Why I Retired From Wedding Photography

Every photographer’s journey is different, and everything changes within the professional realm when you merge your creative art and signature style with serving the public. I don’t mean this to influence anyone else’s decision or suggest that wedding photography is bad—it certainly isn’t. It’s simply not for everyone.

I’m sharing my story to perhaps inspire another photographer, and to let clients know what’s next for me and how I can still serve them.

How It Started

In my earlier days, circa 2007, as a freelance photographer building an emerging business, I never intended to photograph weddings. One day, I spotted an ad (on MySpace) from a photographer looking for help and inquired.

He was looking for subcontractors to photograph weddings on dates when he was double-booked. I quickly said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

He looked at my work and asked me to give it a shot, working alongside him a few times. If I didn’t like it, I could walk away.

I thought, sure, why not?

It turned out I enjoyed it, and he soon began sending me out on assignments of my own. I was already a fairly seasoned photographer, but I was new to weddings. Before long, I accepted a few weddings of my own, and things gradually took off.

I continued accepting some assignments from that photographer for several years. Eventually, it became apparent that some of his clients weren’t people I would have chosen to work with myself, so we parted ways and I continued on my own.

Finding My Style

Over the next several years, I built a brand and signature style centered on pure documentary wedding photography. That meant making my website, marketing, and entire process very intentional—designed to attract exactly the right clients while making it clear that other expectations probably weren’t a good fit.

That approach served me well.

I built many great relationships over the years. I’ve watched some of my couples grow their families, while others moved on to entirely new chapters of their lives. Those relationships and the trust people placed in me to document such an important day are things I’ll always appreciate.

Many people assume weddings are inherently stressful and that wedding photographers have to deal with bridezillas. That simply wasn’t my experience.

Because vetting is a mutual process, most of the couples I worked with were great. I also had the pleasure of serving many LGBT couples, and I’m grateful for the trust they placed in me.

I never complained about the work itself—the long days, Saturday nights, traveling, or the overall workflow. Yes, weddings have a lot of moving parts. But as a professional, I hope I made it look easy. I went with the flow, stayed grounded in storytelling, and didn’t waste energy stressing about things I couldn’t control.

Why I Walked Away

The only factor that ultimately influenced my decision to wrap up wedding photography after 19 years was entitlement, interference, and inconsideration from people who weren’t my clients.

The worst offenders were often moms, siblings, or members of the wedding party.

I did my best to remain professional while setting boundaries. I made it clear that I work for the couple, regardless of who is paying me. I don’t take creative direction from other people, and I’m not interested in having someone who hired me indirectly tell me how to do my job.

On more than one occasion, parents didn’t like the idea of documentary coverage because they wanted different things for themselves.

I’ll never understand how that became acceptable.

I’m a professional. I don’t need to tolerate micromanagement from people who didn’t hire me and weren’t the ones whose vision I was there to document.

Over time, it simply made the business less desirable.

Eventually, I found myself cringing when a wedding inquiry came in. That was when I knew something had changed. I was no longer willing—or perhaps no longer capable—of diplomatically dealing with behavior from people who really had no business talking to me in the first place.

Hire a professional. Leave them alone. Be the guest you were asked to be.

Through the years, the entitlement and interference only seemed to grow. And while those years served me well, my body was also telling me it was time to close this chapter.

So that’s what I’m doing.

I’m choosing to be thankful for the couples who understood what I was offering, trusted my vision, and loved the way I told their stories.

What’s Next

The party isn’t over. I’ve just changed the guest list.

These days, I’m focusing on professional headshots, lifestyle photography, and proposals, all using the same photojournalistic storytelling approach that defined my wedding work.

Stepping away from weddings also gives me more time to explore and photograph personal projects, continue developing my photography, and work on my author projects.

I’m not walking away from photography. Far from it.

I’m simply choosing where I want to put my time, energy, and creativity.

Thanks for your support over the years. To all the couples who trusted me with their stories: thank you.

Let’s keep a good thing going.