If you had told me ten years ago that I'd eventually walk away from wedding photography completely, I wouldn't have believed you. But here we are, and it's the best decision I ever made.

The Summer of 38 Weddings

Let's start with the number that still makes people's jaws drop: one summer, early in my Seattle photography career, I shot 38 weddings.

Thirty. Eight. In one summer.

I barely saw my husband. I was living out of my car with two camera bodies, pump up music and a whole lot of snacks. It was, without question, the most exhausting season of my career. But it was also the season that built the foundation for everything I do now. That kind of hustle teaches you how to move fast, stay calm under pressure, and catch genuine, unscripted moments even when everything around you is chaos (a skill that, funnily enough, comes in very handy now that most of my clients are toddlers and newborns instead of brides and grooms).

The Shift I Couldn't Ignore

Somewhere in the middle of all those wedding seasons, I started noticing a pattern. My wedding clients kept coming back to me, but not for anniversary sessions. They were coming back with their babies. Their growing families. Their next chapter of life.

At first it was just a few clients here and there. Then it became a steady stream. I found myself photographing more and more maternity sessions, newborn sessions, and family sessions, all while still trying to keep up with a packed wedding calendar.

By the time I hit 2020, the pattern was impossible to ignore. I had to make a choice.

Making the Leap to Family Photography

In 2020, I stepped away from wedding photography completely and moved full-time into what I actually wanted my business to be: in-home newborn photography, maternity sessions, and joyful family photography here in the greater Seattle area.

Part of this decision was about business direction. But if I'm being honest, a huge part of it was personal. I have two small kids of my own, and shooting weddings meant giving up nearly every summer weekend to someone else's biggest day. Making the switch to family photography meant I finally got my weekends back. I got to actually be present for my own kids' summers instead of watching them go by from behind a camera at someone else's wedding.

What I Do Now

These days, I specialize in in-home newborn sessions and playful, joyful family photography around Seattle. I'm known for my ability to work with toddlers and dogs (arguably the two hardest subjects in all of photography), and I'm especially proud of what I call my "forever families," clients I've photographed year after year, baby after baby, some for over a decade now.

That 38-wedding summer feels like a lifetime ago. But I wouldn't trade the lessons it taught me for anything. It's part of what makes me the photographer, and the mom, I am today.