We wanted this shoot to happen for a while. But, with my friend Darby and I both bouncing around the country as elopement photographers, we weren’t quite sure when our schedules would align. One day, in the middle of a brief text conversation, Darby said, “Wait, what does this week look like for you?” This was followed by, “WHAT IF WE COME TONIGHT?!” Three hours later, Darby and her husband were on the road. To me, it’s undeniable the joy and love that Jack and Darby share. I am truly so honored to be the chosen travel photographer for their adventure session and share a sliver of their story through these photos!

 The Privilege it is To Be a Travel Photographer

Storytelling has and will always be the most important part of my job as a travel photographer. To me, it’s a beautiful part of the human experience. The job of a photographer is to capture these moments in the most timeless way possible. I can’t believe that I have the ability to freeze moments in time.

There is something so unique about the role of a photographer that grants us access to some of the most emotionally intimate moments of strangers’ lives. We are invited into first looks on a wedding day, proposals, home births, and other special life events. This is why client relationships are so important, because the more you know the client, the more they trust you, and the more they trust you, the more honestly you can tell their story through their photos!

The Stories that A Travel Photographer’s Photos Tell

Telling a story through photography, in my mind, comes in two different ways. First, you are solely photographing what is happening in front of you and allowing the story to speak for itself. Weddings, proposals, and other events are the perfect example of this.

At events like these, there is a story already forming outside of you and your camera being present. Your job is simply to artistically capture it! This sounds simple in theory, but it can be tricky to know where you should be in order to capture the best moment from the best spot.

Practice makes perfect, and experience is your best friend in this area! In my adventures as a travel photographer, I find that when I spend less time “setting up the shot,” the story tends to tell itself!

The second way to tell stories is much more nuanced. It’s less about letting the story happen outwardly, and more about letting it build from the inside. This is a much less common way that I’ve seen stories told, but it’s by far my favorite. To me, these are the things I pull from my outsider’s perspective looking into the lives of the couple:

1. What I know to be true about this couple.
2. The feel of the photos. The photos from Darby and Jack’s sunrise session in Virginia Beach are the perfect example of this!

How a Travel Photographer Tells a Couple’s Story Through Photographs

I know Darby and Jack really well, and we scheduled this shoot both for fun and to capture their current sweet season of life. I strongly believe that there doesn’t have to be a special event in order to take photos together. You can just capture the present time!

In their shoot, the light was the greatest element separating out the stories of their photos. We did the first part in casual outfits during blue hour which is one of my favorite times to shoot in my work as a travel photographer. Then, they dressed up a bit and we captured the sparkling golden light across the ocean as the sun rose. This led right into the white light of the morning where we spent time in the sand dunes.

I felt that the following stories were told in these three phases of light:

• One of security and safety
• One of deep friendship
• One of light in human form

 Reflections on the Wonder of Storytelling Through Photography

Something I love so much about photography is the opportunity it gives to capture moments you otherwise would have never known happened. You may forget the small look the couple gives in that one passing moment, but being the one that gets to turn that into a tangible memory will always be the highest honor.

Some moments are more special left as a memory only in your mind, but others you won’t want to ever forget, and that’s where your photos come in. This can be especially true of film photography, which I’m now utilizing in many of the weddings and my own travel photographer adventures that I capture. I hope I never lose the wonder of capturing my clients’ stories.

Some moments are more special left as a memory only in your mind, but others you won’t want to ever forget, and that’s where your photos come in.

Dear photographer, I don’t want you to walk away from reading this believing that you have to creatively outdo yourself in every single session. That expectation of yourself is so unrealistic. What I am saying is to lean into the story that you’re capturing! Allow it to first tell itself, and then take a deeper look and see what story you can pull from the images.

I promise that the photographs can sometimes speak truer stories than our words could ever tell. If anything, remember this: everyone has a story, and everyone’s story deserves to be told.

All you have to do is tell it. <3

Let’s tell a story, friend! I want to hear more about the vision you bring to life in your photography!