Every Wedding Slideshow 2009

Lately, a lot of my blog readers (and friends) have been bugging me about putting up my Every Wedding Slideshow (EWS) for 2009.  I do blog every single wedding I photograph, so I encourage you to go through my blog and read up about the amazing couples I have been trusted to photograph.  As some of you know, I did one for 2008 and will be doing one every year for those who are too lazy to go through my blog haha..2009 was truly an epic year for me.

It took me literally 4 months to finish this because I had so much difficulty narrowing down my favorite 500 shots down to a more manageable 200-ish.  Also, selecting the songs for was a huge undertaking in itself.

This slideshow is dedicated to all my amazing couples, their families and their friends.  Thank you so much for having me be a part of your lives both now and in years to come. 2009 would not have been possible without you and without the kindness of everyone that was part of your special day.

Please sit back and enjoy.

*** Facebook readers, please go to the original post. Comments are always welcome. ***

Music Credits:
All I Ever Wanted – Brian Melo
When I’m With You – Faber Drive

I want to thank all my amazing industry friends, old and new, for sharing their time and talent in giving our couples the wedding they have always dreamed of.  On the business side of things, I want to thank Nathan Holritz and his team at Photographer’s Edit for helping out with the editing so I could get my life back.

I also have to thank my amazing support team and colleagues who helped out throughout the year in more ways than one: Kevin, Kevin, Eugene, Francis, Claudia, and Sandy.

Lastly, thank you to Jeanette and my kids, Ethan and Brandon, for welcoming me home to hugs and kisses after a long day of partying. Thank you so much for your love and support throughout the years.  I love you.

Looking forward to more major good times in 2010 !  Wedding season is going to kick off with a secret wedding in Tennessee and then off to Florence, Italy for the beautiful wedding of Carmen and Elton.

-Joee

CINEMA IS HERE !!!

After much anticipation, here is the most recent update of my Cinema announcement.

One of the most asked questions from my couples is if I would ever offer wedding films. Not videography…wedding films.  I’ve thought about this very carefully and one thing I knew for certain was that I was not going to try and learn this stuff and offer it to my couples as a value-added service. Any photographer who does this ‘fusion’ offering is really doing their couples a disservice. My couples commission me to photograph their wedding. Not photograph and then switch to filming their wedding in between moments. By default, I will learn this art, but I will always be a photographer first.

Now, If I were to ever offer cinema, I would do it right the first time. I would work closely with someone who is an actual filmmaker. A master of their craft. And more importantly, someone who I would trust to document your wedding along with the rest of my team.

The time has come…

I would like to introduce to you my good friend and lead Cinematographer: Konrad Czystowski

Who is he ? Google him. He’s kind of a big deal. He was recently named one of the 25 hottest and most influential event filmmakers in the world. And now my couples will be able to relive their wedding like never before.

To celebrate this launch, we are offering cinema coverage for three (3) weddings starting at $5,900.  Afterwards, local wedding cinematography starts at $6,900.  Availability is extremely thin as Konrad will only be accepting 12 commissions a year, worldwide.

Fusion Collections will start at $14,900.

If you’d like more information on custom collections, please complete the contact form.

Stay tuned as JW and KC invade Florence, Italy for a beautiful wedding in this coming May !!!

-Joee

Cheap Wedding Photography

You’re not going to find cheap wedding photography @ JW, but watch this clip.  It’s about 10 minutes, but it kinda sums it up why it is so important that you view your wedding photography as an investment, not an expense.

*** Facebook readers, click here for the video.

-Joee

Me…being filmed.

As you may have read in an earlier post, I had participated in a photoshoot for an upcoming awareness campaign that will be launching in Toronto very soon.  Last week, I got a call from the ad agency asking if I’d be interested in doing the commercial shoot.  How hard could this acting thing be, right ?  They said it’d be a few lines to memorize, so not too hard.

I figured I’d have a few weeks or so to get prepared for this.  I got the call on Wednesday ! The shoot was on Saturday and I got the script late Thursday.  I had about 1 day to memorize, not a few lines, but 9 lines !  Talk about having a panic attack !  Thankfully, I got some great advice from some of my friends and I was hoping to rock this shoot with their techniques.

I arrived at Pie in the Sky studio Saturday a little earlier in hopes of getting into hair and make-up sooner.  I had a ’situation’ on my nose and figured the MUA would need some more time with it haha.  It was snowing outside.  As I arrived to the back door, I started to kick my boots against the wall to shake off all the snow.  Unbeknownst to me, the film crew was right on the other side of the door filming another person.  Thankfully, the tape wasn’t rolling.  It was dead quiet in there on set and you could seriously hear a pin drop ! … Actually, it was so quite, you could hear a “GO TEAM CANADA” pin drop !  And hear I am, kicking my way into the set.

The girl before me was finishing up her part for the commercial.  I was starting to get really uneasy knowing that it was going to be me standing on the marker very soon.  After make-up and a few wardrobe changes, it was my turn to stand under the lights….the HOT lights !  I had a chance to speak to the awesome director who guided me through the whole process.  I ran throught he script a few times.  It was obvious I was talking too fast.  The director stepped in and helped me with this.  I think we shot for about 20 minutes or so.  It was nerve racking and I was very self-conscious about my disposition and how I looked.  Mentally, I was totally not prepared for this, but as prepared as I’ll ever be.  There is definitely an art to acting.  Getting out of your comfort zone is definitely harder than I thought.  Overall, I think (and HOPE) it went well.  Mad props to real actors out there !  You actors definitely earn your keep !

After the shoot, Eva, the MUA, asked if I wanted her to remove my make-up.  I stupidly decided to keep it on b/c I thought I looked pretty damn good and my ’situation’ was taken care of haha.  So, I left the set and met up with a complete stranger downtown quickly..in public…with make-up on !  I didn’t really think too much about it.  Then I stopped off at the grocery store to pick up some food.  It wasn’t until I got home that Jeanette says to me, “Do you have blush on ???”.  Oh sh*t ! Seriously ?  She could totally tell that make-up was caked on !  Apparently, it was very obvious in regular lighting that I was wearing make-up !  No wonder everyone at the grocery store was staring at me !

Lesson learned…

Anyways, the print ads and commercial should out in the next few weeks and I should have a copy of them so I can blog it.  Oh man, this is going to be a very humbling experience.

-Joee