Welcome to Art Studio 21 Photography!

I would recommend that you have a prepared family portrait list for your photographer on your wedding day– it makes it much easier, and more efficient to photograph the family groupings with a list.

Preparing a family portrait list also gives the bride and groom and their families some time to think about who they should include.

I recommend photographing the groups with children and the grandparents first and then finishing with the portraits of the smaller family groups.  It is probably better to photograph one family at a time so when one group is done, they can go to the reception for preparations, or relax before the reception.

Remember to include those special out of town family members.  How about a generational photograph (Grandma, Mom, and Bride)?

It is also helpful if there is a family member who can help get people ready for the photographer as this will allow the photographer to spend their time taking the pictures!

Most importantly a prepared list and helpful family member will mean the bride and groom will not need to coordinate or think about who they want in what photographs during their wedding day which mean more fun, and less stress!

Most stress on a wedding day is the pressure of time.

Either perceived or real, the pressure of time may have a huge impact on how you are feeling on your wedding day, and that will determine how you look in your photographs!

To help start the wedding day off on time, I recommend that the bride should NOT be the last one to get her makeup done.

The makeup goes on before the dress (obviously), so we can’t create any photographs with the bride in her wedding dress until she is finished.  If the makeup artist is running behind, this will hold everything up.

I recommend that the bride should have her makeup done somewhere in the middle of her bridesmaids so her makeup is still fresh, but it still gives us lots of time to help get the bride ready and create wonderful photographs of the bride in her dress and with her friends and family before the ceremony.

If you have any questions about timing on your wedding day, please don’t hesitate to ask me!

Thanks Karla and Tomoslav, for having us photograph your wedding!  It was so much fun.  Hope you love the images we created for you!

David and Yasuko

We know what works!!

With experience photographing weddings for brides, grooms, and families as the photographers at over 300 weddings in Japan and Canada, we know a thing or two about timing.

Plan for the Time to Do It Right…

One of the more important aspects of successful wedding photography is having enough time to create outstanding images of the bride and groom.

For most of our wedding photography commissions in Victoria we recommend a 2 o’clock ceremony, and 6 o’clock reception.  That allows enough time for the ceremony, travel time, photographs of family and friends, fun photographs of the bridal party, and terrific photographs for the bride and groom at two or more locations.

Many images at a wedding are traditional by nature (e.g. family portraits, ring shots, etc.), and if you don’t give yourself enough time, often the bride and groom photography time is cut short.  Remember to factor in travel time, time for a receiving line, and time for unusual traffic.

Finally let us help you plan the photography for those great ‘getting ready’ shots or reception photographs.  These images are great additions to your wedding collection of memories, but needed to be timed well for best results!

We can help you plan your wedding photography schedule to make it stress free and fun. But most importantly of all, there will be lots of time to create those great wedding memories!

If you have any questions about your wedding photography, don’t hesitate to call David at 250.888.0865.

What to do with those negatives? Yes, I mean negatives from film, not digital files.

First of all, I hope your negatives are somewhere safe– preferably in acid free sleeves, in a binder or folder somewhere dark and cool. I have all of my client’s negatives sorted by date, and titled with their name and I also attached the small index print to the front of the negative sleeve sheet for easy identification.

If you haven’t already had your negatives printed or think you may want to print images in the future, I would recommend doing it sooner than later. The emulsion on the film fades over time, and more and more printers are not familiar with how to optimize their machines for printing negatives.

Your ability to get quality prints from these negatives will diminish over time.

In Victoria I would recommend Prism Imaging (250.386.7787) to print and digitize your negatives. Digitizing negatives can cost $10 – $18/roll depending on the resolution. The digitized files can be printed and used on your computer as screen savers and for social media applications like Facebook.

If you have negatives (or if your photographer has your wedding photography negatives) I would strongly recommend you get them and have them digitized and printed.

Photographs are the most precious record we have of our past– our hard-copy history to share with our children, friends, and family.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

We just finished compiling a new video of some of our more recent wedding photography commissions.  Most of these weddings are in Victoria, but some are from Duncan, Parksville, and Qualicum Beach.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Once in a while I hear someone is getting a family member or a friend, who is really into photography, to take their wedding pictures. Obviously, there are times when hiring a professional is not possible, but getting a family member or friend to photograph your wedding has some risks.  Can you imagine if they mess the pictures up?  I’ve heard lots of really troubling stories that ended in disappointment when friends or family members were not able to deliver adequate photographs.

Just because someone is into photography, taken a course, or takes really nice landscape pictures doesn’t mean they should be entrusted with photographing your wedding day. It’s kind of like asking your aunt who makes really nice cookies to cater a full dinner for 100 people at your wedding.

