MOMENTS LIKE THIS
ARE WORTH
RELIVING.
MOMENTS LIKE THESE ARE WORTH RELIVING.
2022 WEST COAST WEDDING AWARDS WINNER FOR BEST PHOTOJOURNALISM
2022 WEST COAST WEDDING AWARDS FINALIST FOR BEST DETAIL
2019 BC WEDDING AWARDS WINNER FOR BEST OVERALL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
2014 – 2016 CPC TOP 30 UNDER 30
2015 FEARLESS AWARDS COLLECTION 25
2013 BC WEDDING AWARDS FINALIST FOR BEST PHOTOJOURNALISM PHOTOGRAPH
HELLO!!
Thank you for taking the time to be here.
I’m a big believer in synchronicities and meaningful coincidences.
Life always has its way of bringing people together at the right time and right place, so I am grateful that our paths have crossed!
I would like to acknowledge, I have the privilege and opportunity to document weddings and celebrations that primarily take place on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations, also known as Vancouver. This is the land where my photography operates, benefits and flourishes.
This is home.
I reside downtown Vancouver, but you can find me most days in the vibrant Davie Village of the West End, and I am a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Love is love,
and I respect and celebrate all forms of it.
Weddings of different cultures and traditions truly so beautiful in their own ways.
I appreciate each couple’s unique qualities, and courage to be unapologetically themselves.
Your wedding day will go by in a blink of an eye, so one of the biggest pieces of advice I can share is that you should aim to be completely present with each other and your loved ones to make the most of your special day.
2023 is my 11th wedding season, more than a decade of pure love, growth and pride.
So let go, and put full trust in me to capture your celebration.
Not only is the day about you, I really believe it is about the people around you and the emotions the day carries. It is important to me to capture these emotions genuinely by both being a fly on the wall and immersing myself as a guest. It’s the ugly cries and the deep belly laughs that mean the most to me.
MOMENTS LIKE THESE
ARE WORTH RELIVING.
With gratitude,
John
(He / Him)
It's super important that you take the time to get to know me and my approach. Please go through each of these links before you get in touch!
WITH GRATITUDE.
When it comes to the words that come from my couples and industry friends, I always make room for them! And oh wow, am I ever grateful for it!
Here are a handful of real meaningful words, left by real meaningful people.
"Wow, we looked through the photos over the weekend and all we can say is "thank you" and "wow" over and over again.
Your ability to be seemingly omnipresent and capture the moments that really made our wedding so special was clearly seen in all the photos.
We can't count how many times we said to ourselves, "I'm so glad John was the guy to do this" and "we need to see John again!" during our photo-viewing session! There is really something very unique and special in the way you can capture the moments that will resonate in the hearts of others, and we're just happy that there is someone like you out there acting as that source of joy for so many fortunate people. Thank you again, John, for simply being you. You provided us with the gifts and talents that make your work so special on our wedding day, and for that, we're truly grateful."
Receiving all the photos from our October wedding in early December was the best early Christmas present that we could hope for. Just as we thought we were coming off the wedding high, we got to reminisce about the perfect day through these photos.
Besides the highlights that we remembered, we were especially moved by the many precious moments that John captured throughout the day, which we initially overlooked being the center of all attention - the emotions of our parents on that morning as they looked towards us, friends’ reactions during the celebratory moments, the bursts of joy, etc. Nevertheless, the dance shots were absolutely 🔥!
We knew John Bello was the right photographer for us from the moment we met him on a Zoom call while planning our wedding during the pandemic.
We found John to be genuine, easy-going and professional. When we met him in person for the first time to do our engagement photos, John made us feel very comfortable to be ourselves in front of the camera.
We did not have the budget to fit a videographer into our wedding, and one of the reasons why we went with John Bello was his skill to capture all the emotions and candid moments despite the still form of photography. We are so happy with our decision. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, and we can attest that it is true with John Bello’s photos.
John Bello is an amazing artistic photographer with an eye for capturing the most special moments of the day!
