Paper Fox Creative is a Southern California based wedding photography studio specializing in high-end documentary style photography and films. My name is Kien and I shoot weddings based in both the Southern California and Bay Area region. But that hasn't stopped me from flying to destination weddings in Illinois, Utah, Vermont, New York and Hawaii, and overseas in places like Mexico, Spain, Denmark, and even New Zealand. I’ve been a photographer for over 20 years and with over a decade of experience shooting weddings. Originality is recognized and appreciated now more than ever. So when it comes to your wedding, I go into the day looking to capture memories that are unique and personal to you. I’ve built my team around talented people who can do the same.
There Is No Formula For Originality
For each wedding, I want to tell the narrative and stories of the event with a series of photographs or a cinematic film that can take your breath away and bring back all the emotions of the day. There is no formula to do this. You either see things unfold and can capture them or you don’t. You have to understand photography and know your gear in and out, but more than that, I think it’s something that requires an innate sense of awareness and anticipation, a deep understanding of how light works, the ability to use and frame an environment, and finally an appreciation for taste and aesthetics.
I still get a rush when I press the shutter and know I’ve captured something special. It’s part of my artistic workflow to “forget” the other weddings I’ve shot. I’m not trying to recreate a previous photograph I’ve taken for someone else. Instead, I shoot with what’s in front of me, drawing instinctively on years of experience shooting everything from adventure, commercial, travel and fashion photography. At the end of the day, it’s all about the story. Let us capture yours.
Storytelling. This term is thrown around often without much explanation. I got my start in photography as a photojournalist shooting for a newspaper. Stories were accompanied by one or two photographs meant to visually give context. A good photograph was a powerful one that could ‘paint a thousand words.’ Photo essays, on the other hand, don’t rely on just one strong photograph. A series of them together thread a narrative and tell a story where each photograph gives context to the one before and the one after it. Not every photograph in the series needs to be a prize winner. Each photograph can stand alone, but together they give a fuller and richer visualization to the entire story.
A photojournalist is taught to look for subjects. Great ones look beyond just the main characters. They look at the scene, find context, and uncover details. It’s the photographer’s job to make observations, however big or small, on behalf of an audience who can't be there in person.
Looking The Other Way
Early on, I learned that a photojournalist doesn’t just look towards the action, but observes the event from different angles. During a ceremony, the obvious shots are focused on the bride and groom, the ring exchange, and the kiss. But if you don't look the other way, you might miss the shot shot of someone wiping away a tear, or the ring bearer, lost in thought, fidgeting with the important little box. If the vows were funny, I want to get a shot of someone laughing out loud, framed from the point of view for the couple.
There are so many little stories that happen all throughout the day. And in so many different places. I consider it a true mission accomplished when it appears as though I’m everywhere, all at once, all the time. When you look through the final selection of photographs from the day, I want you to smile at all the things you remember, and be surprised by all the things you didn’t.
Timeless. If there is one word to define the style that I aspire towards, it would be timeless. There are photographs I’ve looked at hundreds of times and still never tire of doing so. Many were taken decades ago, but they look like they could have been taken yesterday. It’s beautiful and rare when nothing in the image gives away its age.
What Makes Something Memorable?
There are many reasons why certain photographs appeal to me, but at the top of the list is when a fleeting moment is captured – when a greater story can be told from all the details that are there, just frozen in time. This is the challenge of shooting something as fast paced and fleeting as a wedding. Capturing these moments may seem as simple as just being in the right place at the right time, but you can't leave that to luck. Experience tells me where I should be to anticipate things happening. Planning, awareness, and years of practice allows me to shoot nearly as fast as I see things, in the pursuit of capturing these special moments that make a memory.
Cinematic. If one frame can capture so much, how much more can 24 frames a second show? Photographs and film serve different purposes. Films, when done right, can transport you back in time and bring back emotions in a different way than a photograph.
One Second At A Time
I started with photography, but have grown to love the medium of films equally. For me, I’ve never seen videos as a replacement for having a bad memory. I don’t need to record hours of footage of my life or travels to sit and rewatch later. Just a series of clips, a few seconds long each, put together in a short 2-3 minute film can do so much for helping me relive a day, weeks, or even months at a time.
For weddings, I’ve adapted the style I use to create my short travel films. Bits of everything relevant and important are shot and then carefully curated and trimmed to flow and sync with the beat of a song that’s chosen to fit the footage. The result is something that you can’t watch over and over to remember your day for years to come.
Connection. Friends who've hired me as their photographer say they feel more comfortable because we know each other. I don't disagree with this, but I tell them that it's really not that different between them and a client I don't know.
Between our first interactions to the start of the wedding day, we will get to know each other. There is no formality I hide behind, and I also want you to get to know me as your photographer. And it helps me greatly when I get to know you better as well, so I never show up to your wedding as a stranger.
Words. When the photographs or film have been delivered, I know that what I've given my clients will be a large part of the memories they have of their wedding for all the years to come. When I get such kind words that echo the testimonies of previous clients, I feel a sense of contentment for delivering on the trust my clients have placed in me. I value these words deeply.
Light. For a photographer, light is both a tool and a palette, used to find the balance and contrast in a scene and between a subject and everything around it. Decades as a photographer have trained me to see light the way they would show up in a photograph. For me, it's always the starting point for every picture. In documentary storytelling, one is often at the mercy of natural light. Light is a partner and I welcome this.
