Weddingbee Blog

…was picking our photographer. My BIL Josh happens to be a fantastic photographer, so about 10 hours after informing our parents we were engaged, we asked Josh to be our photographer. Lucky for us, he agreed!

A little preview of his work:

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We really are lucky to have him as a photographer because budget is definitely an issue for us and there’s no way we could have paid full price for someone of his quality. Now I know some people get worried about the idea of family members as vendors (famdors?), but Josh has been very upfront with us about what he can and can’t do and what we can expect from him.

One of these things is the fact that he’s not a really experienced wedding photographer.

He loves photography and is an incredible photographer (I’m one of his biggest fans. Examples coming up!), but he’s definitely been clear with us about the fact that he’s not Jose Villa (yet). I know for some people the idea of having a photographer who doesn’t specialize in weddings is something they’d be hesitant about, but after seeing a lot of Josh’s photos I’m not the slightest bit worried. He’s so creative and such a perfectionist that I know our pictures will be fantastic. I’m also thrilled that he’ll be able to use our wedding to build up his portfolio (or at least that’s what I keep telling myself so I don’t feel like we’re completely taking advantage of his generosity!).

Recently, I was lucky enough to get to look through a selection of his photography and I’m going to walk you through a few of my favourites. We’ll start with the non-wedding ones in case you need a break from looking at too much wedding photography!

This is probably my all time favourite and I would love to have this one framed on my wall. I think the colour is amazing.

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I love this one. He got his friend to shoot a rock at the can with a slingshot and then was able to capture the moment it exploded. Yup, that’s how Josh spends his camping trips.

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In addition to being a great photographer and finishing a PhD in Neuroscience, Josh is also a SCUBA instructor and has done a lot of great underwater photography.

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I love the twinkly lights in this one. Since we’re having so much candlelight in our wedding I’m hoping for a few twinkly light pics. And yes, twinkly is a technical photography term!

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I think this one would be especially fantastic as an engagement photo.

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One of Josh’s favourite subjects to photograph is wildlife. It’s kind of hilarious going hiking with Josh and my sister because while she likes to speed ahead as fast as she can, Josh likes to stop every few metres to take pictures. Once on their honeymoon it began raining at the exact moment they came across a walrus. My sister had to go wait in the car while Josh took pictures of the walrus for half an hour! As her sister I’m horrified, but as his future photography client I’m thrilled. The more practice the better! Here’s some of my favourite wildlife photos of his:

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Do you think I can ask him to stand outside for half an hour in the middle of December so I can have one of these for our wedding photography?

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These were the cake toppers from Josh and my sisters’ wedding. His mother picked them out and they’re a runner and a SCUBA per. My sister told me that Josh actually wanted to be the photographer at their own wedding, but I’m pretty sure she’s exaggerating!

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I love how moody this photograph is.

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Hilariously though I also love it because it reminds me of the rock in The Little Mermaid. I know you all know what I’m talking about!

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This is probably the prettiest picture ever taken of my sister.

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True story: Josh isn’t the only one helping us with our wedding photography. My poor sister is helping us by putting up with his practicing. Josh has decided he needs to practice his lighting techniques and this has resulted in him chasing my sister around the apartment taking pictures of her doing pretty much anything. I’m told there are some pretty great (read: hideous and embarrassing) ones of her eating chips and salsa. Again, as her sister I’m horrified on her behalf, but as Josh’s photography client I’m thrilled! The more chasing the better.

Okay, enough non-wedding pictures! Here’s a few photos from one of the weddings he’s covered.

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The bride wore flip flops. I love it!

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Josh has also given Mr. Knitting some interesting ideas by suggesting we think about including references to our hobbies in our wedding photography. I think this is a great idea, but Mr. K has now decided that doing complicated couples yoga poses in our wedding clothes will be the coolest thing ever. I need him to lose interest in this idea right away!

Not happening in my wedding dress:

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Needless to say I’m ridiculously thrilled with our photographer and am so incredibly grateful that he’s doing this for us. One of my main goals with our wedding is to make it as community based as possible, so I love the fact that our photographer is my BIL. I also know that he’s a great guy, so it’ll be a lot of fun to spend the whole day with him.

How are your family members helping out with your wedding? If you had a family member as your photographer, what was your experience like?