One of the great things about documenting weddings is the opportunity to get to know friends and family of the bride and groom that I never would have met in other circumstances. In 2018, I documented Alex and Vania's wedding in Yaletown. In 2019, I received a message from someone named "Hae-In" who asked about my wedding availability. At first I was like "who is this?" but I later found out that she was at the wedding of Alex and Vania the year before. After further chatting, I found out she was Alex's sister! Unknowingly to me, in 2018 I was already documenting her.
It was dark out. I woke up way early in the morning for this wedding and remember sitting in my car and saying a quick prayer before getting my gear on and pulling my stuff out of the car. It was so dark that I had watch my step as I could not see much of the sidewalk except for what was illuminated by the street lights. Despite all this, I had a skip in my step as the excitement of the day was starting to roll in. I was going to be a big part of Andrew and Haley’s day and little did I know that the day was going to be filled with lots of laughs, smiles and some epic dancing at the end.
“When you make someone feel beautiful, it instantly creates a high. As soon as I get to the final stages of the makeup or hair where everything is coming together, I start to get so excited. And then when the client sees herself and lights up, i feel so happy and instantly want to go make someone else feel pretty…”
Have you ever wondered who it is behind that beautiful wedding cake you had? Or who it was designing your dress or who it was who did your makeup? While you may have most likely had some interaction with your wedding vendors during your wedding day, most likely the day was a complete blur and you probably only met them briefly and didn’t get to know the person that well.
In this new series of photographs and brief interviews, I will taking you Behind The Scenes of what makes wedding vendors so passionate about what they do.
FIRST: Huge thanks to Jumi Story for having me on as a secondary photographer for this wedding.
I won’t say much about this wedding other than I learned a little bit more about Cambodian and Vietnamese customs for weddings. The early morning tea ceremony was a bit different from the usual with the way it was done and there was an aspect of red string being tied to the bride and groom. I’ll let the photographs do the talking :)
FIRST: Huge thanks for Yinger Fotokrafie for taking me on a secondary for this wedding. Glad to be a part of it :)
When Yinger called me in to second shoot for him for this wedding, I was very excited for the opportunity. Yinger is fantastic photographer and a great guy and to be able to shoot with him was quite something.
Previously, I did some Behind The Scenes work for the Pre-Wedding Shoot that Yinger did for them and it was amazing to meet Carrie and Frankie. Carrie’s dress was unique and exquisite, with a unique train and an interesting design.
I recall ending that night and saying goodnight to everyone, packing my bags and making my way back to my car. However, as I took some steps away from the wedding tent, I saw the summer night sky with the stars glistening above. I took a photo of it (which you can see at the end of the blog post) and the wedding tent to close out on a series of photographs I had made that day documenting the amazing joy and laughter that was happening that day…
How do you even begin to encapsulate a year? It’s 365 days of living and being and breathing and it all goes by so fast. As a photographer, the photos I take are not only momentos of the little moments that went by but also memory place holders that let me look back and recall a time in my life: the smells, the sights and even the sounds.
First, huge thanks to Ryan Flynn Photography, who took me on as a seconding photographer for this assignment of his. Ryan is a great guy!
As I am based close to the city of Vancouver on the British Columbia mainland, heading to Vancouver Island and the city of Victoria is always a treat. I love the feel and sense of adventure and travel when I make my way out there. In order to make the ferry to get to the wedding on time, I had to wake up at a very early hour (i.e. it was still dark and it was Summer time) and make my way through some winding roads. Eventually, I managed to get to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal and soon relaxed once my car and I were on the ferry and on our way across the water.
When Mandy from “Eventful by Mandy” and I came together to brainstorm an idea for a styled shoot, I knew from the get-go that I wanted to do something different. I wanted to do a styled shoot that was more along my style: unposed and more authentic. Mandy brought in the idea of doing an Asian-Fusion themed wedding.
Approaching a wedding in a documentary fashion is actually quite difficult. As I'm not directing people to pose or to do certain things, I have to be able to react and anticipate moments as they happen. There's no "OK, can you look at Mom and laugh now?". I'm there to document it as how it truly unfolded. Why would I approach things this way? To me, there's something absolutely magical about creating beautiful photographs of real and authentic moments. It's telling your story as the way it happened and not how I as a photographer directed it to be. Candid, photojournalistic and unposed moments are where my photography passion lies.
