Rachelle Welling

“My photography style is photojournalistic meets editorial,” says Rachelle Welling. “It’s artful storytelling for those who value experiences over things, intentional details, and adventure over perfection. I want the portraits to embody the personalities of the couple, and I also want everyone involved to enjoy the process.”

In addition to creating great images, Welling’s priority, she says, is always her clients. “I’m particularly good at reading the room and making sure everyone is enjoying the experience,” she says. “Yes, we’ll get the kinds of photos you’d find in a magazine, but it’s equally important to capture the moments the Mother of the Bride will hang in her hallway. I strive for emotive, vibrant, chic and modern photographs that will be treasured for generations.”

The Nikon shooter goes through two to three rounds of culling per memory card to really narrow down the best of the best images. “This past year, I’ve been trying out Imagen AI editing, which builds a profile off of at least 5K of your edited photos,” she explains. “I’ve learned the edits/software isn’t perfect but it’s a good base and place to start. I then begin hand-editing each image by cropping, straightening (I’m a stickler for an even horizon), and making individual adjustments. On images that are waist up, I typically smooth skin, brighten eyes, darken lashes, enhance iris color, and whiten teeth. Brushes, radial filters, and adjustments really take my images from good to great. After finalizing edits in Lightroom, I bring them into Photoshop if needed. For portraits, I utilize Photoshop actions. To finish them off, I use the Portraiture extension for Photoshop.”