For Timothy Whaley, wedding photography is both a fine art and a chance to tell a beautiful, on-of-a-kind story. Both an artist and a photojournalist, Timothy uses a combination of formal portraits, typically in color, and "editorializing," often in black and white, to tell the story as it unfolds, portray the personalities and capture the emotions that make each wedding unique." After 23 years as a photographer, Timothy knows that every wedding and every couple are different, and he works hard to customize coverage according to the couple's wishes. A pre-wedding meeting "to get to know the couple and what they love about my photography" is critical to a successful experience, he says. "I've even had couples bring in pictures from different magazines to show me exactly what they're looking for."
Timothy has been taking pictures since he was 17, and photography runs in his family. His grandfather is a "Chicago Journalism Hall of Famer," and his father, aunt, uncle, and younger sister are all photographers too. He became interested in wedding photography over 20 years ago, when a colleague "pestered me to see what she was doing on weddings." He was horrified by what he witnessed."Back then," he recalls, "wedding photography was basically an eight-hour portrait session. When all was said and done, you knew who was there and how great everybody looked, but that was about it. The event was hardly captured at all." He set out to change that, founding Timothy Whaley Photographic Artists in 1990. While Timothy and his team also take exquisite portraits, mostly of children, their specialty is weddings. This focus has helped Timothy become one of Chicagoland's most sought-after wedding photographers. He and his firm have been featured on WGN, The Wedding Story, Dateline NBC and in the Daily Herald, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Wedding Pages.
Timothy strives to create works of art that will match each couple's vision and stand the test of time. "We're artists," he says, "but we're commissioned artists, and we're all about making sure each individual couple gets exactly what they're looking for. I want couples to be able to look at their pictures years later and relive the romance and magic of their wedding day. I want them to feel the emotion."
In addition to the typical ceremony and reception photos, it's not unusual for Timothy or one of his associates to accompany the bridal party around town on the wedding day, photographing the couple and their entourage on Michigan Avenue, at the Planetarium or any other favorite location. They typically use color as well as black and white for these sessions and have created some amazing imagery. "Black and white has a timeless, classic feel," Timothy explains. "And it eliminates distraction, putting all the focus on the subject. This makes it ideal for the editorial side of what we do."
Timothy Whaley & Associates © 2010
