Where it all began
I didn’t set out to be a wedding photographer. It started with a photography class in Laguna Beach and a buddy who was ditching class to shoot surf photos for Hurley and Volcom. The images were incredible, and it looked like the best job in the world. So I bought a camera.
Surf photography didn’t pan out. Turns out you need waterproof housing, serious swimming skills, and a lot more gear than a college kid can afford. But the camera stuck around, and once I started shooting people, something clicked. Portraits became my thing. I fell in love with the craft of working with light and making someone feel like the best version of themselves.
The wedding path
I found a wedding photographer on Craigslist who needed a second shooter. That one connection turned into five or six years of shooting 30 to 50 weddings a year. I learned everything. How to read a room, how to move through a timeline, how to find the shot when everything’s happening at once.
The more weddings I shot, the more I realized this was it. There’s something about a wedding day that brings out the best in photography. You have a couple dressed in the most beautiful clothes they’ll ever wear, emotions running high, and every single day is completely different. It opened the door to the kind of editorial, high-fashion work I’d always been drawn to. The Vogue-like shots where everything just comes together.
My Philosophy
These days, my focus has shifted. I’m less interested in turning a wedding into a photo shoot and more interested in what’s actually happening. The raw, unscripted moments that most people don’t even realize are worth capturing.
The bride leaning over her mom’s shoulder during the reception, just checking in. The look between a couple right after the ceremony when nobody else is watching. The quiet moments between the loud ones.
Those are the photos that end up framed on someone’s parents’ mantle for 40 or 60 years. Not the posed portraits. The micro-moments. The ones you didn’t think you’d print, but you will.
That’s what I’m chasing every time I pick up my camera.
We were nervous about being in front of a camera, but Adam made the whole day so easy. He knew all the best spots, kept us laughing, and somehow caught every moment that mattered without us even noticing. When we got our photos back we were speechless. Our parents literally cried. These are going on the mantle forever.
Sarah & James
★★★★★5.0 on Google