Hey, I’m Sara Atteby. [Visual] Storytelling is my thing.
I love shooting weddings because it is a window into someone else’s world and stories instinctively unfold. Emotions are earnest and extreme because people are together who aren’t usually together at the same time. I feel blessed to be able to do this – your Ottawa Wedding Photographer, Sara.
1997-2002.
I studied photography for four years under the Australian artist & curator, Dr. Jay Younger and artist Marian Drew.
After graduating I left the country for Europe and worked at the FFF (Fotografie Forum Frankfurt) in Germany where I assisted visiting photographers, Abe Frajndlich and Bruce Gilden and installed exhibitions.
You can still find me practicing what I learned back then at art school, doing abstract ink drawings, and spending time visiting art galleries. You can also find me embarrassing my teenage children, walking our giant Great Pyrenees, and making our house look like a Bauhaus exhibition.
1981.
This is me at the age of two. My Father always had a camera around and as a result, my childhood was well documented. For as long as I can remember, he had a Nikon FE with a 50mm lens.
I asked for a camera for my 10th birthday. I couldn’t sleep the night before – I was beyond excited. Upon waking up that day, my family brought in gifts and I received a point-and-shoot 35mm film camera with a big orange shutter button. Each image I composed was carefully selected, as I usually only had a roll of film with 24 shots. I documented my toys, the neighbourhood cats, and even took ‘advertising’ pictures of my ice cream.
I was in love.
2015 – One of My Favourite Photographs.
Peckham, London, UK. Taken with a Pentax 645 digital medium format camera. I love the movement and joy in this image. The light happened to fall on the bride and her father. I purposely used a slow shutter speed that was enough to catch the bride’s face as she embraced her father but left a blur for family and friends who were moving around them to capture the energy of the moment.
It’s hard to pick a favourite because each has a special story and I’ll rotate this image now and again. Ottawa Wedding Photographer.
Film to Digital Photography.
My kindergarten portrait. This is the negative and contact photo stapled together since circa 1984. Film and prints and spending hours in the darkroom are where I feel at home.
Switching to digital was a challenge as I miss the hands-on process. Having full control of my final print was also important, so I’ve transitioned to printing with an Epson P900 and it is actually amazing to see the quality that is possible (and I don’t smell like chemicals all day long). This technical evolution has also thrown the door wide open to nearly infinite creative possibilities.
It’s exciting to see barriers lifted and access given to enable people to document the world around them from their perspective. For me, it means that I can provide more value to my clients with each new advance in technology.
1996. My First Wedding Photograph.
While in my last year of high school in Brisbane, Australia in 1996, my friend’s older sister got married. I captured this image with my Minolta Dynax 500si with a roll of Ilford XP2 (black & white film). My first-ever wedding photograph.
I’m particularly proud of this image as it is a reference point for the beginning of my style. It is a true documentary photograph. I didn’t set anything up and it tells you a story of that moment in time.
I processed the film and printed the photo myself in my home darkroom that occupied our downstairs bathroom under the house. You can see that I chose a sepia toning (quite popular at the time) and I needed to learn how to better clean my negatives and spot my prints.
Ottawa Wedding Photographer.
After over a decade of documenting weddings in London in the United Kingdom, I moved with my family to Canada and have recently settled in Ottawa. And my story continues…
Want to know if I’m available for your wedding?
Book a no obligation consultation with me today
Contact Sara