From Rafting Photography to the Wedding Recessional: Why it’s all the same story
If you look at a photo of a raft full of people crashing through white water rapids and a photo of a bride and groom running down the aisle through a cloud of confetti, you might think they have absolutely nothing in common.
But as someone who spent years capturing sports and high-intensity river rafting photography before transitioning into weddings and elopements, I’m going to let you in on a secret: They are a lot more alike than you would expect!
Tracking high-speed rafters through Colorado’s rivers taught me how to survive the fast-paced, unpredictable chaos of a wedding day. In both worlds, success comes down to three things: planning ahead, staying hyper-focused, and most of all being observant. On the river, you are constantly scanning for the next big splash, predicting the wave, and locking your focus to catch the kids' faces right as the water hits them.
On a wedding day, I’m using those exact same split-second reflexes. Except instead of watching for splashes, I’m watching for the shift in a groom's expression when he sees his bride, or the tear rolling down a mom’s cheek during the first dance.
It’s All Storytelling
At the end of the day, no matter what you are taking pictures of, you are telling a story.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a family’s very first rafting trip, a kid’s first baseball game, a couple’s once-in-a-lifetime engagement session, or a wedding day marking the start of forever. My ten years behind the lens have taught me that it doesn’t matter how technically good of a photographer you are—if you aren’t seeing your clients' story the way they see it, you are missing the point.
Anyone can just pick up a camera and click a shutter to take a generic picture. But what you are investing in when you hire a professional is someone who knows how to capture a legacy.
Telling Your Version, Not Mine
My ultimate goal is never to tell my version of your day; I want to tell yours. I want to dig into the meaning behind the moments.
For instance, if a couple wants to do their engagement session at Emerald Lake, I want to capture that raw emotion against that massive mountain landscape because that specific place means something deep to them. They’ve hiked it together before. The rocks and trees are part of their history.
I look for those hidden layers in every single shoot. At my recent backyard wedding, the couple had a specific bottle of wine on their tables. To a regular observer, it was just wine. But because I took the time to know their story, I knew that they had shared that exact brand on one of their very first dates years ago. They loved it so much that they bought five bottles right then and there, saying, “We’re going to save these for our future wedding.” Years later, they actually got to open them as husband and wife. That is the story that matters.
It’s the same as when I’m on the river and a family tells me it’s their first time rafting, but the dad used to be a raft guide decades ago. Suddenly, that photo of them hitting the rapids isn’t just a tourist souvenir—it’s a bridge across generations.
The Art of the Catch
Your wedding day is the biggest and most important day of your life. It is going to fly by in a beautiful, emotional blur. You deserve a photographer who doesn't just stand there posing you, but someone who is actively hunting for the raw emotion, the meaningful details, and the landscape that wraps it all together.
My past ten years have trained my eyes to see the fast-paced beauty of life before it slips away. Let’s figure out how we can preserve your story forever.
