It all started about a month or so ago, back at one of our VanPhotog Java time coffee meet ups. News spread about a roadshow that was travelling around the USA by the WPPI organizers. One of the group members David Lai had some hookups at WPPI and mentioned he may be able to get a group deal going. One of the key selling points for the roadshow was that it included a free registration to the main WPPI convention in Vegas! Thinking to myself “Cool! lets make it happen!” I put the word out amongst the group and a few weeks later we had about 30+ members paid up and registered for the event! How awesome was that!

So fast forward to the day and we’re sitting in the grand ballroom at the Marriott Waterfront along with about 400 other photographers. The headline speakers for the event were Dawn Shields, Rick Miller, Kirk Voclain, and Jasmine Star with Jim Garner (creator of the Boda bag) as the main host for the day.

Having only to have ever been to the Becker workshop when he came up to Vancouver, I didn’t really know what to expect from it all. Needless to say, I was blown away.

Here’s a very quick recap on what I took away from each speaker:

Jim Garner

• Stop taking pictures and start telling stories!
• Stop selling pictures and start selling art!
• The focus of a client experience is more important than even the act of capturing the images!

Dawn Shields

• Spend  Smart!
• Leverage off free marketing such as social media and building relationships!
• Help to unite the industry!

Rick Miller

• The three things that impact a RAW file are ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed, everything else are essentially just metatag values.

Unfortunately we only caught the tail end of Kirk Voclain’s class (as a bunch of us headed out to Glazer’s for some shopping! Sorry Kirk!! ) but from the part that I did catch he is one extremely entertaining and outstandingly funny speaker! I absolutely loved his re-enactment of a “chimper!”

Finally it came down to Jasmine Star’s presentation. I don’t think I’m far off in saying that she’d be one of the most popular and followed wedding photographer’s on the planet. If you are a bride and don’t know who she is then you are definitely living under a rock. I missed her when she came up to Vancouver earlier on in the year for ImageQuest. A lot of my friends did attend her talk then and raved about her, thus I wanted to see what all the hype was about myself!

Some key points I took away from Jasmine’s presentation:

• Differentiate yourself from the crowd but at the same time find a similarity such that you are giving enough of a reason for people to like you!
• Clients buy out of impulse and affinity. Do something to educate the client about who you really are.
• My fave quote of the day from Jasmine and one is constantly part of my work ethic was to “Out hustle, Out Shoot, Out Do!”
• Finally, “Don’t believe in luck, it’s when preparation meets opportunity!”.

So all in all, it was a fantastic time had by all and definitely a day full of inspiration. My “To Do” list for changes to implement for our business has grown immensely now as a result! I loved that I had to chance to grab the following shots with Jasmine and JD, and also to be able to round up our Vancouver gang for a group shot with them and Jim Garner!

Enjoy the photos!

Here’s Pardeep striking his pose for the bridal party!

One of my favourite parts of the day to capture… the tying of the turban!

Enjoy the photos!

Karen and Gurs’s ceremony was held at the India Cultural Centre of Canada.

Here is the first post of many to come shortly!

Enjoy the photos!

Vanya was born on July 9th very early in the morning, or very late at night, whichever way you want to look at it. His proud parents are my sister Katya and my brother-in-law Russ. They make a beautiful little family!! I am very very happy for them and their little bundle of joy.

I cannot wait to watch him grow into an awesome soccer player Congratulation Katya and Russ, you both did great!!!

I had the honour of photographing little Vanya a few minutes after he was born! We also did a few newborn shots the day after. Here are the results, enjoy!!

~L

This photo was taken a few minutes after he was born!! What a cuttie-pie already!

Before I describe this amazing wedding any further, I must correct Jason’s engagement post about Nicole and Jeremy: I was crazy enough to look for volleyball team-mates on Craigslist, but it was Nicole who posted the ad. Just saying! Who would have thought that we’d not only find super fun volleyball team-mates but in the process make awesome friends!!

