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.
If it isn't already apparent in my blog posts, I truly enjoy photographing at Brix and Mortar in Yaletown. It's a nice and small and intimate space with a unique ceremony space but the people there are also really cool.
As per usual, I'll let the photographs and the little bits of commentary do the narrating of this wedding. Just a quick note: That amazing red British car was an awesome sight to see.
Welid and Savannah's wedding was one of the first backyard weddings I had photographed. While I thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere and the revelry of larger weddings, I also love the intimacy that comes with small weddings as well. It was a bright sunny day and lended itself to a great day followed by a reception in a hall in the evening.
As per before, I won't say much in the ways of an introduction. I do think that the images speak for themselves (yes, including the mirror selfie with the bride's dress...). Michael and Shannon were married at Brockhouse in Vancouver followed by a reception at Victoria Chinese Restaurant. The night capped off with a dance rendition of "I Had The Time Of My Life" and it was kind of awesome. OK enough words. Photographs below :)
Thanks to Jody Wiger for the opportunity to second shoot.
Since 2013, I've been continually photographing Chinatown and as the years went on, I found myself meeting people and getting more involved. Eventually, I ended up joining the Wong Association and well... here I am.
I really enjoy photographing at Brix and Mortar and around the Yaletown area. So when John Bello called me up to be his second shooter, I was very much inclined to join the party.
Regardless of whether I'm a primary photographer or second photographer, I always go into a wedding with the same determination to create true and authentic moments and beautiful photographs that the couple will remember.
Thanks again to John Bello for giving me the opportunity to second shoot!
Yes, their actual names are not Zee, Eee or Cee but this is a special for a good friend :)
I've known Zee and Eee for a while and they've been great friends. When they asked me to take photos of their brand new baby Cee and they wanted it in a documentary approach, I was more than delighted to spend some time with them and take their photos. The day I arrived, Cee was about 2 weeks old so he was pretty new to the world at that time.
I recall the feeling of slight panic when I realized that my tires were starting to slip and weren't gaining traction. My little Honda Fit didn't really have the tires (or suspension) to be able to dig through a good 3 feet of fresh snow that had dropped on Delta and the rest of the Lower Mainland. This all happened as I was making my way to photograph as a secondary for John Bello for the big event: Kim and Jeremy's wedding. Thankfully, and also partly by some miracle, I was able to rock my car back and forth and find some grip and ever so slowly make my way up the slippery and buried-in-snow slight incline to Jeremy's house.
