Happy 12th “behind the scenes” blog post.
And well, this year’s post is a little bit DIFFERENT.
2024 was a weird year for weddings for me (and 2025 is shaping up to be just as strange).
I didn’t photograph as many weddings in 2024 as I have in the past.
But instead of letting myself get discouraged by the “down” year, I took the opportunity to try new things, accept jobs that I normally would say “no thanks” to, and put myself out there as a second shooter.
And guess what? As different as the year was, it was still pretty fantastic.
I stepped out of my comfort zone and started a content creation side of my business (which was SO much fun and I’m dying to do more of!)
I photographed a handful of weddings as a second shooter for friends (and I worked for a few photographers I’d never met before).
And I photographed a small handful of my own wedding days (which were absolutely MAGICAL in every way).
I refuse to take my job for granted. Being invited into someone’s celebration of love is one of the most marvelous and humbling experiences ever. Sure, it’s a lot of work (I run a lot of steps on wedding days), but the end result is always so worth it. I’m so proud of how I continue to grow and mature as a photographer – there is still so much more to learn, but I love witnessing myself hone in my art more and more every year through these behind the scenes and “favorites” blog posts (those are coming right around the corner!)
If you can’t get enough behind-the-scenes, I invite you to check out year’s past!
2023’s version
2022’s version
2021’s version
2020’s version
2019’s version
2018’s version
2017’s version
2016’s version
2015’s version
2014’s version
and 2013’s version!
So, here we go! A tiny peek into what 2024 looked like as a wedding photographer AND as a wedding day content creator!
I kicked off my 2024 season shooting content for my dear friend’s workshop! She was gracious enough to let me come in and get some footage for myself, while I also got a bunch of footage for her (and she snagged these photos of me working!)
My first wedding of the year was a GORGEOUS spring wedding at DiSalvo’s Station in Latrobe! The day was so beautiful and wonderful (even though I was suffering from a major sinus infection – thank goodness for strong meds!)
Just a few weeks later, I ended up BACK at DiSalvo’s to second shoot a beautiful wedding (this time, much healthier than the first time!)
I brought my yellow rain boots to Abby & Dawson’s wedding, but thankfully, didn’t need them!
I take portraits of my own kids every summer and LEANDER was gracious enough to snag these photos of me!
When you’re second shooting at a venue you’ve been dying to get back to and arrive SUPER early, you have some fun creating content before getting to work!
Turns out: packing up gear to work as a Wedding Day Content Creator is drastically different than packing up gear to work as a Wedding Photographer! But one common theme remains: BATTERIES – so many batteries!
I shot a day of mini sessions up in New York and got COMPLETELY soaked. It rained all day long and I’ve never worked so long and hard in the rain for so long.
THE DREAM TEAM! I second shot a wedding this fall for my dear friend Amanda – and we were so surprised to arrive on the wedding day to find our dear friend Mara as one of the videographers for the day! We had a blast that day!
But wait, there’s more!
Yes, I am a full-time wedding photographer and wedding day content creator, but I’m also a roller coaster photographer!! You all know that Derrick runs a growing YouTube channel centered around roller coasters – and well, I’ve been taking roller coaster photos for him since we met in 2008.
When we travel and go to parks, he shoots video, and I take photos. It’s a winning combination if I do say so myself. (I’ll further add that Derrick hit the JACKPOT when he married me – I’ll just leave it at that!)
In 2021, I began to really help Derrick more and more with the behind-the-scenes workings of his brand. Not to brag, but I’ve become an integral member of the XscreamThrills team (which consists of the two of us).
So, here are a few photos of us looking completely different than we do on wedding days – shooting completely different subjects – ones we don’t have to pose or direct, but ones we are constantly striving for a “different” “more creative” photo of.
We got into a MUCH better rhythm of recording ERT episodes in 2024!
We kicked off our 2024 roller coaster season with a pre-season media tour of Kennywood Park. It was a CRAZY rainy day, but we had a blast!
We got to sit down with Chuck of Kennywood Krazy for a little interview – so much fun! He just let us know that he uploaded our interview to YouTube (originally it was just for his Facebook group), so if you’d like, you can watch us chat HERE!
One of the biggest highlights of our ENTIRE season was our super spontaneous trip to Cedar Point to ride Top Thrill 2 during one of their passholder preview events. It was AMAZING – a day I will never forget.
We went back to Cedar Point later in the summer, hoping to ride Top Thrill 2 again, but alas, it never re-opened after it’s initial opening week. Fingers crossed for 2025!
Another massive highlight of the year was going back to Magic Kingdom and riding Tron! It’s been a “bucket list” roller coaster for Derrick for a long time and we LOVED getting to finally ride it! (Our full Magic Kingdom vlog comes out this coming weekend!)
Thank you all so much for your support and love for me and my little business!! I am living the dream and it’s because of you all! Cheers to an amazing 2025 – whatever it may bring!
And if you can’t get enough behind-the-scenes, check out:
2023’s version \ 2022’s version \ 2021’s version \ 2020’s version \ 2019’s version \ 2018’s version \ 2017’s version \ 2016’s version \ 2015’s version \ 2014’s version \ 2013’s version
