“This review is so long overdue, and I hope it brings home just how much I value Tess' work, and how talented of a documentarian I think she is. Since college, I've vowed to never book a friend for photos unless I really loved their work, because I often found myself disappointment when I should have invested in a professional instead of doing a friend a favor. Though Tess is a dear friend from school, she is absolutely no exception. I would have never been so excited to hire her if her photography work wasn't exactly what my husband and I wanted for our wedding day. Our ceremony was small and intimate, but Tess' work made it feel no less important because the guest size or venue. I'm a fat woman of color, and I'm often self-conscious of how other people, even friends, photograph me and the effort they lack in taking even casual pictures of myself or of me with my husband. However, Tess captured exactly how I felt that day. Not because of any editing, but because she captured our beauty and love for each other exactly as we are. Though Tess did put in so much time and effort into knowing me and my husband as a couple, it doesn't matter how intimately you know your subject — without talent, without having an eye for precious moments and framing and being able to anticipate a shoot's big moments, there's no way you can do what someone like Tess does. We planned our ceremony and reception ourselves — no planner, no coordinator — and Tess' experience helped immensely in planning exactly what we needed and wanted for photos. Despite being a friend, she treated us like any other pair of clients, with extreme professionalism and care, and even went above her scope of work for shooting during the reception and returning our gallery. I'm so happy to see her thrive in her calling, and am honored to have experienced her talents. Tess is an absolute pleasure to work with, and I know we'll be booking her to document important life milestones in the future.”
