I’m always impressed by how much talent there is in the Canadian photography community.  This country is home to some of the best artists around the world.  Winning any awards is always flattering but I think winning on this platform is especially so.  Here’s a few of my national award winning images from the fall 2011 Professional Wedding Photographers of Canada awards.

The fearless photographers is a group of artists that dare to push boundaries and expectations.  The group’s name itself sounds like a team of superheroes and I’m very proud to be listed with all the other talented members.  There are many different organizations that provide photographers with an opportunity to compete with other photographers and challenge their skills but what sets the fearless apart is the selection process.  Each photo is vetted by top industry leaders, these are all people that I very much look up to in wedding photography and people who have themselves inspired and encouraged other photographers to push their creativity to the limit and beyond.  They’re each a specialist in wedding photography and know from experience what it takes to get a fearless shot.  Very few make the cut.  You can view more of the winning photos on their facebook page.  And when you’re there please leave comments, photographers love to hear comments on their work.

This photo is from a moment at Ashley and Greg’s wedding in Edmonton.  It was a truly touching instant when Ashley’s father came to see her that made each person in the room cry, including the photographer.

I’m really excited to share this news with everyone.  Every 3 months the wedding photojournalist association holds an international competition looking for some of the best photography.  In their Q4 competition for 2010 I placed 5th and 13th for engagement portraits.  At the risk of sounding corny, it really is an honour just to be considered among the other incredible photographers.  To see more winning photos from the competition check out http://www.wpja.com

One of my photos was selected as a top engagement photo in Canada by bride.cafor 2010. Please check out their website, it’s wonderful Canadian resource for wedding planning.

I took the picture for Jasleen and Vinay’s engagement session on Canada Day this last year. Jasleen & Vinay are two incredible people that I’m happy to call my friends now and have since travelled to their wedding in Halifax. I knew that they could pull it off when we went to the carnival. What I wasn’t sure about was if I could do it. I’m one of those people that pukes on rides and gets vertigo on the second step of a ladder. I really really don’t like heights and to top it off I had to twist my swing so I could look back at them. Yikes, I’m going to stop talking about it now before before I freak out.

I also wanted to share with you something I’m perhaps even more proud of. Jasleen sent me this touching testimonial shortly after her wedding,

“Jasser is more than a photographer, he is a story-teller. From our engagement session in Edmonton, to the 3 days of wedding events in Halifax, then back to Edmonton for the final reception, Jasser captured every moment of our wedding. Aside from having the most beautiful photos that we will cherish for a lifetime, we feel lucky to have worked with Jasser because of his professional integrity, creativity, and above all else humble nature. Our only complaint is that we are finding it challenging to choose photos for the wedding album- we love them all”
–Jasleen.