If you've looked through my portfolio, you've probably noticed something: not many people are looking at the camera. That's not an accident.

When couples ask me to describe my style, I usually say some version of the same thing — I'm not there to direct your wedding, I'm there to witness it. My job is to notice the moment before you know it's happening: the laugh that catches you off guard, the tear your grandmother wipes away before anyone sees, the way your new spouse looks at you when you're not looking back. Those are the photos you'll actually feel something when you look at, ten and twenty years from now.

That doesn't mean I skip the posed shots — I don't. Family formals happen. Couple portraits happen. You will absolutely get that clean, everyone's-looking, hair-is-perfect photo. But the emphasis, always, is on authenticity over stiff, staged photos.

I'm Watching the Room, Not Just the Couple

Some of my favorite images from any wedding never involve the bride or groom directly. They're the guests. A best man cracking up next to the maid of honor mid-ceremony. A grandmother wiping her eyes before the vows even start. These reactions only exist for a second. If I'm only looking through the viewfinder at the couple, I miss them completely. So during ceremonies especially, I'm constantly scanning the crowd — because the guests' reactions are often the most honest record of how much this day means.

The In-Between Moments Are the Real Story

Some of the best photos of the day happen when nobody's posing for anything — when you're just existing together between the "official" parts of the timeline. A couple sneaking a quiet drink and a kiss at the bar. Two people talking quietly, feet dangling off a barstool. Nobody told them to do this — I just happened to be there with a camera when it happened. I try to give couples space to actually be present with each other, rather than constantly interrupting with direction. The best photos usually come out of that space, not out of a pose I dreamed up.

Playful, Not Stiff

I love a portrait session, but I don't love the kind where everyone's frozen and smiling on command. So during couple portraits, I'll often ask you to move — dance, spin, laugh, pick each other up — anything that breaks the "we are now posing for a photo" stiffness and gets you back into your bodies and your actual relationship with each other.

Sometimes that turns into full-on chaos — dresses flying, someone laughing so hard their face isn't even "photogenic" in the traditional sense — and those are usually the shots couples end up loving most.

Even the shots that look more like traditional portraits are built the same way: I'm not asking for a smile, I'm creating a moment that makes a real one happen.

Candid Doesn't Mean Invisible

There's a difference between being unobtrusive and being absent. I'm not hiding in the bushes with a long lens hoping to catch you off guard — I'm present, moving through the day, paying attention.

Sometimes it means being ready for something completely unplanned — like a wedding party tossing a baby in the air during photos, because that's just what was happening in the moment.

What This Means for Your Wedding Day

If we work together, here's what you can expect: yes, we'll do family formals — I know you need those for your parents and for the album. Yes, we'll do a portrait session where you're looking at the camera. But most of my energy on your wedding day goes toward staying alert to everything else — the walk down the aisle, the reactions in the crowd, the quiet moments at the reception when you think no one's watching.

Because when you look back at your wedding photos in twenty years, I don't want you to just remember what you looked like. I want you to remember how it felt.