5 minutes with... Charlottesville wedding photographer Jessica Lapp

Charlottesville wedding photographer JESSICA LAPP has always love the arts. As a child she was always drawing and painting and was obsessed with music. "When I got my first DSLR as a teenager it was just for fun, but I quickly realised I wanted to turn photography into a career. It was a new art form for me and I fell in love with it immediately." she tells us. Read on to learn more about her.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR PATH TO GET THERE. I started off doing family sessions, for free, for people that I knew. That was in the glory days of Facebook so I started a business page and it took off from there. A few years later I photographed my first wedding. The following year I photographed eight. And after that the bookings just kept coming. I learned a lot by doing, trial and error, and experimenting. I learned so much about making people feel comfortable and confident, and giving them a good experience. Giving a great experience to my clients, one that they don’t forget, is really what I feel brought my business to where it is today. I made a lot of mistakes over the years but I don’t regret those early days as they shaped a lot of my work today.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE? Elegant, relaxed, intimate, and joyful.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT WEDDINGS? That is such a hard question! I love many things about weddings, the beauty, the unique design of each one, the joy and anticipation I feel from everyone involved, especially the couple.. But most of all I adore the way they bring people together. They show the value of community. We are all shaped by our families and communities and weddings bring the old and the young together to celebrate two people that they love. It’s so authentic and powerful and I love capturing those emotional moments the most.

SHARE YOUR FAVOURITE IMAGE WITH US AND TELL US WHY. This image below captures a lot of the feeling and emotion that I aspire to in my work.Intimate & romantic, quiet, soft, the story of their love is told in this image!

ASIDE FROM FAMILY & FRIENDS, THREE THINGS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT? Books. Especially the classics. Give me a book and a cup of tea and I’m in introvert heaven.

Classical violin- one of my greatest joys in life.

Wide open spaces. I live in out in the country in Central Virginia on a farm, and that space is so invigorating, so freeing!

WHERE WOULD WE FIND YOU ON A SUNDAY MORNING? Church! And then curled up on the couch with a book.

HOW WOULD YOU SPEND YOUR IDEAL DAY OFF? I would try to fit as many of these activities as I could into 12 hours: workout, coffee shop, shopping, nature hike with my family, laying in the sun, gardening, and dreaming for my next photoshoot.

A big thank you to Charlottesville wedding photographer JESSICA LAPP for sharing this beautiful inspiration with us. Through a mix of film and digital photography, Jessica's wedding days are captured as a story. Her approach is simple, yet intentional: classically elegant, yet relaxed. Elevated in style, yet never stiff. Luxurious, emotional imagery starts with relationships, and that is the foundation of her business. You can see more of her portfolio here.