Katie and Andy have a son and spending time outdoors with him on Katie’s parents farm is an awesome day in their world. Add walking their dog along the nearby dyke into the mix, and bam – this is their family in its essence. So photographing them at the farm on Westham Island, which is also where they will get married later this year, is as real as it gets.

We had been out to the island before when Katie was one of the bridesmaids at her friend’s barn wedding last year (the same barn Katie and Andy will have their wedding reception in this year). At that time, nobody told us about the amazing hockey barn that was just down the road. Katie’s grandpa, dad, brother, uncles, cousins and of course Andy have all played there, so this hockey barn means a lot to them.

So if you add up what we did during our time together on Westham Island, taking photos of Katie, Andy and their son on the family farm, walking along the dyke with their dog and hanging out in their ultimate man-zone hockey barn, this is who Katie and Andy are.

Capturing that essence of a couple is what the Document You sessions are all about.

Katya summed it up quite nicely when we were driving home at the end of her wedding day in Punta Cana. The day had started at 4AM for the sunrise beach ceremony, and it was just after midnight. We were driving to the resort as the day was winding down. Katya and Rob were in the car, along with their videographers Kiera and Josh, and it was pitch black outside. The road felt like we were driving through a minefield.

Katya was fiddling with her iPod and getting into the music a bit, and settled on a song. As we were driving, she said:

“Three years. Crazy. Remember having that coffee in Vancouver”?

“Definitely. It feels like a lifetime ago”. We first met Katya back then, and she was one of the first photographers in Vancouver who reached out to us when we started our business. Actually, she was the first one to give us a bit of a lesson when she wouldn’t refer us a wedding because our prices were too low. We’ll never forget that.

“Time flies”, Katya said, and she continue playing with her iPod.

She switched songs and picked the one we used in this blog post. It’s a song by Jesh de Rox, and was meant to be their first dance song. The first dance actually never happened, but Katya got very sentimental when the song started playing.

It was a great moment to wind down the wedding day, and summed up Katya perfectly. Always thinking of others, and a genuinely kind person. We never would have dreamt up that three years after having that coffee with Katya we would be sitting in a bouncy car in the Dominican Republic, but looking back at it, we feel like we won the lottery.

If you are interested in learning more about the 2-on-1 workshops, email us to info@nordicaphotography.com and we will provide you with all the information. The workshops are a full day and the focus is entirely on you and your business. We’ll share the entire backend of our business (editing, administration, online marketing strategies, etc.) and follow an itinerary for the day that revolves around whatever you would like to focus on. Also, we have two photography sessions with couples – one to start the day and one to finish the day.

Below is what Taylor had to say about her time with us in Vancouver. To read about a few other recent workshops we hosted, check out what Rik Pennington and Erin Wilson had to share about the Nordica workshops they attended.

What are the three most valuable things that you took away from the workshop?

Definitely the prep of scouting something I never really considered before. I always would just show up and shoot but being prepared can make all the difference.

Also the keep it simple mentality – when shooting, and communicating with clients. Cole and Jakob you guys are so laid back and it is so nice to see that come through in your work and in your business. I always felt flustered going into meetings and sometimes even writing emails and it was great to see that just being yourself and saying what you believe is all you need.

Finally the shoots were awesome. I did both shoots with only my 35mm lens and I loved it. I think that seeing what I was hoping to shoot before I actually raise my camera and clicked made for a better picture, and it is less about gear and more about what you see.

Were all of your goals/expectations met with the workshop?

For sure, I didn’t have many expectations going in. Being out of the “wedding mindset” for the last couple months I was really hoping to get back into shooting with clients, and transition from the travel work I was doing back into the wedding world. I would say that was 100% accomplished. I now can’t wait for my first shoot in two weeks and I have been scouting for the best locations in my area since I’ve been back. I also have been looking for detail shots and transition images that would be great to add to a story-line which is something else I wanted to get better at.

Was there anything that surprised you about the workshop that you didn’t see coming when you signed up?

I had only ever done one workshop before and it was in a group setting. I can’t say how much of a difference being one on one was. It first of all is great to be more in a conversation than in a class setting. It is less intimidating to speak up, interrupt (I know I did that a lot! ahah) to ask questions and make anything you don’t understand clear. PLUS I think you guys got a feel for who I was too and on the fly tailored (no pun intended) the workshop for me too.

What would you say to another photographer who was considering a workshop with Nordica based on your experience?

DO IT. I left motivated and excited about this coming wedding season. Cole and Jakob are fun, helpful and are willing to share everything they have learned. I especially loved to hear what they were thinking when setting up a shot, because well if you a considering a Nordica workshop then you probably already love their work and to see and hear what goes on before they take it well that is invaluable.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Vancouver is an awesome city. Great location for a great workshop.

And a few behind-the-scenes shots.

Katya and Rob had a morning sunrise ceremony along the beach in the Dominican Republic, and it’s safe to say that it left everyone who attended stunned by the experience.

We’re looking forward to posting more from this wedding. It was an intense destination wedding that left us inspired in a lot of ways.

Or a mountain wedding. Or a beach wedding. Or a bingo-hall wedding (if bingo is your thing).

If it makes sense and it fits, you could really have a wedding almost anywhere. As long as it’s non-contrived.

Same goes for Document You sessions. Hahn and John made it crystal clear when we first met them: They like nature and they like to hike. This is what they do together in their spare time and for them to get out into the woods is a very natural thing to do.

Their wedding will be in a mountainous rainforest this summer. For their Document You, we picked a different mountainous rainforest, about a two hour drive from downtown Vancouver.

It was a natural fit.

Part of the reason we ended here was because poison ivy can be a real mood killer. And after falling in a patch to get to this spot, we decided to call it a night. Taking pictures at the hospital would have been very “real”, but perhaps not what a couple want for their wedding invitations.

More on all of this later.

* If you have no idea what this is, read more about our Document You sessions here.

/Jakob