Nicole & Nathan · Reception · 10:14pm
The mess is the good part.
Your whole wedding, kept, all twelve hours of it.
Documentary wedding photography in Connecticut
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You want to be at your own wedding, right?
And you should be. Right in the middle of it, experiencing it, living it with your people. That’s what it’s all about.
New Haven
Somers
Litchfield
What we’re there for
The mess is the whole point.
The photograph that ends up mattering most is almost never the one anybody would have picked on the day. It gets chosen years later, quietly, by whoever needs it. My job is to make sure it is already there when they go looking.
You have permission to cut loose, and go fckn crazy!
Loud, warm, slightly out of hand, and true to you.
How a day like that is possible
Your wedding happens in more than one room at once. So do we.
3
On the team
Me on a camera all day. A second shooter, because teleporters don’t exist yet. And an assistant, so I’m watching the room instead of digging through a bag.
12
Hours, first to last
First hairpin to last song. Twelve hours, one price, however late it runs.
28
WPJA awards
Currently ranked the #1 wedding photographer in Connecticut by the Wedding Photojournalist Association.
Every wedding runs this way, starting at $5,500.
What the experience looks like
Six things you’ll notice on the day.
Twelve hours, no clock-watching
The last song gets the same attention as the first look, and nobody is standing near the door with a watch.
A timeline built for humans
A road map with air in it, so there’s time to stand still on the one day you’ll want to remember.
Direction when it matters
A sentence here and there to put you in better light. Then I’m gone again and you go back to your people.
Portraits on your terms
However long you want to give them. Some couples want an hour somewhere beautiful, some want ten minutes and their party back.
Photos that feel like your day did
Colour that looks like the room you were standing in, and still will in 2040.
Quick turnaround
Sneak peeks in 48 hours, the full gallery in eight weeks. It arrives before you think to ask.
Portfolio
Candid, and on purpose.
Every photograph on this page happened, in a real room, to people with the correct number of fingers. Years of weddings, tons of moments, here is a peek at some of my favorites. Want to see one the whole way through? Just ask at the meet and greet.
The experience
Your day, give or take.
Morning10am-ish
The music is on. Somebody is already crying and the ceremony is hours away. Everyone is probably still in socks and the mimosas are flowing.
Before the ceremony2pm, give or take
First look or no first look, that call is totally yours. Do it and you get a nice private moment with nobody watching. Skip it and you get the one at the end of the aisle. Either way, somebody is going to get emotional.
The ceremony4:00. Realistically 4:11.
You say words. They say words back. Then you both turn around and walk back out of there married, and the whole room is on its feet before you reach the third row.
Golden hour, if you want ittwenty minutes-ish
The craziness drops off for a bit and it’s just the two of you out in a glorious sunset, holding a drink somebody handed you along the way. These are usually the ones that end up on your wall.
Dinner7:30, while it’s hot
You sit down to the hot food you spent months deciding over, and the room settles into that low hum where everyone is talking at once. No speeches over dinner, by the way. Nobody listens to a toast with a fork in their hand.
11pmand counting
Your shoes are gone. Somebody spilled a drink on the dance floor and it is all good because your grandmother has not left that dance floor and you are about to go join her. Nobody is going home yet.
Kind words
“Neither of us likes having our photo taken. T.J. made us feel comfortable and relaxed from the start. The photos came out amazing, and so did our experience.”
“We never had to think about what was next. TJ made everything feel easy, and the photos are stunning and completely us.”
“What I love most about TJ and his team is that they are cinematic photographers. You will get the normal poses and shots, but he places an emphasis on candid photos — and in my opinion, you get better photos of everyone.”
Watch
The same work, with the sound turned on.
A few minutes of the moments and the portraits I keep coming back to, pulled from a lot of different weddings. Somewhere in there is a version of something that is going to happen at yours.
There is no redo. Every moment is a big moment.
T.J., somewhere in the middle of hour nine.
Who’s in the room
I’m T.J.
Husband, father, combat veteran, and enough of a nerd that I’ve talked video games with more couples than I can count. I photograph weddings all over Connecticut.
Two tours in Iraq taught me what a moment is worth. It is the reason I shoot your whole day and the reason I bring a team, so that years from now you can hand your kids a photograph and tell them exactly what was happening.
Contents
Everything on this list is in every experience.
Including the one at the bottom of the price list. Three people and twelve hours is where it starts.
- 01Up to twelve hours of coverage, first to last
- 02T.J. as lead, plus a second shooter and an assistant
- 03A road map built around your day
- 04Sneak peeks inside 48 hours
- 05Signature editing on every final photograph
- 06Full gallery in eight weeks
- 07Album design, and the printed book from the Saga up
- 08Virtual photo premiere
- 09One year of private gallery hosting and a print store
Investment
Four experiences. The coverage is the same in all four. The difference is what you add to elevate your experience.
Journey
From $5,500 · Where we start
Saga
Most booked · Album included
Chronicle
Adds a side quest
Anthology
Your complete story.
DreambooksPRO · Designed for every experience · Printed from the Saga up
In print
The only book ever written about you.
A book sits on a shelf where people can reach it. It gets picked up at Thanksgiving, and argued over by your kids someday.
I design your album as part of every experience, so the layout exists whichever one you book. The printed DreambooksPRO copy is included from the Saga experience up, and on the Journey it’s the one thing worth adding.
Stuff you might ask
The questions that come up every time.
What does a True Full Day experience include?
Up to twelve hours of coverage, three of us in the room, a road map built around your day, sneak peeks inside 48 hours, your full gallery in eight weeks, album design, a virtual premiere, and a year of private gallery hosting. That’s the same in every experience. The price differences are about what you keep afterwards.
How do we book, and what happens next?
You check your date, we get on a call, and I walk you through the guide while we talk, so you can ask things in real time. If it feels right, a signed agreement and a retainer hold the date. After that we’re in touch as much or as little as you want until the road map conversation a few weeks out.
How far in advance should we book?
Most couples land somewhere between nine and eighteen months out. I take a limited number of weddings a year so each one gets twelve hours and a three-person crew, and Saturdays in September and October go first.
How do we know if we’re a good fit?
If what you want is a shot list worked through and everyone looking at the camera, there are photographers who do that really well and I’ll point you at them. If you’d rather spend your wedding with your people and have somebody bring the whole day back afterwards, including the parts nobody planned, we’ll get on well.
Do you offer videography?
Yes, in a way. Photography is still the main event, but I shoot video clips through the day and cut them into a two to three minute highlight film, so you get the sound of the toast and the noise of the room alongside the stills.
Do you only photograph in Connecticut?
Connecticut is home and it’s most of what I shoot, but I travel. New England is routine and further is a conversation.
There are always more questions. I can answer all of them.
Ask me anythingReading room
Everything I’d want to know before spending five thousand dollars on a photographer.
Start here
Tell me about the day.
Every wedding is different. I’d like to hear about yours. The people, the room, the part you’re most looking forward to.