50 Essential Portrait Photographers: Leslie Biggar of Sakura Photography

Leslie Biggar is the principal photographer of Sakura Photography, a Vancouver-based wedding photography company. Though she mainly photographs weddings, increasing demand for baby, maternity, and toddler sessions has caused her to swing her attention into the portrait world of photography as well.

Why did you get into photography?

My husband and I lived in Taiwan for three years teaching English, and during that time we spent every spare moment out on the town taking street photography because everyday life in Taiwan was just so interesting. We ran a photoblog of our experience in Taiwan that became quite popular at that time, and I would say that our readers and new found photographer friends in Taiwan were our driving force behind really taking photography seriously.

Tell us a bit about your company.

Sakura Photography is mainly a small home based business that specializes in wedding day and engagement photography. I am the principal photographer, and my husband Mark is there to shoot with me on the wedding day. Outside of the wedding high season, I also photograph maternity, newborn baby, toddler, and sometimes family sessions.

How would you characterize your style of photography?

Fun, quirky, carefree! We like our photos to be as simple and clean as possible, so that expression and emotion are the first things to be seen when viewing our images.

Who are your clients?

Our clients are often a little… different. We love anything out of the ordinary, and have been lucky to work with so many unique personalities, which makes every shoot exciting and fresh.

What should your mom clients expect when working with you?

Expect to have a blast, and be as carefree as possible!Lots of moving around, doing different things during a session.Ê Don’t expect your children to be perfect- chaos is the name of the game .

Anything else to add?

As we are always evolving as a small business, expect to see more newborn and toddler sessions throughout year as we determine a good method to photograph sessions during the busy wedding season.