Hello there! My name is Joel and I’m the lead photographer and owner of Vangaaard Wedding + Portrait Photography.
Above all else I’m a people person. I love drawing out my clients, defining and capturing their essence.
True inspiration, for me, comes from my couples personalities and chemistry and really good light. I like to take these situations and find just the right perspective to create emotionally engaging and captivating art. In my eyes, those are “real” photos – authentic and sincere – but still captured in a beautiful way.
These photos are the ones that will continue to have meaning to you year after year as the world changes – those feelings will be preserved the same.
I feel like my creativity peaks when I have a couple alone in an interesting setting with dynamic light. Either dramatic sunlight or city lights at night – settings with diversity and character really can be a great asset as well. That being said, the most beautiful part of my photos are the couples themselves and they way they feel when they’re holding each other.
If you understand where I’m coming from and you get my vision I definitely think we should work together.
Personal Life
I was born in Etobicoke in 1989, I was present for 6 months of the 80’s but I’m definitely a 90’s kid. I grew up in Etobicoke, Brampton and Bolton – as a young adult I lived in Mississauga.
Growing up I was always inspired by strong storytelling, either in movies, music, video games, anime or manga. I find dramatic over the top fantastical expressions in story telling useful when applied gently for adding a little drama in every day scenarios.
I think that’s what makes someone a photographer; being able to bring a vision to life in a coming scenario and make it look ‘magical’ in a way others can’t or tent to glaze over. It’s about seeing things other people don’t and making those visions come to life in the camera.
When my wife and I got married in 2015 we lived in Brampton, Manitoulin Island, Guelph and finally Cambridge, I was vegan for 1 year and I respect anyone who can keep it up.
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Currently I am a single father and care for to two beautiful girls Misha (2016) and Alexis (2019) Cambridge, Ontario.
My brain is always going, I love to learn and am interested in all the details life has to offer. I really enjoy teaching my daughters about every little distraction that comes across our paths. I’ve been a really hands on father since day one on the job – there’s no greater joy in my life than spending time with my girls and seeing their joy as they experience the good things in life.
I love learning about people, culture and customs – being exposed to new things is what life is all about. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Central America and Europe with a lot more on my list. My favorite vacation would be a national geographic photographer experience – like “a day in the life of Steve McCurry”.
Urban Light Studio (2010-2015)
I began to take on professional photography work In 2010 doing various photography gigs. I had a roommate that was like a brother to me, I used to help him set up and tune the sound equipment be a hype-man to get people out on the floor while he would DJ. Today he’s still an excellent DJ that I’d highly recommend.
I used to bring my camera and take party photos out on the dancefloor and share them with guests. In those days I was ‘Urban Light Studio’. That name came from using ambient city light as my ‘studio’ also ‘Urban’ reference to my last name.
In the present, I focus my attention on wedding photography specifically as I feel it includes all of my favorite niches of photography.
Film Days (2008-2010)
My real start in photography was in 2008, when I got a manual film SLR. It was a Pentax Spotmattic II with a 50mm f1.7. I slowly taught myself photography with that camera.
Those were the years leading up to the photography store “Blacks” closing down, they’d often have sales on bulk packages of film that included processing fees. I would take photos, develop them, scan them and post them to Instagram when it was a brand new platform. I still love to look back on those images.
Film photography still inspires me in a raw expressive way, but I choose to shoot digital professionally for more reliable results my couples can depend on. Once in a while I like to shoot film still to keep in touch with my roots.
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”3″ display=”pro_horizontal_filmstrip”]I hope you enjoyed learning about me, my journey creatively and as a person. Next we should talk about what you’re investing in and what I can do for you on your wedding day as your Photographer.