Erin Wallis Photography Blog

Is it possible that an entire year has breezed past us again?
Apparently so. I find it incredibly hard to believe that in just 4 months, I have been involved with thirty couples getting married in Campbell River, and all over Vancouver Island. THIRTY. To think that about three years ago I would start off with five booked weddings. Four years ago, I had two… and now, Thirty.

To all of my 2008 love infused couples, you swept me off my feet, inspired me, challenged me and trusted me, none of which, I take for granted! Each wedding, more love, more emotion, deep breaths, life choices, heartfelt speeches, juicy happy tears,and all incredibly unique moments. I am honored. Always. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

I am actually a bit overwhelmed at the task of choosing only a few… so there may be more than a few!

Consider these images, my personal memoirs from 2008…
I can barely contain my excitement at having a whole new year, the ol’ blank canvas… to create as much art as humanly possible. Let’s pour our whole souls out this year people! Why not!!! Here’s hoping that these images make you smile, inspire you, stir emotion, or even brighten your day.

Bring on 2009!

It is a beautifully stormy day today… and while listening to the wind howl through my windows, and rain exploding out of the sky, I’ve decided that it is time to share Christina and Darcy’s wedding photos. We were in the Mexican Riviera, engulfed with lovely humid air and sticky sweaty heat. It was a beautiful sunny day, everything was perfect.

I often question what I do as a photographer. Do I just take pictures, or is it art? Do I capture moments, tell stories, do I make photographs, or take them… or is the camera just an extension of me, a vehicle for me to express the beauty I see in nearly every single moment. I believe the answer lies somewhere amongst all of the above. I just see beauty. Everywhere, and at times its so overwhelming, I just want to stop it, freeze it, package it all up and keep it forever… and before I know it, I’m releasing the shutter of my camera, trying to do just that.

I want you to see it too, feel it, and the closest way I’ve found to connecting with people I barely know, is to show them how beautiful, honest, brave, soulful, joyous, loving, creative, magical and amazing I see them as being, through my images. I’m so grateful that you take the time to swing by for a look at how I view the world. I’ve heard it said, that a photographer puts themselves in every image they take, each photo a reflection of how they see the world. I feel there may be some truth to that.

This is how I saw Christina and Darcy’s wedding last weekend. A few images that I feel reflect the beautiful simplicity of their day. What an honor it was to be flown to Mexico, forced to drink margaritas, spend a week with, and photograph Christina and Darcy’s wedding.

May you see beauty everywhere.

There are rare occasions when the universe offers you moments like these, LIGHT like this.

When sunlight is offered to you bursting through an incredible storm, amidst a downpour of rain, you take it. Quietly. Humbly. (not that I was either) You take it, and then you take your bride and groom out from under their umbrellas and tell them excitedly to “LOOK AT THE LIGHT”. I was totally overwhelmed by this remarkable gift. It wasn’t for long, I believe it was 10 minutes of no rain, and pure magic, but it was enough. Enough to remind me that, we are certainly surrounded by something sublime, surreal and powerful.

Appreciative, Grateful, and Awestruck. That’s me.

When Jeremy and Tabitha originally contacted me to photograph their wild west coast wedding, I was instantly inspired, but had already booked a birthday party for the same day… Luckily I had some wonderful clients who even moved their daughters first birthday party to the day before, to enable me to capture these wedding images for Tabitha and Jeremy. I am so honored, moved and grateful to have been at the Wickaninnish Inn with you all, (all eleven of you) It truly restored my faith in believing that small, intimate weddings are possible on Vancouver Island!

These images… this light… Tofino, British Columbia, are all, very special to me.

I hope your week is full of amazing light.

It’s no secret that I photograph a lot of weddings, being in a small town its also no surprise that I photograph people that I know. But I have only photographed a handful of true ‘friends’ weddings.

Tiffany and Braden fall into the very good friend category. (I’ll apologize in advance for the long winded round about way this is delivered.)

The first wedding I ever photographed, I was in the bridal party… another one a few years later was the deciding factor for me, that I should be photographing weddings for a living. That one was 5 years ago, that was my good friend Sarah and Jody’s wedding.

