In July I photographed a Venice honeymoon portrait session for Hieu and Alex. Hieu and Alex are from the U.S. (Georgia and San Fran). They were on a 3-week honeymoon in Europe and Venice, Italy was one of their stops.
I was in Europe for 3 weeks myself for a couple of weddings and Venice was my first stop. It had been 5 years since I last visited Venice and I was very much looking forward to my second visit. I think a lot of people who have been to Venice love it. There are also those who think it’s overrated. The complaints I often hear are: it’s too touristy; it’s not authentic; things cost too much. But I think most “touristy” places are touristy for reason. I don’t think those places are at fault just because everyone want to visit. Yes Venice can be crowded, yes it can feel less like an authentic city compared to other places, but there is more than a thousand years of history that took place in this city built on water. Every canal, every calle, every brick has a story, and I believe all those stories have left invisible marks on the city. You can’t see them, but you can feel them.
We woke up really early for this honeymoon session since July in Venice is quite hot and humid. So we decided to start just after sunrise. It was a more reasonable temperature and it was also before the crowds attacked the city :) We started in their hotel, then we walked over the Rialto bridge, wandered through some small lanes (calles) to Piazza San Marco and ended it with a gondola ride!
Jess and I used to work together. I was thrilled when she contacted me about a family session with her husband Monty and their adorable son Reid; who has the most amazing hairdo as you will see below :) We played inside, took Reid for a bath, ate in their backyard and they read bedtime stories for Reid. Scenes that capture tidbits of their life. I truly believe some of the most unforgettable memories we hold in our lives come from the smallest moments: the way your baby’s hair feels; the first ray of light sneaking through the curtains; a simple text from a dear friend. That’s what I try to do with my family photography work as well; to document some of those moments and have something visual to treasure years later.
At last I get to share the story of Tiara & Roy’s wedding day! What can I say about them? I’ll start from the beginning, when Tiara contacted me back in May of 2013 about photographing her and Roy’s wedding. In her second email to me, she described my work as “clean, soft, and genuine”. I don’t think I ever told her how much that meant to me. It made my day, week, and month. In fact, to this day I still think about that and smile. So thank you, Tiara. For seeing and connecting with those qualities in my work.
Then the day of our meeting came. Over tea, coffee and macarons, we talked about how she met Roy, their travels and Iceland. I was going to be visiting Iceland for the first time and we instantly bonded over that. And I could already feel the special bond she and Roy shared.
Their wedding came around soon enough and it was a beautiful day of happy tears, joy and love; love for each other and love for their friends and families.
I think if it weren’t for the fact that I’m a wedding photographer, there are a lot of people whom I simply would probably never meet; like Tiara and Roy. Thank you for sharing so much of your story with me, and for inviting me to be a part of your wedding day! It was a pleasure to be a part of it. You are two of the kindest, sweetest souls I’ve met and I wish you a lifetime of treasured memories and love. xoxo
I wrote the following 2 years ago and never quite finished it or published it. I think I was afraid to share it. Probably no one will read it or even care. Fuck it. I’m going to put it out there. Because, if you don’t, you’ll never know who might find it and connect with it right?
For years I had wondered if there was something wrong with me. Was I the only one who felt this way about the world? I always felt as though I feel too much. Too sentimental, and prone to be melancholic. I laugh at jokes or silly things that most might not find funny, I tear up or cry at movies, tv commercials (maybe just that one, but still), reading books etc.
I always thought maybe I’m just super empathetic and sensitive to emotions, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. And that’s that. But last night, I attended a seminar that quite possibly changed my life. Jesh de Rox is the founder of Beloved, which is a series of interaction techniques for photographers. When I first heard about Beloved, I was a little skeptical. Everything sounded really touchy-feely to me (I know, the irony is not lost on me). Then a friend sent me a set of them to check out, and I thought some of them were pretty neat, mainly the light hearted interaction invites or cues. I’ve been using them in my sessions this past year and they do help my couples get a little more comfortable in front of the camera and brings a sense of playfulness to a pretty unnatural situation, that is, having a virtual stranger take photos of you.
