Twelve years ago I started my journey as a photographer and a few years after dove into wedding photography. It’s been a love affair from the beginning and it’s been an absolute joy to capture and be a part of countless wedding days over the years.

Photography, for me is an expression of my joy, love and vision for my couples and clients. The longer I have done this job the more I’ve fallen in love with the beautiful emotion that is poured out to create what I truly see and feel at wedding days. It’s my truest desire to create heirloom pieces that can be passed down from family to family. Timeless fine art works that are not “on trend” but rather are a real expression of the day and the people I am seeing.

Years and years go into photography training and growth. Behind each professional wedding photographer is hours upon hours of work to get them to a place of artistic expression and genuinely authentic work. Training under other photographers, classes, styled shoots, reading books, studying other forms of art, are just a few things we can use to grow our craft. It’s an expression of love and truly never stops. I don’t ever “arrive” instead I am always growing, learning & bettering myself.

Inevitably, one of the biggest conversations in wedding photography is money and individual budget. It’s something all photographers have to be willing to talk about and my thoughts and opinions have come into focus over the years. For some reason there is often a misunderstanding about the cost of photography and what you are receiving when you hire a wedding photographer. What used to be a less common profession has now become commonplace with the emergence many years ago of the digital camera. The market for wedding photography is saturated and full of a whole range of prices and practices.

Over the years I’ve seen a unique thought process some people have about photography when discussing budgets. I’m often hearing a lack of understanding of just what it entails to be a truly professional wedding photographer. I could go on and on about the costs of running a business ( which are many), the thousands of dollars spent on professional equipment ( which we all have spent) or even, * gasp * , taxes. However this article is not looking to do that. Instead I want to focus on what you are truly receiving and investing in when you hire a professional wedding photographer with the experience to capture your day with excellence. I want to make a case for photography as heirloom pieces that can and should be passed down, printed out, hung on the walls of our homes and treasured for all time.

So what makes an heirloom. Heirloom is defined as “ a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations.” I genuinely believe that true story telling can create work that can be defined in this way. We can pass down these tangible testimonies of love to our children and grandchildren and allow them to be a witness to our lives. My truest satisfaction with my job as a wedding photographer is knowing my work can be shared.

The longer I have been doing this beautiful job, the more I truly see emotion and story. I have so much left to learn but I truly can say I love what I do and what I do, I do with excellence.

My heart here is to say, invest in your story.

It doesn’t have to be with me but with any creative you feel can best preserve your wedding day. Spread the cost of quality photography over your life and think about how little you are really spending to have these once in a lifetime images. Professional photographers are not just charging so much more than beginners or hobby photographers just because they can, they are doing it because they are trained, they put time and investment into becoming what they are. You would not walk into a high end furniture store that creates one of a kind pieces born out of years of hard work, trying and skill and expect to pay the cost of furniture from a chain store. Respect the craft and time put into this profession, understand the costs of running a business and realize that for every hour you are with your photographer countless hours are spent on their own working and growing.

Consider investing in your wedding photographs and truly seeing them for what they are.

Heirlooms.

This DAY! Such a perfect start to wedding season. From start to finish this wedding was so perfect. The most wonderful couple and the loveliest Southern Oregon wedding venue- Hummingbird Estate Winery in Jacksonville, Oregon.

Being the photographer for this wedding day was beyond special and there were so many amazing vendors! Congratulations J & K!

This shoot was an absolute dream & I cannot believe this venue exists in Southern Oregon. It was so much fun to help capture the beautiful creation of so many vendors collaborating to showcase what this venue can do! Ill have a further post with interiors and more but for now I wanted to share a sneak peek to get it out to the Oregon wedding community!

I don’t think I’ve ever put so many photos in a blog post! This wedding was so full of delightful moments, details and people it was hard to narrow it down! The venue is my favorite is Southern Oregon, Hummingbird Estates Winery, bordering Medford, Oregon and Jacksonville, Oregon. It featured so many amazing vendors and the lovely couple of course- the stars of the show.

There’s no way to thank all the amazing people apart of this day but a few specifically come to mind. This wedding would not have come together without the amazing planning and production team- On the Side Events and Flourish Wedding Planning. The florals were absolutely amazing and were a huge part of the day- Krista from Sugar Blossom Floral did an incredible job.

It was a true honor to capture this Southern Oregon wedding and to be their photographer!

Are you looking for someone to timelessly capture your day? I’d love to chat!

The wedding between Cole and Amber was such a delight. Surrounded by only a few of their closest family and friends these two said their vows at the beautiful Melrose Vineyards. This was my first time shooting at Melrose and the beauty of this venue stunned me. I loved how no matter what time of day It was the light was so perfect. Even though I am from Southern Oregon and do the majority of my wedding days there I’d travel back to Roseburg to photograph a wedding at Melrose Winery anytime!

Looking for a Southern Oregon or Roseburg Oregon Wedding Photographer? Contact me so we can connect!