Spring has sprung and we’re here to celebrate with another vendor feature, one of our favorite Maryland wedding photographers! To honor the good weather coming, I’m featuring an amazing photographer and someone I consider my personal slice of sunshine. Seriously, I’m always in a good mood around Jillian from Bombs over Betty Photography. And don’t even get me started on the photos! Looking for that “wow” shot of your father laughing during the toast? How about for someone to capture your future hubby’s little smile as you come down the aisle? Jillian is your girl. From big picture shots all the way down to the small candids that will make you smile years from now, looking through a B.O.B wedding album makes you feel like you’re right there in the wedding again.
So how did you get started in wedding photography?
I am originally from Western Maryland. A tiny little town called Cumberland. But since I graduated high school, I traveled to Salisbury University where I studied photography. After I graduated in 2005, I went to Los Angeles to work with two highly regarded photographers. As I began to refine my personal style, I started to photograph musicians, eventually heading to Nashville, where I had the pleasure to photograph some of the best country acts in the country, from Luke Bryan to Koe Don Rooney from the Rascal Flatts. In that time, I fell in love with the unscripted moments, the real stuff. After a while, I knew I wanted to be where real emotions happen. It was then that I decided I wanted to be a full-time wedding photographer which brought me back home after my seven year trip around the United States.
How long have you been photographing weddings?
I have been photographing weddings for five years now. It’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
What first got you interested in wedding photography?
When I was shooting in Nashville and working with musicians and on several editorial projects, I realized my favorite images where the “in-between” shots. The images where people weren’t looking at the camera and they were interacting with each other. I quickly realized that it is what made me happy. What drove my creative brain. I loved mixing the two and I am able to do that with Weddings. I can mesh my experience with posing but I get to interact and be silly with my couples which gives it that photo-journalistic feel that I love in an image.
Describe your wedding photography in 6 adjectives.
- Expressive
- Creative
- Visionary
- Inspired
- Personalized
- Authentic
What cameras and lenses do you shoot with?
I have a Canon 5D Mark iii and 5D Mark ii. My go to lenses for weddings are the Canon 72-200mm, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.2 and I have recently started playing with a Canon 45mm tilt shift and I plan on working that into my kit this year.
Favorite image you’ve taken lately and why?
I shot a recent engagement session for Ravens Football Player Jeremy Zuttah and his stunning fiance Heran Haile. They wanted to incorporate their favorite things. They are big foodies so we went to The Food Market in Hampden. I hid in a corner and shot images of Jeremy just telling Heran funny stories and I was lucky enough to capture this smile from her that couldn’t be explained anyway other than pure love. It’s probably my favorite image from this year so far.
What keeps you inspired?
A few things actually!
First is my couples. Each one is a little different and their love is a little different. I am truly honored they trust me to spend time with them telling their story. I try my best to mesh their style and my own to create images that reflect them.
I keep up to date and follow a lot of other wedding photographers that inspire me. I feel like it’s important to never get comfortable and always keep learning. I spend so much time checking out wedding blogs and finding images that move me. It helps me to always get excited to create.
One thing you’d like every bride and groom to know before their wedding?
Relax. Trust the team you hired, they will do everything in their power to make it magical and everything you had hoped for and more. I love seeing my couples just letting loose and enjoying the day they spent so much time working for become a reality.
-Emilie joined the Gramercy Mansion family as an event specialist in 2014 and has been helping create and manage flawless weddings and events ever since. She oversees the venue from set-up to breakdown, works with the caterers and event professionals during weddings and parties, warmly greets visitors and B&B guests and happily assists with everything in between. Also an ordained wedding officiant, Emilie is available to perform ceremonies at Gramercy and throughout Maryland. She loves helping wedding couples make their big day all that they envisioned and more and watching big smiles during their first dance. Emilie enjoys reading, writing and watching “The Office” on Netflix while cuddling her Yorkie, Lilly.
Tags: B.O.B. photography, Gramercy Mansion, Jillian, photography, wedding, wedding photography, wedding venue