Review is written by Staff @ The Ring and is based on • Interviews with this vendor • Interviews with past brides
From commercial photography for décor magazines and fashion designers to shooting the wedding days of style-savvy couples who are looking for great candid photography, Jessica Lin comes with a sweet list of reasons to trust her with your wedding memories. This professional wedding photographer offers creative, emotion-filled photos, shot in an unobtrusive manner her brides rave about. Jessica says, “Weddings are essentially about love and beauty – two of my favourite things in the world!”
She also comes with a love story of her own that’s straight out of a Hollywood screenplay, and an assistant who’s irresistible Irish accent will have your bridesmaids lining up to do what they’re told (sorry ladies, he’s taken!)...
Jessica’s love story
Jessica’s relationship with photography is one that has spanned just over ten years, from a photography program at Fanshawe College to shooting photographic editorial for style magazines the likes of Style at Home and Canadian House and Home. She found herself appreciating all the style details which soon came in handy while she started shooting weddings and the many décor and style details that come with them.
As her career expanded and she took on more weddings, Jessica was lucky enough to find her own love story too. “In October 2008, after shooting ten weddings that season, I decided to take some time off to travel and photograph in the south of France, where I ended up meeting Norman.” He had been vacationing in Nice, far from his hometown in Northern Ireland. The two quickly became inseparable. They spent the rest of the year travelling and visiting Northern Ireland, photographing and falling in love. Before the year was out, Norman had sold his house in Belfast and moved to Toronto where he and Jessica had purchased a home together. Jessica says that Norman has helped her love her life more than she ever thought possible. As a result, Jessica truly gets what the bride and groom are feeling. She’s inspired by their love for each other and takes pride in documenting it.
Once his plane landed, Norman instantly became a part of Jessica Lin Photography. He meets each couple alongside Jessica, attends each wedding in the role of assistant “and general charmer” (likely making the bridesmaids swoon to the tune of his Irish accent), and ultimately helps manage the events, details and people involved in each wedding.
Jessica offers commercial editorial photography for jewellers, ceramic artists and fashion designers, and - as she always has - wedding photography. It seems that no matter where she’s pointing her camera, there’s some serious style involved.
“Weddings are essentially about love and beauty – two of my favourite things in the world! Every single one is different and exciting and challenging… It’s such a happy and emotionally-charged day, it doesn’t really feel like work most of the time – it feels like LIFE.”
The magic number
Spending a year on her own love story also meant taking a year off of weddings. So since being back on Ontario soil, Jessica has been busy filling in her wedding calendar. Her ideal number of weddings is somewhere between ten and fourteen weddings. She aims to strike that perfect balance between the two so that she never loses inspiration for the art of capturing weddings. She says, “This amount would allow me to really focus my attention on each couple personally, and would create a nice balance between my wedding work and the commercial work that I shoot for local designers.”
Brides who choose Jessica Lin Photography
Jessica describes her brides as creative, stylish, and not afraid to do a bit of DIY to personalize the little details throughout their wedding. “Many of my couples are creative people who are not afraid to use colour in their décor, and who like a bit of character and personality in their wedding photographs. I think all my couples want to have a fun day and to enjoy themselves… They don’t get too hung up stressing the little things.” Most importantly, though, Jessica says her ideal couple is in love! “A couple who’s truly in love with each other is such as pleasure to photograph!”
Her weddings are generally small to medium in size (ranging from 60 to 150 guests) at locations that stretch from London Ontario, and many Toronto locations up to Muskoka and beyond. Jessica says she’s worked with couples from many different cultural backgrounds, “and I’m always excited to learn about their different traditions for such an important day.”
Getting the shots without getting in the way
Jessica Lin Photography’s images are gorgeous, often saturated with both colour and emotion (see photos, righ!t).
To get these images, Jessica shoots each wedding in an unobtrusive, candid style. She gets the must-have shots (and goes through that shot list in detail with each couple before the wedding), but it’s the as-it-(really)-happens moments Jessica sees clearest through her lens. “This is so important to me, as I feel that the candids really capture the events, emotions, and story of the couple and their families and friends.” She captures the day as it unfolds, explaining. “Couples don’t want to spend three hours doing stiffly posed photos and missing out spending time relaxing and enjoying the day with their guests. I want my couples to have fantastic images that they will still love twenty years from now – I aim to capture memories as well as creating beautiful pieces of art.”
