I am often asked why I am not on certain wedding websites that harvest reviews from previous couples and then offer up "rewards" based on how many people signed on to pat you on the internet back. My reply is pretty simple, and honest.
It feels cheap. It feels like something a car dealership would do. And at the end of the day, like a little old lady, I am convinced that these sites really just want your client's information so they can contact them with ads and other promotional nonsense.
The relationships I forge with my couples isn't something you can assign digital stars to. I'm not an umbrella you got on sale at Amazon.com, I am a human being with a beating heart who takes photographs with the eyes of someone who loves, like really actually loves, your story.
I never feel like I am missing out by not participating in the "rate-me!" game because my cup is filled with each in-person giant hug or handwritten thank you note. And I like to believe that the couples who find me, and choose me to capture their wedding day, are from my same tribe and aren't really into that whole industry machine, either.
OK, I say all of this, and then, AND THEN, Laura Max Rose shows up today and leaves my eyes filled with happy tears and my heart just glowing. Because, it turns out, having someone you photographed shower you with love, publicly, and in such a genuine and heartfelt way, is a whole different kind of beautiful magic.
I love my couples. Every single one of them. And this gift Laura has given me, means the world:
A blog post by Laura Max Rose about what it was like working with Michelle Gardella, Photographer.