Why I Photograph
I’ve always been haunted by the way time moves. Too quickly, too quietly, slipping through our fingers before we’ve had the chance to hold it. As a child, I would lie awake at night replaying moments from earlier in the day, trying to preserve them in my mind, afraid they would fade. I wrote constantly, filling notebooks with stories and observations, trying to capture the feeling of a place, a person, a fleeting second. But words, I realized, could only do half the work.
Photography became the other half. It became the form my words needed to take shape. It allowed me to do what I’ve always longed to do: stop time. To hold a moment in my hands and say, this mattered. To return to it years later and feel everything again. The light, the air, the emotion, the way it felt to be alive in that exact instant.
I am a romantic at heart. I relive the past constantly, not with sadness, but with reverence. I romanticize the small things. The way morning light falls across a dock, the sound of laughter echoing across a lake, the quiet intimacy of two people standing together as the world fades around them. Photography lets me live in those moments forever, and it lets me give that gift to others.
Twenty Years of Light & Story
For more than two decades, I’ve followed light across continents. Through the stone arches of Paris, the windswept docks of Muskoka, the rooftops of Santorini at golden hour, and the quiet moments before a bride walks down the aisle. What began in 2004 as a leap of faith with my first few couples has become a life’s work of photographing love in its most honest, elegant, and fleeting forms.
I’ve stood beside Olympic champions on secluded Bermuda beaches, floated in turquoise pools in Mexico, wandered the Scottish Highlands at dawn, and returned home to photograph intimate cottage weddings on the same lakes I grew up beside. Every wedding, every portrait, every frame is a study in patience, trust, and the belief that the most beautiful images are the ones that feel inevitable. As if they were always meant to exist.
The Way I See
My approach is rooted in observation and emotion. I’m drawn to the in-between moments. The breath before the vows, the way fabric moves in wind, the glance exchanged when no one else is watching. I blend timeless portraiture with documentary storytelling, always searching for the interplay of natural light, architecture, and human connection.
I don’t rush. I wander ahead to find the frame. I wait for the light to shift. I guide gently when it helps you feel at ease, and I step back when the moment asks for stillness. My mind is always moving, a million ideas brimming at once, each one pulling me in a different direction. But the camera grounds me. It focuses all that energy into a single, intentional act of seeing.
I believe the best photographs are the ones that transport you back, not just to what a moment looked like, but to what it felt like. The warmth of the sun. The sound of the water. The way your heart beat a little faster. That’s what I’m chasing. That’s what I’ve always been chasing.
Meet Iryna, The Eye That Completes the Frame
My wife, Iryna, is a luxury brand owner and designer based in Ukraine, where she leads her own company creating exquisite ethnic embroidery for discerning clients worldwide. Her work is rooted in tradition, craftsmanship, and an intuitive understanding of colour, form, and texture. Qualities that translate beautifully into the visual language of photography.
When she joins me as a second photographer on select weddings and portrait sessions, she brings a designer’s eye, an instinct for composition, an attention to the smallest details, and a calming presence that steadies the creative chaos constantly unfolding in my mind. She sees what I might miss. The way a hand falls naturally, the subtle shift in posture that transforms a frame, the interplay of light and shadow on fabric.
Her understanding of architecture in garments helps me see architecture in nature. Her mastery of colour informs the way I read a scene. And her quiet confidence allows me to work with clarity and intention, knowing that together, we’re capturing something refined, cohesive, and deeply considered.
Iryna is a recent addition to Rowell Photography, but her influence is already woven into the work. Couples love her warmth, her elegance, and the way she makes a wedding day feel lighter, more graceful, and more intentional.
Where We Work
We are based in Barrie and Muskoka, and we work throughout Toronto, the GTA, Georgian Bay, Collingwood, and Ontario’s cottage country. We are also available for destination weddings and anniversary sessions across Europe, particularly France, Italy, Greece, Scotland, and the United Kingdom, where some of our most cherished stories have unfolded.
A Little More About Us
We’ve photographed weddings in every season, from winter elopements at -35°C to beach ceremonies under the Mediterranean sun at 40°C. Our work has been featured in Perfect Wedding Magazine, Style Me Pretty, Junebug Weddings, Munaluchi Bride, and more. We believe in photographing with intention, thoughtful composition, natural moments, and images that transcend beyond trends. When we’re not photographing, you’ll find us travelling, exploring small towns, or sitting quietly by the lake with coffee in hand, reliving the stories we’ve been part of.
Let’s Tell Your Story
Whether you’re planning a Muskoka cottage wedding, a Toronto celebration at a historic landmark, or a destination love story overseas, we would be honoured to photograph your day in a way that feels timeless, elegant, and unmistakably you.
Because time moves quickly. But photographs? They let us hold on.
Thank you for taking the time to get to know us. We hope to meet you soon.