Weddingbee PRO

When I was married in 2003, I was the bride who wanted the big wedding with all the personal touches.  Since I was constrained by budget, I decided that I’d do most of it myself, with the help of friends and family when possible.  Everything meant something special to me, and because I had worked so hard on it, it meant that much more to have it all captured beautifully.  To be honest, I didn’t really set out to become a wedding photographer.  If anything, I wanted to become a wedding planner - as I think many brides do after living through a year of planning their own wedding!  However, fate had different plans for me.

Photography was always something I had done for myself, to create art for my walls, or to capture every little part of my life which has seemed to move too quickly for my memory to capture all on its own.  I had studied art intensely throughout my childhood and learned the technical side of photography through self study and experimentation during high school on a 1979 manual Olympus 35mm handed down to me by my uncle, but I never really had a vision of photography being anything more than something I enjoyed on a selfish level.

I’ve always enjoyed helping others- so when a bride on the knot said that one of her family members had bailed out on taking photos for her wedding, I figured I’d offer to stand in, thinking I couldn’t really be all that worse than another amateur photographer.  After realizing the gravity of what I had just offered (even though it was her 3rd marriage), I wanted to practice on anyone I could find.  I started becoming more serious about the images I captured at friends’ weddings, and I learned how to work with posing people by asking my friends if they’d be models for me.  I found photography to come surprisingly easy to me, and everyone I shared my work with talked about how much they loved my images, sometimes even more than the professional photographers that they had hired!!  (And I have to be honest when I say that I remember seeing a lot of not-so-great photographers when we were searching for someone for our own wedding!  We definitely got lucky!!)

After photographing my first wedding, I was hooked.  I loved everything about it!!  It was hard work and even with film, there was a lot of time spent behind the computer manipulating images to get the perfect balance of exposure, color, and tone but it was the first time I felt like I was doing something that used all of my creative talents.  My friends shared my work with all of their friends and family members and before I knew it, I could hardly keep up with the demand!

I’ve learned a lot along the way, and I still treat every wedding as if it’s my own- recording it as I would want mine recorded - every little moment, every little detail, every bit of emotion and passion and excitement…  so that it can all be preserved forever.

One of my goals as a wedding photographer, is to help my brides have the best wedding day possible.  In my eyes, a happy bride is a beautiful bride!!  I love sharing the wisdom I’ve gained along the way about what does and doesn’t work, and what things brides can consider to help their wedding day run smoothly and photograph beautifully.

At this point, I’ve photographed over 100 weddings, and every single one has been different!  I never take wedding traditions for granted, even if I think I know what to expect.  I really love all of the different things that people do to make their wedding day unique and personal- which is why I feel it’s really important to get to know my couples on a personal level before I even start photographing them.  Taking the time to understand couples and their unique qualities first really helps me appreciate the things that are important to them, so that I can fine tune my eye to the things that will ultimately have the most meaning for them.

Come to think of it, it really wouldn’t even matter if it was a wedding day; it could just be any regular day and I would still love the process of getting to know people personally and photographing them in their daily routine.  It’s such a soulful experience to get to know someone to the point of  falling in love with who they are, and then to turn that love and appreciation into a photo that captures their essence.  I don’t take for granted the responsibility that I have to tell stories through images, and when done well, it’s my biggest challenge and my biggest reward.

On the business and personal side of things, I believe strongly in the following:
- Protecting our natural resources by reducing waste and energy use
- Sharing knowledge and resources in order to help others become successful
- Living a balanced life that reflects my larger priorities and relationships with family and friends (not always easy!!)

My addictions:
- Starbucks (even though I’m kind of allergic to caffeine!)
- Apple/Mac Products
- Freshly baked bread
- Framboise Lambic (for special occasions)
- Audio Books
- Going to the Movies
- Pad See Ew
- Live Music (anything from opera to acoustic jam)
- Bubble Tea Smoothies
- Traveling the world
- Experiencing other cultures
- Political Comedy
- Optimism

Other places you’ll find me on the web:
Website: http://www.anneruthmann.com
Photography Blog: http://anneruthmann.blogspot.com
Business Blog: http://www.photolovecat.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Anne-Ruthmann/38502036
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annemarlow

Oh yes, and I have a dog who is ridiculously too cute for her own good…