DoCUMENTARY STYLE photography packages – for intimate weddings in virginia (and beyond)

adventure wedding in Grayson highlands Virginia - bride and groom walking on cliff panorama

I hope you’re here looking for something real in your wedding photos…something down-to-earth, not forced or faked…because that’s what I am: a documentary style wedding photographer.

You: “What is this.. doc-u-ment-ary thing? Are we going to watch that show about ancient aliens?!”

ME: “Probably not. Let’s start with a poem:

It has this look, this spark, this mood,

but in a way that doesn’t appear to intrude

on the dance, the hugs, or the time.

Because it didn’t.

The wine, the cake, the food-

-all enjoyed, fully,

and with peace of mind,

That tomorrow

We’ll relive it all.

Because to re-live

we must first live.

Okay. I’ll stop speaking in riddles and explain it simply. Documentary style photography, or the way I do it, is an attempt to offer wedding photography that’s true to its origins: to tell the true story of the wedding day. To achieve this, the steps are simple: You enjoy your wedding day, authentically, and I take photos of that joy, without interfering with or getting in the way of it. Thus, the images represent real memories. Bonus points: you get to be present on your wedding day! It is a real experience, after all, not a styled shoot.

fly on the wall style documentary photography - wedding party walking in field at Virginia backyard wedding
wedding party and bride dancing in black and white - documentary style wedding photographer
Virginia wedding reception at dusk - blurry wedding photo of bride walking around enjoying reception - Virginia documentary wedding photography

Windy October micro wedding

Jordan and Anelia provided everything I was hoping for in a wedding photographer. I wanted to be present for my wedding day while someone took photos, and they did just that! At times, I forgot they were there! But, the pictures are proof that the whole day they were capturing candid memories. To top it off, the photos are absolutely stunning. It’s been 2 months now and I am still looking back at them in awe. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to capture the moments of their wedding day authentically.”

Julie – October 2023


bride and groom watching quaker style wedding ceremony - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
bride running real wedding moment - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic black and white film wedding photo

Documentary Style Wedding Photography Packages

The following packages were carefully crafted with you, the actual couple getting married, as the guests of honor. Having been in this career for over twelve years, I’ve seen quite a few couples get their hopes up about an appealing price and end up sucked into a bottomless pit of nickeling and dime-ing.

That isn’t the way I like to do things, so I’ve made this pretty simple:

All necessities are included in every package, even travel

.

Nationwide Wedding Photography Packages

Getting married in Big Sur, California? Wewoka, OK? Providence, RI? This is your package! We’ll roadtrip to you in our Subaru, complementary, and make a classic set of images.

included in every us package:

• complementary travel to anywhere in the contiguous US

• Facetime meeting

• Aneila and I as the team. If you book us, you won’t end up with some random associate, because it’s just us.

• 8 hours of coverage

• access to a downloadable online gallery

• print rights for life (you don’t have to buy them from us)

starting at $4000

.

autumn elopement in the Grayson highlands mountains in Virginia - documentary style hands-off photographer

Virginia Intimate Wedding Photography Packages

This product is for The Lovers, the Virginians, for the most part…we may have dipped into Maryland and West Virginia once or twice. Although I could easily, EASILY live as a drifter on my motorcycle, wandering from place to place forever, taking odd jobs to keep the tank filled, Aneila just won’t allow it. She says the seat isn’t comfortable enough. Virginia is our home base. We have a couch here in our century home, built circa 1875.

included in every virginia package

• complementary travel to anywhere in the state

• Facetime meeting, or face to face meeting within 50 miles of our location.

• Aneila and I as your team. If you book us, you won’t end up with an associate, because we do it all ourselves.

• six hours of coverage

• access to a downloadable online gallery

• print rights for life (you don’t have to buy them from us)

starting at $3000

virginia elopement photography

Nearly all of our elopements have taken place at Shenandoah National Park. It’s a beautiful setting, and we live just under an hour from the center of the park, so we know the place well! If you’re in need of a specific spot, I’ve got a list. It’s in my mind.

details

• for elopements, there is no ‘package’, since they’re all different. We build each quote from scratch, based on an hourly rate

• will this involve hiking boots? Yes? Then the price has more flexibility. (I’m dead serious.)

But what’s the price? Well, they’re all kinda different.

usually around $1800

for complete details:

family of bride watching the ceremony at Shenandoah National Park micro wedding - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
bride entering ceremony - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
wedding couple walking through Virginia woodland forest at dusk - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo

get in touch – claim your date

If you send me a message with this form, all your wildest dreams will come true (I’ll send you a pdf).






    what is the thing?

    Elopement? Intimate wedding? Hoedown of the century?


    where is it?

    hint - use this box to include other details along with location! A diverse-purpose text field, if you will. We'll call it a text meadow.


    how many hours you lookin' for?

    we have options for all the timespans!


    when is it?

    who knows. maybe we're available?


    medium?

    stills, cinema or both





    or text me: 5406077511


    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is your approach to photographing a wedding day?

    My approach to photography in general is deeply rooted in truth and authenticity. A secondary priority is to be as unobtrusive as possible in whatever situation. For weddings especially, I like to carefully observe what’s going on, without influencing it or disrupting the peace of a couple’s most important day. When the moment seems right, I quietly make compositions.

    I like your editing style. How would you describe it?

    Generally, not over-stylized or trendy. Natural, based on film, and by film I mean properly exposed film! Not too bright, not too dark. The greens are green…not too green, but never brown or golden. I use the histogram to ensure that the shadow and highlight details are intact. In the end, I always add a small amount of film grain to give the brightest highlights some texture and to improve apparent sharpness.

    Every wedding is a unique situation. I do not make it a priority for a coastal California wedding to perfectly match an engagement session on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.

    What camera do you shoot with?

    I shoot with a Fuji X-T2, and sometimes with a Sony A7s, for low light situations).

    The X-T2 is a sexy, yet humble little camera who’s design pays homage to the analog days with manual dials and a very geometrical shape. Aneila and I each carry one. We each have a 35mm (normal) prime lens that covers most everything. Throughout the day, we’ll trade between the normal focal length and the 18mm or 90mm primes. The 18mm provides a wide, immersive point of view, and the 90mm prime gives a closer, compressed point of view.

    I chose this system because it is very small, lightweight, unobtrusive, and just plain simple to use.

    why should we hire you for our wedding photography?

    1. I won’t make your wedding day experience all about ‘the shot’

    2. I’ve been doing this for ten eleven twelve years

    3. Documentary style is timeless

    5. the owls are not what they seem

    6. number four is missing

    4. no I’m not

    6. oh, there you are

    mother sees bride before wedding accidentally - accidental surprise first look - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
    bride and groom environmental wedding portrait along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
    priest congratulates bride and groom after getting married in Guadalajara Mexico - captured by documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
    couple gets married on rainy day at Awbury Arboretum in Philadelphia - captured by documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
    bride and groom play guitar for their own sunrise wedding ceremony at the Grayson Highlands - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo

    OR KEEP SCROLLING, ITS OK

    emotional groom watches his bride walk down the aisle - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
    bride watching the sunrise before getting married in Grayson Highlands State Park - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
    catholic Bride and groom reading vows surrounded by family during their ceremony in Guadalajara Mexico - captured by documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
    bride and groom walking in Big Meadows Virginia - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo
    mother and bride intimate moment getting ready for wedding - captured by Virginia documentary wedding photographer - fujifilm classic wedding photo