Amanda Summerlin Photography

eer couple in NC with very complicated feelings about our genders, our appearances, the concept of marriage…all of it…I thought it would be impossible to find a photographer who we actually felt comfortable with. I googled LGBTQ wedding photographers and found Amanda, and all of my anxiety melted. Amanda demonstrates inclusivity by literally putting herself out there as someone who WANTS to photograph LGBTQ weddings, identifies as LGBTQ, and does her best to create access, both financially and more broadly. She doesn’t charge for travel in the lower 48, and she makes herself readily available to build an actual relationship with her clients. I still laugh about how weird it was that this person showed up the morning of our wedding and the last time we saw her was the moment we drove away from our reception, but for those hours she was our best friend. We didn’t have to restrict ourselves or feel nervous about asking to be called or not to be called certain language – we just went with it and had a beautiful, amazing, perfect day – and our pictures show. She is SO talented, SO welcoming, and I could not be more happy that we got to know Amanda through her work as our photographer.

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but will travel anywhere FOR FREE. Amanda is super down-to-earth, kind, and easy to work with. She also basically makes herself invisible so you barely notice pictures are even being taken until you see the amazing shots later. She got our photos back to us in a timely manner (about a month), and they are truly gorgeous and really captured the spirit of the day. I wholeheartedly recommend her!

f the camera, a calm demeanor, great service pre and post wedding, and so much more. My wife and I booked Amanda as our photographer a little less than a year out from our wedding. She made the planning process super easy and flexible. We had several check-ins scheduled as we got closer to our event, which made coordinating with her a breeze. She is very communicative and goes out of her way for her clients. With every conversation, Amanda carefully listens to your vision for the day and is open to chatting through logistics so that things run smoothly. She takes it upon herself to get to know you via video chat and social media in order to inform her art on your special day. She is also very easy to get along with and has the ability to stay calm and help calm others even in stressful situations. One super exciting thing about Amanda is that she travels in the upper 48 for no charge to you. So, seriously, anyone in the nation can book Amanda. Amanda is based out of Atlanta, Georgia and she travelled to Boston for our wedding. She also arrives to your location with plenty of time for her to check out the locations for photos the day before your big day. My wife and I felt at ease and in the hands of a true artist with a plan on our day. We scheduled a “first look” prior to our ceremony and it flew by. I absolutely dread having my picture taken or being the center of attention, yet Amanda was able to make both of us feel relaxed in front of the camera and made the time feel fun, playful, and just wonderful--everything you would want from a photographer on your big day. One thing that we really appreciated was Amanda’s ability to capture our unique ceremony. We had a total of 25 guests at our wedding. Having theatre backgrounds, my wife and I decided to stage our ceremony in the round (i.e. everyone stood in a circle around us). You could imagine that this might be challenging to photograph and capture fully. However, you would never know that it was a challenge from Amanda’s ability to photograph it. Both my wife and I didn’t even know where she was during most of it and seeing the photos afterwards, we were absolutely blown away. Some of our favorite pictures actually came out of little moments from our ceremony. Another thing about Amanda is that she brings her authenticity to her art and what she captures on your day. She captured moments throughout our day that were not posed or planned and they are absolutely stunning. She was able to capture our love in ways weren’t expecting. After our wedding, we received our photos in a timely manner-- actually, much faster than we were expecting! Amanda works fast and the impressive part about that is the quality of what she delivers does not suffer. In the short time that we were waiting for our gallery, Amanda kindly provided us with little sneak peeks… and, of course, with each one we couldn’t wait to see the rest. She truly captured our day and our love perfectly. We are absolutely thrilled with our photos. We would 100% hands down refer anyone we know to hire Amanda as their wedding photographer. She delivers on so many levels and continues to deliver to this day. If we were to ever need another photographer for an event, we would hire Amanda in a heartbeat.

os are better than we could have imagined. We cannot wait for our next excuse to make pictures with Amanda!

ing in Seattle for free, we had to talk to her. It was a huge bonus that Amanda is a supporter of LGBTQ weddings AND the photography packages far outstripped what we were able to find near us. Even better? Her photos rock! Amanda came out for our engagement photo shoot a few months in advance of our wedding and took some wonderful shots that really captured our life. We went to multiple places that really defined our relationship and Amanda caught us in our element. For our wedding, Amanda was excellent. She was unobtrusive and was able to catch all of the special moments. Amanda also caught so many beautiful shots we would never have thought to ask for. The lighting, composition, and editing are exceptional. We're so grateful for everything and recommend her to anyone!

