“So, what kind of photography do you all do?” is a question I hear a lot. And it can appear that we have a wide variety of things that we photograph but we promise there is a bit of a method to our madness.
The main areas that we focus on are weddings, real estate photography, sports photography, and I will throw in landscape just to show you all some of Alan’s pretty photos :).
The evolution of CAM is that we started with taking sports photos and primarily Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as our focus. This is because Alan does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and originally we just took photos of friends etc at tournaments or for his school and it was just a nice way of having a creative outlet. We truly had 0 intentions of making it a business. Well then people began to ask to hire us so we started a business (even at that point we truly thought sports was it).
The emotions of this onlooker during a tournament was important for us to capture!
One amazing day we had a jiu jitsu couple we had known for awhile approach us and ask if we would photograph their wedding. I don’t remember all the specifics but it was more of them convincing us then us convincing them. I am pretty sure I used the phrase “Are you sure?” a few times. This couple gave me a perspective on our photography that I had never had before. The bride and I were chatting about things and she said something along the lines of, “We want you to photograph our wedding because of the photo journalistic style that you approach and event with. You try to tell the story of the event through your photos.” At this point, she was looking at all of our jiu jitsu tournaments and enjoyed not just the matches but how we also focused on the coaches hug at the end of a loss, or the sibling cheering loudly on the sidelines. This person, without probably knowing, helped us define why we love photography and what our true mission is with photography. We now call it our “candid style” but whatever you want to call it the long and short of it is that we love to capture the emotions of the day and there is nothing that has more emotions than a wedding! So, thanks to that brave couple who believed in us when I probably didn’t believe in myself we dove into weddings and have loved it ever since.
The joy and pride in this mother’s face during the mother son dance is so sweet to me!
Now on to real estate which is a bit out of left field from the naked eye. I have my brokers license (inactive for like a million years and have never done anything with it) but have always LOVED real estate. I could look at houses online for hours, seriously, even if I am not looking to buy. The reason I tell you all of this is because real estate for me is a passion. I get joy out of looking at houses. I also love being able to take great photos for a family to help them sell the house that they have loved and cherished and hearing what their favorite parts of the house that they think we should really highlight for a new potential buyer. A home is so personal and being able to take photos that are great, open and allow viewers to picture themselves in a home is important to me.
This is a long exposure photo in the outer banks….the long exposure is what gives the milky look to the water!
Lastly, Alan is amazing at landscape photography. Flip through our instagram for an occasional gem from a hike or beach trip! What I especially love is that his photos are always tied to an experience-usually just the two of us. We will have gotten up at sunrise at the beach with the family to take a photo and we have a few quiet moments just the two of us before everyone else wakes up. Or maybe we have taken a hike to see an amazing waterfall that very few people ever get to see. Whatever it is I love to look back on these really beautiful images he captures and remember the moments that led to that special photo.
So where is this blog even going? I promise I am going to try and wrap it up for you :) The things we photograph, we photograph because there is joy and passion in them or surrounding them. The passion of people: love while getting married, drive to do well during sports, the hike up a mountain for that special view, or even the urge to sell a home you have loved for years is what drives us and we are very thankful to any and all of you who have let us be part of your lives and document these moments for you. Now tell me what you are passionate about!
Happy Shootin’ -Meg