Back to the main event. Nicole and Jeremy along with all of their amazing family and friends pulled off one hell of a party!! The whole wedding day was full of laughter, love, and wonderful memories. The girls had a few glasses of bubbly, while the boys were tending to Jer’s pulled back which he pulled the night before setting up a ping-pong table. But all that was forgotten when the boys piled up into a “special” school bus and headed off to meet the girls. Nicole looked simply amazing in her wedding gown and it all reflected in Jeremy’s face when he saw his beautiful bride for the first time. They chose their first look to be at one of Vancouver’s most beautiful buildings, The Vancouver Public Library.

Off we went to Gastown to get some photos, and after a few “smelly” brick wall and wonderful little streets it was time to head to Mt. Seymour for a breath-taking outdoor wedding overlooking Mt. Baker. The ceremony was very special to Nicole and Jeremy and to all the guests since we had the pleasure of listening to great wisdom of love and life from Nicole’s 92-year-old grandfather and Jeremy’s 92-year-old grandmother. Thank you both!

The rest of the night, and the whole day really, went “almost” as planned! And trust me, noone is going to remember duct taping my dress, broken down bus with all the guest on it, a slight delay in dinner, and a bunch of noseeums bugs, but everyone is sure the remember how beautiful the bride looked, how handsome the groom was, how breathtaking the view was, how amazing the food was, how slimy the snake was at the bottom of that sake, how strange the “Tsunami” dance was, how much fun everyone had throughout the whole day, and most importantly how much love and happiness surrounded the union of Nicole and Jeremy!!

We love you both, an we wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!!!!

Enjoy some of the gorgeous photos from the day!

~L

Thank you Kathryn Jarymy for the girls’ make-up.

Thank you DJ BFAD for keeping the dance floor packed all night long.

Thanks Mountain Seymour for your wonderful venue.

Thank you to Smoke and Bones for some delicious food.

After overcoming our busy schedules and a few “sicknesses” we finally met at Fort Langley for a laugh-filled engagement session. We wandered around exploring Fort Langley and found some very sweet photo locations, that combined with some breathtaking clouds that night, we got some amazing images!!

Here’s a little history on these two: TaraLee and Jeff met at a work function and Jeff was lost for words when he saw TaraLee for the first time, who wouldn’t be? She’s smokin! The rest is history as they say! However, Jeff still has the look of speechlessness everytime he looks at his beautiful bride-to-be.

We cannot wait for their wedding in August! When a couple climbs on top of a train during their engagement session and makes you laugh all night long, you just know that not only their wedding is going to be an absolute blast, but their life together is going to be happy and memorable!

Enjoy the photos of the clouds and the hot couple!!

~Lena

We took a stroll around the Vancouver Library as Nicole absolutely loved the architecture there, and then we shortly after we went down to the Olympic Village where we had so much fun the next thing we new it was night time! Time definitely flew right by us! We are greatly looking forward to their Mount Seymour wedding in a few weeks time! For now here are some engagement photos for you to enjoy!

Sam and Kelsey met in school for automotive mechanics where Sam had her choice of boys since she was the only girl in class. Good thing she picked Kelsey cause he definitely makes her shine brighter than the Northern star!

Sam without a doubt was the star of the night, she organized the whole wedding almost single handedly and the whole day went flawlessly! The ceremony and the reception took place at the Murrayville Hall, where everyone did an awesome job decorating the hall. The food was fantastic, the dancing was great, and the atmosphere was contagious.

In-between the ceremony and the reception we took the young newlyweds to Campbell Valley Regional Park. There we had some intimate time with Sam and Kelsey and captured beautiful photos! These guys are super photogenic and very very easy to photograph!! We had an absolute blast checking out the park, walking thought the fields, almost getting a parking ticket for stopping by the roadside, and watching amazingly talented Cedric do some crazy things with his video camera!

Sam didn’t go the traditional route and chose to wear a silver dress instead of a white one, she looked absolutely radiant (thanks to Michelle Sheremeta for her fabulous make-up)! That girl rocked my world while the boys had to go re-park the car to avoid getting a fine. She made a simple field feel like a high fashion modeling stage, and I’m not kidding when I say that she’s definitely model-material. Can’t forget about our awesome groom Kelsey, he looked very handsome in purple!! He was game for anything and he also totally rocked it for our cameras!

Thank you all for a fantastic day! From the bottom of our hearts we wish the newlyweds a lifetime of love and happiness!!!

Click here for a slideshow with more pictures!