Metric, Ok Go, Keys N Krates

Last year Jenna and I were hired to photograph the TD Pump It Up concert in Victoria’s Market Square. In true Victoria fashion, people lined up in the pouring rain as ponchos were passed around to excited fans.  All the discomfort of the wet evening evaporated with three energy filled performances from Keys n Krates, Ok Go and Metric. Ears still ringing, we ended our night over fresh sushi and warm saki, soaked in happiness and rain from head to toe.

Sam & Winnie

Not long ago Sam and Winnie flew here from Hong Kong armed with dresses and suits, for an engagement session around Victoria. The four of us spent the late afternoon photographing as the sun set spilling over our city. Here are our favourites from our short and lovely time together.

Surfing in Waikiki

When I was a kid I used to spend hours daydreaming underwater.

We spent all of our summers at the cottage on the lake, where I took breaks from swimming only to read. Not unlike myself, Tristan spent his summers life-guarding and sailing with his family. So naturally when we first started traveling together, we spent the hours of our off days in the ocean. It’s probably obvious that the rest of our time is spent happily behind cameras, whether working or not. Recently in Waikiki we found pleasure in both swimming and photographing, simultaneously. We were in Oahu for Sara and Craig’s wedding, a sweet couple also from here on the island. We spend our days leading up to their wedding photographing the various events and activities, which included a day of surf rentals and wave chasing with their friends. After hours of swimming and an inevitable sunburn, we left with this series from the day.

~Jenna

Tim & Karen – On Film

Since the early spring I’ve been obsessed with square format film. It started with a small group show in Victoria and now i’m hooked and take this new/old camera everywhere. As you can see, I took our Hasselblad camera with me to Tim and Karen’s wedding and as promised i’ll share the few that I took.

~Jenna

Tim & Karen

It seems within the wedding industry that photographers find each other wherever they travel. My first trip to Kingston a couple of years ago was no exception, as I was introduced to Tim Forbes at a local pub by our mutual friend, Ben Benvie. This year Tristan and I traveled back to Kingston to meet Tim at the same pub, only this time he was surrounded by his closest friends and his beautiful fiance Karen. Tristan and I were there to photograph their wedding the next day at Grant Hall, on the Queens University campus. Leading up to the wedding I think I may have told Tim I was “so excited” literally dozens of times, and Tim always replied with equal excitement. I loved seeing how excited he was about his wedding. Tristan and I are so lucky to be surrounded by not only enthusiastic brides, but grooms as well. As for Karen, I felt she always carried herself with such grace. During the portrait session Tim kept noting, “I can’t believe how great you are about this”. She is quite honestly the perfect match for Tim, and I could really see a difference in his smile from the first time I met him, years before.

For us the first wedding of the season is always a memorable one, and this was even more so.

We are so thankful for the friendships we’ve made (including you Scott!) and the trust they all had in us. If you’d like to see the slideshow from the day you can view it here. Tomorrow i’ll be posting the film photos we took through out the day.

~Jenna

Alex & Joey

Quite a few people ask us why we love photographing weddings, or what we love most about it.

I’m sure this is a question asked to a lot of photographers. In response, Tristan and I always comment on how we love to watch families and their interactions with one another, regardless of how subtle or obvious. More often than not I refer back to Joey and Alex’s wedding as an example. This wedding was held on their family’s island last summer, in the gulf islands. They already have two beautiful children and have been together for years, so their wedding was symbolic of the relationship that they already have and the life they’ve already built. Tristan and I hadn’t actually met either Joey or Alex until the day before the wedding at their rehearsal dinner. Through a rather large group of people I could tell almost right away who they were once i’d found them, by their beaming smiles. Not only did we find that they were so in love with one another (which lets face it we hope is obvious with all our couples) but with every guest at the wedding. Constantly we’d see people hugging, crying, and kissing. The wedding day was no different, and really a photographers dream. The location, decor, and all the planning that went into this wedding was incredible. For example they had circ dancers at their cocktail hour and an Abba cover band at the reception. Alex even purchased her beautiful dress from Kleinfelds in New York. But what we walked away with the most from this wedding was a strong sense of family love, and so this wedding will be held close in our memories for a long time to come. ~Jenna

WPJA 4th Quarter Contest

The results from the latest 2010 contest for the Wedding Photojournalist Association and the winter contest for the International Society of Wedding Photographers came out recently and we were lucky enough to place in 4 different categories. So many of our friends did great in this contest, including Dave Getzschman who was named photographer of the year for the WPJA! These photos are from the weddings of Sophie & Lee, Cari & Paul and Jeff & Holly, two weddings of which have yet to be blogged.  Still many more 2010 weddings to come.