What a year of shoots 2016 has been! Looking back I feel like I've grown quite a bit over the year as a photographer. My approach and philosophy behind my photography work has definitely matured and I look forward to some amazing shoots for 2017. Like last year, this post will run through some of the highlights of the year.
Started off the year with a studio shoot with my friend Viveca. I've never shot in a studio before and loved the experience of getting to shoot with natural light but in a studio environment. Also got to shoot on grey seamless! Love the gritty character in this photo.
Took a trip to Hong Kong in March. It's my second time there and I'm already looking forward to going back. The culture there is just so different than Vancouver but certain things are familiar enough for me to really like it there. This photo was taken near my aunt's apartment. This particular spot is being torn down for redevelopment.
First wedding of the year, also in Hong Kong. It was a surreal experience shooting in Hong Kong, yet it was also so familiar. Taking good pictures utilizes the same principles no matter where you are, but getting to shoot a wedding on the other side of the world was really cool.
Did my first big styled shoot with an amazing team of vendors. I'm so grateful for everyone put in the time to work with me on this shoot!
I started an ongoing personal project where I would take behind the scenes/process photos of creatives and makers. Was super lucky to have Truvelle as the first company I shot for this project!
Shot my first sparkler exit. These are so fun! With that being said they take a bit of careful planning and coordination to pull off well. Having never shot one before I actually went out and bought sparklers and got a couple of friends to walk down the street with them lit at night. That really helped me figure things out, and come wedding day, it was just routine.
An alpaca. This was taken in May I think. At this time I was swamped with work yet I took a day off to drive around the inner city looking for farm animals to shoot. Could use a bit more sporatic days like this for 2017!
This photo was taken in Kelowna with a couple that had complete trust in us for the photos. They pretty much told me that whatever we think would make for the best photos, they're good for it. With that, we arrived a day ahead and spend the day location scouting which resulted in a killer portrait session.
This was one of the funnest weddings I've ever shot and also had the biggest wedding party that I've ever shot (19). It was just good vibes and lots of energy all around.
This is my friend Troy. He's an aspiring model and probably my go to guy when I've got something new that I want to test out. This was a test shoot for an upcoming shoot that I would have where I would be shooting a couple in the water. I called up Troy to see how to best approach that shoot. I'm really big on practising my craft and will do test shoots, and random shoots that may never see the light of day in order to keep my skills sharp. If professional athletes practice regularly, who am I not to practice as well.
Over the past few years I've become a pretty big fight fan. Guess I needed something that's testosterone heavy to balance out all the wedding stuff I do. UFC was in town and I was gonna miss the fights due to my wedding commitments but at least I got to catch the open workouts.
This is the shoot that resulted from the practice mentioned two photos up. I feel so lucky to have found Caley and Deren who were more than game for jumping in the water for this shoot when it wasn't even summer anymore!
I did this shoot at the very peak of my season. At this time I was working around 70hrs a week and for whatever reason I really wanted to do a skateboard shoot, so I went and did it. Found out shooting skateboarding is really hard! Especially with only just a 50mm prime lens.
When I got into wedding photography one of my goals was to shoot a wedding at a farm. Here it is. It was everything I'd imagined it to be and more!
I did an engagement shoot at this gorgeous location thats in the middle of nowhere. 2hr drive, 45min off road. Worth it.
After putting in the work all season long I treated myself to a trip to Toronto; finally fullfilling my obligations as a Canadian to travel to the East Coast.
Shot an engagement shoot in the snow that was in the city. This shoot was the result of being lost but always being ready.
Capped the year off with a shoot with lululemon where we hiked around in the snow and had dinner outdoors in -7 weather. Honestly, one of the funnest shoots this year.
Until next year!