1. We have been in Australia for a year and 4 months now!
2. Eric has been in his job for a year.
3. I have been in mine for coming close to a year - and have made friends in that span of time as well.
I went over my blog and noticed that I forgot to leave a review for our favorite supplier - J LUCAS REYES. You know when you want to save the best for last and then all of a sudden, you don't come around to do it at all? Well, that's what happened.
To be honest, we only booked J the last minute - if I'm not mistaken, around January-February 2014 and our wedding was in May 2014! So unthinkable - but it happened. We had another photographer booked so early on, in fact, they were the first supplier we ever booked and worked around their schedule. But, it didn't work out and the supplier didn't feel like we "clicked" and so they let us go as their client. Suffice it to say, I was devastated. That is the last thing you want if you are an overseas bride and a major supplier backs out on you months prior to your day. I never knew that was going to happen or it was possible but it happened to us.
Looking back now, I am happy it happened. We got J Lucas Reyes and his team and I am over the moon until this very day as to how everything turned out. J and his team were very professional, all shots were superb and turn around time for sending back the photos was quick. We had to fly back to Singapore two weeks after the wedding and guess what - we already had the printed photos with us then.
How would I describe J? He is just very passionate with his craft. I've never met or heard a photographer talk about the technicalities of their job with so much gusto - like he also wanted me to understand and appreciate his love for photography the same way he did. J is a man of a few words, but his work speaks volumes. Every photo captures a feeling, a sentiment, more than just what they actually are.
I know of photographers who showcase 10-20 best photos in their website about weddings they covered and that was it - they were the best out of the bunch. All the rest will be so-so. But with J and his team - all photos were consistently good, everyone was beautiful and the emotions on that day were captured so perfectly. Even as I go back to them now, I still smile because of the memories captured reflected the feeling we had on that day.
This was the short write-up I made for J and his team when Benz Co-Rana asked me to make one as an intro to an interview / podcast episode for Weddings @ Work:
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"Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like." - David Alan Harvey
I've read these words before and it just so rightly encapsulates what I wanted in a photographer, at the time we were looking for one. "Photographer" is a word so loosely used nowadays, that whoever owned a DSLR camera, captures one or two workable photos, and can manipulate Adobe Photoshop, can be called and is a photographer. But I digress. Photography is an art of viewing moments and capturing them of how they felt like--so that in the end, we are left with images that recreate our histories from the heart.
I remember distinctly booking with J Lucas Reyes after "interviewing" by phone some handpicked photographers. I loved his work; his passion for the art was remarkable; and I felt so much at ease discussing with him over a 30-minute long distance phone call. As an overseas bride, there was only so many things you can do if it's not possible to meet up with suppliers. Thank God for online forums and support groups. Days after booking with him, I scoured through the internet about reviews and stumbled upon this podcast from Abet and Benz Rana--founders of Weddings@Work.
Of course, I listened to it. Twice. And I knew then that how J sounded on the phone was as real as can be. Again, his passion in perfecting his craft shines through, that capturing moments were not enough. It had to be perfect--so that how his images looked like was exactly how that moment felt.