COVID19 Introspection - Why I’m Taking a Break From Weddings
I do feel quite sad to have made this decision but I think it was time. Things were just not going in the direction that I was hoping and I had poured a lot of time and resources in trying to make it work. You can only knock on the door for so long before you have to try another one. That being said, I am excited for the new direction that I will be going in. I realize that time is precious and also limited so it’s best to spend it doing what you love.
ALL DREAMS COME TO AN END
I remember doing research early on in my photographer career to determine what I was really interested in. I recall seeing the photographs of Jeff Ascough, a documentary wedding photographer based in the UK, and thought to myself… that would be really awesome to do.
I have been a professional photographer for the last 8 years. In that time, I’ve been a part of over 40 weddings of cultures of all kinds, many many events, multiple family sessions and of course a part of Chinatown’s history documentation.
Fast-forward to 2020 and in light of the coronavirus pandemic I had to do some serious introspection and thinking. While I absolutely love doing documentary weddings and will still take on a few, I made the tough decision to start focusing my photography elsewhere to where my base passion lies.
THE HONEST TRUTH:
The honest truth is that documentary wedding photography is a niche within a niche. Wth the competition being very fierce in the Vancouver wedding market and being a relatively unknown entity, I was not able to make it work from a business perspective. I wanted documentary wedding photography to be all I did but unfortunately reality has dashed that dream and has made do a lot of thinking over the last few months while socially distancing. I only booked a few weddings and offered a lot more than most other photographers did in my packages (prints/storybooks) as I really did (and STILL DO) care about having a tangible print product. However financial realities set in and in the midst of the scramble for toilet paper I realized that this was not a growth area for me.
I find it very unfortunate that many a bride/groom don’t even know about documentary wedding photography and thus default to the most mainstream wedding photography approaches. I recall bumping into a married couple who told me that after their wedding, they found out about documentary photography and wish they had hired someone for that approach on their wedding day. Unfortunately, a niche will be a niche but I do hope that more word gets out there that there are more options than smiling at trees and fake laughing. I will still advocate for documentary wedding photography.
If we dive deeper into styles, many a photographer call themselves candid but when you look at the photos all you see are posed photos or photos of people who are directed in a moment to do something that “looks” like it was a real moment when in fact it was manufactured. This is not to say this is a bad approach. Some brides and grooms want this. And I too have done it sometimes. But it is not documentary.
WHERE AM I GOING NOW:
For my clients who have weddings with my next year, this is NOT to say that I am cancelling all my weddings. I will continue to take on new wedding jobs on a case-by-case basis and will of course fulfill weddings currently booked. It is more of a shift in my attitude and my outlook on where and on what I want to spend my time and while I’ve poured in time and effort and money to try to make documentary weddings work, I’ve come to realize that door is slowly creaking to a close. Maybe one day it will re-open but for now… we’ll see.
So… then what am I doing now?
I’ve switched my focus to being a long-term project documentary photographer. I’ve realized that I like creating photographs that document over the long term and being involved in projects that I can build through photographs. As such, I’ll be focusing on my personal project work (such as documenting Chinatown) and perhaps add a few new offerings such as drone services. The drone world has always interested me and I can see myself growing in that aspect. I will also be looking to license images for people to use in publications. And I will still be doing family sessions as the opportunity arises as well.
A BIG THANK YOU:
To all my clients over the years who have believed in me and who still do: thank you for trusting me with your wedding days and for allowing me to document you as you really were on that day. Thank you for letting me tell your story in an honest and classical way that will hopefully live on as photo stories to pass down to future generations. And thank you in being vulnerable enough to let me to create documentary wedding photography for you.
I do feel quite sad to have made this decision but I think it was time. Things were just not going in the direction that I was hoping and I had poured a lot of time and resources in trying to make it work. You can only knock on the door for so long before you have to try another one. That being said, I am excited for the new direction that I will be going in. I realize that time is precious and also limited so it’s best to spend it doing what you love.
Wedding Vendor Behind The Scenes - Vanilla and Honey Bee (Wedding Cakes)
So I've started something new!!
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.
So I've started something new!!
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. Why do they do they do? Why do they love weddings? Behind each wedding cake, dress, decor setup, photograph or video is a human being with a passionate flame burning inside them that drives them to make, create and/or organize on your wedding day. #weddingdaybts
Today’s Wedding Vendor is:
Selina from Vanilla and Honey Bee
What do you love to do when not working on weddings?
Essentially the cakes are what I love to do. When I am not doing cakes, I’m not doing what I love to do.
What inspires you / What drives you?
Art has always inspired me; every type of art. I used to do finance (that’s where I started), then I got into ceramics, and then I started getting into digital art and then going to web development. I have always been into small business. I’ve always had my own businesses including clothing stores or café or whatever throughout my years.
