Photographer couples: Kim & Gary — Gary Evans Photography

Kim & Gary - Gary Evans Photography

Partners in Crime. Photographer couples who work together

Not only they survived a long distance relationship, after accidentally meeting at a wedding show where they were not even supposed to be. But they also have two gorgeous sons now and successful photography business.

Please meet Kim and Gary of Gary Evans Photography.

The couple talks about how they manage to grow their business while raising their boys, how they overcome disagreements and share their tips for other couples looking to go into photography business.

— How did you two meet and start working as a couple?

Can you even believe that we met at a wedding show in January 2012?!! At the time I was living in the UK and Kim was in Canada. I came to visit a fellow photographer who was exhibiting at the wedding show. Over the course of the weekend Kim and I got chatting, we hit it off and so I asked her out for dinner.

We continued to see each other for the remainder of my stay and have a tearful goodbye at the airport. I flew back to see her in the March and she came to see me in the UK the following month. For the remainder of that summer, in between weddings I would fly to Canada to see her.

Things were becoming serious and so in June 2013, I sold everything I had, my house, my car, all my furniture and emigrated to Canada with 2 suitcases and my cameras. In February 2014 we were married in Mexico surrounded by family and friends from both the UK and Canada.

In January 2015 our son Rhys was born. We now live in Kitchener, Ontario, with our 2 boys (Cody 13 year old Step Son & Rhys 6 years old) and our boxer puppy Ava.

As we were both in the wedding industry our business acumen & ideas kind of merged naturally. We did a mentorship with Salvatore Cincotta that reworked our business from the ground up, making it more effective, efficient and most importantly, more profitable.

Sal Cincotta —
Canon Explorer of Light and Profoto Legend of Light

— What's the hardest part about working together?

Not taking things personally when we disagree & have differences of opinion.

Being able to shut off taking about work, just because were are together pretty much all the time, sometimes its hard to not talk about work 24/7

— How do you go about when you disagree?

We both say our piece, discuss voraciously the pros and cons for our case and in the end Kim wins – lol. We are both creative and have ideas on various shots what we want so we will discuss and try both and then decide during the editing process which one will present better.

— What's the tip you'd give to other couples planning on working together?

Know your lane and stay in it. Which means, divide up what you are going to do and have faith and trust in the other person that they will do those tasks. When you both start trying to do the same thing, confusion, frustration reign and ultimately errors occurs that can have an adverse effect on your business.

— Best thing about working as a couple?

Bringing creative ideas to the table and seeing them come to life.

Seeing each other and spending time together while working toward a common goal/targets that we set ourselves

— Watching couples you photograph, anything you wish you did for your wedding differently?

To be perfectly honest, we wouldn’t change a thing. We got married at the Hard Rock Hotel, Rivieria Maya, Mexico. We were looking for it to be easy for people from Canada and the UK to get there and you can fly direct from both countries so that really helped. We wanted it to be super relaxed and for people to enjoy a holiday as well as attending our wedding. The venue was gorgeous, the food and drinks were amazing and the weather was sublime. Every single person just did their own thing and had an amazing time. We are at traditional weddings all the time and it was important to us to do something different for everyone. Also, as summers are pretty out for us we chose to get married in February and that time of year in Canada and the UK are not the best times of the year to get married and so we chose somewhere warm for everyone attending to enjoy.

— How do you manage being both photographers (including shooting weddings together) and raising your boys?

They keep us grounded and help us not work 24/7. There is a tendency for entrepreneurs to work ALL the time but spending time with the boys doing family things is something we cherish. We also have amazing in-laws that help us out when we need someone to look after them when we are out working. It’s definitely challenging while as an entrepreneur you’re constantly bombarded with hustle culture while trying to appreciate that the flexible schedule of being an entrepreneur and more family time is one of the perks. It’s a constant push and pull. We’re hopeful that the opportunities and example that we set for the boys is going to lead them to live a life of following their passions.

— All time favourite photographer(s)?