Timeless and personal photographs don’t happen by accident — they result from a meaningful relationship between photographer and client, an exceptional experience from our initial meeting through hanging photos on walls, and the images we create to be adored for generations. My clients trust me to tell their love story through photographs that truly reflect who they are, their relationships, and the intangible-almost-impossible-to-describe feelings they had on their wedding day.
When I look at my own wedding album, I am a girl in love standing again on the warm sand of an Oregon beach. I feel wrapped in nostalgia, the joyful ache of reliving a day that could only happen once. The faces of my family and friends, our portraits during a staggeringly-beautiful sunset, the little moments that would have otherwise passed unnoticed, a group of people who will never be together in their entirety ever again — these moments are utterly priceless to me. I can’t imagine living without them, and they resulted from a wonderful relationship with our photographer. She not only knows what is important to us, but what our real smiles look like, what we find beautiful, and the relationships that matter most to us.
This is the gift I pass on to my clients. I want you to vividly feel the emotion of your wedding day for the rest of your life. I want your story to be so unique and so filled with emotion that each time you open your album you take the same trip in the time machine that I do with my own images.
I am surrounded with a team who shares my commitment to treating each wedding and portrait with the excitement and reverence would our own. We work hard to make sure you adore your photos, thoroughly enjoy having them made, and feel that same nostalgia, like a favorite old song, whenever you see them. We are also deeply committed to making sure you have the best wedding possible, doing whatever we can (as photographers or otherwise) to make your day unforgettable. We come armed with cameras and safety pins, we know how to bustle a gown and pin a boutonniere, and we’ll get the door for grandma.
We’re here to meet with you at your convenience so we can learn your story and create a work of art to last a lifetime.
Love,
and the Aralani Team: Jenna Van Valen, Udaya Pisipati & Michael Cary Arellano
