Celebrating Life Events and Connections as an Arizona Photographer

Why I’m a Photographer:
Meaningful Relationships

Real Clients, Real Moments
by David Orr Photography

Clients often ask me why I became a photographer, and what keeps me going. My first love with photography started out as a way to capture and remember nature: the beautiful landscapes, mountains, flowers, plants, bugs, and animals I encountered when camping and hiking. These places were (and are) so inspiring and energizing to me. I could stare at the intricacy of a flower and marvel at its color and shape, and wonder how the water and soil and sunlight came together to provide just the right conditions for it to grow in this one place and nowhere else.

I was fascinated by the abundance of life I found that was so different and often quite absent in the city where I lived. Nature helped me instantly forget about the day-to-day stresses of finances and work and obligations, and it still has that healing effect on me today. Photography helped me capture and preserve those meditative moments so that I could look back on them anytime I felt challenged or stressed in my everyday life.

Why I continue to be a photographer is a mix of why I started and something else as well: relationships and the special connections I make with my clients.

The clients pictured here are truly amazing and wonderful, and we are grateful that they have trusted us to capture some of the most special and significant events in their lives. This is just a glimpse of the creative imagery that we have created with them over the years.

When I finished college, some classmates/friends asked me to photograph their wedding. I had experience taking portraits of course, both in the studio and outdoors through the photography courses I had taken. I had even photographed a few events, such as Native American marketplaces and symphony concerts.

But I hadn’t photographed an event like a wedding, where the photos were so vital to documenting the day. I remember meticulously planning out how many rolls of film I would need at what ISOs, with a mix of color and black and white. I calculated how many total shots I could take for the day, and then divided that up into shots per hour and per minute. I even figured out when to change out film, so that I wasn’t reloading during a critical moment like the ring exchange or kiss. And of course I calculated print prices, put together a package, and calculated the costs of film, developing, prints, travel, etc. It is amazing to me to reflect back on where I had started, and how so much has evolved and changed with the art of capturing people and their life events through the latest technology.

The first wedding I photographed went well, though not as artistic or inspired as I had hoped. But once I had a plan and a framework, I knew where there was room within the wedding day to make time for more creative and artistic shots. And to my luck shortly thereafter, I was asked to photograph another wedding for a coworker.

Word of mouth began to grow.

Through my experience at these initial weddings, I realized that my photographic talent could be applied toward creating something beneficial and meaningful to not just myself, but for many others. That spark led Amanda and I to jump headfirst into wedding photography. We booked a booth at the big wedding trade show, put together some photo albums of our work, bought a couple easels to display everything, and designed a brochure that outlined our wedding photography services. Over the next 20 years, we grew and evolved our vision, not just in photo style, but also in how we wanted to serve our clients again and again.

As we continued to document weddings we soon expanded into engagement sessions: fun, pre-wedding portrait sessions where we got to know our clients before the hustle and bustle of the wedding day.

We learned what they did for a living, what they did for fun, and what mattered to them. And we formed the basis of a relationship. When we came together again for the wedding day, it was a joy to see all of their wedding plans and hopes that they talked about during the engagement come to fruition. And it was exhilarating to be a part of those unique plans!

The photography for our clients was becoming a larger part of the story of where they had come from, their new start together, and where they were going.

The special relationships we form with others is what motivates and inspires us the most as photographers and photo editors. It’s rewarding and exciting to see our clients’ hopes and dreams become reality.

We begin with the journey from the proposal to the engagement session to the wedding. And then, on to creating headshots for their new job opportunity, taking portraits to announce the arrival of their precious newborn child, capturing holiday photo moments of the whole family coming together, and documenting their high school seniors as they get ready to take on the world!

Yes, it is such an honor and a privilege to be a part of so many milestone moments in our clients’ lives, and to document those moments for them to cherish and share and reflect on throughout the years with our unique style and photo flair! 

Thank you for visiting and we can’t wait to share more photos and stories with you.

Please connect with us!
Let’s go on a journey and create some beautiful photo moments together!

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Thanks for reading!
- Amanda and David Orr