An Accidental Wedding Photographer
When I first started college as an English major, the only camera I had ever had was a tiny point and shoot that my parents bought me when I went on a summer trip to Costa Rica, which I then immediately broke when I fell on the most beautiful rainforest hike this website will never see. I wasn’t even considering photography as career or even a major, but living with artist roommates lead to painting and craft nights with friends, joining their art history classes, and eventually borrowing a camera to take portraits of each other in front of a sheet we taped to a wall in the living room. Our DIY photoshoots sparked my interest enough to lead me to buy my own camera over the summer, a Nikon DSLR, and switch my major to Film. While in the Film and Video Production program at the University of Memphis, I took more art history and studio arts classes, mostly drawing, along with a couple of digital photography classes. But it was outside of class where I was unknowingly creating what would become diverse and extensive portfolio of portrait photography, by extending my apartment living room photoshoots to include even more friends and even more locations. Along with a model friend, I started an online blog to showcase fashion and fun spots around Memphis called “The Rep,” and continued to build the foundation for what would eventually become a full-time photography business. The blog only lasted a couple of years, but coupled with my photography and film classes, it helped me learn technical skills and develop an eye for capturing people in a variety of lighting situations and locations. When family friends and former high school classmates were looking for inexpensive wedding photographers in 2018, I was ready to put my new skills to the test, and accidentally stumbled into a more fulfilling, exciting, and joyful career than I ever imagined for myself.
Megan and Caleb, my first wedding in 2018.
Kailey and Ozan, my most recent elopement in 2025.
Aside from learning portrait photography, my time at the University of Memphis and experience on film sets also taught me the philosophical approach to photography that I carried with me into the wedding industry. Weddings are a lot like film sets. Teamwork is key, planning begins month or sometimes years in advance, only the vendors (or crew) know the full story of what happened behind the scenes, and there’s a bigger goal than just getting a pretty shot. Like a film shoot intends to produce a movie, a wedding intends to produce an experience. It’s a celebration of love, a beginning of a marriage, and a merging of your loved ones into one big party. In this way, I find myself aligned with the documentary style of wedding photography, a more “hands-off” approach that centers the experience and the enjoyment of the couple getting married, rather than revolving the day around the camera.
My love for cinema has bled over into my shooting style as well, I love to look to movies for inspiration for shots and color palettes, and have begun creating vision boards for each wedding I shoot using film stills.
A cold night filming on the University of Memphis campus.
Early morning call time at Kinfolk Biscuits.
In between takes at the Liberty Bowl.
Since my first wedding in 2018, I’ve photographed over 100 weddings and elopements from intimate afternoons at the courthouse to late nights at Paula Raiford’s Disco, and have traveled all over the South and the Midwest to capture all these lovely celebrations. What started with friends and classmates has turned into a thriving business, which has connected me to some amazing people and sent me to some amazing locations. Memphis remains my home base, but my love for the Midwest grows every time I get to take a trip up north, most recently to Madison, Wisconsin, Cleveland, Ohio and Holland, Michigan. (I even offer a little travel discount to places I’m regularly visiting like Cleveland and Chicago.) You can catch me pretty often in Nashville as well, hanging out with my industry bestie and regular collaborator Shane Hite of Captive Visuals and our crew of photographer friends.
Bethany and Alicia in Clevland, Ohio.
Kris and Greg in Chicago, Illinois.
Olivia and Jason in Madison, Wisconsin.
Abby and Matin in Holland, Michigan.
As for film, I’m still working on local projects, my most recent being a feature film in preproduction called Lex is on Her Way, written and produced by my longtime friend Bailey Inman. (You can watch the proof of concept film here.) My role remains as photographer and emotional support person, with a little promotional help for social media and marketing, which you can see on the Instagram.
Bailey directing our star, Amelia, on the proof of concept short.
Bailey and Dee ahead of shooting.
Bailey and Kayla, another good friend who stepped in and did some acting.
You can see more of my wedding and portrait work on my galleries page, and you can stay tuned about Lex is on Her Way by signing up for Bailey’s newsletter.