I’ve learned a lot and I feel that cakes lets me bring all the components of my art that I’ve been learning over the years together into one place. Cakes are really finicky because you can’t really make a mistake. You have to create all your components properly and then put them together like a puzzle at the end and there’s really no room for error so for me it’s kind of that higher form of art that I’m used to and it just kind of keep my brain active. What motivates me is how happy it makes people. I love helping people. It’s what I do in web development at work and in small businesses so just helping somebody or making them happy is really my motivation.
How did you start in baking?
When I was seven years old, I had a grandmother who lived in Alberta. She was First Nations. We used to go to the sweats a lot and so when I was seven and she said “You know, it’s time for you to make your own food for the sweats”. So the first thing I did for baking was rice crispy squares. It was the first thing I ever made for the sweats and then from there I learned how to bake and how to make bread and and then I just started in the cakes.
I used to be an analytical person and I used to work in fashion and retail outside of school for several years. I have always liked baking and cooking since I was that age. Now that I’m older I have a chance to start making cakes. I did it for friends and family at first and then they started asking me to do it more often, which through word-of-mouth led to friends of friends and that gave me good experience.
Why do you love baking?
I love decoration and I love interior design. I love style, I love colour, I love puzzles. When I’m cooking, all of that just comes together. I can be artistic and creative. Every cake is different. I never know what it’s gonna look like when I start it so I just kind of go by feel. Yeah, so it’s like... it’s literally art.
What is it about weddings that excite you?
I love events, I love parties and I love refinement. Most weddings are pretty refined. I am not very traditional or “religious religious” but I do like the union of of two people officially especially now in the world. I think that my cakes are a lot like weddings because they’re whimsical and light and airy, and I feel like that’s what a wedding is: it’s whimsical. So I try to make my cakes have that same sort of feel.
Who is your ideal client?
My ideal client is someone that really cares about quality of the cakes. I am a small baker and I'm a craft maker so all of my cakes that I make use whole ingredients. A lot of competitors may use things like vegetable oils and shortenings for their cakes but I use milk and cream and butter for them because I think it makes a huge difference in the flavour. That is the number one thing that people say that they love about my cakes: The icing isn’t so sweet. I’ve received a lot of requests for smash cakes, which are all these toppings on it and it’s kind of like a crazy mix and match of a whole bunch of stuff just sitting on top the cake. So yeah, those are my ideal clients: people that really care about the details and the ingredients (such as the gold leaf that will be used on today’s cake) and that really want to wow somebody at a party.
What should people look for in a baker?
Someone who aims to please the client first and foremost. Somebody that listens to the client and really has an idea on their mind of how they can deliver with a client in a way that is very nicely designed. If high-quality ingredients is really important for them, they should ask the baker if they are using whole ingredients. The worst thing is getting a cake when you really had this great idea in your mind and then you get the cake and you are underwhelmed. You ask for a cake that is burgundy but you get purple or if there’s something on top of the cake but it’s not what you asked for. Also, you want to make sure the baker is being competitive because cakes can get really expensive. I usually like to throw in add-ons that I usually don’t charge for.
What is your differentiator?
For me, it would be my past and my history with fine art and baking ever since I was young. I think also my clients see high-quality ingredients so I feel like those things set me apart. Also, I see myself as being like a craft bakery, which is more like an artist and not so much of pumping out like 50 cakes a day. I really do concentrate and try to put everything I can into the cakes that I make. They take around four to five hours to make! A baker would generally want to be making five or 10 cakes within that time but for me I like to spend time on just one project at a time.
You can reach Selina from Vanilla and Honey Bee here.
FULL GALLERY BELOW:
Marriage: What The Wedding Is Really About
I was recently talking with some friends and realized that as (soon-to-be) brides and grooms its so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of planning a wedding and getting all the details right and booking the DJ and finding time for an engagement shoot and making sure you have a venue and ... and... and...
However, the wedding day is just one day. ONE DAY. But... it's also the start of something beautiful: Your marriage to your spouse. Yes, details are important and YES, it's going to be an AWESOME day... but not because it's going to be an amazing celebration but because you finally say "I Do" to that special someone :)
Your wedding day is the start of your unique story. When the food has been eaten, when the music and dancing quiets down, when the rice or flower petals have been thrown, a new life with your spouse truly begins. And that, really, is what matters most about a wedding day.
So if you're in the midst of planning right now, my one advice is to look into the eyes of your husband or wife to be (even if it's over Skype) and tell them how happy you are that you are going to be starting a life together.
Oh yeah, and book that photographer ;)
This image is from a wedding reception I photographed a little while ago.