So, Where Have I Been? A (Very Overdue) Life Update

If you've been here since the very beginning you might remember a blog post I wrote when I first launched my photography business. It was a proper introduction. Who I am, what I do, why I do it. The whole thing.

That was four years ago.

Four years.

So I figured it was probably time for a bit of a catch-up. A Lot Has Happened

The short version: I've shot a lot of weddings, got on a plane for a few months of solo travel across Southeast Asia, went full time, and launched a brand new website — this one, actually.

The long version? Well, that's what this post is for.

Life as a Wedding Photographer

Let's start with the obvious. Since that first blog post, I have shot a lot of weddings. More than I could have imagined when I was sitting there writing that first post.

Every single one has been completely different. Different venues, different couples, different vibes, different chaos. And honestly? That's still my favourite thing about this job. No two days are ever the same.

I could talk about the weddings themselves for pages — and I will, in posts to come. But this one's less about the weddings and more about what was happening behind the scenes while I shot them.

Solo Travelling South East Asia

The thing nobody tells you when photography becomes your job is that you start viewing every shot as the shot. Somewhere along the way I couldn't pick up a camera without over-analysing what I was doing — every image had to earn its place, every frame had to be perfect. Great instinct at a wedding. Less great on a Tuesday afternoon walk on the beach, or hanging out with friends, when the only thing that matters for those photos is capturing the memory — the content, not whether it's frameworthy.

I stopped taking the camera out "just because" and somewhere along the way, I started to miss it.

So I did something about it. I packed a bag, bought some flights, and went solo travelling across South East Asia. Not to find myself or anything - I just needed to remember the camera wasn't only a work tool. That I could pick it up on a random Tuesday with no brief, no couple, no timeline, and just... take photos of things I thought were beautiful.

Whale Sharks, Thresher Sharks, and Remembering What Wonder Feels Like

I went diving with whale sharks & thresher sharks and stood in places I’ve had on my pinterest travel board for as long as I can remember. Camera in hand for all of it.

And for the first time in a long time, I wasn't thinking about the shot. I was just... taking photos of things I thought were incredible. No brief. No timeline. 

It reminded me why I started.

The Ha Giang Loop, and Why Weddings Are Actually the Easy Part

There was one moment from the whole trip that I keep coming back to — and it's not the whale sharks, as incredible as that was.

It's the Ha Giang Loop in northern Vietnam (traveller cliché, I know). Three days on a motorbike through some of the most breath-taking landscapes I have ever seen. Limestone mountains folding into valleys, rice terraces catching the light, roads that wound so much you'd lose track of which direction you started in.

And I was taking photos of it. Hanging off the back of a motorbike going 70 miles an hour on roads that were, let's say, characterful.

No tripod. No time to think about composition. No ability to wait for the light to improve. I had approximately zero seconds to make a decision — one hand gripping the bike, the other pointing a camera at scenery that was gone before I'd even processed it. The photos aren't perfect. But some of them are genuinely beautiful — and I got them by pure instinct.

Weddings are easy in comparison.

I know exactly what's happening and when. I can think about the light. I can position myself. I have time to prepare for the moments I know are coming — and when something spontaneous happens, when someone unexpected bursts into tears or the flower girl goes completely rogue, I am very, very good at getting that shot with absolutely none of the prep. The Ha Giang Loop showed me that. I think the photos show it too.

What Travelling Alone Taught Me About People

Before the trip, being good with strangers meant reading a room at a wedding, where I already had context — a couple, a guest list, a reason to be there. It's what let me get a whole room to do something in thirty seconds, coax a group of lads who've had a few drinks into a usable group shot, or get a couple convinced they're terrible in front of a camera to forget I was there.

Travelling alone stripped all of that context away — no guest list, no shared occasion, sometimes not even a shared language. It forced me to lean into that same ability with nothing to fall back on. I made some of my best friends out there. People I'd never have met otherwise. People I'll know forever.

And the skill it built — the ability to walk into any room and make a genuine connection quickly — I feel it every single time I'm at a wedding now.

Because here's the thing: the more your guests like me, the better the photos are. If I'm on the dance floor with people rather than hovering on the outskirts, if I'm someone they actually want to include rather than a stranger with a camera they keep forgetting about — the shots are completely different. The energy is different. Everything is better.

Going Full Time (During a Cost of Living Crisis, Because Why Not)

Before I left, the idea of going full time with photography felt terrifying. I needed more bookings, more certainty, more proof that it would work. I needed everything in place before I could even consider it.

Coming back, I stopped waiting for the certainty I always thought I needed, and decided I already had enough to bet on myself. I threw myself in.

I've rebuilt this whole website from the ground up — because I wanted it to actually look like me, sound like me, and show the quality and style I've developed over the last four years. This isn't a refresh. This is a whole new thing. A proper new chapter.

What's Next

More weddings, for a start. That's the plan. That's always been the plan.

But also — more of this. More blog posts, more behind-the-scenes, more of the stuff that doesn't make it to the galleries but is absolutely worth talking about.

If you've made it to the end of this post: thank you. Really. Whether you're someone I've already had the privilege of photographing, or someone who just stumbled in from a Google search — I'm glad you're here.

And if you've got a wedding or an event coming up and you're looking for someone who will absolutely get on the dance floor with your guests, work brilliantly in moving vehicles at speed, and care deeply about every single shot — well, you know where to find me.

Ella x