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Meet Nina
Tell us your story
I grew up on a small island on the coast of Norway, where I cross-country skied to school in winter, swam in the ocean every chance I got, and embodied the Norwegian concept of friluftsliv (“open air life”) long before I learned how to spell it. Then I moved to Colorado for college, and found a new level of adventure in the Rocky Mountains. And for the past decade, I’ve been splitting my time between my two homes, photographing weddings and elopements in both.
How long have you been working in the wedding industry?
I’ve been working as a photographer since 2013, but photographed my first wedding in 2017. Since then, I’ve photographed over 300 weddings and elopements!
What made you get into weddings & elopements?
After years as a portrait photographer, I was a bridesmaid for one of my best friends who got married at an incredible small venue in the Colorado mountains. I spent the whole weekend jealous of the photographer, and when I came home, I immediately started rebranding my business to focus on weddings.
What do you love about intimate weddings and elopements?
While I still photograph some big weddings, I think elopements and intimate weddings are extra special because there’s so much variety in how couples choose to spend the day when their imagination is the only real limit. The guests they invite, the traditions they include, the locations they visit, every decision builds an intentional day where the couple actually gets to enjoy their time together without all the stress and pressure of a bigger celebration.
I don’t ever want the experience of being photographed to take away from my couple’s actual experience of their wedding day.
– Nina
How would you describe your approach to your work?
There are two distinct parts of my work: the planning and the photography. My approach to each is quite different!
I am heavily involved in the planning process, from helping my couples choose the best date for the location and conditions they’re interested in, to building personalized location guides with hidden gems they won’t have seen online, to making sure the timeline leaves them with plenty of breathing room to actually enjoy the day.
When I’m behind the camera, I’m much more laid back and go-with-the-flow. I don’t ever want the experience of being photographed to take away from my couple’s actual experience of their wedding day. I will, of course, help with posing and directions, but I also believe the photos are better when you’re genuinely just having a good time.
What’s your favourite part of a wedding day?
The moment right after the ceremony, when the couple is full of excitement – that “holy shit, we did it!” feeling! No more nerves or anticipation, just pure joy. It never gets old.
I think elopements and intimate weddings are extra special because there’s so much variety in how couples choose to spend the day when their imagination is the only real limit.
What advice would you give couples who are in the process of planning a wedding or elopement?
Spend time together in the daydreaming, brainstorming stage of planning first, before choosing a date or booking vendors. Talk about what’s most important to each of you, any non-negotiables, and how your wedding day will feel if everything works out perfectly. Then book your top priority vendors: for bigger weddings, this is usually your planner; for elopements, it’ll be your photographer.
When you’re not at a wedding, what do you love doing?
In my free time, I’m either spending time in the mountains with my family and friends: skiing, hiking, or camping, or I’m crafting: knitting, sewing, weaving, baking—anything that lets me be offline and making something with my hands!
Do you have a dream wedding or elopement you’d love to do?
I think my dream elopements are all centered around activities that the couple already loves doing together, instead of just taking photos in beautiful places. I would love to spend a day cross-country skiing to a cabin in Norway, making coffee over a campfire, playing cards, and staying out to watch the northern lights. Or boating out to a tiny island and having the white sand beaches all to ourselves on a warm summer evening.
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Fotograf Nina Reed
