Today’s Introduction Friday is a little different. I wanted to write about my WHY. Why I chose photography, specifically weddings.

Growing up, I always loved art. Although I probably thought I was better than I actually was, I was always drawing horses, their riders, a sea serpent that i nailed SO GOOD in 6th grade art that i mastered it to a ‘T,’ and any else horse related. I was in love with horses, and you would totally be able to tell that from the art work that i created. Because of my love of drawing, I started learning more about composition: leading lines, rule of thirds, the perfect square. Donald Duck in MathMagicland taught me quite a bit of that too. If you don’t know what that is, check it out on youtube. It was great! I continued to use that knowledge in my art classes growing up, and I got better than just drawing horses and sea serpents, but even though I was never as good as others, I still loved to create.

Another thing that I loved was looking at old photos. As comical as it was to sit and gawk at the horrendous styles that my grandparents and parents had, I loved looking through those images. Like my mom and dad’s wedding photos for example. Talk about 70’s!

I loved getting the stories about them and imagining that I was in them myself. I didn’t always love HEARING those stories, though. Especially when one of my grandma’s would try to make us sit and listen, and all we wanted to do was go play outside, or at the pool. As i’ve gotten older, I have kind of kicked myself for not getting more of those stories, but i do have some old cassettes (gasp! What are those?! ha.) that one of my Grandma’s has recorded for her grand kids of stories from her life.  As much as I disliked listening to them, one thing I have always loved is listening to my dad tell stories.

I think it’s a combination of his perfect deep voice-over-type voice and his way of telling stories that make it great. What made it even better was when there was a picture to go along with it.

Because of my love of family history, art, and documenting things, when i graduated high school, I bought my first point and shoot camera. That thing has seen many things (it’s a good thing camera’s can’t talk! HA!) and still works to this day. I keep it for nostalgia’s sake, but it was fun for me to document all my adventures after i graduated.

That point and shoot turned into a fancier one, and then a mirrorless camera, then finally, when I was married, I was able to afford a big fancy SLR. The images that I took with my point and shoot were decent, but i knew that I was missing something. What I didn’t know was how much I had been missing. Mind you, if i would have gotten an SLR when i graduated, it would have been film. Crazy how it doesn’t feel like it has been THAT long ago. Man how times change.

So there I was, Christmas about 4 years ago with the camera I had watched video after video all about. I knew about composition, and lighting and what could MAKE a good image, but I knew it was going to take practice to get there.  And so I practiced, and practiced, and practiced, and today i’m still practicing every chance I get.

I shot my first wedding as a second shooter to an amazing photographer, and she was great enough to let me shoot as I pleased and use those images in my portfolio. It was even more fun for me because it was my brother-in-law’s wedding! It was fun to see how wedding photography worked and be able to document such a special day for someone.

I shot my first solo wedding a little less than a year after that, and I was hooked. Being there to document everything was so exciting for me. I loved the thrill of it. The stress, the pressure, it kind of brought back memories of playing sports in a way. THAT kind of pressure: 2 seconds on the clock, down by 2, and you’re the one shooting free-throws, yeah. That kind of pressure.  And just like with sports, there’s no mulligans in wedding photography. You get one shot, one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted…..oops! Sorry, started quoting Eminem… {HA!} But seriously. You only get ONE SHOT!  But i love that!

I love the anticipation of it all. I love shooting the groom as he’s getting ready. He tries to stay cool, calm, and collected around his best buddies, but there’s always little glimpses of the nerves that if you pay attention, you can capture perfectly!

Then you get to shoot the bride and you can see her anticipation as well. She’s having to deal with a caterer that’s not on time, the flowers haven’t showed up, and her hair has taken longer than expected (ALWAYS!), but she finds that one moment to just breathe.

You get to witness the onslaught of emotions when the groom gets to see his bride for the first time! This is definitely one of the most emotion times of the day.

There’s so many other emotions that you get during the day! When my couples have butterflies, nerves, my brides having to pee every 2 seconds (hopefully BEFORE the dress goes on) and other crazy feelings, I want them to know. I feel ya! And that makes the day that much better.

When the wine glasses have emptied, the cake has been cut and eaten, the dance floor has emptied, and everyone packs up, the day is done. All the stress is gone, and you’re married!

Besides the top of your wedding cake that you may save and maybe a few other trinkets you’ve managed to collect for the day, it’s over and done with. All that time you put into planning and organizing is now over. The memories have been made, and I love being the one to help my couples remember those times!

I love that they will get to look back at their day in it’s entirety and be able to relive it over and over again without that stress. I love when my brides get to see the groomsmen getting ready, because they don’t get to witness that part of the day, and my grooms the same! I love them getting to see the little moments that they possibly missed because they hadn’t walked down the isle yet, like the groom tightly hugging his mom before she hands him off to girl of his dreams.

I want my couple’s families to be able to look at those wedding photos and feel like they were there. I want their grandchildren to be able to sit and gawk at the crazy fashion we had.  I want them to witness all those emotions that were had.

Wedding photography lets me focus on the emotions and the importance of the day. I love being a part of such a special day for my couple, but also being able to stay in their lives through those memories that I leave with them.

Every wedding makes me smile. Every one is different. Every one is special. I love being there on one of the happiest days of their lives and leaving them memories that will last a lifetime.

To see more about myself, and not just my photography, you can start from the beginning HERE