37 FramesThere is a phrase we see everywhere now, on websites, Instagram bios, TikTok reels, and every second email from new photographers: “We capture moments. We tell stories. No posing, just real emotion.”
And we smile. Because yes, of course that is so important and so beautiful. But also, where have you been?
The New Wave and the Old Soul
We love the new generation of photographers. Their energy, their optimism, their reverence for emotion. It is beautiful to see people stepping into the world of visual storytelling with heart. But sometimes, we watch the rise of what feels like a collective rebranding of truths that have existed in this craft for decades, repackaged like they were just discovered last week with a new LUT and a slightly melancholic piano track.
Our generation did not have mood boards. Or Pinterest. Or YouTube tutorials walking you through “how to be a documentary wedding photographer in 7 easy steps.” We started on film. We worked in darkrooms. We had a different type of pressure. We had to get it right in camera. And every story we told was learned with sweat, intuition, and real time humanity, not trends.
We were part of the generation that helped shape what wedding photography is today. And we’re so proud of that. We saw the shift. We were the shift.
But Do You Really Know What a Moment Is
Anyone can take a photo of someone crying. But can you feel why they are crying in the image. Can you show us that it is not just about the tear, but about the years and layers of feeling it took to get to that moment. Can you tell the story of the grandmother who flew across the world to witness it, or the groom who has not seen his brother since they were kids.
Moments are not just about timing. They are about depth. They are about meaning. And sometimes they are quiet. Invisible. They do not make the highlight reel but they are the story.
It Is Not Just a Photo, It Is a Responsibility
We have always said this work is part artist, part therapist, part logistics manager, part ninja. On any given wedding day, we are keeping the light right, the energy grounded, the dress off the floor, the family dynamics from derailing the timeline, and the story at the center.
It is not just about a first look. It is about making sure the bride feels safe enough to actually feel it. It is knowing how to hold space for emotion, and how to step back when it is too private to touch.
The Psychology of Storytelling
We teach our team, and the young talented photographers we mentor, that storytelling does not start with a camera. It starts with your nervous system. It starts with your emotional intelligence. It starts with knowing people. Not just where the light falls, but where the pressure points are. Where the insecurities live. Where the magic hides.
Great photography comes from a psychological place, often one we do not even understand in the moment. The best images are felt before they are seen. That is why we lean into instinct, into knowing when to press the shutter and when to just breathe.
What Experience Really Means
We now teach many up and coming wedding creatives through our mentorship program. We need the youth, their passion, their energy, their way of seeing. We learn from them daily. We are grateful to be surrounded by that kind of excitement. It is infectious, it is transferable.
The one thing that does not arrive with all that passion is experience. And what does experience really mean?
To us it means living. It means having a body of memories to draw from when you step into someone else’s story.
It is the heartbreak that taught you gentleness. The joy that taught you generosity. The many long haul flights that taught you patience. The immigration office that taught you perseverance. The late night hospital corridor that taught you how to hold a hand in silence.
The move to a new country that taught you how to listen. The months of freelance uncertainty that taught you how to create under pressure. The mornings you watched the sun rise after no sleep and found so much beauty with your person sitting beside you. Caring for aging parents. Standing in a doorway after bad news and choosing to keep going. Losing work overnight and rebuilding from nothing. Sitting with grief until it softened into tenderness. Learning how to apologize well. Learning how to forgive quickly. Learning to rest without guilt (I know, this one’s still a work in progress for us…).
Saying goodbye when you wanted to stay. Missing a milestone because flights did not align. Loving people well from far away. Building a business. Failing, then rebuilding. Teaching, and being changed by your students. Reading widely. Walking alone. Cooking for friends. Hosting people at your table. Learning another language badly, then a little better.
Choosing kindness when it costs you time. Practicing discipline when no one is watching. Sitting with boredom. Truly surrounding yourself with deep wonderful relationships in your life. Friends you can call upon at 2am, family who show up and support you through every moment and event. Building relationships with people. All people. From all walks of life.
These are the layers that give weight to storytelling. They are the reason a photograph can carry more than information. They are the quiet proof that you understand what a moment costs.
To the Next Generation
We encourage this next generation to go and live. Travel when you can. Work jobs that are not glamorous and learn from them. Study light, but also study people, literature, psychology, music, cinema, architecture. Learn how food and ritual bind families. Learn to rest. Keep a journal. Try therapy. Learn to be present. Learn to be kind.
Your work will deepen when your life deepens. The stories you tell will only get better when you have lived a few of your own.
There is a skill in carrying the lessons you learn through life and translating them through the lens on a wedding day. In the way you speak to anxious parents. In the quiet you create during getting ready. In the patience you bring to portraits. In the way you notice the in between, not just the obvious.
We are so proud of our students. We cannot wait to see how they grow, year after year, frame by frame.
Posing, Directing, Presence
We do not pose. We do direct. There is a difference. We create space. We guide energy. We understand that sometimes what looks candid took intention and orchestration and the trust of the people in front of us.
Real emotion does not always happen in front of a lens naturally. Sometimes it needs a safe place to land. That is what we always try to create.
We don’t need more photographers trying to “not pose.” We need more photographers trying to understand the why behind the photo.
We need artists. Interpreters. Visual poets.
So yes, capture the moments. But understand them, too. Learn how to craft them. To guide them gently. To notice what others miss.
That’s the quiet revolution in wedding photography. Not trendy. Not loud. Just real. Felt. Lived.
And we’re so here for it.
This Is About Legacy
We are writing this because it’s been on our mind recently. And because words like moment and cinematic and documentary are starting to lose their meaning in a sea of sameness.
Couples deserve more than a gallery of soft light and shallow depth of field. They deserve storytellers who know how to feel their love story. Who know how to tell it with intention, with care, with heart.
We Have Seen It All, And We Are Still Learning
We have worked in every kind of light, every kind of weather, with every kind of family dynamic you can imagine. We have shot weddings in windstorms, with jetlag, across languages, religions, and cultures. We have had cameras break, timelines collapse, dresses rip, tempers flare, and we have still created meaning. Because it is what we do.
And still, we are students of this craft. We still learn. We still feel undone by a look, a gesture, a sunset, a moment that arrives unannounced. We are not new to this. But we are always looking for connection.
To Our Couples
We know you are tired of reading about candid moments and moody storytelling. Just know that we see you. We know you want more. You deserve it.
You want photography that is not just trendy, but timeless. Not just cool, but connected. You want someone who does not just show up with presets and a plan, but with presence.
We have walked with hundreds of couples. Through the chaos and the calm, through the expected and the intimate, through the moments they planned and the ones they never saw coming.
For us, it has never been just about the photo. It has always been about the people in it. Wedding photography storytelling isn’t a catchphrase. It’s a calling.
And moments? They’re the beginning.
But meaning… that’s the art.
37 Frames
