About a million years ago (okay, 21 years), I began my business journey in photography.
One of my main focuses back then was documenting weddings.
I loved capturing loved ones celebrating being together and sharing in the story of the couple’s love.
I really didn’t ever see myself backing away from that world.
Until I did.
Here’s what happened.
Around 2010 or so, wedding blogs were huge. Like, mega. They were the go-to spaces to find ideas for your wedding, from decor to dresses to the most popular current day wedding fads.
And, Pinterest was also born that year.
I had been documenting weddings since 2002 (actually more than that, since I did a number of years working as someone’s unpaid assistant to “earn” my wedding photography stripes).
So, for 8 great years, the world of weddings was dominated by documenting:
capturing the true and real moments of a day.
The emotions. The happy tears.
The feels.
It was all so good.
But then, the blogs + Pinterest came along.
And the move away from documentary photography started.
Sad day.
This crumbling of the desire for documentary style wasn’t the blogs or Pinterest’s fault.
They needed to show case pretty things, things that could potential bring in dollar dollar bills (y’all).
So they shifted the focus from emotional captures to capturing details.
Capturing things.
Things that could be bought, sold, and marketed.
Staged moments.
Cookie cutter.
Don’t get me wrong, I love cookies.
But everyone started using the same damn cookie cutter. and the same damn cookie recipe.
Because that was what got them noticed by the publishers.
Imagine a world with only one type of cookie – no.
Actually don’t.
That’s scary.
Couples started to focus more of their attention on how their weddings looked instead of how their weddings felt.
It felt as though people weren’t paying much attention to who they were as a couple, just whether they might get their wedding showcased on a blog or in a magazine.
They got lost in the “maybe I’ll get published!” bs.
And forgot to tell their own story, their way.
I’m sure that was fun for some.
I mean, it is kinda cool to see yourself published online or in a magazine.
But in the end, everyone’s weddings started to look exactly the same.
Boring, bland, uninspiring.
Formulaic.
No personality. Nothing unique to them, as a couple.
Nothing with real feeling.
And I’m not here to slam anyone for wanting this. Fads come and go all the time.
And at the time, this fad was major.
People started to lose their damn minds.
I cannot even tell you how many meltdowns I saw in person because of the over focus on The Things and the deep NEED to be published.
It was the start of Reality TV era too, so, yea.
My take on that would be a whole other post! haha.
I will say this, I photographed my last wedding in 2019.
I wasn’t doing much of them by then because I did stick to my documentary roots and the demand for that was high.
However, pretty much every client I had from 2002 until 2019 totally cared a LOT about their person,
their families, and their friends.
Sure they had details at their weddings (which I did photograph lovingly) and we did take portraits, too!
They loved their outfits and colors and all the extra bits.
But it wasn’t THE main focus.
They loved the documentary approach. They wanted the emotions.
They wanted the true and raw and real version of their unique days.
Thank the Baby J.
Unfortunately, they were far and few between, and I couldn’t sustain a business on that.
So I had to pivot.
I had to step away from wedding photography and set my sights elsewhere.
And with my move from Rhode Island to California in 2019 it was a perfect time to shake up my offerings and the way I approached the photography I offered.
Nowadays, I photograph headshots and business photography for businesses small and large.
I create work and tell stories of fabulous makers and artists, capturing their food, products, and more.
Would I still photograph a wedding? Sure. I’m actually doing one this year, for a friend.
But I’ll only photograph a wedding if 95% of the day is documented.
If you are okay with me capturing your happy moments, the silly bloopers, the raw ugly cries, then cool.
Game on.
If you don’t care about being published (cool if it happens but you won’t meltdown if it doesn’t).
If you want authentic, if you want raw.
If you want REAL, then let’s talk.
If you’re not a friend or a friend of a friend, that’s okay – reach out.
But, please know, I am not low cost. Nor am I even close to mid-range.
If you have a high budget to invest in your wedding photos, awesome.
If not, you can still reach out and I will happily share some amazing people from RI to California, that I would trust to photograph your wedding.
I don’t need images for my portfolio. I don’t need exposure.
I don’t even need to showcase your wedding on Insta or my own blog (but it’d be cool if I could).
I don’t need practice.
What I would need is the ability to float through your day and capture things as they naturally unfold.
I want to capture the true story of your day.
You’ll receive my vision of your day.
And while it’ll be my vision, it will always be your story.
I’ve been extremely lucky to be invited into so so SO many people’s precious and private days.
I’ve photographed weddings all over the United States and outside of the country.
I’ve worked in well known locations to very private homes.
I’ve documented weddings filled with celebrities and well-knowns.
I’ve photographed a Kennedy wedding on the Kennedy Compound in Cape Cod.
I’ve photographed many people from all walks of life,
people who fell in love and wanted to celebrate that love with the ones they hold closest to their hearts.
And that’s what matters to me and my cameras. The connection. The care. The love.
What did all these different people have in common?
Their deep and true love for one another.
I have really been so blessed (and I don’t use that catchy word lightly here) to be able to witness and document such moving moments in people’s lives.
They have these images forever now.
Forever, their loved ones, captured in that moment in time where they were having fun, laughing, dancing, hugging, crying, being.
Together.
Some of the people in these images are no longer with us.
I am so happy I was able to be present, to be the one who focused on each and every face during their wedding event.
Because now, even though some of these folks aren’t here, their memory will live on in their hearts.
And in their photos.
I am quite lucky that I was able to do this for the many years I did.
I really am.
And I thank every single couple that trusted me to capture their days.
Thank you. I love you.
Okay, with that, I did remove my wedding work from my website recently since that is not my focus any longer.
But I am also really proud of the huge body of work I created over these many years.
So I decided to add some of my favorites here:
Is this all of the photos I’ve ever taken or all of the weddings I’ve ever documented? Not even close.
But it does give you an idea of the work I have done.
Thanks for taking a look!
And if you’re getting married, congratulations 🙂
Do me a favor, make your wedding day YOURS.
Do it your way.
Make it about you and your love story.
While this day is for others to celebrate with you,
the point is to CELEBRATE YOU.
So please, do it your way.
ALSO:
Black Lives Matter
LGBTQ Lives Matter
Trans Lives Matter
Everyone deserves to have a wedding day they can look back on with hearts in their eyes and love in their hearts.
Because LOVE IS LOVE IS LOVE!!!
🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🖤🩶🤎
