My name is Ryan Estes, and unlike many of the other PWP photographers, I haven’t been playing with cameras since I was 2 years old (I spent most of my time getting picked last for kickball). In fact, although I’ve long been intrigued by photography and the magic of freezing time, I actually spent much of my life thinking I’d go into television or video production.
It wasn’t until I finished college, expensive diploma in hand (“That’s ‘Ryan Estes, B.A.’ to you, sir!”), that photography grabbed me and refused to let go.
The next five years were an intense self-taught crash course… I read a lot of books, learned a lot from mentors and even more from mistakes. As time went on, I realized that while I loved nature photography, shooting people is what really ignites me. The image on the right (taken years ago, those feet belong to my wife, Kelly, on an old street in Istanbul) helped me start to realize that. I love the tone, the grain of the film, and I love what it doesn’t say. “Who? Where? Why?” It has hung in our house since then, and reminds me why I do what I do.
Shooting weddings allows me to create and capture on a weekly basis. The start of a couple’s life together, the joining of two families, the inherent beauty of the day (regardless of the weather!)… this is rich ground for art, a perfect place to invest in people, stop time, and create. There are so many stories to tell, and I want to tell them.
Ryan Estes is a member of Professional Photographers of America and Wedding & Portrait Photographers International. His work has appeared in numerous publications, and he has the cutest daughter in the world. Seriously.
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