Brent Foster Photography is an incredible option for brides across Southwestern Ontario, particularly between Windsor and London. With experience shooting for Time.com, Canadian Geographic, New York Times, LA Times, The National Post and more, it's exciting to have this award winning pro photographer settle into the local wedding community with his family and put a full time focus onto editorial photojournalistic wedding photography and cinematography.
A passion for weddings (and for being a new husband himself), competitive pricing, crazy fast turnaround time and creative outside-of-the-box ideas make this photographer one that you'll want to book ahead for if you love him as much as we do.
From Wallaceburg to 15+ countries and back
Brent Foster's widely recognized work and impressive photojournalistic career actually began right here, close to the homes of many of the couples he now photographs on any given Saturday.
Brent grew up in the small Southwestern Ontario town of Wallaceburg; population 10,000. It was at age fourteen, that Brent experienced what most young people can only hope to have - that life-changing moment when he knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life - and it happened all in the turn of a page.
One week, Brent’s parents left the weekly newspaper, The Wallaceburg Courier Press, on the kitchen table . "One day there was this black and white photo, just a very real moment, very storytelling photo," he remembers. "...I think it was a wide angle shot of the bell being rung at the fountain park. You could see the ball hitting the side... see the string of rope with all these hands grasping it to ring the bell. There was just something about it." According to Brent, it was then and there that he knew photojournalism was going to be his career.
Unlike other tenth graders, he didn't just brush off the thought and head out to shoot hoops or catch a movie with friends. Instead, Brent picked up the phone, got the newspapers staff photographer (who had shot the bell) on the line, and asked to work alongside of him, to learn everything he could. Whether it was a moment of weakness for Brent's enthusiasm, or a love for teaching photographers, Menno Meijer agreed. "I was really young. It was completely by fate that it worked out the way it did. But Menno got me going right away."
Brent worked with Menno throughout high school, graduated, and then went off to Loyalist College (Belleville, ON) to study photojournalism. At college, Brent picked up the Photojournalist of the Year Award (both years), and was among the first to switch from film to digital. He was also one of the few to really embrace motion and film style multimedia as a means of telling a story - video, flash applications, slideshows, music. Photojournalistic talent and his passion for telling stories with a combination of motion and images, immediately set Brent apart in his field. It gave way to top notch internships and landed him jobs as Staff Photographer at Guelph Mercury, followed by the Windsor Star, the National Post and then the LA Times.
After the Times, he took a big leap by deciding to pick up and move to India. With clients ranging from The New York Times and Canadian Geographic to the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and Human Rights Watch, Brent documented poverty, disease and even a 'day in the life' of the Dalai Lama (photo, right) - work which you can see on his non-wedding photography site, www.brentfoster.com (click on Editorial if you want to have your breath taken away).
From the tragic moments to the magic ones
Throughout 15+ years of professional photojournalistic documentary photography in 15+ countries, Brent tapped into his ability to see the heart of the story in both the tragic moments, and the magic ones.
After coming back home to Wallaceburg in the summer of 2009 to do a local story for Canadian Geographic and exhibit his India photo essays, he found himself shooting another friend's wedding. "I was always shooting weddings throughout my career, on the side," admits Brent. It was during this trip that he also met the woman he fell in love with and would come to marry, Tammy. That was the first time he considered settling down in his hometown, planting some roots. "I was looking at the photojournalistic stories I'd done, the conflict and poverty and disease... It was rewarding work but there weren't a lot of happy subjects, to be perfectly honest. It changed my outlook on life, but also affected it... I think I was ready to stop hopping from one country to another."
Brent put his heart on his sleeve, and proposed to the hometown sweetheart he'd fallen in love with. Brent and Tammy were married in October of 2010, just six months after Brent opened his Ontario wedding photography business. Brent and Tammy now have a beautiful son, Cohen. He says that coming back home and finding his soul mate gave him his first chance to make photojournalistic wedding photography his focus. "I found a renewed passion for it - through the eyes of a groom - for wedding photography."
Wedding photography
Brent Foster Photography offers international award winning story telling photography to Ontario brides. "I'm passionate about all things that can and do tell a story."
