Gear Up with MPB: An Interview with Shari + Mike

Expand Your Creative Vision with MPB

At Way Up North, we believe in providing photographers better access to the tools and knowledge that help them evolve their craft. This is why we’ve partnered with MPB, Europe’s trusted camera gear reseller for photographers who want to buy MPB Approved gear or sell with peace of mind. With MPB, wedding photographers can sustainably upgrade their equipment while exploring new creative possibilities—something our Berlin closing presenters Shari + Mike know well after two decades in the industry.

Masters of Authentic Moments: Meet Shari + Mike

As two-time Way Up North presenters preparing to close our Berlin show, this Western Canada-based husband and wife team has spent 20 years perfecting their craft while maintaining a refreshingly practical approach to gear and creativity. Known for their ability to capture authentic emotions and real connections, they’ve built their reputation on getting into the heart of the action while maintaining the trust of their clients.

In this interview, we dive into their journey from reluctant mirrorless converts to equipment pragmatists, exploring how they balance technical excellence with emotional storytelling. From their strategic lens choices to their creative lighting solutions, Shari + Mike share insights into how they’ve maintained their distinctive style across hundreds of weddings. Their approach reveals that while gear matters, it’s the photographer’s awareness and connection that truly creates the magic.

Your work puts emphasis on authentic emotion and real connection. What’s your go-to technique for capturing these moments?

Oooo, we would say it is not so much a technique, more of just an awareness. We have worked hard to build a strong foundation so that we can be extra attentive to what’s happening around us and less on our camera settings. Also, we aren’t afraid to get right into the middle of it all but to do this we try to build a good level of trust between us, our clients and all their guests.

Is there any specific pieces of gear helps you capture these authentic moments most effectively?

Primarily it is all about lens selection whether that’s a Canon 24mm when we are right in the middle of it on the dance floor or a 135mm to capture a moment without being too invasive. We love leaning into each of our lenses’ strengths. Also, we have a Aputure mini tube light that we have been loving when we need a subtle extra pop of light on a scene.

Light plays a crucial role in photography. Can you talk us through your process? Is there any lighting equipment has become essential to your workflow?

Light is everything!! Our favourite thing is to find available light to play with but that isn’t alway an option. When we have/want to create it, along with the above mentioned Aputure tube light, we are using a Profoto B-10 for constant light and Profoto A-10 for flash.

After 20 years and hundreds of weddings, are there any pieces of gear you’re thinking of selling or upgrading soon? What’s driving that decision? Haha, we definitely drive our gear pretty hard so upgrades tend to be more out of necessity rather than choice! After fighting the shift to mirrorless as long as we could we finally made the switch in 2024 and now are shooting on a combination of Canon R5s and Canon R6s. We would love to upgrade to the newer model of the B-10 and maybe add 1 more A10 but other than that we are pretty set.

How do you approach the decision to let go of a piece of gear that’s been with you through many weddings? Is there an emotional process to saying goodbye to equipment that’s helped capture so many memories?

For us the decision is, as we said above, typically more due to necessity. Most of our new gear purchases occur on the Monday after one of our lenses got smashed on the weekend or on a Saturday morning because a camera decided to crap out when we are getting it ready for a shoot! We aren’t really gear people, our equipment is simply the tools we use to do what we love. With that said, you wouldn’t know it as we probably have about 40 old camera bodies around our house!