San Francisco’s Jeannie Guzis Shoots Moments, Not Things

In case you don't want your wedding to feel like a magazine shoot

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Who: Jeannie Guzis

Why: If you’d rather talk STEM and nature than place settings, chat about your experience as a female gamer instead of what shoes you might wear, and you’d prefer unafraid documentary style shots instead of fairytale magazine wedding photos, Jeannie Guzis is your woman. ’Nuff said.

Where/How Much: San Francisco! Standard coverage is $2400 for one photographer ($3100 for two) and includes seven hours of shooting-with no travel fees for locations within a hundred miles of 94582.

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Last May we introduced you guys to APW sponsor Jeannie Guzis and all of a sudden everyone who didn’t spend childhood planning their imaginary weddings let out a collective sigh of relief. This year has been one of introspection and streamlining for Jeannie, and she’s come away from it ready to run in the opposite direction of the WIC. Instead of focusing on making sure your photos will be conventional and camera-friendly, she wants to get to know you, and have your photos look like you instead.

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Jeannie won’t put you in poses that don’t feel real, and she will capture who you are in all of your unconventional glory. In fact, she makes this easy, because as she says:

I relate to how my clients more often identify with what they do, in terms of accomplishments, interests, hobbies, and political opinions, than how they look, which tends to be what the wedding industry is all about. I can’t say that I have unlocked the ultimate secret of putting couples at ease, but maybe it’s just lots of patience, calm, and just being a lot like them. I understand their anxieties and how it feels to be introverted.

These might the reasons why my photography tends to attract a lot of academics, people in STEM, nature-lovers, and nerds and dorks in general. I love that. My education background was in science, and I was a hardcore gamer years ago (anybody remember the original QW Team Fortress??). I have come to really embrace my nerd identity. By having these things in common with my clients, I feel that I can relate to their point of view, especially when it comes to not always feeling comfortable in front of the camera and never having envisioned myself stepping out of a fairy tale magazine wedding shoot.

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That’s not all there is to love about Jeannie Guzis either. Last year, she made a commitment to keeping her business as green as possible, from using rechargeable batteries in her camera gear to using electronic communication for information packets, contract drafts, and forms and offering giclée prints on canvas, cotton rag, bamboo, or other sustainable paper media. (Giclée printing is better for the environment than traditional chemical-based photographic printing.) She reuses packing materials, choosing local suppliers whenever possible, and even has a strict thermostat policy (sixty six degrees in the winter and seventy-eight in the summer, in case you were wondering). You can read all about her green commitment and eco-friendly business practices (of which there are many, many more) right here.

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You can hire Jeannie starting at $2,400 (which is Bay Area crazy), plus her packages are also configurable—if you don’t need by-the-book coverage, she’s happy to scheme up something else that you do want. So go get to know Jeannie through her site: her blog is filled with photo after photo that will make you swoon. Then once you’re all set (and you will be pretty quickly) drop her line. Because it’s not easy finding a wedding photographer when you feel like… the opposite of whatever the wedding industry thinks brides are. And Jeannie Guzis gets that.

Click HERE to browse Jeannie’s recent work (especially THIS and THIS).

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