We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lindsey Leigh. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lindsey below.

Lindsey , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Ironically my name is actually Lindsey Graham, one of those famous names but for all the wrong reasons. I get a lot of cracks from the TSA folks in the airport. As I live in South Carolina I knew I had to separate myself from the politics surrounding it. At every event someone would pull me aside and ask for my political opinions, or I’d be getting tagged on social media on accident when someone went on a rant. Leigh is actually my middle name.

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 picked up my first film camera back in high school, we lived overseas in Madrid at the time and I really connected with capturing the feeling of a place. Moving around so often I craved connection, photography gave me something tangible to hold onto, feelings to revisit. I have a lot of scrapbooks.

I eventually ended up on Folly Beach in South Carolina, initially to pursue a graduate degree in environmental science but stayed because of how much I fell in love with the community. I did a lot of wildlife photography back then, selling prints at the local farmers market on the weekends. I wasn’t making much money off my photos at the time, but my roommate’s girlfriend was a full time photographer and it was so exciting being around someone who was making a career out of it. I helped her out here and there, got my feet wet. Eventually the stars aligned and after being laid off from my full time job, I took the leap into wedding photography and never looked back. I don’t think I’d be here now if I hadn’t been faced with a do or die moment, it was an incredible risk.

I really enjoy the creativity that wedding photography allows. I love filling in candid moments and groomed portraits with landscape details, flowers might be in bloom, the weather, a hawk perched nearby. You really get to tell a story from a documentary approach and each event is unique. Everyone has a camera these days, but wedding photography is its own beast, it takes a keen eye and a deep understanding of lighting to show up anywhere and be successful in your location and styling. I really appreciate that it’s my job to make images that are going to be treasured for a lifetime. I get to be the artistic director, and it also feels pretty boss to command a crowd.

I’ve been dong this for so long now that the pressure of getting the shot has worn off, I am confident in being able to capture the day in its entirety. My new focus is finding ways to challenge myself; using a different lighting set up, trying new lenses, playing with perspective, and really bringing my style to each image. There is always something to learn, and new ways to see the same venues.

I still have that gnawing itch for wildlife photography, and eventually I’d love to steer my career back in that direction but the freedom of owning my time and having my days to myself outside of events, is everything. Wedding photography allows me the opportunity to pursue my passion photography projects, while still making a living.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I never had intentions of becoming a wedding photographer. I was an outdoor enthusiast, I wanted to do fieldwork and write papers. I’d spend my free time taking photos of birds, selling prints at a local farmers market, daydreaming about a trip to Costa Rica. I though I’d be taking my photography journey in a direction more focused on conservation and wildlife. It wasn’t until I was laid off from my job for an environmentally focused non profit that I realized if I wanted photography to be a full time job, I needed to shift my focus to profitable opportunities available to me in the Charleston area, I needed to find my way into the wedding industry.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

I signed up for an advertising campaign that was more than I thought I could ever afford. I spent months not getting any results, and just about cancelled the listing but I knew if I could hold out and just book one job off of it I’d break even. By some huge twist of fate a client reached out to me the day before the listing was going to expire and signed her email with {her name} followed by Arctic Research Program Manager. I uncharacteristically but without hesitation asked her about her background and career, and despite the fact that she was only looking for a wedding photographer I half jokingly offered my services as an expedition/wildlife photographer. Fast forward months later and she asks me to join a research team aboard the Coast Guard icebreaker the Healy to document their expedition up the Bering Strait to the Arctic Ocean. It was an experience that changed the entire trajectory of my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lindseyleighweddings.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liinzleigh/