Erin Kuri and Jonathan Parham hired Jessica for their 2008 wedding after seeing her work. “I thought it was excellent, the colour and moments she captured were stunning,” says Erin who’s favourite memory from her wedding was posing in the rain with her wedding party and their colour coordinated umbrellas. She also remembers being grateful that Jessica and her assistant were able to round everyone up for shots in the rain. “The pictured turned out amazing!!!”
Lindsie Blencowe, who tied the knot September 25, 2010, told The Ring that Jessica’s candid approach was what she loved best about her. “You didn't know she was there! She managed to get the most fantastic pictures while somehow being invisible. She was also fantastic with our families during some of the more ‘posed’ pictures. She had a great way of keeping us on schedule without leaving people feeling ‘shuffled around’…”
Jessica and Norman know that couples spend more time with their photography team than they do with almost anyone else. That’s why they like to create a warm, personal relationship with each couple. “It’s so great when the bride and groom can feel like they’ve got a friend photographing their wedding instead of a stranger,” says Jessica.
June 2010 bride, Jhoanna Ramos, told The Ring that Jessica was a pleasure to work with. “She is both personable and professional. I felt that she cared about my needs as her client. She took the time before my wedding day to learn the names and relationship of my husband's and my relatives who were going to be in the photos. That says a lot!”
Controlled chaos and second shooters
Jessica admits there can often be a lot of chaos on a wedding day. Her secret to keeping things running smoothly is one part experience and one part Norman. “While I’m photographing, Norman as my assistant is keeping an eye on our shot list, managing the equipment, noticing things I might not notice in all the excitement (i.e. a necklace needs to be straightened), and being generally charming… He helps me maintain calm and order amongst the bridal party and the guests.”
For larger weddings, Jessica has a second shooter, Kim, who can help make sure that they capture all of the candid moments. “Kim and I have been working together for three years now.”
Jessica and Norman also find that being well prepared and organized ahead of time is key to having the time (and frame of mind) to get creative and have fun on the wedding day.
Custom coffee table style albums
According to Jessica, coffee table style albums are her most popular sellers. “They’re modern and classy all at once.” The albums also allow her to get creative with layouts and include all the great details shots as a backdrop to the narrative of the day. “Couples really feel like their photos have been made into something very special… A work of art,” says Jessica.
Packages & prices
“After much trial and error trying to figure out what brides ‘want’ in a wedding package, I gave up – they all want something different!” So at Jessica Lin Photography, what you find is what you want. Everything is custom, with couples spending anywhere from $2000 to $6000, though this can be lower or higher, depending on what you choose for your package. Jessica’s prices are in line with – if not even slightly less than – other photographers, according to Jane Swann who researched and hired her for her July 2010 wedding after doing her research. Jhoanna also found Jessica’s prices within her budget, telling The Ring, “I got a lot of value for my money; High quality photography for a reasonable price.”
Together, with Jessica and Norman, the bride and groom start out by choosing the amount of coverage they want and then work their way through the details.
Engagement sessions are included with all packages of eight hours or more. Brides love that Jessica includes a disk of hi res proof files and 4x6 printed proofs. “I like to cover the day as candidly as possible, but I always make time for the group shots that the bride and groom have told me they would like - although we keep even the “posed” shots very loose.”
Walking you through it: from scouting locations to shot lists
Like just about any bride or wedding expert today, email is the best way to reach Jessica and Norman to set a time to get together. The where and when is flexible.
Lindsie said they were VERY accommodating. “My husband and I commute an hour into the GTA for work and we work at opposite ends of the GTA from one another. So finding time to meet with wedding vendors was difficult. Jessica even offered to make us dinner when we met - which was hugely appreciated given our crazy pre-wedding schedules!”