There are several reasons why you should consider a professional photographer; I am going to talk about Yasuko and myself here for a moment.

• We have experience – over 300 weddings worth – we will not mess up your once in a lifetime event.
• We have back up gear – we will come to your wedding with three camera’s and back up everything.
• We have a fully portable studio in the event of rain.
• We know many wonderful wedding photography locations and scout many locations with our clients so we know exactly where we are going on your wedding and exactly the kind of images you want.
• We are personable and friendly – we will be there to help you throughout the day and we can get along with any guest or family member.
• We will provide just enough direction so things run smoothly, done discretely so no one feels pushed or rushed.
• We have a backup archive system second to none.  Your images are secure.
• We are on great terms with other vendors and service providers in the city which helps facilitate many things on your wedding day.
• We constantly upgrade our photography skills and knowledge to provide you with the finest wedding images possible.
• Yasuko and I work as a team and have worked together for over 10 years.
• We have years and years of experience working with digital files to make the images look just right, and Yasuko is a very talented digital retouch artist if anything needs ‘photo-shopping’.
• We use the best professional labs in British Columbia to print your wedding images and only use high quality wedding albums and folios for your prints and DVD’s.

Professional photographers do not just take pictures.  We bring the appropriate equipment, and have the skills and experience that allow us to create beautiful images to record the special, priceless moments and happenings that will become the memories of your wedding day.  Memories that will delight your family and children for years and years.

So, when you are thinking about your wedding, hiring an experienced, qualified photographer should be one of your top priorities.  Please give me a call if you have any questions.

Location, location, location!!

Work with an expert to determine the location that best reflects you for your wedding photographs!

As an experienced wedding photographer, I think Victoria, BC is one of the world’s most beautiful cities for wedding photography.

· Victoria is on the ocean

· It is called the ‘City of Gardens’

· Victoria has unique architecture to serve as a wonderful backdrop for wedding photographs

I like to utilize these three elements in all of our wedding photography commissions, if possible, going to two or three locations on our client’s wedding day.

Ocean Locations

· Dallas Road, and areas around Gonzales Bay are some of our favourite places to take couples.  There are secluded bays with sandy beaches, and there are rock outcroppings for dramatic wedding images showing a huge expanse of blue sky and ocean.

· Ogden Point Breakwater which protects Victoria harbour, and is great location to incorporate ocean and architecture elements into wedding photographs.

· In the Western Communities, my favourite beach is Albert Head Lagoon.  The water and sky always seems to be a perfect blue, and we have created terrific wedding images here.

· Albert Head Lagoon is within easy driving distance of Olympic View Golf Course, Hatley Castle, and Bear Mountain.

Flowers and Gardens

· The Legislature Buildings (with the Premier’s Rose Garden), Beacon Hill Park, Saxe Point, The Lieutenant Governor’s House, and many local parks throughout Victoria.

· St. Ann’s is a premier indoor wedding ceremony and photography location.

· Hatley Castle is simply majestic.

· I personally like the Premier’s Rose Garden, The Lieutenant Governor’s House, and Hatley Castle, because I combine flowers and greenery with architectural elements into unforgettable wedding photographs.

Many of these places require permits or permission for wedding photography, so be sure to check with your photographer!  We can arrange these permits for our wedding clients and provide you with more information.

The Architectural Romance of Victoria

Although Victoria is a relatively young city, it has some unique, trendy, and powerful architecture that create a “Metro” or ‘Urban” feel to wedding photographs.

· One of our signature wedding images was taken at The Legislature Buildings, where there are many opportunities to create fantastic images.

· We also love to photograph our bridal clients in downtown Victoria around Chinatown, and the Pandora/Johnson street areas.

· There are many historic buildings, some ‘urban feel’ graffiti, and cool building facades in Victoria that give us an opportunity to create wonderful wedding images.

· Sometimes we like to take a few photographs in a trendy coffee shop and let our bride and groom rest their feet!

Some of our wedding photography clients want something different than clanking glasses at their reception when guests want them to kiss.  Have you thought about a kissing bell?  They make a neat keepsake for the guests, and are elegant and fun!  Perhaps the guest will need to ring the bell and show a kissing example before the bride and groom kiss?  Fun for the reception and a great photography opportunity!

Here is a link to one site with kissing bell favours here –> http://www.americanbridal.com/minsilbel.html

Victoria has many incredible locations for stunning wedding images, and one of our favorite locations is downtown Victoria, and Chinatown.  I knew this image was a keeper when we shot it– everything just fell into place for us.  We then used a few Photoshop tricks to pull out the reds, and focus the image on our bride and groom.  Hope you enjoy the image as much as we do!