Chan-Ra Photography

stephen & kim wedding...

i was honoured to be a part of this small & intimate wedding. i find my more mature clients have a better understanding of what they want. in this case, they wanted to be surrounded by their close family & friends. which can be good for a few reasons. like it eliminates drama when the guestlist gets to big. or the little details when things get too grande. and my favourite part of all -- i didn't have to battle hundres of guests who all have cameras and make my job a little more difficult.

kim was in the greatest of moods all day. maybe she didn't have to worry about caterers or paying the DJ. small weddings typically are more relaxed for sure. but kim is so fun & amazing that i'm sure a thousand guests wouldn't phase her. from the moment i walked it, she was all about having fun. that was the theme of the day. she was ready to work with me for any photo i arranged. she even had a few ideas of her own (which i cannot show online). she was a pleasure to photograph, she has so much energy and i think it shows. can't wait to photograph her again! i wish stephen & kim the best!

... book it

so... this particular album took 18 months to make. i've never spent so much time putting anything together before. it took a little longer because nancy & tony weren't really in a rush. they took their time selecting photos, then we had to do numerous meetings, edits and revisions. i basically had to re-edit every photo in the album to make sure everything was consistent. tony fell asleep on my couch a few times. nancy felt bad about making me work so hard so she always brought food :) which helped. but like i told nancy & tony... it wasn't any trouble at all. they invested a lot in this album and i would rather have them happy than live with any regrets. 

sorry for the terrible quality snapshots. i actually gave them the album without taking any shots, so i had to quickly meet up with afterwards to snap a frew shots. but i'm happy they decided to get an album. this album is 10" by 10", leather bound. it has 100 images. i don't like doing collages because it takes away from the bigger picture. so this album has one large image on each page. the great thing about having a large ablum is being able to see your photos on a grander scale. nancy & tony are really going to enjoy filling through the pages. and since it's been almost 2 years now, i'm sure it brings back memories.

 

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.

marc & amber wedding

i remember meeting them for the first time last year and we had such a blast just getting to know each other. i don't think we talked that much about the wedding but i remember getting excited because they were fun and the venue was amazing. they got married at the Royal Conservatory of Music which is basically concert hall and school of music. but the layout is just phenomenal. it combines the old historic buildings with the sharp new architechural steel. this was one wedding where we tried to use as much of the location as possible. i say this alot but i really wish we had more time.

i'm really happy for amber and marc. it was a very emotional wedding. the common message i got from everyone is that they were just happy to be one big family. i didn't think it was possibly to be so close with your partner's siblings & parents. but with their family it was so seamless. i guess that's what makes them so special.

we met up for brunch about a month or so after the wedding just to catch up. in the meantime i sent over a preview gallery to them and they really enjoyed it. amber told me she looked at it everyday which kinda made my day. i work really hard to make other people happy so when they appreciate your work, it's an amazing feeling. it's what keeps me going.

 

patrick & nicole wedding

patrick was one of the easiest guys to work with. we go way back and used to work together at one time. he puts his best effort into anything that involves his family and this wedding was no exception. he was totally enthusiastic about every photo we took and it shows (look at that smile). the only person i know who has a bigger heart is... nicole. she was also a pleasure to work with and the morning with her mother getting ready was really special. there were a few tears and you can just see how proud her mother is. as she should be... nicole is a beautiful woman. it was a very emotional day overall. after the ceremony she went to visit her grandmother in the nursing home. it was very important to share this day with her grandmother who couldn't attend the actual ceremonies.

nicole is a librarian and so it was fitting that we did some indoor portraits in one of the libraries where she used to work. it's not everyday that a co-workers come into work in a wedding dress. we took some great shots and had a blast.

so overall it was a special day. very emotional. great people. great memories. don't think you can ask for more on your wedding day.