When you meet with Jessica and Norman (they prefer both the bride and groom to come to this first consultation so that everyone can get to know each other), you’ll be able to look through her past work, talk details, lay out a rough schedule to plan the flow of the day and then decide how much coverage you’d like (in hours). If you bring a list of questions, which Jessica says she sees a lot, she makes sure to go through and answer every one of them. “What we also appreciated (unlike some other photographers we investigated) she didn't just refer us to her online portfolio, she took the time to show us examples of her photos, the types of ‘photoshopping’ and image tune-ups available to us and even examples of what the final print products would look like. And there was no pressure, a few people tried to pressure us into booking because ‘dates fill in fast’ and we never felt that way with Jessica Lin Photography.”
Jessica and Norman follow up after the consultation, emailing the roughed out schedule, a quote, some ideas on options and ways to customize the package further, and then any research she might’ve done for you. “For example, one groom had an idea for wearing these classic sneakers from an 80’s music video, but couldn’t remember exactly what they were and didn’t know where to look for them. I looked into it and found the ones he was talking about and sent a link with a picture, as well as a map to the Puma store downtown.”
Once you’ve customized a package, a deposit and signed contract book your wedding date with Jessica Lin Photography. Your engagement shoot is set up, in which you spend about two hours at a variety of locations. “Then we go through the shots on a laptop with the couple to narrow down the selection to about thirty or so of their favourites.”
Jessica says many couples like to frame a few shots for the guest signing table. “And recently I’ve also started offering an album of the engagement shoot that doubles as a guest book – its way more interesting than blank white pages!”
About four weeks before the wedding, you’ll hammer out a must-have-shots list and even scout locations. “If they are getting married locally, we walk around the church and/or reception venue to see what they are attracted to visually and to give us a game plan for the wedding day. This also gives us a chance to find out if there will be any particular technical challenges that we need to plan for. I then type up a detailed shot list and email it to the couple so they can pass along information to their families and bridal party about when they will be needed.”
Many couples ask Jessica and Norman to attend the rehearsal as well, giving them a chance to meet the families and wedding party in advance of the wedding.
Details, details, details
• A $500 deposit and a signed contract books your date with Jessica Lin Photography
• Prices are subject to HST
• Jessica recommends aiming to book at least eight to twelve months in advance, yet welcomes all inquiries
From commercial photography for décor magazines and fashion designers to shooting the wedding days of style-savvy couples who are looking for great candid photography, Jessica Lin comes with a sweet list of reasons to trust her with your wedding memories. This professional wedding photographer offers creative, emotion-filled photos, shot in an unobtrusive manner her brides rave about. Jessica says, “Weddings are essentially about love and beauty – two of my favourite things in the world!”
She also comes with a love story of her own that’s straight out of a Hollywood screenplay, and an assistant who’s irresistible Irish accent will have your bridesmaids lining up to do what they’re told (sorry ladies, he’s taken!)...
Jessica’s love story
Jessica’s relationship with photography is one that has spanned just over ten years, from a photography program at Fanshawe College to shooting photographic editorial for style magazines the likes of Style at Home and Canadian House and Home. She found herself appreciating all the style details which soon came in handy while she started shooting weddings and the many décor and style details that come with them.
As her career expanded and she took on more weddings, Jessica was lucky enough to find her own love story too. “In October 2008, after shooting ten weddings that season, I decided to take some time off to travel and photograph in the south of France, where I ended up meeting Norman.” He had been vacationing in Nice, far from his hometown in Northern Ireland. The two quickly became inseparable. They spent the rest of the year travelling and visiting Northern Ireland, photographing and falling in love. Before the year was out, Norman had sold his house in Belfast and moved to Toronto where he and Jessica had purchased a home together. Jessica says that Norman has helped her love her life more than she ever thought possible. As a result, Jessica truly gets what the bride and groom are feeling. She’s inspired by their love for each other and takes pride in documenting it.
Once his plane landed, Norman instantly became a part of Jessica Lin Photography. He meets each couple alongside Jessica, attends each wedding in the role of assistant “and general charmer” (likely making the bridesmaids swoon to the tune of his Irish accent), and ultimately helps manage the events, details and people involved in each wedding.
Jessica offers commercial editorial photography for jewellers, ceramic artists and fashion designers, and - as she always has - wedding photography. It seems that no matter where she’s pointing her camera, there’s some serious style involved.
