Being a wedding photographer in Las Vegas is probably a little bit different than being a wedding photographer in other parts of the world. A large percentage of my couples are booked over the phone or via the internet. Skyping is my best friend. But I didn’t Skype with Belinda. I got an email from her first. It was a short, concise email just wanting to know the details about how things work if she were to book with me.
Secretly, but not so secretly now that I’m telling the the internet this, the first thing that I do is search the couple on Facebook and Pinterest. From those two places I can usually get a good idea of what type of person I am about to communicate with, and the style for their wedding. It is the first barometer that I use in deciding if we’re going to be a good fit for one another.
When I cyber stalked Belinda I couldn’t see all of her information on her Facebook page yet, but what I could see was a lot of photographs. I saw photographs of her and Dennis traveling the world together. Beautiful photographs, I might add, as they both really enjoy the art of photography. But what I didn’t see was a ton of photographs of them together, because usually they were on their travels with just the two of them. And, apparently, they don’t own a selfie-stick… So there are photos that tell the story of the adventure they were on together, just the two of them.
The thing that really caught my eye was that there was one photo gallery of a trip they took to Yellowstone. It will filled with beautiful images of landscapes, and old broken down homes… there were photos of Belinda in front of a waterfall, deer, elk, buffalo, and then Dennis in front of a steaming spring. And then tucked into the very back… the very last photo… there was a quick snapshot of an engagement ring. It was buried deep in a photo album of about 83 photos.
Now that I know Dennis and Belinda, it seems fitting that this is how their photo album was organized. I know that being engaged is a huge commitment for the two of them, but it also seems to play second fiddle to what is really going on… Which is the way that they look at one another. Their appetite for travel and adventure. And how effortlessly they fit with one another.
Yes, that ring is important (and it is stunning), but it is buried into an album that Belinda and Dennis have been creating together, and it is just a tiny detail to the story that they already share.
As I mentioned above, Dennis and Belinda love photography, and I was stoked when Belinda sent over some inspiration images for the vibe of their shoot. It was key in our communication with one another because we both had something completely different happening in our brains, and her inspiration photos brought us to common ground.
They wanted their photos to have something different… they wanted something more understated than I usually do, and something that had more of an editorial feel. I was more than happy to step outside of my comfort zone to do something new, and I was also super excited that Belinda and Dennis knew exactly how wonderful it was that I bought a new lens just for this shoot!
A huge thank you to Amelia with Amelia C. & Co for the glamming of B’s beautiful face!
I teased Belinda on Facebook that I was going to use this image below for my profile photo. That’s how much I love it.
Belinda and Dennis are from Virginia, but they have traveled all around the world, and Belinda even lived in Germany for quite some time. So, I wanted to mix a little bit of downtown charm with something that they had never seen before. So we spent part of our time in downtown Boulder City, and then hopped over to the Dry Lake Bed for some beautiful images right before the sun set.
And they didn’t even question me for a second when I asked them to lay down on the chilly desert floor. I know I’ve said it before, but gosh, I love my couples.
As if there was a better image to leave a blog post with… yes, Belinda, yes. But no, stop… I can’t.
These beautiful people are going to tie the knot in May this year at Four Seasons Hotel here in Vegas! I can not wait to spend the day with them, and to get them in front of my camera again!! xo.
