Meet Brooke Lafferty | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brooke Lafferty and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brooke, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
It’s so easy to get caught up in research and trying to make decisions that lead to the best possible outcome in your business—and that’s an important part of running any business. But it can be so easy—especially when just starting out—to get too caught up in that stage, to the point where it turns into procrastination or analysis paralysis. Sometimes you just have to pick a path and give it your all and change things up based on how that goes. Learn from doing. It’s a cliche but you can’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s definitely a lesson I’m still learning every day.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a traveling wedding photographer & portrait photographer based in Ventura County, CA. I see getting to capture one of the most special days of a couple’s life as both a privilege and a huge responsibility. I approach every wedding and session with the goal of documenting my subjects in a way that’s both beautiful and authentic. The posed portraits can be beautiful and there will always be a space for them, but there’s something about an unposed, candid moment captured photo journalistically that just makes your heart explode. That’s what get’s me most excited about my work is seeing a photo that instantly takes you to a moment—you can almost feel it. I tell all my clients that I’m there to get the details they’ve spent so much time and energy on, the group shots of loved ones all together in one place, the formal portraits that they’ll show their children and grandchildren— but I’ll also be looking for those in between moments . . . a kiss on the head, the ring bearer’s off script entrance, a dance with grandma. Those are the moments that bring tears to my eyes and that I feel so honored to be capturing for a family to hold onto.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend were visiting, I would definitely take her to the beach. I love Point Dume, especially when the flowers are in bloom, but I love a good Ventura trip too. We’d also probably go on a hike, maybe in the Santa Monica Mountains. I haven’t hiked to the grotto in a while but I bet after these rains it’s going to be incredible. Then we’d go to Cafe 27 for lunch, maybe hit up some farmers markets and shop a little. And then if we’re going all out, we’d head into LA for a concert.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
A huge part of me being able to start my own business has been my parents. They’ve run their own business for the last 20+ years and always instilled in me the confidence that I could achieve anything I wanted to. Their example has helped me approach every new challenge with a “what could go right?” mentality. My dad passed down his first camera to me when I was 10. I learned the photography basics on a film camera and photography has been a bond that we’ve shared ever since. We even took photography classes together at a local college when I was first getting started, which is a memory I’ll always cherish.

Website: https://www.brookenicolephoto.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brookenicole.photo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrookeNicolePhotography?ref=page_internal

Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brookenicolephoto/_saved/

Image Credits
First photo taken by Gabrielle Stephens Photography Last 8 taken by Brooke Nicole Photo