“Weddings are essentially about love and beauty – two of my favourite things in the world! Every single one is different and exciting and challenging… It’s such a happy and emotionally-charged day, it doesn’t really feel like work most of the time – it feels like LIFE.”
The magic number
Spending a year on her own love story also meant taking a year off of weddings. So since being back on Ontario soil, Jessica has been busy filling in her wedding calendar. Her ideal number of weddings is somewhere between ten and fourteen weddings. She aims to strike that perfect balance between the two so that she never loses inspiration for the art of capturing weddings. She says, “This amount would allow me to really focus my attention on each couple personally, and would create a nice balance between my wedding work and the commercial work that I shoot for local designers.”
Brides who choose Jessica Lin Photography
Jessica describes her brides as creative, stylish, and not afraid to do a bit of DIY to personalize the little details throughout their wedding. “Many of my couples are creative people who are not afraid to use colour in their décor, and who like a bit of character and personality in their wedding photographs. I think all my couples want to have a fun day and to enjoy themselves… They don’t get too hung up stressing the little things.” Most importantly, though, Jessica says her ideal couple is in love! “A couple who’s truly in love with each other is such as pleasure to photograph!”
Her weddings are generally small to medium in size (ranging from 60 to 150 guests) at locations that stretch from London Ontario, and many Toronto locations up to Muskoka and beyond. Jessica says she’s worked with couples from many different cultural backgrounds, “and I’m always excited to learn about their different traditions for such an important day.”
Getting the shots without getting in the way
Jessica Lin Photography’s images are gorgeous, often saturated with both colour and emotion (see photos, righ!t).
To get these images, Jessica shoots each wedding in an unobtrusive, candid style. She gets the must-have shots (and goes through that shot list in detail with each couple before the wedding), but it’s the as-it-(really)-happens moments Jessica sees clearest through her lens. “This is so important to me, as I feel that the candids really capture the events, emotions, and story of the couple and their families and friends.” She captures the day as it unfolds, explaining. “Couples don’t want to spend three hours doing stiffly posed photos and missing out spending time relaxing and enjoying the day with their guests. I want my couples to have fantastic images that they will still love twenty years from now – I aim to capture memories as well as creating beautiful pieces of art.”
Erin Kuri and Jonathan Parham hired Jessica for their 2008 wedding after seeing her work. “I thought it was excellent, the colour and moments she captured were stunning,” says Erin who’s favourite memory from her wedding was posing in the rain with her wedding party and their colour coordinated umbrellas. She also remembers being grateful that Jessica and her assistant were able to round everyone up for shots in the rain. “The pictured turned out amazing!!!”
Lindsie Blencowe, who tied the knot September 25, 2010, told The Ring that Jessica’s candid approach was what she loved best about her. “You didn't know she was there! She managed to get the most fantastic pictures while somehow being invisible. She was also fantastic with our families during some of the more ‘posed’ pictures. She had a great way of keeping us on schedule without leaving people feeling ‘shuffled around’…”
Jessica and Norman know that couples spend more time with their photography team than they do with almost anyone else. That’s why they like to create a warm, personal relationship with each couple. “It’s so great when the bride and groom can feel like they’ve got a friend photographing their wedding instead of a stranger,” says Jessica.
June 2010 bride, Jhoanna Ramos, told The Ring that Jessica was a pleasure to work with. “She is both personable and professional. I felt that she cared about my needs as her client. She took the time before my wedding day to learn the names and relationship of my husband's and my relatives who were going to be in the photos. That says a lot!”
Controlled chaos and second shooters
Jessica admits there can often be a lot of chaos on a wedding day. Her secret to keeping things running smoothly is one part experience and one part Norman. “While I’m photographing, Norman as my assistant is keeping an eye on our shot list, managing the equipment, noticing things I might not notice in all the excitement (i.e. a necklace needs to be straightened), and being generally charming… He helps me maintain calm and order amongst the bridal party and the guests.”
For larger weddings, Jessica has a second shooter, Kim, who can help make sure that they capture all of the candid moments. “Kim and I have been working together for three years now.”
