WHO: Linda Abbott Photography in LA
WHY: Because you love artsy wedding photos, but you don’t love the pretension that sometimes comes with fine art. You want emotions, not poses. You want smiles, not stern faces. And that’s what Linda Abbott Photography is all about. She describes her shooting style as “documentary, meets fine art, meets heart.” (Meets Snoop Dogg?) So the end result is something you would totally want to frame in your house, but the process is as comfy and laid back as your favorite pair of jeans.
WHERE/HOW MUCH: LA and Beyond (with a special deal for out-of-state weddings). Linda likes to keep things simple, so 8 hours of coverage plus a USB of high-res images is a flat rate. No added gimmicks. No confusing packages.
Linda Abbott treats her clients like family. That’s the first thing you should know about her. Because while her photos might say, “amazing artist who could totally afford to be snobby if she wanted to,” that couldn’t be further from Linda herself. In fact, Linda has a deep reverence for the significance of weddings, far beyond just the photos. She says:
My difficult background gives me a deep respect for family. There are a lot of hip weddings these days that make family seem uncool, but I feel like family is too valuable for that. I’m a big fan of rituals that honor the different changes and milestones in our lives. Some of the most incredible weddings I’ve ever been to have been that way not because of how big the venue was, or how perfect the dress was, but because the room was charged with so much love you could feel it. A moment in a backyard with two people present and looking at each other surrounded by loved ones really does feel sacred. I have a deep respect for that, and I don’t come to these days just to witness it—I treat my couples and their families like they’re my own for a day.
More Than Just Clients
So what does that mean? For Linda, it’s about being more than just your photographer (or your best friend, as so many wedding photographers claim to be). It’s about being life raft in the storm that is wedding planning, and someone you can lean on when shit gets tough. Linda explained her philosophy to me:
Often I’m much more than just a vendor to my clients. The people you choose to be around you on your wedding day should support you and make the day easier, not more difficult.
A lot of wedding photographers are photos first. Meaning that the priority is always in getting the best shot, even if it comes at the expense of your comfort. Linda, on the other hand, operates with the assumption that if you focus on the people in the photos, on making them happy, then the photos themselves are going to be inherently more awesome. She explained further:
I’m not just there to take photos at any cost—I feel out what my couples want and I take care of them throughout the day. Their only job is to enjoy themselves and the people they love, and I try to make that process easier for them. Often I’m the one person that my clients are around the most on their wedding day and you definitely want that person to be sensitive to you and your needs. I’ve been called a calming force. A bride once looked over at me during the day and whispered, “I’m so glad you’re here.” My clients feel really comfortable and safe with me and a lot of them consider me a friend. This past year a bride asked me to lunch after the wedding to tell me she was pregnant. I was one of the first people to know. Sometimes I remind my clients to breathe if I can tell they’re getting anxious before the ceremony and we breathe together. I’m completely there for them. My couples often tell me that having me there was one of the best decisions of their wedding day.
Let’s Talk Brass Tacks
So now that you know the first important thing about Linda Abbott Photography, here are a few other important things. She’s hilarious. She gets what this love thing is about (even if that one is about her dog). And one time she had a lovely conversation with Tim Burton and didn’t realize it. Oh, and in case it needs saying out loud… she’s also incredibly talented (but you’re reading this post, and looking at the photos, so I don’t need to tell you that).
Onto more practical information: you can hire Linda Abbott Photography in LA for 8 hours, which includes a flash drive of high-resolution, fully edited images with a license to print as many photos as you like (things like second shooters and albums are also available as add-ons). And since Linda would really love to travel to your awesome wedding, she’s offering out-of-state clients two additional hours of coverage at no extra cost. (Linda’s travel rates are just at-cost: airfare, lodging for two nights and rental car.)
So if you’re in that ugly part of searching for a wedding photographer where it seems like everyone either has the right personality or the right portfolio, but never a mixture of both, then Linda Abbott is the photographer you didn’t even know you were looking for. So go get lost in her portfolio like I did, then snatch her up before everyone else in LA does.
destination weddings get two extra hours on top of Linda’s normal wedding coverage when you book Linda Abbott Photography. Click here to get in touch with Linda today!
