Beloved photography. It’s not like anything else. It’s experiential. It’s emotional. It’s real. The purpose of a Beloved session is to remove all of those things that stand between who we appear to be and who we really are. It’s about digging in deep and expressing true emotions. Feeling true emotions. As a photographer, it’s very difficult (and damn near impossible) to really capture the love and connection between two people if I’m telling them to how to stand, where to look, and when to smile. That’s not reality. When you look at the photos below, at the true love, the true joy, the complete sincerity between Brian and Katie, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

A Beloved session is not a real portrait session. It’s an experience that affects not only the subjects but myself as well. The beauty that I saw through the lens when Brian and Katie were expressing themselves in such a true, close, and intimate way affected me deeply and made me feel that this really is what it’s all about. It’s not all about my business, not all about the camera gear, not all about whether the couple is smiling or not. As a photographer, I should not be trying to tell my own version of a couple’s story. I should not be using props or telling corny jokes to get you to smile. I should, simply put, record your story. To me, photography is all about capturing what’s already there, hidden behind the guise of who we’re expected to be or who we try to appear to be.

I’m not here to make pretty pictures. I want to capture truth. I want to capture reality. I want to capture true, real, life.

I want to say thank you to Brian and Katie for giving me the gift of sincerity that I experienced during their session.