Jessica and Norman also find that being well prepared and organized ahead of time is key to having the time (and frame of mind) to get creative and have fun on the wedding day.
Custom coffee table style albums
According to Jessica, coffee table style albums are her most popular sellers. “They’re modern and classy all at once.” The albums also allow her to get creative with layouts and include all the great details shots as a backdrop to the narrative of the day. “Couples really feel like their photos have been made into something very special… A work of art,” says Jessica.
Packages & prices
“After much trial and error trying to figure out what brides ‘want’ in a wedding package, I gave up – they all want something different!” So at Jessica Lin Photography, what you find is what you want. Everything is custom, with couples spending anywhere from $2000 to $6000, though this can be lower or higher, depending on what you choose for your package. Jessica’s prices are in line with – if not even slightly less than – other photographers, according to Jane Swann who researched and hired her for her July 2010 wedding after doing her research. Jhoanna also found Jessica’s prices within her budget, telling The Ring, “I got a lot of value for my money; High quality photography for a reasonable price.”
Together, with Jessica and Norman, the bride and groom start out by choosing the amount of coverage they want and then work their way through the details.
Engagement sessions are included with all packages of eight hours or more. Brides love that Jessica includes a disk of hi res proof files and 4x6 printed proofs. “I like to cover the day as candidly as possible, but I always make time for the group shots that the bride and groom have told me they would like - although we keep even the “posed” shots very loose.”
Walking you through it: from scouting locations to shot lists
Like just about any bride or wedding expert today, email is the best way to reach Jessica and Norman to set a time to get together. The where and when is flexible.
Lindsie said they were VERY accommodating. “My husband and I commute an hour into the GTA for work and we work at opposite ends of the GTA from one another. So finding time to meet with wedding vendors was difficult. Jessica even offered to make us dinner when we met - which was hugely appreciated given our crazy pre-wedding schedules!”
When you meet with Jessica and Norman (they prefer both the bride and groom to come to this first consultation so that everyone can get to know each other), you’ll be able to look through her past work, talk details, lay out a rough schedule to plan the flow of the day and then decide how much coverage you’d like (in hours). If you bring a list of questions, which Jessica says she sees a lot, she makes sure to go through and answer every one of them. “What we also appreciated (unlike some other photographers we investigated) she didn't just refer us to her online portfolio, she took the time to show us examples of her photos, the types of ‘photoshopping’ and image tune-ups available to us and even examples of what the final print products would look like. And there was no pressure, a few people tried to pressure us into booking because ‘dates fill in fast’ and we never felt that way with Jessica Lin Photography.”
Jessica and Norman follow up after the consultation, emailing the roughed out schedule, a quote, some ideas on options and ways to customize the package further, and then any research she might’ve done for you. “For example, one groom had an idea for wearing these classic sneakers from an 80’s music video, but couldn’t remember exactly what they were and didn’t know where to look for them. I looked into it and found the ones he was talking about and sent a link with a picture, as well as a map to the Puma store downtown.”
Once you’ve customized a package, a deposit and signed contract book your wedding date with Jessica Lin Photography. Your engagement shoot is set up, in which you spend about two hours at a variety of locations. “Then we go through the shots on a laptop with the couple to narrow down the selection to about thirty or so of their favourites.”
Jessica says many couples like to frame a few shots for the guest signing table. “And recently I’ve also started offering an album of the engagement shoot that doubles as a guest book – its way more interesting than blank white pages!”
About four weeks before the wedding, you’ll hammer out a must-have-shots list and even scout locations. “If they are getting married locally, we walk around the church and/or reception venue to see what they are attracted to visually and to give us a game plan for the wedding day. This also gives us a chance to find out if there will be any particular technical challenges that we need to plan for. I then type up a detailed shot list and email it to the couple so they can pass along information to their families and bridal party about when they will be needed.”
Many couples ask Jessica and Norman to attend the rehearsal as well, giving them a chance to meet the families and wedding party in advance of the wedding.
Details, details, details
• A $500 deposit and a signed contract books your date with Jessica Lin Photography
• Prices are subject to HST
• Jessica recommends aiming to book at least eight to twelve months in advance, yet welcomes all inquiries
