More Than Weddings
Weddings are a huge part of what we do, but they're definitely not the only people we get to photograph. Over the years, we've photographed high school seniors, families, babies, grandparents, couples, proposals, birthdays, maternity sessions, headshots, and plenty of other milestones. We love getting to step outside of the wedding world and document people in the seasons of life that happen before, after, and completely separate from a wedding day.
Our approach stays pretty consistent no matter what we're photographing. We want people to look like themselves, we want the experience to feel relaxed, and we want to give you a variety of images rather than 30 versions of the exact same pose. After photographing hundreds of weddings, we've gotten pretty comfortable working with all kinds of personalities, groups, lighting situations, and unexpected circumstances. That experience comes in handy whether we're photographing a graduating senior or an entire family with three generations.
Senior Pictures
We've photographed a growing number of high school seniors over the years, and senior sessions are a natural fit for the way we already work. A lot of the same locations we use for engagement sessions work beautifully for senior pictures, whether that's a park, an urban setting, interesting architecture, or somewhere that has a little more personality.
We like giving seniors room to change things up during their session. Different outfits, different backgrounds, different lighting, and different expressions can make the final gallery feel much more personal than a traditional collection of school portraits. The goal isn't just to document what someone looked like during their senior year. It's to create a set of photographs that actually feels like them.
Family Photography for Every Generation
Family sessions can mean a lot of different things. Sometimes it's parents and their kids. Sometimes it's an entire extended family with grandparents, cousins, siblings, and everyone in between. We've photographed families ranging from infants to grandparents, and we actually encourage larger families to think ahead about all of the combinations they want.
Before a session, we'll often have everyone make a list of the important groupings. Grandparents with the grandkids, all of the cousins, just the boys, just the girls, individual families, everyone together, and anything else that's important to you. That way, we're not standing there afterward realizing we forgot the one combination someone really wanted.
We'll still get the big group photo, of course. But we'll also break things down into smaller groups and individual moments so your gallery tells a much more complete story of your family.
Babies, Little Ones & Growing Families
We've photographed families with little ones in all kinds of environments, including meeting families at home when that's where everyone is most comfortable. Sometimes the best place for pictures of a baby or young child isn't a formal portrait location at all. It's their own house, their favorite room, the backyard, or somewhere familiar where they can simply be themselves.
And we'll be honest: we don't have a secret formula that guarantees a toddler will cooperate for an hour. Kids are kids. Sometimes they're happy, sometimes they're fascinated by a stick, and sometimes they have very strong opinions about the entire concept of photography. Our job is to work with whatever the day gives us rather than force every moment into a pose.
The important thing is documenting this particular stage of your family. The tiny details, the way everyone interacts, the personalities, and the things you'll probably forget about five years from now are often the photographs you'll appreciate the most.
Photographing Around Michigan
We don't have one studio that every session has to happen in. We've photographed people in parks, along the waterfront, around downtown areas, at their homes, and throughout Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Elizabeth Park, Heritage Park, Bishop Park, BASF Park, downtown Wyandotte, Detroit, and many of the same locations we use for engagement sessions can all make great portrait locations.
The location matters, but it doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes we're looking for beautiful natural light and open space. Other times, architecture or an urban environment gives us something completely different. We like having options and figuring out what works best for the people we're photographing rather than trying to make every session look exactly the same.
Milestones, Couples & Everything In Between
There's really no single category that covers all of the other things we've been hired to photograph. We've photographed proposals, birthday celebrations ranging from first birthdays to 88th birthdays, maternity sessions, couples, headshots, and commercial work for churches and other organizations.
Some sessions are carefully planned. Others are simply a reason to get everyone together and document a moment that matters. That's one of the things we enjoy about this kind of photography. We get to meet people in a lot of different circumstances and create something that fits the occasion rather than trying to make every shoot feel like a wedding or a traditional portrait session.
Add Video to Your Memories
Because we're a photo and video team, we can sometimes add something to a portrait session that most photographers can't: video.
We've had couples we've photographed for their wedding come back to us year after year for another photo session, and we've added video to those shoots as well. Those little videos have turned into incredibly personal time capsules of their life together. They're not wedding films. They're simply a chance to hear voices, see movement, watch personalities come through, and preserve a little piece of that particular year.
It's something we especially love when families are growing and changing quickly. A photograph captures a moment beautifully, but sometimes hearing someone's laugh or watching a little kid interact with their parents brings the memory back in an entirely different way.
Relaxed, Experienced & Ready for Whatever
One of the biggest advantages of doing so many different kinds of photography is simply experience. We've photographed hundreds of weddings, worked with large families and small groups, dealt with unpredictable weather and difficult lighting, and learned how to keep moving when things don't go exactly according to plan. We're comfortable around people, and we don't get easily rattled when a shoot takes an unexpected turn.
So whether you need senior pictures, family photography, photos of a new baby, a milestone birthday, a couples session, or something that doesn't fit neatly into any of those categories, we're happy to talk about it. If there's a reason you want photographs, we'll figure out how to make the session work.
We're based in Southeast Michigan and photograph throughout the Detroit area and beyond. And if you've got an idea that isn't on this page, just ask. We've probably photographed something like it before, and if we haven't, we're always up for trying something new.
