Hi y’all! This may be one of the Lisa’s Southern Wedding posts I’ve been the most excited to write—today, I’m introducing our photographer! As far as wedding vendors go, photography has been my number one priority since long before I got engaged. I truly believe that having the right photographer—someone whose style you love and who makes the effort to get to know you and your story—makes all the difference in getting the timeless wedding pictures that will become heirlooms for generations to come.
Before Dave and I had a wedding date or a venue, or even a state to get married in, we emailed the photographer we wanted to work with. While I do not recommend this (a time and place are obviously crucial details for booking wedding vendors!), we were too excited to wait, and thankfully, our photographer was very gracious with us! I’ve known for a few years now who I wanted to photograph my wedding, but truly, there are SO many photographers whose work I love. In case you’re looking for a photographer right now, I wanted to share a few other photographers I am a huge fan of—had our photographer not been available on our wedding date (once we chose one :)), I would have been just as thrilled to work with any of these talented people.
I love every picture Ali Harper takes more than the last. She uses light so beautifully and has an incredible editorial eye. Some of my all-time favorite wedding pictures are by Ali (like the photo on the left—swoon!), and she is so sweet—exactly the kind of person you want to have around on your wedding day!
Eric Kelley was one of the first photographers I met when I started working for Southern Weddings, and I must admit, it was a little surreal meeting him after admiring his work for so many years, but he couldn’t have been nicer! Eric is so amazing at capturing details and I especially love the bridal portraits he takes.
I just adore Landon and Jordan of Landon Jacob Photography—they are some of the friendliest people ever, and their work is so dreamy. From working with them on our V6 team shoot, I also learned firsthand that they’re not afraid to step in and “fix you” (out-of-place hair, necklace clasps, etc.), which I think is an essential quality for a great photographer to have!
As you can tell from this list, we were looking for a photographer who shoots film, has a strong editorial eye, and who Dave and I genuinely like as a person–after all, we’ll be spending more time with our photographer than almost anyone else on our wedding day. We are overjoyed that our photographer has all of these qualities in spades. If you haven’t guessed it already, I’m thrilled to announce that the one and only Ryan Ray will be photographing our wedding!!!
Seriously, y’all. Do I even need to say anything else following these beautiful pictures? Ryan is truly gifted at capturing everything from stunning portraits to sweet moments to gorgeous details, and his images just sing to me. I’ve been known to say that I can spot a Ryan Ray picture from a mile away! Plus, he is SO nice. I love working with him for Southern Weddings, and know his personality will be a perfect fit with Dave and I and our families. We are truly, truly honored that he’ll be making the trip to North Carolina to shoot our wedding day!
I’d love to hear, who is photographing your big day? How did you choose them?
In case you missed a post…
I’m Engaged!
The Main Characters
Our Venues
Ginny Corbett of Ginny Corbett Photography is photographing our wedding September 14, 2014! She has a heart of gold and her easy going, loving, and hilarious personality made it a piece of cake to choose her to be there to capture our memories! We’ve become GREAT friends and I can talk to her about anything, wedding or unrelated. She uses light in the most beautiful way and is truly interested in the couple’s priorities and captures their love in the moment. My fiancee and I had SUCH a fun time at our engagement shoot and can’t WAIT to share our wedding day with Ginny (as well friends and family, of course!)
Beautiful pictures! Love the photo with the bride & her floral bridesmaids dresses!
Ryan Ray is going to make me look soooo beautiful in photos! And of course, you. :D
Hahaha!
I love this post!! Like you said, there are so many talented photographers out there (a perfect fit for every couple), but I definitely believe Ryan will be an amazing addition to your day. Can’t wait!!!
will you also be doing engagement pictures with him? Just wondering how that works since he is from out of state! I imagine I will be in the same situation someday, so just wanted to hear your thoughts. I know most people shoot with the same person to get comfortable before the big day. Would love to hear your thoughts on that!
Hi Abby! We will be doing our engagement pictures with him. Ryan is based in Dallas and my family lives in Houston, so Dave and I are going to take a little road trip up to Dallas during a trip home. We’re really excited to meet Ryan in person before our wedding and start to feel comfortable with him photographing us. While it is definitely not necessary, engagement pictures are a great opportunity to get to know your wedding photographer, if you can make it work! One other possibility is trying to coordinate travel plans if your photographer frequently shoots in a location you can get to more easily. Hope that helps! :)
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