Thoughts Archives - Photographer in Kitchener Waterloo Guelph Toronto

Oh hey, it’s me, on the NDO Podcast!

GUESS WHAT!? The NDO Podcast featuring yours truly JUST dropped!

This was my first ever podcast appearance and it was so much fun!

In this episode, I chat with host Ryan Antooa about being an A-Type personality in the creative industry (read: I love systems!! ?), my path to this career (unconventional!), and advice now-me would give myself 5 years ago! Plus…there are a LOT of laughs (did I miss my career as a comedian??). If you’re an entrepreneur growing your business you should DEFINITELY give this a listen. Or if you just want to get to know me a little bit!

SO MUCH FUN!! ? Thanks Ryan!!

https://soundcloud.com/ndo-podcast/067-ema-suvajac-change-your-mindset

An escape out west – British Columbia Travel Photography

This past May and June, I took a long-awaited trip back out west to British Columbia. Last year, I spent two weeks visiting some lovely friends in New Westminster (by Vancouver) for two weeks, where I embarked on many hiking and rock climbing adventures! It was my first attempt at rock climbing, and I immediately fell in love. I decided that the following year, I would have to take another trip back!

This year, I went for 18 days. Unfortunately, we had A LOT of rain, so we couldn’t spend as much time outdoor rock climbing as we had on our previous trip. All that rainy weather made for some beautiful landscape photos at sunset, however! I’ve posted a handful of my favourite images below. While this wasn’t a photography-focused adventure trip, I did manage to get some beautiful shots 🙂 I also had a quick couples’ session with our friends Joel and Nikkita on the stunning shores of Point No Point, on Vancouver Island near Sooke, BC.

As a child, I was quite reserved and averse to stepping outside of my comfort zone. Had you told me then that I would launch myself multiple times off of a 30 foot cliff into ocean water, I would have called you crazy. But you would have been right! Had you told me I would take up rock climbing – and more so lead climbing – I would have not believed you! But again, you would have been right. I’ve been having a great time checking items off of my bucket list!

If you’d like to see some of my cliff jumping and rock climbing photos and video, you can check out my personal Instagram (@ema_suvajac).

Enjoy!

Point No Point, Sooke BC

Point No Point Photography

BC Travel Photography

Lions Bay BC

Lighthouse Park

Lion’s Bay

Lions Bay BC

Lions Bay Railroad

Lynn Canyon

Lynn Canyon Forest

Beacon Hill Park, Victoria BC

Beacon Hill Park Peacocks

Kitchener Photographer | Humble Beginnings

Wow. Absolutely unreal! 2017 is off to an amazing start. We are only three weeks into this year, and I have nearly DOUBLE the bookings for 2017 that I had at this time last year for 2016! 2017 is going to be BIG BIG BIG!

As I wade through my bookkeeping spreadsheets, I can’t help but find myself thinking back to 2010, when I first registered my photography business – a semester into my M.Sc.. I was skeptical that photography could ever be a feasible career choice. At the time, registering my business was only for tax purposes. By December of 2011, I was anxiously finishing up my Masters – I had tons of clients and couldn’t wait to run my business full time! This past December marked five years since I became a full time photographer.

With each and every booking, and each and every new and returning client, I find myself honoured and humbled that this community has embraced me so wholeheartedly. I have made countless friends, and my network has become incredibly expansive. I have photographed couples, engagements, marriages, maternity photos, newborn photos, and growing families – and have been the go-to photographer for so many families over the past 8 years that I have witnessed their children grow from newborns to pre-teens! And I’m not even 30 years old! I suppose that’s what happens when you start a business in your early 20’s.

I am thankful for being invited into so many lives.
I am thankful for the endless opportunities to learn and grow.
I am thankful that my passion has indeed become my career.
I am thankful.

Lots of love,

Ema

Feature Image: Cat A (Gemini Models) as seen in Hacid Magazine (2012)

Kitchener Photographer - Humble Beginnings

2017…here we go!

If you’re anything like me, right now you’re thinking, “How is it already 2017!?”. And further, how are we already midway through January!?
This is one thing I never expected with being an entrepreneur (or perhaps just growing up in general) – time seems to absolutely fly by when you’re always focused on completing the next goal, overcoming the next obstacle – and in my case, tackling the next photo shoot!

I truly feel like each year is going by just a wee bit faster. As 2016 turned to 2017, it occurred to me that 2017 is my 7th going-on-eighth year in business as a photographer (having started my business in January 2010 while I was a lowly graduate student!)!

2016 was an incredible year! My love Matt Daciw and I travelled, conquered, climbed rock faces in BC, spent time with dear friends, set new personal records at the gym, and built our businesses to new heights! Both Matt (who is a personal trainer and gym owner) and I had record-breaking years and intend on pushing our success to new heights in 2017.

Together, we are unstoppable!

Goals for 2017

In 2017 I plan to continue working as hard as possible to grow my photography business, and to assist Matt in growing his businesses as well.

One component of this when it comes to my business is actually staying on top of blog posts and sharing new content on my websites and social media platforms. As most photographers will tell you, we are typically a one wo/man show! Everything from my accounting, website and media management, client communications, and of course actually taking and delivering edited photos are done by yours truly!

I would like to learn more about online advertising and marketing tools in order for my work to be seen by even more people. I have been dabbling with Facebook and Instagram’s advertising tools and have seen quite a bit of success. I am quite lucky though in that I have already cultivated a huge network of repeat clients in Kitchener/Waterloo/Guelph/Toronto over the last 9 years.

Being as busy as I have been over the last few years in particular, I haven’t been able to focus as much time and effort into producing creative photoshoots. I hope to put together a few stunning portfolio shoots this year!

I also plan on travelling as much as possible! Having just returned from two weeks in Florida, we are itching for another vacation and are planning on heading back to BC for 2.5 weeks this summer to tackle some unfinished (climbing) business.

Finally, I would like to spend more time with friends whom I don’t get to see very often (in particular my friends who work 9-5 since we have opposite schedules!).

In Conclusion…

Cheers to an amazing 2017! May you work hard, have fun, stay healthy, be merry, and prosper!

Much Love!
Ema

Feature Image: Eliza V (Gemini Models), photographed at the last Gemini Models student photoshoot.

Welcome to the new Ema Suvajac Photography website!

Hello friends!

Welcome to the new Ema Suvajac Photography website! Putting together a new website has been on my to-do list for quite a while! I had been waiting to have a chunk of time to dedicate to flipping the site over to a new format, and thanks to my incredibly CRAZY work schedule this past summer and fall, that chunk of time did not become available until a few weeks ago.

Since this is a new website format, please do let me know if you encounter any bugs/glitches/bad links. Send me a message if you do! 🙂

I intend on updating the website regularly with new work, and some throwbacks as well. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be involved in a large variety of work, and I hope to be able to showcase more of it here than I was ever able to with the previous incarnation of this site! I hope you all enjoy the new site!

Thanks for stopping by!
xo
Ema

Feature Image: Model Laurence Diotte (Spot 6), for Chloe Magazine (Toronto)