 

album... yay!

it's almost been a year in the making, but i think the journey has come to an end. sean & erin got married last june and in that time since i've created an online gallery for them, a DVD with photos, 2 albums for the parents and now finally this album for just them. 

how many hours did i put into this whole wedding? let's see, 12, 25, 4 + 20, maybe something like over 60 hrs of work. when you put so much time into something, it becomes an intimate experience. i've gone through the photos so many times that it feels just like yesterday. but this album i'm especially proud of. i tried a new supplier based on recommendations from my pro photographer buddies and it did not disappoint. i love it so much. it's classy, pretty on the inside and i was able to tell sean & erin's story the way i wanted to. 

i always encourage clients to buy an album. and not just say they will, but actively pick out their favourites so that i can start working on it. i have some friends who are still sitting without an album after like almost 2 years which shocks me. i was able to get everything wrapped up for sean & erin in less than 10 months. which was actually really difficult, mainly because they did just a good job a bugging me :). the last thing i want is for a couple to look back at their wedding 10 years from now and not have anything other photos on a computer. a book is so much better than just viewing them on your computer. or printing little 4"x6" which can sometimes be too small to appreciate everything. this album i made for them is 11"x11" and has a linen cover with embossed name on it. there's nothing like flipping through pages in an album.  i know they're gonna love it, too bad i gotta give it up. but now i guess i have to start working on a studio sample for myself.

winston & chan wedding...

i just finished these last night and i sent them right over to this wonderful couple. what more can you ask for on valentine's day?

this was one of my favourite weddings from last year. and it had my most favourite moment so far in my wedding experience. sometimes it's hard for me to be surprised after being a part of so many weddings. but this moment totally caught me off guard.

before the ceremony i noticed winston pacing back and forth while the bride was about to make an entrance. he had this very nervous, anxious look on his face. i thought it was just some butterflies before the big moment. but he was actually rehearsing in his head a song he was gonna sing. chan totally didn't expect it at all. chan read her vows first, then it was winston's turn... and then he starts singing 'i wanna grow old with you' from the wedding singer movie (with adam sandler). one of the lines is, "need you, feed you, even let you hold the remote control.' and as winston is singing this, one of his groomsmen hands him a TV remote which he then hands to chan. at this point she's balling, and he's balling. then i had a single tear roll down my cheek. ok maybe not. i know couples have done surprise songs before but this was just so well done... and super cute. maybe because i really like the wedding singer movie. but ya... my favourite moment. 

i was talking to chan today. she told me when they were going through the photos and got to the vows, winston looked at her. his eyes were starting to get red. then she said, 'ok stop, if you start then i'm gonna start.' so i think they called it a night. but these guys are great. chan has super exciting news but i don't know if i should be sharing it with the whole world (or the 7 people who read my blog)... but i'm sure you can guess what.

phil & ayslin wedding

this couple makes wedding photography look easy. they had such a positive attitude all day that even rain couldn't get them down. i like how ayslin was really relaxed in the morning. just taking in the day with her bridesmaids. and these little things really show in the photos. she looked beautiful in her dress and her hawt red shoes. phil was alright too.

we didn't have a lot of time for portraits as we were interupted by rain but we still got off some awesome shots. phil & ayslin both have this model look about them which makes it easy for any photographer. they could just stand there and make anything look good.

i'm really happy for this couple. ayslin was one of the most excited brides i've seen all year. after the vows & kiss, ayslin looked at the crowd and put up her arm like she won something. phil is a lucky guy. you know how i know? - because she let him engrave harley-davidson on his wedding band.

troy & sovann wedding

this wedding was extra special for me because this was my first cambodian wedding (fyi i'm cambodian). and surprisingly i've never been to one before so this was a new experience for me. it also helps that troy & sovann are a lot of fun. we've become good friends over the year since we discovered we live across the street from each other (small world). 

i don't even know where to begin with this wedding. it was a two day wedding with 5 different ceremonies. i'm only showing one ceremony here which i think is the most important one - "Chang Dai" - which literally means 'hand tying.' as you can see in the photos, the wrists of the bride & groom are tied with string that has been blessed. notice that plant at the top? it has grains which are pulled apart and tossed at bridge & groom. guest take turns tying a piece of string. so it was a very long ceremony, very gruelling for the couple because they had to lean forward the whole time. 

as i mentioned there were 5 ceremonies and they each had a different costume. cambodian culture is greatly influenced by indian & chinese cultures - so the costume here may look familiar. 

i had a great time at this wedding. everyone treated me like family. i can't thank troy & sovann enough for having me be a part of their special day. it was also fun to speak the language. i've done some chinese & vietnamese weddings before and i don't speak those languages - so this time it was even easier to engage the guests & family members. can't wait til i do the next one!