We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amanda Warda a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I am an Elopement and Intimate Wedding Photographer traveling to places like Sedona, The Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Southern Utah, and beyond. Something I do different with my photography is instill my Anthropology degree to uniquely capture and tell my subjects’ story. Anthropology is all about the study of humans, our origins, and our culture. I am a curious person behind the lens that aims to authentically capture my clients on their wedding days. On top of that, I create Cinematic GIF videos on top of my photo services. I create moving images into a wedding-video-esque presentation along with audio of their vows and music. This allows me to be a photographer and videographer all at once!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started in photography when I was young. My parents handed me Kodak film cameras to use on vacations and that’s where my passion started. I purchased my first DSLR camera in 2012, where I took portraits of my friends and a ton of senior portraits. From there I brought my passion into my undergraduate studies at Northern Arizona University, where I minored in Photojournalism and Documentary Studies. Though I graduated with a degree in Anthropology and Archaeology, I found myself consistently incorporating photography in all aspects of my career. I practiced Photogrammetry (3D Photography) at the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, created social media content for Virtue Cider, continued to take lifestyle portraits for friends and family, and furthered my education by taking wedding photography workshops around the country. The workshops immediately changed my career path and it was then that I found my passion for couples portraits and wedding photography. I founded my own portrait photography company, Earth Below Photo in 2017, where I specialized in Weddings and Couples Portraits. In between all of this time, my passion for the craft beer industry found its way into Earth Below Photo as well. Social Media Content Creation is also a part of my services now and I currently do work for Sedona Beer Company.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is connecting people to the outdoors. To be able to capture love stories in the great outdoors fuels me and fuels the couples in return. I love traveling and exploring the unknown, and because of this I’m able to bring my clients to places they’ve always wanted to visit or have never even dreamed up before. I conduct proper, safe, and respectful practices when it comes to photographing elopements in the outdoors. Our environments are fragile and leaving no trace is important on top of many other things!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The biggest thing that continues to build my reputation is my genuine love for the outdoors. I’m not just a traveling photographer, but outside of work I travel leisurely, hike, kayak, off-road in my wrangler…the list goes on. I am by nature an adventurous outdoorsy person. On top of that, I capture my travels along the way. This allows me to authentically lead my business and my inquiring clients can sense it all.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.earthbelowphoto.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/earthbelowphoto
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/earthbelowphoto
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/amandawarda/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvqyOy2K5lfgM8lZet5KPig
• Other: www.earthbelowcreatives.com

Image Credits
Photo credits to Earth Below Photo