A year of C+B!
A year ago I got my official notice that Color and Beam was a registered LLC so I guess May 16 is a mile marker from here on out. A year and some change of doing this full time, after having a little army of people encourage me to make the jump, wow!
Many muscles built, lots of sacrifices made, and a ton of trust being graciously given to me by clients. I’m not going to say I wouldn’t change a thing, because there’s loads to change - after all it’s only been one year! But man, am I grateful for it all.
Here’s a look back at some growing moments over the past year!
MARCH 2022
Usually from my bedroom floor (because I didn’t have a desk) I read so many articles on how to start a business, touching on everything from state filing to paying taxes. I felt imposter syndrome to a huge degree, and also was never sure I was hitting everything I needed, but somehow figured it out. My business degree ironically did not prepare me for starting my own business.
MAY 2022
On 5/16 I got my electronic notice that Color and Beam was an official LLC. Naturally, I received it at my dining room table because again, no desk, but you celebrate where you can.
5/22/22 was Color and Beam’s first official wedding! At this point, I had shot 4 weddings as the lead shooter, but this was C+B’s big debut. I was spoiled with an incredible vendor team, second shooter, weather, and couple. And it has only gone downhill since. Just kidding, but this day really was close to perfect. More on this wedding later.
Drove from this wedding to California over the next few days. I figured as work would pick up with the rest of the year, I’d have a little less flexibility to take trips like this. I had been wanting to drive California’s coast on Highway 1 for quite some time, so lucky for me, my boss approved squeezing this trip in a 12 day gap between weddings.
A big part of wanting to work for myself was to have to freedom to take spontaneous trips and work on my own schedule. Weddings take up a lot of weekends, so I wanted to capitalize on the fact that I could be anywhere else on non-wedding days. I vividly remember taking an inquiry call as I rode shotgun and drove from Santa Barbara into LA near the end of this trip- kind of unconventional but I booked that wedding and then shot it the following May.
SUMMER 2022
I shot a few more weddings and watched some of my friends get married over the summer. Even as a guest I couldn’t figure out how to show up without a camera. (It was just a disposable and I never used it during ceremony - I have etiquette I promise).
Also learned how much I love being sent home from weddings with flower arrangements - they’re the ultimate party favor and kind of the best way to thank you photographer (besides reviews + tips) ((just being real)).
SEPTEMBER 2022
I ended up back at my parent’s house while in the area for a Dallas wedding one weekend, and dug through a box of photos from their wedding. Although these (below) weren’t the ones from their hired photographer that are in the nice big album, they were the ones we had the most fun flipping through. It’s kind of surreal to think about someone’s kids doing that with photos I’ve taken 20 years from now.
The mountains called and I had to go! Kiiiiiidding. But I do have some amazing friends that have always been supporters of my work. And in September supporting my work meant letting me stay at their place and take pictures of them near the mountains in hopes of returning someday to shoot some weddings.
This month I also got to shoot one of my dearest friend’s engagement! Nothing gets me quite as anxious as hiding in a tree waiting for the proposal to happen. I know I’m not the one proposing but I swear I am more nervous than the person asking. But also nothing beats the feeling of witnessing two people that are truly in love confess it and start their lives together. Stomach butterflies - so worth it.
I found this screenshot in my camera roll from 9/26/22 - October was ready to come full force ahead and looking back now that is absolutely insane.
OCTOBER 2022
I started off October with a freakin bang. Got to witness the start of so many marriages of couples that trusted me to document their big days. This month really felt like a “I made it month” as I traveled all across Texas for these weddings. Also, it’s mandatory to stop at La La Land for a matcha whenever in Dallas - I don’t make the rules.
And for good humor the last picture is me silently celebrating at 2am after completing my last of 4 weddings in 8 days, all while trying not to wake my roommate.
And in typical Haley fashion, a 12 day gap meant another trip to California. I mailed off the film from those 4 weddings and left the laptop at home while I got to spend some time in Yosemite Valley. Over that week I turned 25, did my first ever multi-pitch and trad climb, and rested a ton, even while sleeping on the ground. I also saw an elopement almost every day while there and felt a little naked without my camera, but it was so good for me.
I can’t stress enough how grateful I am to have a job that lets me do stuff like this. I came back to Texas feeling so rested and inspired and jumped back into another 3 weddings to finish out the month - I don’t think that would’ve been possible if I was at home editing that whole time in between. Disruption brings changed vision, and Yosemite was a powerful disruption to my day to day.
DECEMBER 2022
Finished out my last 4 weddings of the year by shooting for one of my high school best friends. I’ve heard a lot of photographers say they’d rather attend or be in their friend’s weddings than shoot them. But I love being able to share my gift with some of my favorite people, and plus I get the spend the whole day with them (also my control issues would have a hard time watching someone else do the job). Here’s our high school crew plus spouses..
JANUARY 2023
I said no to every wedding inquiry for January. It was something I planned for months leading up to it, knowing I wanted to prioritize rest (and not the kind of rest where I am slingshotted back into work). I used the time to get creative in ways other than photography. Although I did have photoshoot with my friends before one of my roommates moved away - can’t ever stray too far.
I thoughtfully set some goals for the year and began to get into reading and gardening. I was also able to give more time to climbing and running - two things that had taken the back burner through busy season. I also perfected the BLT, but don’t ask me how the pull up is coming along.
FEBRUARY 2023
Started off my 2023 wedding season with 3 months of an every-other week cadence. One weekend one, one weekend off - it was such a good way to ease back into shooting after about a 6 week gap since my last wedding.
