BY KIRK PERRY
Self-taught 2o-year-old travel wedding photographer and entrepreneur Jeremy Daly is following his passion the best way he can, no matter where it takes him.
Though he lives in Waterloo, Daly’s work takes him to many places in North America and occasionally to the Caribbean. When traveling, he normally documents his trips with videos as mementos of his work activities. At one point Daly needed to travel from Jamaica to Toronto to Newfoundland within 48 hours. “It’s a lot of fun knowing that you can craft those possibilities to capture memories from around the world,” said Daly.
Not only does his work take him from place to place, it gives him opportunities to experience things. For an engagement shoot in Banff, Alberta, Daly had to fly in a helicopter over mountains. In St. John’s, Newfoundland he took pictures on the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. “My clients and I love finding meaningful experiences in all forms from simple sunsets close to home to mountain helicopter tours,” is a tagline from Daly’s website.
Daly pursued no formal education for his craft but learned by working and personally networking instead. Daly would meet with full-time photographers, buy them coffee and ask them questions. “It’s a different adventure than university or high school but I love it,” said Daly.
Picking up a camera for the first time in Grade 9, Daly started out by taking photos of his friends doing various activities. Throughout the rest of high school, Daly showed a keen interest in classes that taught camera and editing techniques. In Grade 11 he put an ad on Kijiji saying he was a student and would shoot anything. This led to his first shoot; a proposal at Niagara Falls. “I did four proposals and then [those couples] started getting married so I started doing their weddings and ever since then it has been quite the adventure,” said Daly.
Not long after starting out on weddings, Daly branched out to do promotional videos for local cafes. “I went to all the coffee shops in one day and told their stories and educated people on what goes into a cup of coffee while promoting every little coffee shop,” said Daly.
For doing this he received nothing except a reputation. “It was a great way to make new friends and collaborate with local businesses, just a win-win,” said Daly. “The cool thing about working for an entrepreneur like Jeremy is their clients really respect them and appreciate them as a whole,” said Daly’s assistant Kiria Shantz.
Today Daly’s work speaks for itself with its beautiful environments, seasonal colours and smiling couples. “Everyone I shoot is unique in their own way and I want personalities to shine in my photographs,” is a tagline from Daly’s website.
Daly made it clear that his main purpose for doing what he does is simply because he is passionate about it. “The value of a photo will compound every single year. It’s not just taking photos for couples, it’s taking photos for everyone that’s there and it makes it a really meaningful job,” said Daly.
