It still surprises me when people say,

“You’ll travel all the way out to ‘XYZ ’for my wedding?”

In my mind, I think of course! But I realize that not everyone understands how simple it is to travel for weddings.

After all, I’ve been traveling since I was very young. I remember visiting Disney World twice before I was 12 years old (thank my little sister Myasia for the second trip), the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, and countless long road trips to Maryland, New York, and Alabama, all of which I have family in. This childhood was a great foundation for how I’d spent much of my formative years, where my high school encouraged us to find ourselves, travel, and learn about the world. After signing up for French in 7th grade, I fell deeply in love with the language and the culture. Although my high school offered study abroad programs for France in my freshman year, my parents felt I was not mature enough at the time, and looking back, they were probably right. But that fueled a lifelong love for France, an itch that I’d eventually scratch later in my mid-20’s (and an itch that isn’t fully scratched just yet).

A couple of years later I’d matured to the point where my parents would consider sending me away. During this time I continued cultivating my love and talent for music, which I was also into at the time.

Being very artsy, I had a knack for finding the “fun” clubs and groups like art, jazz band, and orchestra.

Our choir was going on a trip to China, and everyone was going. Literally, the entire choir toured Shanghai, Beijing and Huang Zho for 10 days. I did everything possible to make sure I was on that trip, and this was really the one that opened my eyes to international travel. The trip took three separate flights, through several time zones, between 21-23 hours of flying time to get there. The furthest I had ever been away from home, for nearly two weeks, it was without a doubt an eye-opening experience. Being exposed to foods I’d never heard of nor seen, without the creature comforts of anything remotely familiar, and dealing with severe jet lag for the first time, it was certainly a trip of firsts.

I was hooked. it wouldn’t be the last time I traveled internationally – I made sure of that

In 2015, my family vacationed in Europe, another trip of firsts. My mom, having previously won trips to Europe on the radio two separate times (thank you WDAS 95 FM) raved about what an amazing experience she’d had traveling with my late father and grandmother back in the ‘90s. Still wanting to go back, committed to a lifelong travel bug with my sister and I. About 10 years ago after my dad passed away, we agreed that life is too fragile and short not to live like there’s no tomorrow, making a pact that we’d travel together until the day we died.

Thus, we set our sights on Europe. My mom had a few trips to Europe already under her belt, having been to Amsterdam and some of the lesser-known cities that make great 3rd and 4th trips. It being the first time for both my sister and me, we decided on England, Rome, Italy, and my lifelong love, Paris, France. This way we could visit the must-see tourist sites and feel the vibe of the historic cities that millions before us did and millions after us will.

This was also the first trip that I really committed to bringing my camera on and devoting a significant piece to the art of photography. It’s been several years, and I’ve long since buried many of the photos from which I’ve grown so much, but make no mistake, this was a seminal journey for me as a photographer. I look back on these nature, landscape, and street photos quite fondly, soaking myself into the moments and memories that accompany these sights.

This brings me to the present day. Looking back, I have been doing photography seriously since 2009, over a decade. As I grew as a photographer, the assignments and associated responsibilities people requested of me grew. I started with nature and landscapes, but when friends and family learned of my love for the camera, they soon asked me to shoot their events, which I soon turned into a business. Years went by and I began to develop a niche in events, but I’ll be honest, the first few times I was asked to shoot a wedding, even small ones, I declined. Fearing that the day was far too important to get anything wrong and ruin it for someone.

Little did I know I’d do a complete 180-degree flip in just a few years

In 2015, the time I went to Europe, I began toying with the idea of shooting weddings and in early 2016, I booked my first one. With my mom as my second shooter that day, we tackled the beast together. I trust her, as she ran a portrait studio back in the ’80s. She has hands down been the biggest catalyst for growth I’ve had as a photographer. Whatever mental block I had built up in my head instantly vanished, never to return. From then on, I was hooked.

That day I found one of my greatest assets as a wedding photographer is my personality, easily being able to approach people and talk to them. My dad was a natural conversationalist with a friendly spirit, cool confidence, and a naturally outgoing mode that never switched off. He could always make someone laugh and put them at ease. Sadly, he never got a chance to really see me make something of myself as a photographer, passing away back in 2008. But I adopted a major part of his personality, just by being his son and I brought that into how I go about my day-to-day life. Now, I can only hope to be half the man that he was. I bring my people skills into photography, particularly when it comes to weddings since you’re around dozens of people every event. Finding the people part to be a strength, even though I had major growing to do on the technical side, being right alongside my mom made it a blast.

This first brush with weddings was enough to get me hooked on doing many more and over the next couple of years, that’s exactly what I did, booking several dozen in both 2017 and 2018, several in the “cool” domestic destinations like Asheville, NC, Charleston, SC, Hilton Head, SC, Nashville, TN, and Newport News, VA. I look forward to growing this part of my business and providing a valuable service to many couples that need someone they can trust with their big day.

As I reflect on my interactions with prospective couples, when I announce that I’d love to shoot their wedding and I’m met with surprise, I always remember that I’ve been traveling my whole life. I share that with people so they see that I’m not only committed to this lifestyle – that it’s a part of my DNA; it’s who I am.

Now, to the so-in-love, engaged-and-planning couples out there: I won’t stop traveling for destination weddings, and I’d love to shoot yours. If you are looking for someone who A) loves photography, B) loves to travel, and C) has a great deal of experience shooting weddings and will bend over backwards to come wherever you decide to tie the knot – I ask you to simply consider me. Hopefully the very personal story I’ve shared gives you insight into A, B, and C.