“My images are not just photographs; they are unscripted, captured moments in time.”

This interview was made possible by our friends at DomainNameSales.com:

 

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Lori Johnson is a freelance photographer specializing in wedding photography, event coverage, and portraiture.

Lori J Photography provides wedding, event, and portrait photography to the Denver Metro Area, Colorado Mountain towns, and beyond. The goals of Lori’s services are to provide individuals with a means of art to show their expressions of their in lives and have fun doing it.

MO: When and how did you realize that you were passionate about photography? Who or what were your early inspirations?

Lori: My boyfriend, now husband, bought me a camera for Christmas one year. I don’t know why I wanted a camera and neither did he. It was expensive and so was the film. I started playing around with the settings and developing role after role. When people saw the photos, they asked who took them. I started to realize that I had an eye and a love for photography. If I didn’t get a camera as a gift, this might have never happened. Now I realize that good photographs always caught my eye. I find that I stare at photos and see them as real pieces of art.

I think I was inspired by black and white photographs, I thought that black and white photography made ordinary objects turn into something to be admired and worth a longer glance. Things such as locks, doors, sand, patterns on trees, or even trash developed into something else.

MO: You started your business and received all of your clients by word of mouth. Has your marketing strategy changed or is all of your business still based all on referrals?

Lori: I would say that it has changed. I still get a lot of word of mouth referrals from friends, family, and previous clients, but to grow as a business it takes a lot more. I like to network and find people who can help me grow as a business and as a photographer. I am involved with vendors who help support me and my business and vice versa. I find myself learning lots of other tasks like marketing and website coding just to promote myself and my business. It is interesting the many hats I wear compared to when I just got a simple phone from a friend who has a friend who needed a photographer.

MO: What is your favorite kind of event or wedding to photograph?

Lori: No two weddings or events are the same! There is such closeness and emotion that is shared in these events as people put in so much meaningful detail and I am able to capture so much more than just objects or people through my lens. That is why I have chosen people and events as my artistic subject.

MO: You see wedding photography as not just photojournalism but as an art form. How does this approach translate in the photos that you take?

Lori: I think my images convey emotion. My images are not just photographs; they are unscripted, captured moments in time. These moments are not scripted, cannot be replicated, and bring out the true personalities of the people I photograph. Art evokes feeling and when brides and grooms look at the wedding pictures I took and they are brought back to a state of emotion such as happy or joy. I have conveyed their wedding as a piece of art to be re-experienced each time they look at the photographs

MO: Are there any trends in wedding photography that you’ve notice over the past few years?

Lori: I have noticed trends. Brides and Grooms now are looking for instant gratification. Therefore getting the images of their weddings ASAP is a must! Also in the past when people found they were getting married they would book a photographer right away as least a year in advance, recently, this is not the case. I am getting bookings as close to a one to three months before a wedding.

As always, I love seeing all of the new fashion and décor trends of wedding. Such as new designs of gowns, dresses, tuxes or the creativity of rings, shoes, and cakes.

MO: Can you tell our readers why you’re excited to have teamed up with an organization called myweddingdaysaver.com? How will this partnership impact your business?

Lori: I am really excited about being a vendor of myweddingdaysaver.com. They have hand selected their vendors for the Denver Metro Area and I happen to be one of the few. Being selected is a great compliment to my work.

Being a part of this will encourage a strong sense of community between other artistic wedding vendors. I will be able to obtain additional business, work with like-minded individuals, and really strive to keep up with trends in the wedding business for better services to newly engaged couples.