2021 // Moments in Review

What an incredible privilege it is to get an all encompassing pass; to get real close, to be in every aspect of the day; from the anticipation in the room hiding away, to the very last song. The ability to roam the aisle during the ceremony, witness it from every angle. The dream and strive that is to photograph in so many different ways within one wedding day; photographing the home that you have chosen for your wedding day, photographing its exterior, its rolling hills that surrounding it, the environment and something as simple as the weather that too, is a guest on your wedding day. Photographing the scenery in which your wedding resides.

Photographing the many people in a documentary mold; them mid laugh, mid hugging embrace, mid swoon that is all over the entire face. Searching for moments where these people are at their most relaxed, most themselves, I strive to search for it until I capture it. Documenting to induce nostalgia and memorialize these humans so that you can show your kids the many deeply loved ones that made you the person you are.

Even a simple and strong portrait of you on your wedding day that will only be more and more loved as you grow older. All the photographs in a collection, from portraits to moments, the notion we strive for is to have all the aspects of a wedding day flow in a story being told, one that takes anyone right back to what it felt like to live through that day.

There are photographs that will only grow more meaning with time, ones that you oversaw the first time you viewed your gallery of photographs, and have come to cherish even more the 30th time you’ve taken a look through. There are photographs that you feel proud of immediately, seeing your creativity of planning come to fruition. There are ones that you don’t even know how beautiful you are and you only see it when you look back and youth feels reminiscent and are so glad that you preserved that youth in a single photograph. There are ones you can only appreciate in many years time, not noticing the smallest joys or meaning until much later. Not realizing how important some of the documentation is until many years later. How gratefulness floods for the photographs being captured at all. Different photographs will be cherished in different chapters in your life. Some photographs that might have been easily overlooked, are now newly favorited as you begin to see the many different perspectives of your wedding day in new ways as your own self shifts and grows with new perspective.

I am filled with joy and humbleness to get to put this journal post together year after year. I look forward to it all year. I truly enjoy going through each gallery all over again and finding moments that to me, that are not deemed as grand or special or ones that you would hang on your walls, but ones that truly bring the entire collection of photographs together. These photographs are all what make up a gallery, if not is the gallery in my opinion. The aspects of life that last, the human nature of those we love that won’t always be. The fleeting moments of the in between grand moments. Moments of long awaited affection, joy radiating, and the quiet moments too. These are the types of photographs I endlessly search for on wedding days, ones that often are overlooked, and only grow meaning with time. Ones that need to be looked at a little longer. Ones that need to be grown into. Ones that I need to carefully be there for, with wide eyes, finger on the shutter, ready to press before the moment is gone. Ones that I treat as if they were my own.

If it wasn’t for the incredible, down to earth, so warm and thoughtful couples that I had the gift to document and create with this year, none of these photographs would have been made possible! Thank you to all of those who trusted me and gave me this gift, I do not take this privilege lightly.

two thousand & seventeen

Comparison is inevitable when it comes to art. Comparing our work to others, to our own, to that of what isn't there, what could have been there, and what is there. Comparison not only makes us think deeper about the work we create, but also pushes us to create better and stronger work. Although I have to say, the rare times I simply do not compare a photograph to anything than what it is, is the photographs you see below. Moments that couldn't be recreated, organically revealing themselves. Moments in between the chaos and the mundane. Moments that come together to define a story. When you photograph a wedding in a very documentary style, some of your favorite moments end up being those unplanned and unrehearsed. And at times, these are the photos that get quickly overlooked, quickly passed by. It is easy to overlook that of which is not taken in an epic location or full of intertwining limbs. I wanted to shed my light on those moments that are just as crucial to tell the entire story. Photographs that can only be documented when you have wide eyes yet patient ones too. Photographs that aren't the most conventionally beautiful and moments where no one knows you're even watching. 

This year was full of growth, full of getting to know the type of relationship I strive for with my couples. The trust instilled in me from my couples to document their day as the day unfolds is more than I could ever ask for. Finding couples who share the same vision of foraging and gathering, coming together with those they have spent their lives loving, all that is what matters most. This year I have felt more connected to those I have documented - couples who are now some of my closest friends, couples who I have spent getting to know so deeply, and some who I have had gotten real low on the dance floor with. Spending time to connect with my humans on a level beyond wedding photography and being able to document the most intimate parts of them is what keeps me addicted to what I do. 

Along with copious amounts spent among the foliage in the Bay Area, my work has taken me to intimate in home sessions in Barcelona, passionate sessions in the cobbled streets of Florence, empowerment and strength in Joshua Tree, backyard gatherings, Muir Woods elopements, green ballrooms overlooking City Hall, and so many places lush in emotion and greenery. 

For these select favorites, I wanted to choose pure moments. Moments that make up the entire story, moments that are documented just the way they are - true and sincere. I am so damn proud of the work I create, and proud of the couples who create it with me. Cheers to an amazing year, wouldn't have been able to do it without you all. 

-Nataly