behind the camera
meet Lisa
This is the part of all wedding professional’s websites where we get to tell you a few basic facts in hopes you can know the person behind the camera a little better before you decide if you’d want her tagging along with you during one of the most important days of your life. I could use this space to tell you how much I like coffee and Taylor Swift and traveling and prestige TV shows, but I think what you’ve really come here to ask is this: can I trust this person to capture my wedding with her camera in a way that is both beautiful and authentic so I can remember what it was like to be me on my wedding day? And maybe also … will I like being around this person on my wedding day? Well, thank you for asking; that’s a great question, and I’m so glad you’re here.
A student of people and light, using the timelessness of film and the swiftness of digital to tell your story beautifully.
I shot my first wedding 17 years ago and I knew right away I’d be telling love stories for a long, long time. That sounds so cheesy…. Telling love stories. But that’s the core of what I do. I look for the moments when the mother looks at her daughter, and you can almost see on her face that she’s looking at both the bride in front of her and the little girl she once was. That’s love. I’m on the lookout for the quiet relief the groom feels when he realizes he doesn’t have to wonder who his person is anymore… because it’s her. At last! And the guests… when they embrace the new couple, the family, each other… there’s so much love there too. That’s what I want you to remember. That you are so very loved. I hope you’ll be able to celebrate the ways you are loved long after your wedding celebration ends and that the images my team and I capture will surround you with love in a deeply genuine way.
I have a worldview that values the inherent dignity of all people and honors the beauty in creation and love.
I also hate cilantro. With the burning passion of 1,000 suns. That doesn’t tell you much about me as a photographer, but I thought you might want to know. Or not. Who can say. But if you’re interested in any other little fun facts that have nothing to do with photography, just keep scrolling. It’ll be worth it.
fun facts:
01 | Every year, like the basic girl I guess I am, spotify wrapped confirms yet again that I love Taylor Swift. I never got tickets to The Eras Tour (and I cry about it with my 8-year-old daughter pictured above sometimes), but my favorite songs in no particular order are Exile, I Forgot That You Existed, Daylight (Live from Paris version) and whatever the new Vault tracks on Rep (TV) will be.
02 | I have three kids. Every year they get older, which is really annoying. I don’t subscribe to the mantra “blink and you’ll miss it” or “they grow up so fast.” I’m not saying those idioms aren’t true, but that’s just not how I’ve experienced motherhood. I’ve been a mom for almost two decades and that’s exactly what it feels like. It’s been hard and messy and sanctifying and so incredibly meaningful. Every bit of it. I grieve, though, that they’re preparing to launch, because no matter how slow or fast the time may go, childhood is never long enough. Wish I could keep them here with me for a little longer. But that’s not how time works. Dang it.
03 | The Bear is the best thing on television. It combines my love of really good food, yelling Italians, entrepreneurship, and Taylor Swift (ahem, in the Forks episode? Maybe you missed it so take this as your sign to go back and watch one of the top episodes of television of all time. This is not hyperbole. It’s just the facts). The show is either super stressful or super slowly focused on the craft of culinary arts, and I eat. It. up. All of it.
04 | When my husband was in grad school, we spent five years as dorm parents in a college boys dormitory. It smelled so bad and it was also super fun. I still cannot believe my husband completed over 100 hours of graduate school, became a dad, started a wedding photography business with me, AND managed all those young, mischievous boys. Actually I can believe it, because he’s pretty swell.
05 | No one asked how I take my coffee. However.... I prefer a flat white with oatmilk and maybe a little honey or a really good pour over made by my personal at-home barista (see #4 above), but in the spring and summer I love a good espresso tonic. If you’re in St. Louis, Blueprint Coffee has a classic, crisp espresso tonic, and the tonics offered at 23 West are often seasonally very creative.
06 | I like pizza. But not like a normal amount. More like way above a normal amount. I am trying my darnest to perfect my crust so the Neapolitan pizzas I make in my pizza oven at home are just as good as the restaurants, but this takes time, and I’m not there yet. I won’t give up. But also, don’t sleep on the pepperoni pizza from Wally’s (yes. That Wally’s). It’s exceptional, unexpected, and pairs well with those ding dang slooshes.
07 | Neither my master's nor my bachelor's degree is in an art-related field (Counseling and English), but they have both proven to help me tell the story of people uniquely well.
love weddings?
then you're going to love following along on instagram
© Lisa Hessel PHotography 2025