Hello, friends! It’s been awhile since we’ve updated our blog with any of our recent sessions and weddings, which we hope to get caught up soon, but today we’re coming to you with BIG news.
We’ve had the privilege of photographing over 60 weddings over our years in business as a husband & wife wedding photography team. We’ve worked with the best vendors & staff, networked with other amazing photographers and built out our portfolio in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Nevada & more. We’ve made true friends with so many of our couples and love seeing them year after year for anniversary photos, maternity photos or holiday photos. Seeing their families grow is such a joy and we know that we will continue to keep in touch with them as the years go on.
It is with mixed emotions we share that after 7 years of photographing weddings, 2022 will be our last year photographing weddings.
Over the years, we have thoroughly enjoyed photographing weddings together as a husband & wife team. It has given us the chance to pursue our passion of photography (the one that allowed us to meet in the first place) as well as work together as a team to cover a wedding day like most single shooter wedding photographers can’t. We know each other’s strengths, divide and conquer the shot list and we’re able to cover all the smallest details without so much of a word to one another. After 7 years of shooting, we really do have it down to a system; one that comes so easily to us that we know how to handle any problem that might arise. There really is something to be said about hiring a professional because experience really is important when it comes to photographing the most important day of your life.
You might be thinking, “Why stop now?” And the short answer is, we have different priorities now.
When we started this business after we got married in 2014, we were both working jobs that barely paid the bills. We needed to photograph weddings to allow us to save money away. It was also years before we would have children. So running out on the weekends, spending 8-10 hours at a wedding and driving home the same night after midnight was feasible for us. We loved traveling for weddings, especially when we got to go to a new venue or to a destination spot. We loved giving it our all to our couples and coming home to rest the next day with no agenda other than sleeping.
But now, life is different. Michael is working a very demanding outside sales job and he wants to spend his weekends resting for the next work week. While I’m no longer in the workforce officially, in addition to running our business behind the scenes I also stay home with our daughter and son, who I am now homeschooling. Being away from them for any amount of time wears on them and when we’re gone for a whole day shooting, they don’t always handle it well. It throws off their routine and ours and it’s hard to get back in the groove once the routine is thrown off. And I don’t know about your kids, but ours are high energy and so when they’re awake, there is not a lot of downtime. Resting for mom and dad is a thing that only happens when they’re asleep. And when we’ve come back from a long wedding day, what we need most is rest. Photographing weddings is a hard job. Not only is it physically taxing, but it’s also creatively and mentally tiring as well. And of course, our job doesn’t end when the day ends. We have hours and hours of editing on the backend to do that takes up much of our downtime for the next 2 weeks or more after the wedding.
Choosing to stop photographing weddings isn’t a decision that we made lightly, but it is one that we know is right for us. This decision has been a long time in the making and something we’ve pondered over the last few years as we’ve had children, changed jobs and overall just started seeking a simpler life. We want to have true rest when we’re not working. We want to be present with our kids and not miss a moment that we don’t have to. We want time to plan out a homeschool year that cultivates a love a learning and adventure. We want our downtime to be our own and not have weekend obligations if we don’t want them. We want more time with family and friends and more time for each other.
While I can’t say that I thought we’d photograph weddings forever, I am a bit saddened to be hanging our hats. We love every single one of our clients and we’re so thankful all 60+ couples have trusted us to photograph their wedding days. It has been an incredible honor to witness so many beautiful memories being made and to capture them in photograph form to be looked back at for years to come. It is humbling, to say the least, that our work could be looked back on for generations and generations to come, with grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Humbled. Honored. Blessed.
Now, for those of you wondering, this doesn’t mean the end of Rowlands Photography. We will still be available for photo sessions and we will happily do anniversary & maternity sessions for our past clients, as well as mini sessions a few times a year. It will likely just be me (Chelsea) who is photographing the sessions, but Michael might make an appearance now and then. So while we’re saying goodbye to weddings, we’re not walking away from photography altogether. Photography started as the hobby we loved as teens, and turned into concert photography which allowed us to meet at the NorVa, which became a business for fun when we got married, and developed into a full-blown wedding photography business 7 years later. Photography will always be a part of who we are.
So, to our past clients, we love you and appreciate you and your support over the years. We would be nowhere without you trusting us to capture your day. You’ve supported our family so well over the past 7 years and cheered us on along every step of the way. We’re so thankful for the ongoing friendships we’ve formed with you all.
To our current 2021-2022 clients, we are in no way giving you a lesser version of Rowlands Photography. On your day, we are going to be working just as hard as we always have to ensure you have the best wedding day and the most beautiful images to look back on. You’re getting the height of our expertise after 7 fun years of shooting and you better believe we’re going to go out with a bang! We can’t wait to close out this chapter of our lives with YOU!
Thank you all for your support of our wedding photography business and family over the years. We can’t wait to get you in front of our cameras for a session this fall!
Blessings,
Michael & Chelsea
rowlandsphotography.com
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See other personal posts here:
Rowlands Family Photos 2020
Behind the Scenes 2020
Our Maternity Session 2020
So happy for you and your beautiful family!! We feel so blessed that Evelyn and Harrison will be part of your farewell tour!!!! We love you !!!
cheering for y’all!!! While 2022 will only be my fourth year, it’ll be my last as well! I think we have very similar priorities / paths that we are going down in life! 🙂 Y’all are amazing!
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