I started taking photos of babies when I was a young mom of babies myself. I suppose it was a natural progression to move into weddings. It wasn’t long before some of my families had family or friends looking for a wedding photographer. Initially, I felt like I was hired because I was doing it differently…. But here is the thing… It was not that I was doing it differently- I just really didn’t know what I was doing. All I knew was that when the camera was in my hand, I could express myself for the first time. I would get a feeling…. See something that felt beyond what I could speak about.

“When I photographed couples, I could see their love, and I had a deep knowledge of just how to capture it. It was pure intuition.”

I was looking at other photographers in blogs/ featured in magazines. Perfect photos of smiling couples…. Everything in focus…. Beautifully styled backgrounds. I could see the beauty in them, and although I felt the pull to copy those images, they didn’t make me feel anything. And I… I wanted to feel. I wanted something I didn’t, at the time, have the language for. That would come later…. but for the time, it came through connectedness. 

I could see the love between couples because I knew my own love for my husband and family. And I knew that it was not just about a day. It was layered and complicated, and messy. AND it was beautiful.

When I had my camera in hand I knew just what to do to capture it – to capture that feeling. 

The camera felt like an extension to me and still does. And now… 16 years later, I know how it works. I understand all of the technical bits- the histogram and the white balance and how to adjust between shutter and f-stops, but back then, it was all just a feeling. And a lot of trial and error. AND many YouTube tutorials late at night while my baby was waking up needing to be fed. 

It’s actually so beautiful to think back to those times. To be writing this in hindsight. 

The beginnings. 

And I seriously cannot thank my couples enough. For seeing something in me. For trusting me with their most special day. It takes some pretty rad humans to trust some woman with a camera just starting out to capture all of the memories from their wedding. But they did… and I followed my feelings, and I went on to photograph over 300 weddings ALL OVER THE WORLD. 

I think about that now…. And it’s crazy. At the time, I was just in survival. I was raising two little boys…. In so many ways learning how to be an adult myself…. AND…. I had a growing fantastic wedding photography business by well…. accident- fuelled by a feeling. 

Rome, Italy. Sayulitta, Mexico. Monta Paulo, Costa Rica. Cancun, Mexico. Maui, Hawaii. Arizona, USA. Sydney, Australia. Over a hundred weddings in the Sea to Sky. Weddings in Vancouver.

Massive 3 days weddings… simple backyard weddings. Helicopter to the top of the world weddings. 

EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND. 

And then…. Just as things got a little too busy, I met two amazing women passionate about photography who wanted to shadow me on weddings, and instead of accepting that offer – I launched the Whistler Wedding Collective.

For 8 years, I mentored and supported amazing up-and-coming creatives. 

Many of whom have launched their own amazing creative professions since then. WE photographed SO MANY weddings. We held retreats. We shared. We collaborated and gathered so much that we created a space called GATHER for creatives. It was MAGICAL. 

And then…. Just as the amazingness was at its absolute highest, I got sick. Out of the blue.

And then…. Just as the amazingness was at its absolute highest, I got sick. Out of the blue. In the midst of wedding season. With 11 women working with me. Cancer. Stage 3. And life…. And weddings… and all of it really. It just changed. 

All of the feelings I was able to capture for others…. I needed that energy for myself. 

I needed to pause and rest and be. Just be. Not a photographer, not a mentor. Not a creative. I just needed to be whatever was happening at that exact moment. 

And so I did. 

And the weddings kept getting photographed, and the business kept running. And I…. I healed. Slowly and painfully. But I did. 

When I picked up a camera again…. So many months later…. I felt a shift. I wanted to be a part of something beyond a day. I wanted to sit and have conversations… and coffee. I wanted to chat and learn and do something beyond myself. And so… 

Within time I started this… Anastasia Creative. Which is still evolving and unfolding. 

I sold the Whistler Wedding Collective. 

And now. I am starting to write and to share. About it all. Which is kind of how I started… Back then, about it all… about life… about the experiences I have had and the people I have photographed. 

I am going back to the roots. 

So… weddings… 

Well. I still photograph them. When it feels right. 

I photograph up to 5 weddings a year, which gives me the luxury of choosing which connection stories I want to tell. 

So you can hire me. Please…. Reach out. Tell me your story. 

But also…. You can hire the Whistler Wedding Collective. Because the magic lives on under the care of another pretty amazing woman I had the honour of mentoring. 

So darlings…

There it is… the story of weddings and Anastasia. 

And I will expand on so many of these points throughout this journal of sorts.

But for now… you can click on links.

And if you want more…. Simply….

Reach out.

FAQs You Need To Know About Working With Me As Your Wedding Photographer

---