The moment I knew I HAD to be photographing weddings, was not during the wedding, when I was bouncing around, crawling on my tummy for the perfect shot… or even when I was climbing up a ladder (in a long skirt) to reach the roof top of Jody’s parents house for a fun group shot…. but more so after… when so many people made a point of talking to me, and letting me know how much they appreciated my energy at the wedding, and also seeing the reaction of everyone when they saw the images. It was then that I realized… hmmm… maybe I’m alright at this. Not to mention… hmmmm maybe weddings are alright to photograph. (I was one of many budding photojournalism students who swear to NEVER shoot weddings, for fear of bridezillas, momzillas… and doilies) Truth be told, I loved Sarah and Jody’s wedding, and I loved photographing it. So there spawned my wedding journey.

What I’m getting at is that being at weddings, involved with weddings is natural for me. Its what I do. I go through the motions, I get to know people, the connections they have with one another. I pay attention to detail, I look for light, I watch peoples faces, their body language. I capture memories… almost without thought. It feels right.

So I never really realized that it WOULD be different photographing a good friends wedding at this stage of my career.

I have done many MANY foolish things with Tiffany, driven cars without licenses, picked up random hitchhikers, (a LOT of stories that stay locked within us as well)….I’ve stayed up talking all night with Tiffany, shared a love of literature, art, books and dance with Tiffany…

I put as much energy into every single wedding. I give every client, every thing I’ve got. I truly do. Maybe that’s why I’ve heard people say, they feel like they know the people in my images… because even if I don’t, I feel like I do. So I was working, bending my mind, my heart to create wedding images for Tiffany and Braden… pre-ceremony, I was photographing her through her veil, her shoes, the makeup, the dress… I was scurrying over to catch the fellas, Braden waiting patiently, admittedly, finally “a little” nervous… I was working, going through the motions… It wasn’t until the ceremony when I watched Tiffany walking down the isle with her dad and mom, welling up with a few ‘almost’ tears… that I realized… I know her. That is Tiffany. The same girl, I wrote notes religiously back and forth with in high school, the same one that shaved her head for fun, the same one that knew my family, knew my history, knew me, just as much as I knew her. TIFFANY was walking down the isle! My senses tingled, and I became incredibly present. Increasingly so. It was a beautiful thing.

Here is how I saw their wedding day.

Mandy… what a sweatheart.
Shawn… told me he had been ready for this day for a long time.
The two of them together… seamless.
The sun was shining… even though we thought it may rain (somewhat of a theme for this summer)…
New venues, places, and faces always bring waves of inspiration over me. A very good thing!!!
Everything was perfect!! (another theme for this summer)

On another note…I am so pleased to announce that my little blog world, has roughly about 100 hits daily… WOW!!! Thank you for stopping by!!! Some of you have let me know that you want to leave comments, but get scared or that you don’t know how… DON’T BE AFRAID… comments don’t bite! Plus if you hate what you say, you can delete it later!!
At the bottom of each post it will say “no comments” or “2 comments” etc… just click on that, enter your name, email address and comment, tell me what you think, what image you like… etc… click submit comment, and voila…. you’ve made my day!!!
Now.. onto Mandy and Shawns images…

Well, I’m running behind this morning for what should be a SUPER fun shoot, out on the water (more details to come later) then photos of twins, then a newborn, and then another family tonight… and I’ve just moved into a new home… (which is awesome). And I’m so very behind on editing, and getting out wedding packages, and family discs… (what I need is my fabulous assistant Shannon to quit school and come back to help me) But for now, I will avoid what needs to be done, and do what I feel inspired to do, and that is…. share some of Tom and Joanne with you.

What an amazing couple.

We first met in Courtenay, along 5th street for their engagement session a few months ago…(see image above) and I fell in love with them.  They were (are) highschool sweethearts and just work so well together…

Their wedding party was certainly wild and energized, and riding in the ‘party’ bus with them proved to be rather entertaining…. All in all, an amazing day.

Here are a few of my favorites from their beautiful wedding in Victoria.

What do you get when you have….

A perfect wedding at Painters Lodge, in Campbell River…together with a fabulous down town newly wed session, and a picture perfect reception in Granny Painters Room @ Painters Lodge… a happy photographer, and these images!!!

I hope you enjoy them!!!

Big thanks to my fabulous assistant Shannon for catching this moment between Sheri and her father, as he walked her down the isle.

I feel like I am missing something if I don’t post recent shoots. I have been so busy, flat out really, that I just haven’t had time… and I feel guilty!!!

