“2020 was a difficult year for many reasons, but weddings were especially tough to make happen in this calendar year. But what made it even more difficult was having to plan 2 different weddings. The first being a 10 month planned wedding in Joshua Tree, California, until we had to cancel it due to COVID in November a month before it was supposed to happen. My now husband and I scrambled to reset for a smaller ceremony in Illinois instead to allow at least his family to attend and have it at his sister's home in Huntley, IL. We only had one month to reset. One of the most important things for us was photography, and although we had spent most of our savings on the cancelled wedding and we had no hope in recovering most of that back or even soon enough to help with the 2nd wedding, we knew we had to put forth the money and make the right choice for a photographer to document our day as best as possible so that our love ones who couldn't make it could experience that day through the right lens. Justin Vaughn of JVaughn Photography LLC was the right lens and so much more! He worked very closely with us via online google meetings, with a minor setback, which was we couldn't have an in person engagement photo session with him (since we were based in Wyoming and wouldn't arrive in Illinois until closer to the ceremony). Justin prefers to complete an engagement photo session, which comes already included in a lot of his packages, before the wedding to get to know us as a couple and make sure we get the shots we prefer. However even without the engagement session, through our online meetings, we were able to discuss who we are and Justin had that personal touch as though we were talking to an old friend. We established the narrative and story telling that we hoped to have for the day. Justin took detailed notes and had a list of shots to take for the day. But his improvisation and artistic eye was also excellent and he captured moments that we had never thought of that were so beautiful and amazing. In addition to the photography he also did minor videography to provide us a highlight reel, which was beyond what we expected! Throughout the day he was also very much a ninja in capturing the right moments beautifully without obstructing the views of guests present. I would recommend him for any photography need, he truly is an artist that captures the moments you wanted and so much more!”
