did in Israel, and I must say, those days leading up were precious.
Here we are at 5am, climbing Massada for sunrise:   
2900472526_99cbf2eacb
2900473690_79a2c273a1_b
2899642349_8068dbb826
2899645527_bd9e6930f6
2900487398_28c951c792
2900488402_9b76c105a1
And here we are later that morning at the Dead Sea:
2900692446_02486b595d_b
(not a bad way to get ready for your wedding day!  a little mud mask!)
2899855861_842b72a29c
2899839775_a936fe687b
2899840439_092c8ba4d3
2900704492_68d84346ae
And, here we are exploring the Old City of Jerusalem:
2899930629_c8efaf3f9e
2899941759_ce561f2f80
2900796412_62d231989c_b
2900894898_acc8179a75
David, speechless.
2900879704_cf48a2d534
Gabriela at the Wailing Wall.
2900062939_9c419c22b8
2900892080_ce632a9a60_b
2900045063_3dc6e084a2
2900797032_1f97ff376e

I am going to make like Israel, and side dish.

Yummy pics on the side.

_MG_8946_MG_8973
_MG_8977
_MG_9053
_MG_9071 
_MG_9281
IMG_8819
_MG_9417
_MG_8781
_MG_8643
Or maybe it's actually a first course.

The proof is in the picture

When something great happens, and I mean something really great, it's hard to believe sometimes that it ever happened.  As though we only know life to be ordinary, or something. Or that fantastic things couldn't possibly really happen! Not to us!

Well, they do.  And I am realizing more and more that my role in many peoples' lives is to be able to show people, to prove to them, that this fabulous fabulous experience really happened. To them! 
IMG_9435
Indeed, it's hard to believe that a week ago we were in Israel.  David & Gabriela were celebrating the wedding of their dreams on a mountain top.
The reality is starting to trickle in now through photos, just as the belief wains.  
_MG_0525

the bride and the olive tree

_MG_0133

(Yes, Gabriela, that's YOU!!!!)
_MG_0154

**speechless**

September 20, 2008. Nataf, Israel. 

2am.

Picture 5

Home on Wednesday.  More to come.  So much more.

Just off to shoot a wedding on a mountain top outside Jerusalem

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my clients?  Maybe not directly, but I think you can tell by my blog, how wonderful and special I think they are.  That's what I think you can tell, anyway. Well, here I'll come straight out and say it: I have the coolest clients EVER!

And it is because of such people, that I am happy to say I will be away for the next two weeks. How far, you ask?  How far will I go for a wedding?
As far as you'll send me!  And in this case, it's Israel, baby.  
So I'm off, faster than you can say Shalom. 
I will be checking e-mail, and even possibly sharing an entry or two on here.  
So, don't be a stranger!
xoxo catherine

Love is in the Details

I knew from our engagement session, that Heather & Nick's wedding would be wonderful and intimate, and stylish and beautiful at the same time. That is exactly what it was. I promised last post that I would show more photos from their amazing beachside wedding last weekend, and I hold true to my promises.

IMG_2306
But I have quickly realized that there is so much goodness in the details of their wedding day, that I think you just have to see the whole thing for yourself. If I post the pictures to illustrate my point, I fear I might bring down the blog with so much content. 
So instead, why don't you watch the slideshow
Before you do, grab a cup of Joe, because it is not the shortest slideshow.  Then, sit back, watch, and marvel in how every single thing was thought of, cared for and attended to.  As a result, everyone was feeling the love that day. It was infectious and incredibly fun!  
_MG_8455
To answer the first question that I think will come up for you, the mind-blowing decorative vision was created by Cathy Lane and her team at Panache Design Works in Collingwood. They brought the outdoors to the indoors with such style. 
Astonishing style.
_MG_8593 
Congratulations Heather & Nick!!  Thank you for sharing the details, and the love, with me.

Blue sky, smiling at me. Nothing but blue sky…

Stunning blue skies we had yesterday. Nary a cloud to be seen.

A perfect day. For a perfect wedding.
It was so beautiful in fact, it requires a much larger post on here.  Everything from the decorations, to the beachfront ceremony in Kincardine, to the couple themselves.  There was so much love in the air, and that love was reflected through every detail.
Here are a few pictures.  A taste.  A taste for what's to come.
_MG_8354-Edit
_MG_8331-Edit
_MG_8315-Edit

ps — If you are looking at your calendar and thinking, "but it RAINED yesterday!" Think again.
(-;

It’s a 20-person party. Wedding party, that is.

Wedding party photos can be a lot of work for any given wedding.  But what about the ones with more people than usual, like 9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen?  What's a photographer to do?

Collage2

It can sound intimidating at first, but actually it's a lot of fun.  Personally, I like using the fact that there are so many people as the subject of the photo. Play it up a little.
_MG_5927
 
_MG_6134

In truth, you can have a lot of fun with it. It is a lot of people, there is no question. So let it be what it is.
_MG_5989
_MG_6015
And if you're feeling it, you can even get creative. (click on image below to see larger image)
Collage
It's nothing to be afraid of.  It's called a wedding party for a reason.

(n.b. these photos don't really cut people off.  the blog window is doing that for some reason)

Oh my, how do you say ‘cute’?

Some people's babies just make parenting look so easy-breezy, gushy and smushy, don't you think?  

_MG_7186

_MG_6995_MG_7019_MG_7065
_MG_7111
_MG_7128
_MG_7150
_MG_7182
_MG_7190
_MG_7238