We started early with the Getting Ready session in the room, followed by the Tea Ceremony, and the Wedding Ceremony at Hycroft, and finally the Dinner Reception at Rosewood Hotel Georgia.
It was a lot to pack in one day, and John executed not only flawlessly and efficiently, but with charm, artistry and sensitivity.
We were so lucky to have worked with you during our wedding day, which was 15 years in the making!
It was an incredible honour to have John Bello as our wedding photographer. We automatically fell in love with his energy and felt like we knew him for forever. His empathy, vulnerability and inclusivity is incomparable to any other and it's very clearly reflected through his art!
We are so grateful for his patience during the whirlwind of wedding planning and all the changes that came with it. Working with John was honestly, one of the best decisions we made for our wedding.
The photos came out above and beyond our expectations! John was able to capture every intimate moment for its true emotional experience, and how we want to remember it.
Thank you so much John for your kindness, your professionalism and for capturing the beauty of the beginning of our adventure!
-Berlin & Endor
We had the pleasure of working with John Bello for our wedding and we were thrilled with the results. John has a talent for putting everyone at ease, working swiftly, and getting great results.
He invested time up front to understand us, our community and our story. All through the process, John put us at ease and engaged in an authentic way.
Plus his photos are incredible!
John was THE BEST photographer we could have asked for!!
He was kind, attentive, creative and invisible... a very difficult combo...
Do not hesitate to use him, he will not disappoint. He made our wedding unforgettable and beautiful.
GARY + KYLE
John was a total dream to work with.
He set us at ease and did an incredible job capturing what was special about our wedding day.
The photos are so beautiful. We especially treasure the photos he took of our guests enjoying the ceremony and party. You can NOT go wrong with John, he’s the best!
LAUREL & IAN
I have so many glowing gracious things to say about John. As soon as I saw that John specialized in 2SLGBTQ+ weddings I knew we had found the right fit.
Meeting John put me completely at ease - he is calm, kind, thoughtful and generous. His online survey to get to know us better also helped us begin to get excited about our wedding day!!
He captured absolutely magical images which is exactly what we had requested - that our wedding reflect QUEER MAGIC!
He knows how to capture the perfect lighting and the best moments! We have had so many glowing compliments from friends and family about our photos since we've shared them. Would I hire John again? Yes! I would even travel back to hire John all over again for special moments (pregnancy, family portraits, fur baby moments!) in the future.
JAMIE + LAURA
We found John on Instagram and really liked his style of photography: warm, candid, natural. He was the only photographer we consulted; we hired him right away as he immediately felt like a good fit. He kindly made himself available as a resource and happily answered any questions we had. The photography package included an engagement shoot, and John took the time to tailor the location to our personalities and interests, which meant a stop at an ice cream shop in Gastown. It was so much fun, and the photos were perfect!
During the wedding rehearsal, he suggested my husband and I walk in together.
The combination of John's experience, attention to detail, and his high emotional intelligence resulted in the perfect entrance. It felt symbolic of our journey and who we are as a couple: companions, partners, teammates.
We received our previews the day after the wedding and were overwhelmed by a rush of feelings all over again.
Thank you, John, for making us feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable in front of the camera.
You are a kind soul with an amazing gift, and we are so fortunate we got to work with you.
When John Bello was recommended to me by my wedding planner, I was super excited, because I had already been following him on Instagram. I quickly submitted an inquiry on his website and was ecstatic to hear that he was available on my wedding weekend. Upon our initial meeting, I knew I wanted John to be our photographer right away and cancelled all meetings with other photographers. As Covid-19 hit and plans had to be changed, John was on top of re-scheduling, as needed.
During our engagement photoshoot, we had so much fun, despite the fact that my husband and I are camera shy. John gave us tons of direction and we couldn't stop laughing the entire time. We also learned that he's a Pokemon fan, which is a huge bonus!
Our wedding day was also a blast with John. He was super easy going and professional, even when I played a prank on my husband.
I've been looking at the photos non stop since receiving them and I actually cried, because they're so breathtaking and allowed me to relive the whole day.
