What a job I have!

Last week I did bridals for a woman in town for her wedding on the luckiest day of the year, 08-08-08. More about their wedding to follow later this week.

Meantime, here are some sneak peeks from Monica's wonderful bridal. Every one of them was taken at the stunning Westin Grand on Robson Street, with the oh-so-helpful Lisa paving the way.

Can you imagine a hotel allowing a bride up on top of their lobby's grand piano? The Westin did, and then some. Plus they kept shuffling the groom and all the guests out of the areas we'd next be in--because Tom, the groom, wasn't to see Monica in "the dress" until Friday. (Thanks so much, Lisa. Your assistance made the shoot a dream.)

There's a terrific shot of Monica lifting weights. In the shot with the Vancouver Public Library behind Monica, our poor bride-to-be up was actually four feet up standing on a cafe table! Ahhh, if only all my brides were so willing. Talk about game!

The lovely flowers--stephanotis and lilies--are by the excellent Library Florist, also on Robson Street.

Angela and Damien got hitched!

Angela and Damien had such a very beautiful wedding in late June. The weekend is one that is notoriously stormy in Vancouver, but they had absolutely great weather--they were so lucky.

Angela's gown was absolutely stunning; Damien, her fella, wore new duds from Scotland. Angela even wore a lucky sixpense in her shoe. The much-lauded SFU pipe band, to which they both belong, piped them out of the beautiful Ryerson United Church in Kerrisdale. Angela and Damien then picked up their own pipes (Damien's new set a wedding gift from his new wife) to pipe their guests out. Great merriment was had by all.

They had a pretty nifty limo, too!

Congrats, Angela and Damien. Can't wait for you to see all your wonderful images! Best of luck for a great future together.






piping photo by second shooter, Janet Rerecich:

Such fab news from California

Everyone knows by now that California legalized same-sex marriage...and it takes effect next week on June 16th at 5 pm. Woo hoo! It is such fantastic news. All the Californian couples wed in Canada will automatically have their Canadian marriages recognized (as do heterosexual couples).

A wonderful couple I photographed last year has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio in the US), and a photograph I took of them at their Vancouver nuptials was included in the coverage.

And for those of you who don't click, above are the blushing brides, Leanne and Moya, at the beach on a truly freezing day in March 2007. I guess they'll be hosting yet another wedding this fall, and here at Jane Photo, we wish them and their adorable daughter, Lucy, all the best for a happy future together (again).

Sarah and Erik got married!

It's always a particular honour when another photographer chooses you as their photogapher. I shoot some fine art work with Sarah's dad, Gary. He's the excellent fellow who had the ring flash and 580EX II on hand in January when we got to the studio with pinup model extraordinaire, my daughter Sarah, with hair and makeup and costumes all ready, only to find out someone had cleaned out all my studio gear. (I'm still trying to recover from that theft, which is another story. A very sweet photographer named Angela Deville in the southern US sent me two White Lightning can lights (...woo hoo Angela. The woman should be sainted...), but I am still limping along without the proper equipment.

Necessity is the mother of invention, I learned that night. Gary mostly used his ring flash and I used on camera flash in-studio, which was totally weird but kinda liberating and artistic. You can a couple of the resultant pix below under January or pinup. I am still amazed that I could carry on shooting when all I wanted to do was crumple in a ball and weep and weep and weep.

Anyhow, back to the celebratory matters of this current week.

I love brides and grooms who will play. I LOVE BRIDES AND GROOMS WHO WILL PLAY. There is almost nothing I'm not game for for the end result of "giving great photo". Lol. Sarah and Erik actually had me come up to Furry Creek Golf Course a couple hours before their ceremony and agreed to meet ahead of time. It's such a fantastic choice, because then there's time to get some out of the ordinary shots. And isn't that what your wedding is about? You being you?

'Course, parents, Gary's daughter doesn't really smoke. We were just putting on the dog for a good snap.

So have a peek at the lupin field up there. Anyone thinking of getting married there ought to pick the last week of May. Just look at these things! For a fine art flower photographer, it wasn't to be missed. In fact, I'm going back up to do some more shots of all that blue. It's kinda like BC's version of France's lavendar fields, right?

