Fearless Award Winner | Vancouver Wedding Photographer

Many moons ago when I was a young budding photographer I came across the Fearless Photographers website and was totally blown away by the quality of work on there. I didn’t understand how these photographers got incredible shots from weddings that were well composed, visually stunning and moved me to the core, and I made it my goal to be a fearless photographer.

I cannot even express the amount of gratitude I feel for this award, and for being included in the latest curated collection of Fearless images.

I think a lot of people think photographers just get lucky with a shot, but they don’t actually know how much work can go into an image. I worked on this single image for about 15-20 minutes or, pretty much the entire drive from the Bride’s (Chrissy) parents’ house to the Chiliwack Corn Maze.
I fought to get ahead of this shot, by being out in the car before the bride got in. I was hoping to use the side mirror, but it was raining so hard it was impossible to focus on the reflection in a moving car, so I pulled down the visor but then my head was in the way. In the end I had to remove the head rest, my seatbelt, and shift until I was almost horizontal in the car. I held the camera up, watching the LCD screen and tried to keep my hands steady. And then I just prayed to the photography gods and waited for it to all come together (the moment, the mood, the wiper blades, a break in the trees) I probably shot about 40 almost frames before I landed this one.

Sometimes it’s really hard as a wedding photographer to let go of your expectations about a person on their wedding day. I used to always want brides to feel bubbly and excited and ready to party. It’s sometimes hard to be brave enough to photograph people as they actually are, especially in an industry where there are so many expectations surrounding the type of work you produce. On this particular day it poured rain all morning, and in this particular moment Chrissy just looked so beautifully human. There’s no way to tell exactly what she was feeling or thinking here, but the image makes me feel like I did on my wedding day, nervous about the future, not sure of what to expect. Just taking a moment to digest the day. I feel so blessed that both Chris & Chrissy allowed me into their lives to document their wedding day. It’s moments like this that move me and motivate me to be a better photographer.

So thank you to Chris & Chrissy for giving me the opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone and into a very raw and honest place. Thank you Fearless for including my work in the latest curated gallery.

-Kendra