Welcome to my About Me page
also known as my ‘What gives you the right?’ (-Michael Scott, Goodbye Toby episode) page
What gives me the right to claim I am worthy of documenting and telling the story of your most important day as a couple? Good question, I’m glad you asked, because it’s a BFD, and it’s not a responsibility I take lightly.
I spent my off-season in early 2024 working to achieve my Certified Professional Photographer certification. What does this mean for you? It means what when you hire me, you’re hiring someone who cares so much about the art and technicality of photography and someone who understands how big of a responsibility and an honor it is to be the person chosen to photograph your most important day, that she spent her free time in the off-season reading and studying two 400-page textbooks. I don’t know about you, but when I left college, I thought textbooks and I had said our goodbyes forever.
I would happily spend my off-seasons every year cracking open more textbooks if it meant I could continue to increase my knowledge, improve my skills as an artist, and ensure I’m providing the best experience and images for my couples that I possibly could.
Let’s go back to the beginning.
Photography has been an important part of my life for the last twelve years. 12! 1-2! A whole a$$ decade & some change. It started as a hobby way back in the teenage years when I picked up my mom’s DSLR and began taking photos of every single blade of grass and flower petal in our backyard. Eventually there wasn’t a single blade of grass I hadn’t met, so I moved on to greener pastures: people, neither green nor pasture-y.
I was that girl in high school who would take photos of her friends in fields and upload the 700 photos to Facebook. Cringey as they were, it was a springboard to realizing I loved taking photos of people. I became so energized by being able to capture people and their beauty as I saw them, turn my camera around, and make them stop and say, “....Damn, I look GOOD.”
I spent my high school and college years learning from and being trained by professional photographers, graduated from casual friends-in-fields photoshoots to formal senior portraits and dabbled in families, newborns, headshots, college grads and couples. I quickly became known as ‘the friend who takes photos,’ and I loved it. Except when I created my first photography Instagram account and named it “photogretchy,” with the intention of it being pronounced like phot-ahhg-retchy (clever, right), yet instead everyone started calling me Photo Gretchy. Gross. But now I laugh.
Since I photographed my first wedding in 2018, I’ve been hooked. I’ve been in complete awe at how many down-to-earth, fun(ny), beautiful inside & out couples I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and photographing around the country since then.
A FEW OF MY PERSONALITY TRAITS:
Dogs
Skyline chili
Coffees larger than my head
Acting like I’ve never seen a sunrise or sunset every time I see a sunrise or sunset, which is almost every single day living in a high-rise in Chicago
My mission of watching every series of The Real Housewives from season 1 episode 1, despite having an annoying aversion to consuming media from the early 2000s. RHOBH, RHONY, RHOSLC, RHOP & RHOC down.
Buying two tickets to a stand-up comedian’s show 6+ months from now without confirming with any friends that they’ve ever heard of them or are available with the hopes someone will be available & willing to come along
Acting like each one of these is my exclusive personality trait drink when on any given day it may be any of the others: buttery chardonnay, an aperol spritz, hard kombucha & cabernet sauvignon
Singing karaoke every chance I get
Mental health/hot girl walks along the lakefront
Ranch dressing on everything
“Words are not enough to express how grateful I am to have had Gretchen at our wedding! Gretchen is not only an extremely talented photographer, but on the day of the wedding she was also my kind best friend with a calm heart. Gretchen's communication and planning throughout the entire planning process was excellent. I am obsessed with our wedding photos and look through them almost every week. I loved our wedding photos so much that I also hired her for my updated professional headshots. Thank you so much Gretchen for everything! We will definitely be hiring you for any other future photography needs. If you are reading this review, do yourself a favor and hire Gretchen for your photography needs!”
-Sandra & Felipe, 2022
“Gretchen is wonderful! So much so, she did our proposal, engagement and wedding photos! From the beginning she was easy to communicate with and super personable. She does a great job at making you feel comfortable while posing and getting great shots. I especially love how her photos are edited just right and don't come across as super "edited". I love looking at our pictures around our house every day. I'm so happy my husband found her and we were able to work with her multiple times. Would highly recommend Gretchen to anyone looking!”
-Emily & Eric, 2022
