Chan-Ra Photography

happy new year!..

to all my chinese, korean & vietnemese friends and anyone else celebrating the lunar new year. my background is actually cambodian and we don't celebrate our new years until april. but it's still fun to participate in other people's traditions. i have alot of clients that are celebrating, so this is a shout out to them too.

it's been awhile since i've seen a lion dance. i've seen a few at traditional chinese weddings. i can say that if you're going to any chinese weddings this year, you're likely to see one. why? because it's the year of the dragon. both the lion dance and dragon dance are used to celebrate special occations. the dragon dance involves many more performers which doesn't work well within small spaces. so you'll likely see the lion dance - which is equally fun (shown below).

i had to dig these photos up from wendy & lamber's wedding, which is cool, i never get to show all the awesome photos. enjoy!

colin & jenn wedding...

... sometimes i get nervous in the morning, you know, thinking about my responsibilties, did i forget anything, etc... sometimes it can take away from me enjoying what i do. on this morning it all changed the moment i saw jenn. the girls let me into their hotel suite and the first thing jenn does is smile and call me over for a hug. she was sitting in the make-up chair so i walked over and hugged her. moments like these get me excited and pumped for the big day. it makes me feel appreciated when people are excited to see me. like i'm a person and not just hired help. i'm always honoured to be part of someone's special day. 

i don't think i laughed so hard with any other wedding party. the girls were great. jenn is so petite but her dress is so big. just watching her bridesmaids help her get into her dress was hilarious. when they were attaching the crinoline the girls went missing for days under there.

they had their wedding at a rockway glen golf course & winery so it was beautiful inside and out. the ceremony outside was gorgeous and probably the best ever conditions i ever had for photos. we rode around in golf carts to various places for photos (actually 2nd time this year that happened lol). when they told me where they were getting married, i googled the venue and checked out the gallery. my goal was to have colin & jenn on their website. and oddly enough on the wedding day the co-ordinator asked for my card and some photos. shout out to the staff since everyone was amazing. i appreciate anyone who takes care of me. like servers who offer me food when they see me working hard and look to busy to eat. good job fellas!

my favourite part of the day had to be the speaches. sometimes when you first meet someone - you put your best foot forward. usually i'm trying to sell myself as a mature & responsible professional. and clients typically do the same. so i do enjoy the speaches when people give more insight into just who the lovely couple are. like i found out colin was in gangsta rap and had a DJ name back in the day. i had a good laugh.

anyways, i think i rambled on enough. i have to work on photos for the venue. i'll give you an update if colin & jenn appear on their website.