With this cadence I had time to begin to tackle paying my first year’s worth of taxes (a doozy), pick up a ceramics class, attend a seminar by the photographer that has shaped my work’s style the most, and personally shoot more film.
For my second wedding of the year, Brooke +. Parker had me shoot their rehearsal dinner the night before at The Riley Building downtown. While dinner was beginning, I happened to look out the window and spot Evan + Julia (the couple I shot at my 4th wedding as lead!) walking down the street with their pup, Rex. Crazy thing was their wedding is how Brooke + Parker found out about me. That moment felt like assurance that this is totally where I’m supposed to be, both in big picture terms and physically in that moment.
MARCH 2023
March was so full. Full of travel, full of creativity, full of grief, full of community.
I got to travel with my mentor Sarah to a few of her out of state/country weddings. Coming at the perfect time, this week helped me get lost in work and gave me a deeper insight as to why I look up to Sarah so much. She is a confident, talented, creative visionary when it comes to photography and also a level of quippy I strive to be. Plus her encouragement to have a pre-wedding bloody mary is a great influence.
Back in Texas I got work alongside “friendors”, friends who are also wedding vendors that make this job so much sweeter. Either on a job site, taking an admin day from a coffee shop together, or walking the trails and relating about industry struggles as well as dreams, this trade has some of the best. They were able to help balance and support me through an honestly tough time, and encourage me to continue to serve my couples well even when it got really hard to do so. Because of that, this month I shot two weddings that I am really, really proud of. Having community through work is such a freakin gift.
In the last week of March, Brides of Houston printed their Spring/Summer issue and featured the first C+B wedding from back in May. I remember poring over those Brides of Austin magazines in college, (they were always intentionally dropped off at my all girls dorm and sorority house) and tagging pages because of certain images that evoked emotion in me. I wasn’t doing so to plan my own future wedding, rather I felt straight up inspired by some of the features. I should’ve known I’d be a wedding photographer then. And now images I took were printed in that same magazine. Talk about a full circle moment.
APRIL 2023
At Easter this year my Grandma requested that I show her some wedding photos I had taken, so I rebutted asking her to dig up her wedding album. Since she’s not on social media she hadn’t seen any of my work, and I realized I had somehow never seen her wedding photos either. We spent a while going through her heirloom album and later asked my my aunt + uncle (who were hosting that year) to pull out their album as well.
Both albums gave me inspiration in a few ways. My Grandma’s showed me the importance of shooting in a timeless style. While looking through these, no one was cringing at the edits, or rolling their eyes saying “that was so 1960.” These photos told the story of a wedding, and the only marker of time was the clothing. My aunt + uncle’s 2010 elopement album showed me how much I love the candid moments, and how much of a style piece a pair of sunglasses can be.
But the biggest takeaway was that decades after the big day, (in one case 60+ years later) family may be crowded around a wedding album, thumbing through the photos that prompt stories to be told. The pictures may be the only visual representation younger generations have to remember their family. Preserving these moments in time as a photographer is a huge honor.
Later this month I hit both coasts in the matter of a week - the west coast for some r&r (while sneaking in a San Diego sunset portrait session) and the east coast for a very important secret proposal!
I had to often pinch myself because this kind of flexibility is so far from what I had in my first job out of college. In 2 week’s time, I was able to shoot a wedding in Austin, surf at La Jolla, shoot a sunset session at Torrey Pines in San Diego, beach bum in LA, deliver a wedding from March, rock climb in Malibu, play tourist in NYC, catch a show on Broadway, capture a proposal in Greenpoint (and pull off the surprise!), use my handycam to record the after party, and celebrate my newly engaged friends.
MAY 2023
Officially one year in! May 2023 brought C+B’s first birthday! In addition to the birthday shindigs (and spending way to much of an editing day to bake this cute orange cake), May had 6 weddings and 10 sessions, but that’s busy season, baby!
I can vividly remember last May driving home from a wedding, crying (in a good way) in the car thinking about how much had changed in the last year. May 2021 I shot my first wedding ever as lead, and just one year later in May 2022 I made the jump and shot my first wedding as a full time wedding photographer. May 2023 marked a year of being official, while still figuring it out.
I won’t say I wouldn’t change a thing, because in this first year of business I sacrificed a lot, and some of those ways I regret. I missed friend’s weddings, occasionally put work over relationships, and sometimes fell victim to shooting for unsaid expectations rather than trusting my artistic eye.
But I also gained a lot. I learned how to value my work, how to show up each wedding day without a script already written, and how to take time off (ok maybe that one wasn’t too hard).
I also learned a lot about my own style. I’m more drawn to celebrations that emphasize the marriage and the gathering of people over production heavy weddings or doing something just for the shot. I think the photos that grow in value over time are the ones that capture real moments, moments that weren’t on the timeline, can’t be replicated, and make me feel so lucky to have been in the right place at the right time. It makes them so rich in worth. My role on a wedding day is not a writer, but a story teller of the day that unfolds.
I genuinely believe the “magic” of a vintage candid photos lies in the subject’s lack of concern for the camera’s presence, and better yet their lack of concern for how they look in said photograph. I want to shoot the unprompted, the real emotions, the perfectly imperfect - and a year ago I couldn’t verbalize that.
I will say this: I still haven’t figured out how to take business calls conventionally (because sometimes they just have to happen post-Barton springs swim) and have yet to master the art of minimizing the number of cameras I bring with me on a wedding day. But there’s always room for growth!
Happy birthday, Color and Beam - here’s to many more!