Summerlin asap. She had photographed both of my sisters’ weddings and we knew we had to have her document our wedding too. We had high expectations for Amanda because she had done such a phenomenal job with my sisters’ weddings, and let me tell you… she exceeded our very high expectations in every way!!! She is such an artist and captures the big and small moments in ways that will either make you cry or laugh (or both!) when you see them. She captures a whole range of emotions in the room (whether it be tears of joy or laughter) and does it in such an unobtrusive way that you don’t even notice she is there. The way Amanda works with lighting and plays with background/foreground is simply stunning and with every photo she just impressed us more and more. We booked our ceremony and reception sites because of the incredible scenery and views — she captured all of this beauty too, even more than we thought was possible. Amanda takes both candid and formal photos. We were also shocked how quickly she turned around the finished photos. We’ve been able to show friends and family our photos and many have told us that they could be photos from a bridal magazine. In addition to the quality you will get with Amanda, you are getting an incredible value. She does not charge extra for travel (and she had to travel across the country for our wedding!) since she markets herself as a destination wedding photographer. She gives you full access and rights to her photographs, which many photographers do not do. This was so important to us. And she has no limit to the number of pictures she takes! I mean, what more could you ask for? How about this… a nice, pleasant, easy, reliable, professional person to work with? Well guess what, you’ll get that too with Amanda! At this point, I can’t imagine a wedding in our family without Amanda. She is a pleasure to work with and made the planning process and day-of so easy. We cannot recommend her enough!! THANK YOU AMANDA!!

had to be our photographer. One of the things that sticks out is the fact that she does not do any of the cheesy "candid" shots. All the pictures she takes are so organic and in the moment. She has the amazing ability to capture all the little moments that mean the most. Plus, she is hilarious. Amanda will bring not only her wonderful photography skills, but her sense of humor and je ne sais quoi that makes her so special.

and easy way of communicating (even in just her writing on her web page). Amanda has flexible packages for photography and even a design­your­own package option. What sold me to hire her was her humor, relaxed interaction, and her no­bullsh*t approach. Your photographer, as the person taking photos of you, is the person who you will be around the most on your wedding day, after your partner. It was easy for me to decide that I wanted to be around Amanda, even from afar. Thank goodness Amanda loves to travel and makes it a part of her business! We received excellent service and interaction from Amanda and Jess on the business side as well as meaningful social interaction and communication, both through email and social media. It was fantastic to be able to create a wedding that was fantasy­ novel themed yet beautiful, and have Amanda turn our “nerdy” into “cool” through such pretty, pretty pictures. From loving our animal, to being able to relax our families for photos, Amanda is a guru! Every product we have received thus far is beyond our expectations. More than being great at what she does, though, it is worth inquiring with Amanda simply for the pleasure of getting to know her. Do it.

et" who you are and take a picture that looks JUST like you with your real personality that doesn't look awkward or posed. Her photos are brilliant. She is the most skillful photographer I've seen when it comes to fully capturing a moment. She is also incredibly personable and made the day so easy! Every person in the bridal party and all the vendors found her easy to work with. She was able to be apart of everything without being intrusive. She's learned well from her experience with weddings and helped to make the whole flow of the day a seamless and enjoyable one. Amanda felt like she was there to make the day as great as it could be and just happened to be taking amazing photos while she was there. Book her and book her first!

edding day, but Amanda could not have been more easygoing and unobtrusive. By the time the ceremony started, we really didn't even notice her, which I mean as a compliment, because she was still everywhere, getting the best shots. Our photos are better than we could have ever dreamed, well beyond our expectations. I can't recommend her more highly.

utiful: we couldn't have asked for anyone better!