Education

Growing up, I was THE absolute worst person to buy presents for. My family had always expressed their frustration with me, because in their words, “I was difficult and picky.” In their recollections, I would rather wear the same thing every day than to wear something I didn’t like. What can I say? I liked what I liked.

In some ways that still rings true today. Before I began my career in photography, I never had any idea of what my photography style would be. I wasn’t sure if I was moody, bright and airy, editorial, joyful, or adventurous, I liked it all! To me, a photograph was the most powerful when it’s raw, intentional, emotional, and tells a story, regardless of what the style was. I just knew what photos made a strong impact on me, so I let that (and the Instagram algorithm) guide me.

Over time, my style of photography has evolved and gone back and forth a few times, but with each wedding and portrait session, things became clearer and clearer. I realized that I loved the look of film photography. I loved muted tones, graininess, and a bit more contrast. I love how timeless, but I also love weddings that are eclectic and fun. I love the feel of documentary photos, but also love to create editorial shots as well. In short, I didn’t like to be boxed in to a certain category. There simply isn’t a one sentrance phrase to describe my work in words, you just have to look and see if you feel something.

But now that I’ve established that, I realized I needed a website to reflect that change.

When did I know it was time for a change?

I knew I was beginning to outgrow my website when I started exploring the websites of photographers that I really admired. A website re-design is in a lot of ways, very similar to a home renovation. Your website is supposed to be welcoming to guests and visitors and should speak to your overall aesthetic and style. And mine gave my photos a space to be displayed but didn’t allow it shine.

Truth be told, up until now, my old website was created based on a hodgepodge of features from various websites I liked from various free templates that ShowIt had offered. It wasn’t perfect, but I still took pride in the fact that it helped get me discovered by some of my favorite clients and I will always be grateful for it.

Of course, I had the usual thoughts. Did I really need a new website? I was getting a steady amount of inquiries with my old one. Why fix what isn’t broken? Having a nice Instagram feed is enough right. A new website = $$. And that’s money I can use for myself!

But as my business grew and I was getting more inquiries especially in working with wedding planners and I knew that if I wanted to continue to grow as artist, I had to take some time and truly invest in my website and properly showcase my work. Most importantly, I wanted my website to be a hub where photographers can have use it as a resource so that they can grow too. And in order to do that I needed to have a website that is professional, structured, efficient, and reflects my style. Because it will ultimately help you attract the type of clients you want to work with. And that to me, is a worthy investment.

New Website, who’s this?

Luckily for me, as “difficult and picky” as I am, I already had a website designer in mind: Foil & Ink by Jacki Miller! Truth be told, I have admired Jacki’s work for a few years now! It just so happened that every website that I’ve seen and liked, have been designed by Foil & Ink. I’ve always thought that her designs were timeless, modern, stylish, and sophisticated.

Working with Jacki + team has been a really smooth and seamless process. Jacki’s brand discovery process also helped me verbalize what I liked and didn’t like. I realized that while I liked minimalist style and structure, I also didn’t like anything too plain and simple. Color was important to me, but only in muted and desaturated tones. It was important to me that my photos to felt ethereal and dreamy yet also bold and artistic. I wanted to evoke a sense of fun, spontaneity, and excitement.

In the end, I could not be happier with the end product. It took a lot of work, but I am so thankful to Jacki and team for being patient and helping me put together my dream website. It was a big project but I finally feel at peace with my new brand and website. Thanks so much to Jacki and Foil & Ink for my new “home.”

Thanks for reading,

Moni