When it's time to do the posed shots of the bride, groom and wedding party, Brent takes a magazine-style editorial approach. "I think my style is very much a combination of what you'd see in a high end magazine, with high end lighting... an editorial approach." But for Brent, the rest of the day is spent capturing emotion-driven moments. "I'm constantly looking for the little moments you're not going to see (least of all, expect), the most interesting angles... It's very much a documentary photojournalistic situation at a wedding." Brent's goal - and that of the team he shoots with - is always to be a fly on the wall.
Brent shoots with one to three other photographers to any given wedding, with his primary photography assistant being Tammy. In fact, Brent and Tammy shot over 80% of BFP's weddings in 2012 together. With their own connection as husband and wife, they make an ideal team for catching moments and connecting with couples. Tammy plays several roles, ranging from second shooter and assistant, to a friendly face to help coordinate and pose the wedding party. Tammy also plays an integral role in designing albums for BFP clients.
August 2011 bride, Stephanie Kidd, told The Ring, "Brent was fabulous, along with his wife, Tammy. They make a perfect pair... He was on time, looked professional and had tons of ideas."
Couples who choose BFP tend to be the ones that put photography at or near the top of their list. "We love clients who are head over heels in love, who want us there to help tell their story in a unique, fresh, storytelling manner."
And that's exactly why Stephanie chose Brent in the first place. "I am more of a capture-the-moment kind of person.... I didn't want to have all my pics posed... I wanted them to look more realistic."
Newsroom turnaround time
Waiting time is not an issue for BFP brides because Brent makes a quick turnaround a high priority at the studio. Brent's brides can expect to see about twenty or so images of their wedding posted in a highlight blog post, usually within one to two days. Fully edited images? Within two weeks. Brent just says, "This is a direct reflection of my photojournalism background and having constant deadlines as a newspaper photographer."
Have camera, will travel
The Brent Foster Photography studio is located in a 100 year old bank building in the heart of Wallaceburg. That's where he does the odd portrait shoot, meets with couples (the local ones that make up the smaller part of his clientele) and teaches workshops. But mostly, it's a very cool creative space in which he can do the business and editing side of his work.
"I love that we have our giant old studio and space for workshops. We choose to live here because our families are here, that we can hop in the boat at sunset, go fishing, enjoy nature..." Brent explained. But the rest of the work, he admits, is usually on the road.
Instead of traveling from one country to another to cover a story, Brent packs up his car and travels from one wedding story to another. Happily. "Sometimes people will hesitate and say 'Oh, you don't live in London', but I'm so used to being on the road all the time, location definitely doesn't have any effect at all. We have no problem traveling to events anywhere between Windsor and Toronto - and beyond." With a special focus on weddings in Windsor, London and Toronto, traveling to weddings and shoots is just considered another part of the job - and doesn't come with an extra travel charge.
For meetings and getting to know brides and grooms, Brent admits that Skype is one of his favourite tools. Otherwise, email and phone work as well. "I'm happy to drive for shoots, but we try to focus all of our road time on that, and not on meet and greets, wherever possible."
PLANNING NOTE: Installing Skype (free) on your computer or iPad can save you SO much planning and driving time. If you don't already use it, choose a vendor you're interested in hiring and give it a try!
Photography pricing
BFP charges roughly $3500 for seven hours of wedding coverage. Brent says that most couples spend an average of $4500 before tax.
Jennifer and Nathan Foulon were married on September 24, 2011. They chose Brent to cover their day with photography. Jennifer says she knew what to expect when it came to photographers pricing for a wedding, but admits, "My husband, at the time, thought it was insane... But, once we met with Brent in his studio, [and once] he showed us samples of other wedding he had done, my husband no longer felt that way. He felt it was worth the money and we would both agree to pay it again for the service and photos we received." They were also impressed with how quickly they received their photos. "It was great, considering every bride is dying to see their photos!"
Brent thinks it’s really important to realize the power of photography. “You're investing in a person and in an overall experience. You've only got one shot at it. If it was me, I would want to hire someone who's disciplined, educated, passionate and completely in love with what they do." That said, Brent admits that his packages are still competitively priced and not unreachable by most of today's wedding budgets.
Cinematography
Since setting down roots in Ontario, Brent has developed cinematography packages that best include the photo, video and multimedia combination that he has embraced (and that were embraced by so many of his major news media clients) over the years.
