QUICK NOTE: I am currently shacking it up at my parents house in Willow Glen (San Jose!) until early September working my butt off... any bay area photographers, prospective clients, old friends, etc interested in getting together shoot me an e-mail meg{at}megperotti{dot}com! (I promise there is a point to the info that follows...skip through to the images if you could care less- I won't mind!)
I was just telling a friend the other day how funny it is when clients and other photographers ask me, "So, how long have you been shooting weddings?" Because, my answer should be simple - "5 years" - but instead I insist on explaining that I worked a million jobs from the time I started shooting weddings to the time I finally decided to go full-time. You see, it's very important to me that people know I paid my dues, I worked really hard (really... really...), and eventually wedding photography found me. I always encourage other photographers to stick with their day jobs until they hit a wall. It's so worth it to leave with confidence. Trust me, you'll know when you're ready- your legs will stop moving and there you will be!
Let's see if I can list all the things I did that led me to today.
Full time fine art photography student at Cal State Long Beach where if you would have told me I'd be shooting weddings for a living after college I would have laughed at you and said, "Weddings! Please! I'm into FINE art... psha....." Little did I know, weddings held a huge place in my heart. This is also where I met one my best friends and source of contact inspiration, Heather Kincaid.
Frogs Club One (gym front desk girl)- Heather has this title too. ;)
Stocker at Bath and Body Works (worst job ever)
A & I Photographic Customer Service Rep- 3 years-this is where I spent most of my time cultivating my wedding portfolio, shootings loads of film (E-6 and medium format folks!)
A slew of photography internships while I was working at A & I- including but not limited to: Beyond Words Photography and studio intern at David LaChapelle's Los Angeles studio- (that last one is the sole reason I walked away, no RAN away from the fashion photography world, sometimes you gotta go down the road to learn you took the wrong one...) assistant to Laura Grier pretty much every single weekend shooting weddings in between all those!
and finally, ended up in the art department of a Conde Nast magazine for 2 years. At this point I was ready to take myself all the way to photo editor at Vanity Fair.... until it was literally impossible for me to retain my sanity without cutting everything else out and devoting myself 100% to my photography business.
So, yes, I've been shooting weddings for about 5 years- among many many other things. I think every experience I had shaped, molded, and led me to where I am today and I am grateful for all of them. I met so many people throughout each and every stop on the road and truly believe these relationships have formed for reasons. People are constantly brought into my life at chance timing, whether they are here to inspire me or for me to inspire them or for us to inspire each other I truly believe there is a reason for it all! I've been reconnected with old friends, made new ones, and helped current ones.....Stacey is in there somewhere! Stacey and I met when I was interning at a photo studio in Hollywood and I had the utmost pleasure to be a part of her gorgeous wedding to Marty in their beautiful Hollywood home's backyard. Stacey works for Marc Jacobs and is such a stylish woman- with the help of Ryan Larson (another Beyond Words vet) she transformed her backyard into a lush garden and transported herself back in time! Enough chatter (I think that might be the most I've ever written in a post....)
Onward!
