RAPH NOGAL - Owner / Lead Photographer
My name is Raph (pronounced r-ah-f, like in the Ninja Turtles!) and I'm a Toronto Wedding Photographer. I became obsessed with photography in 2007 on my honeymoon in Costa Rica. There was something about the medium that brought back the excitement of Visual Arts, which I studied earlier in my life.
Today I enjoy the challenge, opportunity, and creative outlet that comes from photographing weddings. No two nuptials or couples are ever the same. It keeps things exciting, that's for sure!
On the way to our shoots, you can catch my assistant Oliver and I head-banging to our favourite heavy metal tunes to get ready for the day.
My style is a combination of photojournalism, editorial and art-based photography. I enjoy creating something magical and I accomplish this with the use of off-camera flash. I'm a bit obsessed with it. It creates so much impact and you have full control of how the final image is going to look, before any Photoshop happens.
However, I don't let my enjoyment of creative work cloud my goal of capturing real, candid emotion. Those moments are precious. I try to anticipate them and be at the right place at the right time.
I'm happily married to the most amazing and super talented Toronto actress, singer, performer, Kristi Woods. We have an adorable 5-year-old son and a super cute Miniature Schnauzer with a lot of personality!
I enjoy cycling (who am I kidding? I'm pretty much obsessed), kickboxing, motorcycling, BMW cars, BBQing, good company, seeing a show (theatre & music concert), adventure, travel, and having a beer on the deck while head-banging to my favourite heavy metal tune!
Credentials
I am a 24-time recipient of Honours of Excellence Awards at WPPI photographic print competitions from 2013 to present, Fearless Photographers Award Winner, multiple-time PWPC award winner, Merit & Best In Class (Wedding Portrait) Award Winner and Loan Collection participant from 2016 PPOC National Image Salon, Merit & Best In Class (Wedding Portrait) Award Winner from 2016 PPOC Regional Image Salon, 2013 WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards winner, and 2014, 2015 & 2016 WeddingWire Couple's Choice Awards winner and Vision Award Winner at Shutterfest.
I am an Associate Member of Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI), member of Fearless Photogrphers, member of Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers (UK), and Sony Imaging Pro Support, and a former Accredited Member of Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC), Professional Wedding Photographers of Canada (PWPC), and Nikon Professional Services (NPS).
Some of my work has appeared in such publications as Shutter Magazine, Wedding Essentials Magazine, The Perfect Wedding Magazine, on several covers of the Wedding Planner (GTA) Magazine, as well as in several international blogs such as the Wedding Co, Offbeat Bride, OZY and others. We have also been listed in the 100 Top Wedding Photography Blogs on FeedSpot. Raph Nogal Photography has been featured in LIT by Shotkit, a new book about off-camera lighting featuring lighting secrets from the world's best wedding photographers.
Photography Brand Ambassador
I am a proud ambassador for Profoto Canada, representing the wedding market and a Profoto Premium Club (PPC) Trainer. Profoto is an incredible world-renowned company that produces the world's highest quality photographic strobe systems and light shaping tools.
I am also a MagMod ambassador. MagMod is a revolutionary flash modifier system company that created the most useful and speediest modifiers for speedlights for professional photographers.
My beautiful albums are all made by Vision Art Fine Art Books, and I am a proud ambassador for this brand. They are extremely detailed, super friendly, environmentally conscious, and produce the best books in the industry.
I am also a Spider Camera Holster ambassador. Spider has created an amazing holster system that is incredibly comfortable and useful in our everyday professional lives
I am affiliated with Sprout Studio, the world's first all-in-one client management, gallery hosting, invoicing and reporting system for professional photographers.
I am also affiliated with Pixellu's Smart Albums & Smartslides, Pixellu has revolutionized the wedding album and slideshow making process and has made it a pleasure to design albums and slideshows for clients that look beautiful clean and are extremely easy to use.
The USB company I use is USB Memory Direct, which provide high quality custom USB solutions.
OLIVER SALATHIEL - Assistant / Associate Photographer
I picked up my first proper stills camera and started taking pictures while visiting family in England in 2012. Since then it's my main focus along with filmmaking, and I enjoy the technical side of it just as much as the creative side.
My photographic style has very much been influenced by Raph since we've worked so closely together as I've matured as a photographer. I like modern and edgy images paired with a lot of photojournalism. I consider myself largely self-taught as a photographer since never formally studied it, but I have taken filmmaking and graphic design courses at Centennial and George Brown respectively, and much of that is applicable in the photography industry.
When Raph and I aren't working together, I keep myself pretty busy playing drums for my metal band, doing photography with my own business, and travelling whenever I can.
