BASED IN IRWIN, PA
serving the Pittsburgh, PA area
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY
Hello friend!
So, here's the deal:
You're looking for MORE than just a wedding photographer, right?
After all, anyone can show up on a wedding day with a bunch of fancy camera equipment -
But when I walk in on a wedding day, I'm there as your own personal-hype team and your mini day-of-coordinator, and I leave your wedding day as a member of the family.
It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell.
-Walt Disney
Meet my family - the entire reason I do what I do:
Derrick - my roller coaster obsessed, YouTube content-creator husband. We celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary this year (not sure how that’s possible). This is the man who keeps encouraging me when I get discouraged, who refuses to put up with my whining, who pushes me to dream bigger, and who dishes out the ice cream so we can binge-watch Netflix together. He is my best friend.
Braelynn - our 9-year-old blonde-haired princess. She is literally the sunshine to our days. She is constantly singing, dancing, or jumping-off-of-something. There is hardly ever a quiet moment when she’s around - but it’s the best.
Leander - our 5-year-old smiley prince. He is all about following his big sister around & doing anything & everything that she does. He is the silliest, happiest, most pleasant little guy ever.
Abby Abbey - She came into our lives as a 6-month-old puppy in January of 2011, like a hurricane and a tornado put together. Thankfully, she's calmed down quite a bit and is now our house-watcher, feet-warmer, mailman-alerter, loving, cuddly pup. Our family wouldn't be complete without her.
Location
I have the immense privilege of shooting in TWO locations!
The first is my home - I live in Irwin, PA, right outside of the great city of Pittsburgh! I regularly shoot in Irwin, North Huntingdon, Greensburg, and Monroeville, as well as in downtown Pittsburgh (as well as the hundred tiny little towns in between). This is where I live, so I am available year-round in South Western Pennsylvania.
The second location is my "seasonal" home - in Deep Creek Lake, MD. My family has owned a cabin on Deep Creek Lake for 5 generations and we spend as much time as possible there every summer. My time there is (unfortunately) seasonal, meaning we close up our cabin & do not have access to it thru the winter. However, we open the cabin as soon as we can every spring, so I am typically available, on a limited basis, April through October in Garrett County, Maryland.
RECENT BLOG POSTS
I blog three days a week!
That's the best way to keep up with my most recent work, our family adventures, and a weekly photo of our dog.
FUN FACT:
I love photographing wedding days,
but I also love photographing roller coasters!
We travel a lot and I vlog all of our adventures,
Come along with us as we ride roller coasters!
I love photography.
I love wedding days.
And you better believe I hands-down, jump-up-and-down, dance-all-around love my brides & grooms.
But there is a much deeper meaning to my business & why I do what I do.
As a teenager, I had one goal: own my own business. I wanted to do something to help support my family financially, while still being able to stay home with my future kiddos. In 2008, when my best friend got engaged & asked me to take a few “engagement photos” for her with my “fancy” camera, I found the objective to that goal: I fell in love with photographing couples in love!
Fast forward to 2015 - the year I took my wedding photography business full time, the year we welcomed our daughter into the world, & the year that that goal of teenager Kara became a reality.
This business is run by a singular person: me!
I’m not a “company” & I will never ever “sell” your wedding photography responsibilities to someone else. When you hire me as your wedding photographer, you can rest assured that you are receiving an exclusive & personalized experience unlike anything a larger "company" could provide.
I take wedding days incredibly seriously. Unless an “act of God” hits, I will be the person arriving, bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed, on your wedding day, camera in hand, to capture all the moments of your celebration. In other words, you can trust that I will personally be photographing your wedding.
Further: when you text me, call me, or email me - I am the person on the other end of the line answering you. I hand-edit my own images. I write my own blog posts.
It’s all me - you can be confident in that!
