Vancouver Wedding Photographer Carissa Kearney
In a quiet East Vancouver neighbourhood, where the energy of the city fades just enough to let creativity breathe, Carissa Kearney has built a life and career rooted in light, emotion, and memory. As the founder of Through The Blue Photography, Carissa brings an intuitive eye and deep empathy to every wedding she photographs—transforming fleeting moments into cinematic keepsakes.
Carissa’s journey didn’t begin with a business plan. It began, like many meaningful things, with family. Raised in Surrey, she spent weekends in East Van visiting her grandparents, picnicking in parks, and soaking in the rhythms of togetherness. Her mother, a self-declared memory-keeper, filled their walls with printed photographs and regularly developed digital images at London Drugs. It was more than nostalgia—it was storytelling. “Our house was filled with printed family photos,” Carissa recalls. “My mom loved memories and is a very sentimental person.”
By high school, Carissa was carrying a camera almost everywhere. From orchestrating music videos with friends to joining the yearbook class, she began experimenting with photography, design, and light. A yearbook teacher introduced her to studio lighting and film—a world she describes as cool and formative. Her father’s home videos and her grandma’s fearless solo travels added layers of emotional memory and global inspiration that now infuse her work.
Carissa received her first DSLR at 17, dreaming of becoming a vlogger. But it didn’t take long for her love of still images to outshine her YouTube ambitions. Her early shoots were playful and instinctive, shot entirely on Auto mode. “I just got creative and was never critical,” she says. “I thought it was just so much fun.” She posted on Facebook offering event coverage for donations, landing her first gig at a baby shower. From there, momentum began to build—gradually, organically.
Still, there were detours. Carissa enrolled in marketing school and briefly stepped away from photography, unsure if it could become more than a passion. But after graduating in 2022, the pull of the camera was undeniable. She launched full-time into weddings and hasn’t looked back. Today, she photographs many weddings a year, including elopements on Vancouver Island and even a destination wedding in the south of France.
Her style? True-to-life and emotionally charged. “Emotion can’t be edited,” she says. Carissa’s images are bright and fun, shaped by the way she interacts with her couples as much as by post-processing. She believes in the magic of preparation—that if her clients feel comfortable beforehand, they’ll radiate authenticity on the day. Her work is a blend: documentary when the moment calls for it, gently directed when needed, always attuned to atmosphere and personality.
There’s a rare fluidity in Carissa’s process. She adjusts her energy throughout a wedding day—low-key during ceremonies, animated during dance floors—matching the mood without ever overpowering it. “I want to feel like a really skilled photographer friend,” she says. “I direct when the time is right.” Her couples describe her as a calming presence who makes photography feel effortless and fun.
Film photography plays a supporting role in her creative evolution. Gifted vintage cameras from friends and family allow her to experiment and bring added texture to her galleries. She's not driven by gear, but by curiosity. Light, travel, and music—especially live shows—feed her imagination. Rom-coms and time spent in Italy (particularly Treviso and Bologna) also leave a visual imprint on her mind.
Carissa’s typical clients are stylish but laid-back—people who care as much about their guests as they do about florals or fashion. Her ideal weddings are full of laughter, emotion, and personal meaning. And though most of her current work keeps her close to Vancouver, she dreams of photographing more weddings in Tuscany, where much of her family still lives.
Behind the scenes, Carissa is intentional about balance. She’s candid about the emotional and physical toll of wedding photography—the adrenaline of being "on" all day, followed by long stretches of solitary editing. To offset the isolation, she’s created local social events for other creatives and is actively exploring other hobbies to nourish her spirit. “I know from last year the isolation got to me,” she says. “So I made it a goal to try other creative hobbies.”
Her extroversion is tempered by the need for solitude—an understanding that fuels her empathy with clients. It’s this emotional awareness, along with her ability to preserve memory with artistry and care, that makes Carissa’s work stand out.
"You never know when that might be the only moment you have with someone," she says, reflecting on the deeper meaning of her work. Having lost loved ones herself, she knows the irreplaceable value of a photograph that truly captures someone’s essence. That’s why she does this. That’s why her clients trust her.
Website: throughthebluephotography.com
Instagram: @throughthebluee