But I had not been able to go beyond the lighthearted, fun invites and get to the ones that would evoke deeper feelings. I now understand why. I’ve been afraid to go deeper, to even dare to evoke those feelings. I was afraid I would be judged, and that my couples would think I was weird. I couldn’t get pass the wall of social pressure, real or imagined.
In the short 4 hours or so we were at the seminar, Jesh had said so many things that resonated with me. One of them was that “To be human is to feel“. He also talked about art, and creativity, and yes photography even. But more importantly he delved into the why. Why are certain pieces of art considered great works of art, such as the Mona Lisa? Or The David by Michelangelo? That reason doesn’t even have to be universal, it’s probably different for everyone and it’s personal.
We consider a work of art to be great when it reaches out and touches us, moves us and affects us.
And boom! Suddenly everything made sense to me. I feel a lot, maybe because I’m more easily touched, moved and affected by the things, places, people I see, interact with, and experience. And what’s more, all those feelings, I now know have a deeper purpose; to help me be the photographer that I’m meant to be, to see, connect with and share others’ stories.
“Stories are the bridges that span the distance between people. Photographs that tell stories are the only ones that move us.” – Jesh de Rox.
He talked about seeing the light in our couples, the spark, that thing that someone fell in love with. It’s there, in everyone. And if we can’t see it, then we have no hope of photographing it. It reminded me of this amazing blog post I read from photographer Tamara Lackey.
Love and connections; time frozen still; a moment that disappears, never to return or happen again, but because you took a photo, becomes an “always”. These have always been why I’m driven to photograph.
Ah San Fran, you lovely city you. I can’t believe it was a year ago that I was there. But, I am going back in a week to photograph a secret wedding and I’m so excited!
Like most people who have been, I loved San Fran. It’s the only city in America I would ever move to. I just loved the vibe of the city. Without getting too political in a blog post, it is here (and in other parts of California) where I feel like the founding principles of America have been realized to the best of their potential: Democracy, Rights, Liberty, Opportunity and Equality. But I digress.
I also met up with the awesome and so lovely Patty Lagera, a fellow photographer who is from New Zealand, who was in town around the same time I was. <3
Here are some favourites from that trip.
Isn’t the San Fran city hall just gorgeous? A beautiful example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture.
The cable car rides were so much fun! especially going up and down the hills. Try standing at edge for more thrill :)
Famous San Francisco Chinatown.
As a book lover, any time I visit another place, I always seek out a bookstore or two. In San Fran, it was City Lights.
You can just make out the Golden Gate Bridge from the top of Tower Hill.
Watching the sun set over the Golden Gate bridge from Chrissy Field.
Saturday market at the Ferry terminal was awesome! So much awesome food.
Up close and personal with that famous bridge!
Didn’t get to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge this time, but did drive across it :)
Alcatraz! aka. The Rock. We did the night tour, which was awesome, but a bit creepy, but still awesome.
The best part was probably the locking of the cells demonstration.
Sutro Bath is such a unique place. It’s hard to imagine that less than 100 years ago, how magnificent this bath by the sea would have looked.
When I met Eileen and Justin, Eileen told me that when she looks at my photos, she can really feel the emotions come through in each photo, just as if she was a part of that moment. I knew then that they would be the right couple for me.
September came and it was a beautiful day for Eileen and Justin’s wedding. We took their wedding portraits at the beautifully historic Spadina House, and the ceremony and reception was at the well-known Canoe restaurant on the 54th floor of the TD tower, with panoramic views of the city and the lake to boot. Canoe was also the place where Eileen and Justin had their first date – so it had come full circle for them.
To me, meaning and feeling is everything, and one of the things I love most about weddings is all those moments that touch my heart. They usually happen sometime during the ceremony or during the speeches at dinner. For this one, it was during the traditional tea ceremony, when Justin said to Eileen’s parents: “I will take care of Eileen from now on”. No ornate promises, no “til death do us part”, just a simple, and sincere sentence.
Here’s the story of Eileen & Justin’s wedding day.
Thank you Jessie of Flair Weddings for putting together such a stylish event!
Legend has it that each of us has an invisible “red string” attached to us, and that at the other end of the string is the person you are destined to marry.
