Fashion photography in Vancouver isn’t what the city is known for, but pillar brands like RYU, Lululemon, Aritizia, and Arc’teryx call this city home.

New York, L.A., Toronto, and London are where commercial fashion shoots happen – albeit often in studios, but you’ll find the highest concentration of fashion photographers. However, in Vancouver, lifestyle photography capturing fashion has taken a foothold here: capturing photos appearing candid of subjects in their element and embodies the feel of this city’s flagship brands.

The West Coast lifestyle and the brands that come with it make Vancouver a hub for lifestyle photography. Ocean, mountains, forest, air, and dense city make it a playground for capturing a relaxed, day-to-day feeling in an image. Vancouver offers a unique style unlike other cities and is why the film and movie industry has dug its roots here.

That said, it isn’t a style that’s for everyone – or every brand. The renaissance of film photography amongst a crowded digital space has made the lifestyle photography feel of graininess, contrasting highlights, washed-out blacks, and warm undertones a sought-after trait.

This is a photo journal of movement captured in lifestyle photography for the apparel brand RYU. Capturing their Ethos, Tera, and Fuse collections in the studio and through the streets of Vancouver, this shoot pushed me creatively.

In the majority of my photography, I’ve stuck too close to my own status quo: static poses directed with detailed instructions and using my off-camera flash as a fill light (using a Westcott FJ400 and 36” octagon softbox). This lets me use a lower ISO, perfectly expose the background and adds a pop of light to a subject. More importantly (in my mind), it lets me be a control freak and manipulate every variable.

I love using an off-camera flash for just about all my shoots because of the consistency and control of variables. If used subtly, it can be difficult to tell it was even behind the scenes, creating a natural look and high-quality shot. As a solo shooter, I don’t often need to bring along an assistant because a softbox flash with a couple of base weights (to prevent the wind from turning it into a parachute) does so much more than your significant other with a reflector.

At least, that’s what I thought.

I got so comfortable with the settings and framing I knew worked well that it kept me in my comfort zone. The more expensive the gear (and the quantity of it) only solves the problem of controlling the variables.

Any camera can do a shoot justice with the right lighting. Any camera. But, my own shooting anxiety keeps me from leaving variables like nature (and ultimately natural light) to chance. I’d think to myself, “Why risk displeasing a client’s expectations?”.

I invested in more and better gear to be in control and deliver a consistent result. Screwing up enough times to know what not to do has made me the photographer I am today. I’m relieved to laugh at it now and grateful to have built the confidence.

Flash fill light became a part of my style, but lining up softbox flashes makes it difficult to track a moving subject and wasn’t a possibility for a shoot like RYU’s. Capturing their brand identity of “movement matters” and giving the feeling of “movement setting you free” meant I needed to keep up and lead subjects – not keep them in place.

Illustrating their creative art direction meant going back to my roots and shooting on the go: a style I love when capturing street photography while traveling, but not something I’d consider for a high-end fashion shoot for a brand like RYU.

These images take you through our three distinct shoots of “Texture”, “Run”, and “Rest & Recovery”: each highlighting RYU’s distinct collections and telling a day-in-the-life story.

If I could shoot one style of photography for the rest of my life, this might be it. This experience has given me the opportunity to reflect and grow when directing a set of 14 plus people and capturing the images. These two days of shooting left me with more RAW files than any one shoot I’ve ever done before.

If you’re a photographer reading it this far, I hope this helps push you to try creative directions in your fashion and lifestyle photography – whether introducing an off-camera softbox fill light (like the majority of the shots on my portfolio) or putting the fancy gear aside and shooting in natural light only.

The connection with a subject of shooting with only a camera and the two of you creates images a studio set might hold you back from. I look forward to continuing to share these journeys here while learning, growing, and maturing my style with every client or brand I have the opportunity to work with.