I am so honored that you chose to spend a piece of your morning/afternoon/evening visiting my blog, and joining me in some of or all of the photographic moments in my world. I feel responsible to give you current images each time you check in… In saying that, my life now (maybe sadly) feels like it is missing something, if I haven’t blogged… haven’t shared what beautiful moments I have been privileged to witness, to create or to be a part of. It’s strange but I need to share the photos just as much as I need to take them. It makes me happy.

To be honest, my images mean so much more to me than being just a ‘photo’. They are moments in my life, just as much as they are the people who I am photographing. I am choosing to spend what precious moments my life has to offer, with people… photographing people… with you. I am choosing to share these images with you. If you are reading this, we are connecting in some small or big way, hopefully in a positive way… hopefully you enjoy the images.

So with that said, I bring you to the most recent of my last 5 weddings… Cinda and Landon.
I will catch up with the other ones asap! I just had to post these ones as they are fresh out of photoshop tonight….
Meet Cinda and Landon, their wonderful families and friends, atop the beautiful Mt.Washington, at Raven Lodge, British Columbia.
May today bring you something fabulous.


After the ceremony Landon changed into his suit, for some different images…

I was talked into taking the chair lift to the top of the mountain….

And wasn’t I glad we did!!!

Then back down the chair lift to finish off with some magic light, beautiful surroundings, and of course a dash of newly wed love.


And polishing off the newly wed shoot with a little red stair/blue sky action….

Forever ago I met an incredible little girl.
That little girl turned into an astoundingly beautiful, warm, determined, unique, radiant, compassionate and AMAZING woman. She got married on August 23, and I was honored to be a part of it all.
Kim and her entire family are some of my favorite people on the planet. They all ooze wonderful things. Happiness, joy, deep strong bonds, and connections, they are honest, kind and so totally giving and loving.

I grew up beside them in Campbell River, and was so deeply moved when Kim based her entire wedding day around my availability!!! There were so many moments when I could barely see through the lens, as tears welled up in my eyes… The most moving? Maybe when Kim held up her heirloom necklace worn by generations of women in her family on each of their wedding day, maybe when Kims mom burst into tears, while telling Kim of a charm she was about to sew into her dress, that was given by Kims grandfather to her late grandmother Win on their 50th wedding anniversary (not a dry eye in the house).

Perhaps my favorite was when Kims dad took a deep breath and walked his daughter down the isle, you could almost see him become incredibly present, as he looked over at her, and put his hand on top of hers…. maybe the vows, the song, the fixed up family volvo that Kims parents drove on their wedding day, the weather that was 90 percent chance of RAIN… with nothing more than a few drops as the ceremony ended. Maybe James face when he saw Kim walking down the isle… maybe it was James’ simple and moving vows. It could have been the amazing bagpipes courtesy of Cameron Stewart…Or possibly how when Kim spoke during the reception, she thanked people… not like it was a list to get through… but with every ounce of her heart. What a gorgeous day.

I spent many of my childhood days laughing with all of the fabulous Black family and was just so deeply honored to have been a part of Kim and James’ wedding day. Just look at how radiant Kim is in every single photo. Look how calm James appears, and then check out what the magic created when we were left alone for their intimate images after the ceremony. Goosebumps, romance, laughter, tears, and a whole vast array of emotions made this day something incredibly special.

I wish you both many many years of love and continued joy.
May you two continue to make music together. Always.

My wonderful assistant Shannon caught this moment during the ceremony!!!

An overwhelmed flower girl…

Our local celebrity and amazing hockey legend Rod Brind’Amour gives Kim a hug after the ceremony.

Love this image of Kim delivering her soulful speech.

I get all the most amazing couples. Its true. I do.
Just look at Ciji! Are you kidding me!?! What an amazing bride!! What a beautiful day.

It was so ridiculously hot, but so insanely beautiful all at the same time! All of you amazing people out there, just make my job so much easier, and way more fun!!! The vows were beautiful, I believe Kevin to be a bit of a poet, and Ciji to be an incredible creature as well! Their reception was held at the Oyster Bay Resorts and was decorated beautifully.

I truly love what I do!!!
I hope you two are enjoying your honeymoon, I can’t wait to share the rest of your images with you!!!!

I’ll leave you with an image of their beautiful sleeping daughter Ella.