Do you Travel? How Much is it?

YES! We love to travel. We are based in Portland, Oregon, but we travel the world for weddings and special events. It's kind of our favorite thing ever. Travel rates depend on location and the length of your event. Prices are custom built for events 300+ miles outside of Portland. Contact us for a quote!
 

How many photos do you shoot and how many photos do we get?

On average, most 8 hour weddings end up with about 600-800 final JPG images. We normally shoot about 4x as many photos. Once the event is over, we edit out duplicates, out-of-focus images and images that just aren't as awesome as the others so you get a well-curated and well rounded story of you day.
 

What gear do you shoot with? How do you edit?

I walked into a camera shop when I was maybe 21 years old with some goals to be a photographer and zero idea where to start. I was handed a Nikon and that is where my gear journey began. For those of you that love photography, you know what I'm talking about, that journey that never ends once you get started. I currently shoot with Nikon D850 and Nikon D750 camera bodies. I prefer shooting with fixed lenses - 50mm, 85mm and 35mm when I can. When I need the range, I love shooting with my 24-70mm 2.8, and when I need to get in close, I shoot with my 70-200mm 2.8.

When a wedding is all said and done, I do most of my editing in Adobe Lightroom. After doing about 80%-90% of the color correction and exposure in Lightroom, I bring some of the photos into photoshop for specialized and detailed editing.

I'M SO AWKWARD IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA, DO YOU HELP WITH POSING?

Yes! I won't leave you hanging, I promise. You won't have an experience with me staring at you waiting for you to bust out your best Tyra Banks runway walk. I consider it a big part of my job to work with you to make you comfortable so that you best self shows up in front of the camera. I will make a fool of myself if I have to just to get a smile from you.

YOU MUST HAVE SOME CRAZY STORIES ABOUT WEDDINGS, DO YOU GET A LOT OF BRIDEZILLAS?

Honestly, well, I might have a couple stories. But the juicy ones usually involve friends and moms. Our brides are usually pretty happy, and most all of them treat me exceptionally. I wouldn't be doing this for over 12 years if it wasn't such a rad job.

How did you start your business?

I started my business in 2004 with a friend in Corvallis Oregon while I was finishing up my graphic design degree at Oregon State University (go beavs!). I definitely never thought of myself as a business owner, or that I had the potential to be a professional photographer. At the time, it was a hobby and something I needed to know for my design degree. With a few odd jobs here and there, word started to spread that I had a camera and I could take photos for people.  I combined forces with a friend and she taught me the ins and outs of weddings, while I brought a fresh and totally new perspective to wedding photography. We shot a few weddings in 2005 and the business had begun. I was totally hooked on it! Who knew I could run a business at age 22? My original business partner and I went our separate ways after I graduated and I moved up to Portland. Ever since that move in 2006, I have been running Honeysuckle Photography out of this awesome NW city.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR BUSINESS NAME?

I started my business with a friend. Most wedding photographers use their name as their business, but we had two totally different names. We mulled over name after name and couldn't decide until one night it came to me before I fell asleep. I started to think about plants and flowers and seeds and "Honeysuckle" popped into my head. I remember loving a scratch and sniff Winnie the Poo book as a kid, and my favorite page had the scented honeysuckle flowers. I loved the association with that book, and I also like that "Honeysuckle" is almost the same length as "Photography" It makes it easier to design things like logos (says the designer at heart).

Is wedding photography all you do? Is it your full time job?

Photography is my full time job, yes. It has been ever since I started my business in 2004. I only photographed weddings and families for the first 5 years or so, but have since ventured into product, brand and other commercial photography. Overall I love the challenge to tell a story, no matter what the story is. I love making people and brands feel like they are seen and heard in the best light possible. You can find more of my work outside of weddings here: maggiekirkland.com