Photo by Randi Kreckman
Canadian couple Corey and Amanda of CojoPhoto open up about how they started business, how one of them taught the other photography, why they almost cried at the first weddings they shot together. They also share how they manage photography business along with parenting, and look back at what they wish they did or had at their own wedding, after having witnessed so many weddings.
— How did you two meet?
- Amanda:Corey's best friend went to school with my brother, eventually our paths crossed and we met that way.
— How did you start working as a couple?
- Amanda:Corey was shooting weddings on the weekends and was away from home often so he started teaching me to shoot, and so I would then start coming on engagement shoots and then weddings. Now I mostly do newborns, cake smashes, floral baths, etc.
Photo by Randi Kreckman
— Was the main reason behind it to spend more time together?
- Yes!! Corey was gone many evenings (after working his regular 9-5 day job) and then so many weekends that I was feeling lonely, and eager to share in this new passion he was having for wedding photography.
— Can you share how did Corey teach Amanda to shoot? When Corey was starting to shoot couples, I would often come along with an ipad open to pinterest, and help pose the couples. I started really static and informal, and eventually, we figured out our own flow. We used to have a wild grass field in our backyard. Corey had tried to explain the technical use of the camera, and I was not grasping what so ever, so eventually, he just took me outside and showed me how things worked. I remember him putting my engagement ring on a piece of wild grass and explaining how to focus properly! That's how little I knew about cameras back then. He started me pretty easy by taking me to shoot our siblings and their significant others. I was so blown away and impressed with my self after those sessions, and was immediately hooked. Our first few Weddings together were emotional rollercoasters for me (I mean its someone's HUGE day!) But we had SO much fun together. We work really well together, bouncing ideas off each other, transitioning poses became natural and second nature to us. We flowed really well, we worked together really well, and it was so much fun being at weddings every weekend. It was like a social outing every weekend. New friends, good food, lots of music. It was legitimately a dream job. Once I got pregnant with our oldest (Nixon) I had to back off a bit from the wedding side of things. I dove into newborn photography and absolutely love it. It has become my full time job. I do miss shooting weddings, and I will take on a couple a year. |
Photo by Black & Gold Photography
— What's the hardest part about working together?
- Amanda & Corey:Nothing really difficult about working together, we get along great and know and trust what the other is capturing.
— How do you go about when you disagree?
- Corey:Amanda always wins! haha, just kidding. We generally talk things out and move along, not much for disagreements with us.
— What's the tip you'd give to other couples considering working together?
- Corey:Trust each other and help build each other up, whether thats in confidence, or learning new skills. Enjoy it!
— Best thing about working as a couple?
- Amanda & Corey:We get to see each other and have all kinds of fun. Travelling to different places around the world to capture weddings and then being able to get out and explore those places with each other.
— How do you split work and juggle it with parenting? Amanda & Corey: For the processes afterwards: Corey would upload all of the images, I would cull them down, Corey would edit. I would go through one final time to double check everything, and then pick the blog posts then. Corey handles all of the emails, and communications. I do the paperwork and other not fun business related tasks. Now that I shoot newborns, it's taken a separate entity. I do all of that for the newborns, and still help with all of the weddings like before. We try to have the images uploaded and backed up as soon as we get home from any photo session. We now tag team parenting, and working. With our kiddos in school (our youngest Alivia is in half day preschools) we work as much as we can while they are in school. Parent when they are home. Then once they are in bed, you can pretty much guarantee we are back in the office working again for a couple hours. We have always prided ourselves with a quick turnaround time. Weddings take no more than 4 weeks, and a newborn session will be around a week. |
Photo by Sugar + Soul Photography
— After you’ve seen so many weddings, anything you wish you did for your own wedding?
- Amanda & Corey:I wish I would have spent more time with Corey, and less time entertaining the guests. I wish I would have taken the time to have my hair re done (it was not at all what I wanted, but I saw the bigger picture to the day, and wanted to Marry my best friend, and not be held up redoing hair) I wish I would have had a smaller wedding party. We had 8 on each side. Thats way too many people. haha I loved our wedding tho, it was fun, and everything I wanted at the time. Its so neat to see trends change and come and go. When we got married, it was all about the satin ball gowns, the up lighting, and DIY decor.
Photo by Black & Gold Photography
Fav TV show?
We LOVE The Office. Brooklyn 99, and we just finished New Girl. Corey is into Game of Thrones (yawwwwwwn) and I love dateline or any true crime tv show.
Fav podcast?
My Favourite Murder, and Office ladies, Coreys is the Perspective podcast.
Fav photographer/s?
I find myself really drawn to the work of Stevie Cruz Photography, and Claudia Aguilar of Captured by Claudia. Corey's is Fer Juaristi.
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