The whole day was such a blur, but the way John captures photos made me feel as though I was actually there again, especially the candid shots. John is so ridiculously talented, yet just as humble. We've already sent some photos to our family and friends and they're just as impressed with his art as we are.
We can't wait to see him again in 2021 for a (hopefully) large reception party! John, can you photograph all of my life's moments please?
Catherine + Ellice
John Bello Photographer stands out amongst all the talented wedding photo teams out there.
When it came time to selecting 2 photographers for our Elope with Us company, John Bello was the photographer that came to mind and we’re so happy he agreed to be part of our team. It has been a true pleasure working along side him.
Kind, passionate, detailed, respectful are just a few of the positive words we use to describe John Bello. Thank you for always going ABOVE & BEYOND for our couples!
LISA LEE OF SHING WEDDINGS + MICHELLE CHAN OF ETERNITY MOMENTS WEDDINGS
We have worked with John Bello for years and can not say enough good things about him and his work. As a professional, John is detailed, passionate, caring and meticulous with his work.
As a person, he is kind and thoughtful and the most wonderful person to work beside.
I can not say enough good things about John and feel lucky to be able to work with him.
John Bello photographed our wedding this past summer on Gambier Island. It was an absolute pleasure working with him. Prior to our wedding day, we did a session with him which really helped us get comfortable in front of the camera. John is a true professional.
You can see that he really cares about his craft and really know his stuff. His easy going, calm and accommodating nature was exactly the type of energy and support we appreciated on our wedding day. He captured all the heartfelt moments without us even noticing him doing it.
The photographs are all incredible, we’ve had a really hard time choosing our favourite. We would highly recommend John to anyone!
5 stars without a question. Not just for amazing photos, but for also being an amazing human being. We don't live in Vancouver so we had the task of finding a photographer that could sense who we were without meeting us in person. Through constant communication and many questions, John made that "human connection". He helped us find that perfect spot on the ocean.. it was quiet and intimate and we never would have found it on our own. It poured rain the night before yet out of nowhere we received his confident text telling us that the weather was going to hold out the next day...and he was right! That simple text reminded us that we mattered.
Our special day mattered to him. His photography captured our story, full of love, surprise, laughter, tenderness and happy tears and took our hearts into his hands and with remarkable ability.
John captured our deepest most vulnerable moments that forever will allow us to relive that very special day.
John, you are a special person...keep sharing your talent...we will never find the words to show our gratitude. Again, we thank you.
We hired John for our wedding ceremony and reception. John was the first photographer we met with, and everyone we interviewed after him seemed sub-par.
We love John - he's an amazing human being and an equally great photographer.
He truly made us feel like he cared about our day and what we wanted in terms of memories. We were looking for real candid shots - photos that told a story and captured a moment.
We are extremely happy with our pictures, and even more happy that we've found a friend in John. Thanks John - we look forward to working with you again.
Over these past couple of years, John Bello has not only become one of my favourite photographers, but also one of my favourite humans.
He is fun, kind and a beacon of positivity. You can't help but want to be around him all the time. In terms of his work, it's simply amazing. John Bello is everywhere at an event, he doesn't miss a thing! He captures every important moment stunningly and is always looking for cool angles to shoot from - even if it means climbing up a tree to achieve! I would never be able to find the words to articulate how amazing John actually is. He is just the best!!
One of best wedding photographers in the city with a stellar reputation...
I've worked with John many times over the years - he's super chill, clients love him & he delivers amazing award-winning pics!!
John's smile says everything. He is calm, professional, and thoughtful. We felt at ease immediately.
We only wanted candid’s for our wedding: Unique, real photos of ourselves, family and friends. John's photos tell a story of our day. It shows a day filled with love and a whole lot of laughter. He can definitely capture details and moments that you want to remember.
Someone with this much talent should not be as humble as John is. Dealing with him was a breeze and we would recommend him in a heartbeat.
We can’t say enough good things about our experience with him.
Thank you John.
