Nordica Photography 2014

The world is a beautiful place.

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Thanks to the couples who trust in us to travel to their weddings. To the photographers who show us their homes and cities. To planners and organizers for inviting us to their events. To people from around the world who leave us messages about our photography. To the wedding vendors we work alongside.

Anyone who takes the time to view our work. Thank you.

2014 was great and to put a close on it, we’re summarizing the year with photos and a short Q&A to each other. Apologies in advance for the long post. There’s a lot of beauty in the world and we wish we could show it all.

Q&A

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Jakob: Which wedding trip was the most memorable to you from a personal perspective this year and why?

Cole:  The trip to Tofino for Emily and Jesse’s wedding. That was my first trip back to Vancouver for a wedding after moving to Sweden in 2013, and being alone back “home”  in Vancouver (which isn’t my home anymore) was a lot to take in. It felt very strange seeing friends and family only to know I was a visitor in the city I love so much. I tend to be a sentimental guy so from a personal perspective, that trip had a lot of emotions going on. I ended up going back and forth between Sweden and Vancouver seven times for weddings in 2014, which is a very long distance to travel for a wedding, so on a whole those trips all were quite memorable and it all started with that first one to Tofino.

Jakob: Do you have an interesting/fun/random/strange story from a 2014 wedding that you can share?

Cole: Svalbard this past August, for sure. Nordica was lucky to get in touch with a couple who lives in Longyearbyen and wanted to have pictures together, and I’m just fascinated by the north so this trip was an exciting one. The logistics to make it happen were tricky because I did a wedding in Stockholm on a Saturday, the session in Svalbard was Monday, that was followed on Thursday with a wedding in Croatia, which was followed on Saturday with a wedding in France. So it was a crazy week. Svalbard blew my expectations away, and the couple really went all out to show me as much as they could. We drove a boat around the area to the various glaciers and abandoned Russian mining villages, and I was able to carry a handgun the entire time we were on land (which is the law due to unexpected polar bear attacks). We didn’t see any bears but it didn’t matter; Svalbard is incredible.

Jakob: You’ll be working based out of Vancouver next summer. Why is that and what are you looking forward to the most about being back in Canada?

Cole: For personal reasons, which sounds ominous but it really isn’t. Therese and I want to spend time in Vancouver with our little one, Embla, because we miss it dearly. We enjoy our lives in Gävle, Sweden and we do not plan on selling our house there or do any dramatic relocation, but we see an opportunity to go back to Vancouver for a few months and want to do it. What I’m mostly looking forward to is absorbing all the little things that I took for granted in British Columbia when I lived there, which are mostly outdoors related. BC is the best place on earth, and I am so excited to travel the province again and photograph weddings all over the place there in 2015.

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Cole: You were married to Alexandra in August and Nirav Patel and Amari Kenoly photographed the day. What was it like being “the couple” on the day and did it change your perspective on photographing weddings?

Jakob: I haven’t been at a wedding without a camera in years, so it was pretty cool to be able to just enjoy the day. As opposed to thinking about where the light is coming from and whether you’re in the best position to get the shot. From a professional perspective, it did give me a much better understanding of how couples feel throughout the day, and what’s important to them at the wedding. When you’re shooting weddings, it’s easy to let yourself believe that photography is the only thing that matters, but that’s rarely the case.

Cole: Living vicariously through your travels, I’m most envious of your trip to the Lofoten Islands. For reasons completely outside of weddings, what location holds your favourite memory of 2014, and where are you most looking forward to travelling to in 2015?

Jakob: There were many great trips this year, but Italy holds a special place in my heart and my trip to southern Italy and the village of Lucca is what first popped in to my head. I have a hard time putting into words why I like Italy so much, but there’s something that keeps pulling me that way. Maybe it’s the food, the culture, the beauty, the people, the language, the climate, the sports…or a mix of all. For 2015, I look forward to seeing Ireland for the first time. I’m expecting epic scenery and plenty of old castles.

Cole: In 2013, you took a photo every day with your iPhone and posted it to Instagram the same day using the hashtag #Insta365. From what I have found online, you’re the first person to use that hashtag and actually finish the project as it was intended; A photo a day. The book you released is sitting on my shelf at home. What did the project teach you about setting goals, and do you have any other non-wedding projects on the horizon?

Jakob: I don’t know if the project taught me anything particular in terms of goals, but it did confirm that once I decide to do something, I’m pretty good at sticking to it. Even if it’s quite painful and annoying at times. I wish I could say that I have a project in mind for next year, but I don’t. I know I need goals to keep moving forward, and I’m sure I’ll come up with some kind of project eventually.

[audio:http://nordicaphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Sigur-Ros-Viorar-Vel-Til-Loftarasa.mp3|titles=Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa]

Bio image by Jesus Caballero.