He helps couples to see the value in the unparelled impact of great photography, cinematography, the right song can make on a lifetime memory that will surely be passed from one generation to the next. "It's not easy," he admits. "Cinematography is expensive. The editing is far greater than that of photography. But the end result is breathtaking. There's nothing else like it."
BFP's Cinematography Package (photography + videography) is brand new and includes three shooters (including news photographers), narratives by the bride and groom, a 3 to 5 minute cinematic story video, full wedding coverage in photos, and starts at $6300. The price is much less than most videography/photography combinations you'll find in the Toronto area (who tend to start at the $6000/$8000 mark for video alone), but it's also more than most brides from small or medium sized cities budget for their memories. This package is for couples who love the idea of seeing their memories in full motion, having photos in their hands, and knowing that a team of award winning news photographers will make sure it's done tastefully and with heart.
Brent describes the resulting videos as "less flashy" than some rock video style wedding videos he's seen, but that they "have that extra storytelling element."
For couples that want video only, BFP starts at $3500 and supplies a minimum of two shooters, depending on what you're looking for.
You can actually 'meet' BFP through their bio video. Then from there, check out Erica and Mike's engagement video/session. Love it!
Staying creative, thinking outside the box
Brent has been shooting for years, but he's still newly passionate about documenting weddings. That's evident in his ability to create new ideas and his approach to editorializing the day. For Jennifer and Nathan's engagement session, it was snowing outside and they had their two huskies along for the occasion. "Brent had my husband and I create a huge heart shape in the snow and he documented the process with like 400 still shot photos and then made them into this flip book style. So if you look at it, it almost looks like a short video of us in the snow making this huge heart and then us jumping into the middle. Definitely a must see." After showing the e-session images to her boss, he promptly hired Brent for his daughter's wedding.
Stephanie says that Brent thinks of ideas like no one she's ever met. "Like, really, who else would think to bring a ten foot ladder to a wedding?... Brent did!"
Why brides love Brent Foster Photography
Stephanie says Brent Foster is the best choice for a wedding photographer because "he has several ideas, no two weddings that he has photographed look alike, he does not charge a traveling fee, and the turn-around time to receive your pictures is amazing... Did I mention that in less than 2 weeks, we had all 490 photos back edited and on disk?!"
Jennifer loved Brent because he offered exactly what she needed for her wedding photography. "I was looking for a story of the day and events in photos. Capturing moments, not "posed" photos or your typical wedding photos. His work is very unique and his eye for seeing photo opportunities is incredible. I loved how friendly and sweet he and his wife were. They made us feel comfortable and natural..."
Jennifer also loved Brent's background. If she had to explain why a bride would hire BFP, "I would say that Canadian Geographic , the Detroit Auto Show, LA Times, New York Times, and Globe & Mail don't hire your AVERAGE photographer and I would show them a list of all the awards he has won or been nominated for."
Details, details, details
• BFP aims to take on less than 35 weddings per year. To make sure you can book them for your date, you should get in touch with Brent as soon into your planning process as you can. :)
• BFP offers candid photojournalism and magazine-style editorial photography for weddings throughout Southwestern Ontario.
• A deposit of 1000 books your date on the Brent Foster calendar, with the balance due 30 days before the wedding.
• Photography packages start at $3500 and most include two shooters. Most couples spend roughly $4500 before taxes.
• Cinematography packages start at $3500, with photography/videography packages running about $6300+.
• No travel charges apply within Southwestern Ontario, from Windsor to Toronto.
• Skype is probably your most ideal way to meet with Brent 'in person' for the first time, if you're outside the Chatham/Wallaceburg area. Otherwise in person, phone or email will work too.
Contacting Brent Foster Photography
To find out more, contact Brent of Brent Foster Photography by email at
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or by phone at 519-784-4674 to set up a meeting. Many of Brent’s meet & greets are done by Skype, phone or email. He does however, make regular trips to London, Windsor, and Toronto. The BFP Studio is located at at 500 Wallace St., in Wallaceburg (by appointment) however they will travel anywhere from Windsor to Toronto and beyond for a fabulous photo shoot. To check out the Brent Foster Photography weddings site, go to http://brentfosterphotography.com. To check out Brent’s news work and photo essays, go to http://brentfoster.com (click on editorial)
