My busiest (and best) year yet...
When I moved back to Western Mass. thirteen years ago, I knew that I wanted to make wedding photography my main business. I had just left a full time position as a news photographer in DC and I knew I wasn't going to find a lot of news in Greenfield (thankfully.) I'd done enough weddings in DC to know that I was good at it and I really loved the feedback and praise that I received from my clients. This was in stark contrast to most of my journalism work, where the images were often forgotten after a day or two in the news cycle. To my wedding clients, these images really meant something and it felt so good to make them happy by simply documenting their weddings in a way that came naturally to me.
I've gradually increased the number of weddings I book each year. And in 2022 I was lucky enough to photograph 22 of them. That's not really a high number for this industry, but it is for me. I do a lot of other types of photography work and I used to worry that if I took on too many weddings, I'd burn out or lose my creative drive. I'm happy to report that I came away feeling more energized and excited about wedding photography than ever before. This is partly because of the gear I now use. Cameras these days are just SO GOOD. I'm currently using two Canon R6 mirrorless cameras as my main bodies plus an array of fast aperture prime lenses. I've really never felt so confident in my equipment. These camera's ability to track moving subjects and focus in low light absolutely blows me away. And they're FAST. I can shoot a couple coming down the aisle at 20 frames per second and it's rare to get a single image that is not razor sharp. This has completely freed me to concentrate on composition and emotion, never worrying about technical issues. Mirrorless cameras have changed my life and my work for the better.
I really want to thank all the couples who put their trust in me this past year. I know it can sound like a cliché, but it truly is an honor to do this job and I'm incredibly lucky to have worked for such lovely and kind people.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading and enjoy the gallery!
-Matthew