Thanks, Erik and Sarah and all your attendants, for being so much fun to photograph. I can't wait to have a better look at your images, and to design your Italian wedding book! I just got one back from Italy last week where the couple had chosen a butter white leather cover and a big, big, big book, and it was smashing. Yours will be too, I can tell just from these few pix.

Photo of the guys by Janet Rerecich shooting for Jane Photo. Thanks, Janet!

Run off our feet!

Oh my goodness, we've been run off our feet lately!

Our last session before going away was David and Brad's scrumptious wedding on Vancouver's Pride! It's a little strange to be working on Pride instead of revelling, but these two hubbies carried us right along in the bob and sway of their infectious joie de vivre. They looked fabulous in sharp linen suits, their wedding decor was to die for (think red accents, and oh such great good gay taste), they laughed constantly, and they had 100 of the sweetest southern guests I've ever met.

On that note, I just got one of my beautiful Graphi Studios books back from Italy. Totally yummy custom-design. The couple ordered leatherette, and there was no way on earth I could tell it wasn't leather when I unwrapped it. I even contacted Italy to insist that it was--but I was wrong.

I just wanted to post to let everyone know the studio is now closed for two weeks while we jet off to NYC and Ontario. Not a big trip for us, but hopefully a fun one.

Sorry the studio got so backed up there in July and the first bit of August, too, before we cut it off... I know there were several of you hoping to get in and see us that I just couldn't accommodate.

I wish I could say it will be better for September, but it's not looking all that free at this point. If you need an autumn session, drop an email. I'll have my calendar with me in NY and I can try to find you a slot. Anyone needing holiday images needs to get in before the end of October to have cards by December 1, remember!

Also, keep in mind that we'll be having another Fine Art Mini Session September 22 from 9-1 by appointment only. It's already half booked, so let me know on that one as well asap. Fyi, we're info@janephoto.ca.

Amy and Mindy

These two lovely Floridians came up to Vancouver to be married this week! Congratulations, Amy and Mindy! They are the first in their circle of LGBT friends to wed, and I'm so curious to know if their lovely nuptial day (yes, the rain held off, if not during their carriage ride then during their Stanley Park Rose Garden ceremony), and their freedom in Vancouver to express their love and commitment, will influence their community at home.

To see more from Amy and Mindy's sweet small wedding, please navigate back to our wedding site and click slideshows.

Congratulations, brides! May you have many, many happy years together.

Cuba

Havana must be the most photogenic spot on earth. The communist politics since the 1959 Revolution that lifted Fidel Castro into power and US embargoes have forced the island city, formerly a US playground, into a weird timewarp. Colourful crumbling Spanish colonial mansions, classic American cars babied along since the 1940s and 50s, Latin and African influences, and a vital people who love to play music and dance--all these combine into a culture that thrums. You can feel the energy of this city like wind on your skin. Havana is a photographers' paradise! And hands down it's the best place in the world to have bridal photographs taken! All these arches and balconies and decaying castles! That's my new dream, now: to have a gorgeous Canadian bride with a willing wedding party and a day free after their wedding just to spend in Havana making awesome, drop dead photographs. Habana Vieja, anyone?

On New Year's Eve, we snuck out of a boring event put on for tourists to roam the Habana Vieja streets. On Calle Aguilar, we followed the irresistable sounds of salsa, and finally found dancers: lithe dancers, old dancers, child dancers the size of peanuts who are better at moving than I could be with a thousand devoted lessons. We passed over our bottle of Havana Club rum and tried to keep up, our bodies hopelessly spastic. Doors led to courtyards leg to rickety, half-gone stairs climbing high only to stop dead in mid-air. Slatted boards shaped balconies so old and decrepit they looked like they'd plummet with the softest footfall. I remembered there were streets around here where everyone walks down the center in case one of the houses collapses.

We wound our way down to Calle Opispo, ordinarily the shopping street (though its wares are limited), where folks on upper balconies tossed buckets of water down on unsuspecting strollers below, to shouts and screams. We dashed from the protection of one balcony to the next laughing as they caught one after the other of us, and made our way out, finally, drenched, to drink overpriced mojitos at Hemingway's pub, la Bodeguita del Medio. It was 2007, and we were a happy family in a happy country.