Conversations with Joel & Justyna Bedford

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joel & Justyna Bedford.

Hi Joel & Justyna, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Joel and I started out in fashion photography in Canada. Joel was photographing editorials, and I worked as a stylist. We started photographing weddings in 2011, and as my family was based in LA, we started photographing weddings in Southern California in 2014/2015.

We bring a lot of our fashion-industry background into portrait sessions. While balancing a documentary approach, we’re mindful not to turn the day into a big production. Los Angeles and its lovely residents hold a special place in our hearts and continues to help shape our careers and story alike. We currently split our time between the west coast and east coast, but Los Angeles is truly a home away from home.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No road is ever perfectly smooth or a straight line. There are many ups and downs that come with self-employment and entrepreneurship. There are thousands of books written, courses offered, mentorships available online in how to be your own boss, but everyone’s story and circumstances are unique. For us, the challenge is balancing travel and keeping two home bases. We live full time in the east, but have found a way to be back in the city of angels many times per year.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We’ve being destination wedding photographers, specializing in multi-day luxury events, since 2011. We have a holistic / organic approach to each celebration which offers our couples the opportunity to truly enjoy their day without worrying that photography will turn the day into a “movie” production, so to speak. We photograph our weddings on film and digital mediums, have been featured in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and many other online publications too. We’re really proud that we’re able to continue working in a very competitive and over-saturated creative market, while also being delightfully married to one another since 2014.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
We’ve been really fortunate to be not only surrounded by such a great global wedding vendor community, but to be in a position where that community has helped champion us. We feel truly humble to be respected and recognized by our industry peers. We’ve had so many encouraging people in our lives, and we wouldn’t be where we are without the mentorship of Corbin Gurkin, John Dolan, Eric Kelly (true artists in the wedding world), and our agent Katie Hendricks (Forma Management), to name a few.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joelandjustyna.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelandjustyna/