Wedding Photographer Vancouver - The Wink Photography Blog

I was recently asked to do a bunch of new headshots for the home stagers/ designers at Dekora Staging. Like many companies these days they agreed it was time to get out of the studio and do some relaxed natural light portraits. We managed to get through all the employees is under 4 hours, and have a great time doing it. If your company is in need of freshening up their look…I highly recommend not only putting a face to the company with some fun portraits, but getting out of the suits and studios.

You can see the rest of the photos and learn more about this fabulous company at www.dekora.com

Two blog posts in one day? Who is this girl?! As I’m waiting for batteries to charge and for my bags to pack themselves before leaving for a beautiful backyard Whistler wedding….I decided I could squeeze in another blog post.

Last week I was asked to shoot a downtown corporate headshot session, and it was way more fun than it sounds. Let’s instead call it….a….Lifestyle Business Portrait. Cameron was awesome to work with….a good sense of humour is key in my books. Plus, he was interested in changing things up a little. The first sign, was that he wasn’t looking to sit in a studio with a black backdrop and rest his chin on his fist. I think we managed to keep things within the realm of what his editors will be looking for, while keeping his personality in there as well.

See? No tie. Take that, corporate world!!

Cameron’s lovely fiancee showed up, to “make sure I don’t pull a Sears catalog and throw my jacket over my shoulder”. She was quickly appointed wardrobe consultant. Love it.

And to top it off, Cameron’s fiancee has gotten him hooked on Top Model, so he’s already been practicing ‘finding his light’ and ’smiling with the eyes’.

Thanks, Cameron! You were a treat to work with!

Following this session, we decided to head over to West Vancouver to hit a great event in the park. Fresh Air Cinema puts on movies in the park all summer and this one was kicked off with a performance by the fantastic ROSCO. You may remember them from such weddings as Laura & Mike in Whistler this winter.

I toured around on the beach for a bit. I’m thinking this park would be a great location for an E session in the near future.

Oh, how I love digital sometimes. I never would’ve been able to pull off a shot handheld at night with my old film cameras.

As I was lying on the blanket, watching a very strange movie (for families?), The City of Lost Children, I was distracted by the lightness of the night sky at 11pm. This is exactly how it looked straight out of camera. The reflection of the lights of downtown Vancouver on the cloudy sky is amazing sometimes.

Anyway, that’s a day in my life.

Jennifer came to me a couple of weeks ago, through my dear friend and Communications Guru Paul Nixey (www.nixey.ca), looking to have some professional headshots taken. She’s the Executive Director of what used to be The Centre, and has now completed a major style overhaul to become “Qmunity: BC’s Queer Resource Centre”. Jennifer is simply a fantastic human being, and a major part of this great resource that offers community services and programs to celebrate and support the gay community. www.qmunity.ca

We definitely didn’t stay serious long. Every 2nd or 3rd shot looks like this, or is blurry from me laughing too hard.

Jennifer was nervous at first, but worked it. About halfway through, she had to devise a way to work through the giggles, and would count to three before  “…..aaaaaaannnnd BACK!”…and immediately turned the thoughtful serious pose back on.

Taking a break to excitedly show Paul a classic Steve Winwood album she found while rummaging through the used records. (I use the term “classic” loosely).

Gotta love the late evening sunlight.

Thanks Jennifer! I had a blast.

Two of my favorite guys, who I lovingly call “The Pauls” called me up last week to hire me for an impromptu headshot session. We took a little tour around my East Vancouver neighbourhood to get some fun urban shots for Paul’s (blonde Paul) hip new job which required a headshot and bio. So why not make a fun rainy afternoon of it?

The shots had to be simple, happy, and crop-able, and he just wanted a little variety.

They range from “I’m sporty and colourful friendly guy”…

…to “I’m urban and hip but approachable guy”

When we were done, I ask the next Paul if he’d like to get in a few, and in the 12 years that I’ve known him, he’s never turned down a chance to make a goofy (yet suave) picture.

He’s been watching too much Tyra…still mastering the “smiling with the eyes”.

This is my favourite Paul face. It’s interesting to learn how differently you look at photos of people you know well.  You know right away which photos just don’t capture the essence of the person.  That’s one of the reasons why I  take the time to get to know clients through email, consultations, phone calls, and engagement sessions. Not only does it make for more genuine photos, but it makes my job that much easier!

Too bad I couldn’t get any shots of them together, since one always had to be holding the umbrella over us while I shot the other. But they were so giddy about looking over the photos immediately after, that I have a feeling this won’t be the last shoot. Perhaps an engagement session one day? Thanks, guys!

As I mentioned in a previous post, while in Arizona, we got together with a bunch of other wedding photographers and did a shoot swap. This was a great way to put into action what we’d learned about making sure that we as photographers get in front of the camera once in a while. Even though posing for photos is one of my least favourite things - unless maybe I’m holding my little point&shoot at arms length and pointing it back at me - I already value these new photos so much, and the fact that they say a lot about our personalities and relationship.

So here we are, my husband David and I. He’s the foundation of the business/marketing side, and handles all the things I’m not good at that would drag me down. When I started, I thought all I had to do was meet some nice people and take some nice photos…turns out there’s a lot more to it.

These first few photos were taken by Rob & Lauren. (www.robnlauren.com) They’re one of the wedding photographer couples we met in Arizona, and it’s been so much fun expanding our network of friends & fellow photographers all over the world. David has also started 2nd shooting with me when he can, and we’ve learned a lot from Rob & Lauren about succeeding as a couple in business together.

Thanks for the fun shots, guys! Can’t wait til you move to Vancouver!

Luckily we were encouraged to get our sillies on, because that’s normally how I deal with nervousness.

Ryan Brenizer, a NY photographer (www.ryanbrenizer.com) took these last two photos. Once again, embracing the silliness.

And I just love what he did with this last shot. I’m a big fan of intense colour and silhouettes. Plus, I’m able to be in the photo without having to really be “in” the photo.

I’m so glad I’ve got all these photos now, and my advice to everyone is to do the same.
Even if you don’t hire me to do it…get your photo taken. You’ll be glad you did.