We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia VonDreele a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Julia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.
I started looking for photography jobs when I got out of college in 2016 and found a company that needed assistants to help the photographer with the gear, lighting, and getting them what they needed for the day! Watching the photographers pose, guide, and help the wedding couple throughout the day made me realize that I wanted to do weddings and elopements since I was unsure of what kind of photography I wanted to do. I then began working as a contract photographer for multiple companies in the Denver area and began growing my portfolio! I quickly fell in love with what I was doing and absolutely fell in love with capturing people’s big day – the emotions, the community, and the experience are everything that’s full of life! When I’m guiding the couple, I help out with posing, keeping them on time as planned, and making sure they’re fully in the moment. The wedding day goes by so fast, so I like to ground my clients. Grounding helps them remember their day when it goes by in a flash!
After leaving my day job to become a full-time wedding and elopement photographer, it hasn’t always been easy. I never took business classes and this made me more eager to do it, and do it right! This also made me more appreciative of how far I’ve grown. It was a slow start with the number of weddings I had on my own but each year has easily doubled just from updating my website, social media, and word of mouth!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I started my photography business in 2022, but I started capturing weddings and elopements in 2017! I capture weddings of all sorts including elopements. I’ve begun my journey for international and destination elopements this year. I’ll be going to Iceland in July 2024 and am beyond stoked for what’s to come. My main goal is to capture couples on all 7 continents and guide them through their big day, whether that is an adventure elopement in Alaksa, a large wedding in an estate in Italy, or even just a picnic and champagne in the Colorado Rockies.
I was born profoundly deaf and wear cochlear implants to help me hear and communicate. I like to say that I “hear with my eyes” bringing my creative eye to the lens. I have a heightened awareness of my surroundings not depending on my hearing and I know this sets me apart from the next photographer.
I aim to be the couple’s personal cheerleader for the big day! I remind them to focus on the present, to be grounded, and to enjoy the little moments- whether that’s with the grandma dancing on the dance floor or the Eskimo kisses from their partner! I help them with decisions and some planning from the moment the couple hires me to the wedding day! I always like to be the best friend on the day since I am with them all day long. No other wedding vendor is with the couple for almost the entire day, except for the photographer. I remind the clients of this when in the consultation stages.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is feeling pure happiness when I’m with the couple on their wedding day. I’ve always been creative since I can remember. I loved drawing, taking photos on a disposable camera, and even dancing! When I am with the couple and they are having a great time, being present and not focusing on the timeline or talking to another vendor to secure some details, I am there to support them and document the day. When I chose to show the couple the back of my camera when I know I’ve gotten an epic shot and they exclaim in excitement, it makes my heart skip a beat! I love capturing the moments that are being frozen in time, literally. I have a horrible memory and when I look back on photos from years ago and I see it, I get transported back to that moment even if I completely forgot about it. Therefore, I feel that I am doing the same for all my clients. They will be 80 years old looking back at their wedding day from 60 years ago or so and smiling so hard that tears roll down their cheeks. This is what keeps me photographing, for documenting one of the best days of their lives!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media is hard! I’ve had trials and errors on how to attract, engage, and entertain my followers and new ones! There is no formula to this, and it’s been a struggle at times. I have to remember that I need to have fun with social media, too. I even have attended masterclasses by different people on building an audience on social media. I’ve learned many of the same things and many different things. The main thing has been to keep it consistent. My advice is to have fun with it really!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://juliasusannephotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliasusannephotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliasusannephotography
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/julia-susanne-photography-denver
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@juliasusannephotography
Image Credits
The photo of myself is by MKR Photos