by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Sinclair Maloney

Age: 35

Occupation: Wedding photographer/videographer

Bio: This lusty Villeray stud grew up in the Gaspé, got himself schooled in Lennoxville and has been in Montreal shooting weddings through his company, Expressions (www.expressionsphotography.ca), for the last 10 years. Especially passionate about his work on the wedding circuit, Sinclair insists he "hasn't sold out totally. I'm not just doing kitschy typical little wedding pose photos. What I do is still very much in the photojournalism style. It's more of an art purist view of a wedding." And yes ladies, he's single.

What is it about weddings where everybody - musicians, photographers, caterers - feels they can get away with charging three times the amount they might for another type of engagement? "Well, we just charge what is appropriate. And we also provide very nice solid leather wedding albums."

What it costs to have Sinclair shoot your wedding: About $1,500, depending on a few things, like if you want to have them videotape the event as well. "But I can back up our price in every way. Just the nervousness factor, in that you absolutely can't screw up, that's got to be worth a couple hundred dollars on its own."

Has he ever screwed up? Not yet. But he has nightmares about it all the time.

His main camera: A Nikon F70.

Do people often ask that he retouch their wedding photos to make them look more attractive? No. "But some people have questions. Like, one woman wanted to know why she looked so large in all the pictures, but she happened to weigh something like 220 or 230 pounds."

Has he ever reviewed his work to discover he's captured some premium Internet-worthy candid moments? Like a strong north wind blowing some blushing bride's wedding gown up over her head, or a drunken groom walking around the reception party with his erect penis accidentally protruding from his fly? Not too often.

Does he ever offer, or has anyone yet to ask him, if he might shoot the wedding night activities as well? Not so far. "But apparently people are asking for this service more and more, especially in Europe. But sometimes I'm asked to shoot the bride putting on her dress, standing there in her lingerie, and it can be a little bit on the sensual side."

His guess as to how many happy couples he shoots who will wind up separated within 24 months of their big day: "Oh, I don't know, maybe 10 per cent. I've come across four or five couples who never picked up their proofs. They probably split up before I even had time to develop the film. It's pretty sad, really. But that's one of the reasons why we always make sure to get two-thirds of our fee up front."

A recent film he dug: Adaptation.

Musical preferences: White Stripes, REM, U2.

Last book read: The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho

Words of wisdom: "Never underestimate yourself, there are already plenty of people to do that for you."

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca