In our new Behind the Lens blog series, we’re connecting with our favourite photographers around the globe and in our community. What we do as photographers is capturing experiences and sharing them with the world, so we wanted to provide a platform for others in our field to share a little bit about their process, experiences, and themselves.
First up: our latest preset collaborator, Olivia Markle!
Olivia is a full-time wedding photographer based in Arizona. Her photos are energetic, full of life and color, and are guaranteed to make you crack a smile when looking at them. Her energy is infectious, and comes across brilliantly in her work. She aims to keep the colors in her photos as vibrant and true-to-life as possible – a style she picked up on a trip to Hawaii a number of years ago.
The presets she had previously been using for her photography didn’t portray the beautiful colors of her surroundings the way she wanted to, so she decided to make her own from scratch. You often hear that the photos don’t do the landscape justice; Olivia wanted to enhance her photos to mirror exactly what she saw in front of her. And she’s been using her custom preset throughout her work ever since!
When we were creating our collaboration packs with Olivia, we wanted to keep all of the fun and vibrancy of her editing style, while making sure that the preset would work on a variety of different images. Once we nailed down her signature look, we let our creativity run wild and created some more options too – including a film-inspired pack, complete with retro grainy details that pop on Olivia’s sun-kissed images.
We had the pleasure of chatting with Olivia lots over the last few months while working on her presets, and she is an absolute joy to be around. Here’s what she had to say about her journey as a photographer.
Where did your photography journey start?
My photography journey started in college when I first started dating my boyfriend (now husband!) and I wanted to take cute photos of us together. We lived in Utah at the time and were surrounded by such gorgeous scenery, so I would make him come into the mountains with me (snow or shine), set up a tripod, and take pics of us together. It was during this time when I realized how much fun taking photos and editing them was and that I genuinely loved doing it. This is what sparked me to want to start taking photos of other people and once I started doing that, I was hooked!! It’s so crazy because as a little kid, I always told people I wanted to travel the world and take pictures for a living, then tooootally forgot about that dream – and now that’s exactly what I’m doing!
What did you learn from shooting your first wedding?
I learned SO much shooting my first wedding – the number one thing being that I LOVED shooting weddings!! I actually started out photography only wanting to do portraits, and didn’t want to shoot couples or weddings. So once I shot my first wedding, I was like wait… this is so much fun! THIS is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Why do you love being a wedding photographer? Have you always wanted to be a photographer?
I love being a wedding photographer because I get to capture the happiest day of people’s lives. How freaking cool is that!! The connections I get to make is another reason I love what I do. I always love making people laugh and I’m always down for a good time, so it feels more like a day of having fun with friends and celebrating them than actual work. I’m also the world’s biggest fan of dance parties (not even joking) so if there’s a dance party it’s automatically the best day ever for me.
My parents always tell me that when I was super little, I wanted to travel the world and take pictures, but I definitely grew out of that dream shortly after. Once I got older, I wanted to be a lawyer or a surgeon because I love school and thought those jobs really suited me. In college, I went into business school but shortly after I dropped out to pursue my dream of photography. So I’d say the seed was planted at a young age and then resurfaced at the perfect time!
Do you have advice for photographers who are just starting out?
Shoot all the time! The best thing I ever did was make a goal for myself to shoot 6 times a week when I first started out. I figured I would improve 6 times faster than someone who was only shooting once a week and I wanted to improve FAST. There are so many things to learn but in my opinion, the best way to learn is to get out and do it. Set up shoots with family, friends, your dogs, anyone and just practice, experiment, and learn how to work your camera.
“There are so many things to learn but in my opinion, the best way to learn is to get out and do it. Set up shoots with family, friends, your dogs, anyone and just practice, experiment, and learn how to work your camera.”
What is your favourite location to shoot? Favourite subject?
My favorite location to shoot at is probably *shocker* Hawaii!! I love the diverse scenery it has to offer and the crazy turquoise blues, the lush greens, and amazing colorful orange and pink sunsets. Hawaii truly is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. My favorite subject is definitely a couple either eloping on the top of a gorgeous mountain, or a couple playing in the crashing waves with me waist deep in the water where we’re all laughing together and having a blast in the ocean.
How else do you fill your time, other than photography?
My husband and I started a Youtube channel not too long ago and we are LOVING that – it’s honestly so much fun for us! I also love going to the gym, going boating, surfing/anything at the beach, hiking, and most of all, staying home snuggling with my puppies and watching shows and movies with my husband. I definitely love adventures and going out but I love staying in equally as much.
Follow along with Olivia on Instagram!
The Olivia Markle Presets are a powerhouse of color with classic warm undertones, idyllic creamy skin tones, enriched greens, and heightened blues that breathe a fresh dimension of vibrancy into photos. Whether you’re shooting desert weddings with sharp and intense light, dense and lush tropical rainforests, or snapping those candid waterfall iPhone selfies, there’s a whole lot of pop!
Olivia Markle Presets consists of 11 color presets, 1 BW presets, Creative Profile’s, and 3 adjustment Tools including Lens Corrections ON/OFF and a Lower Saturation Tool (please see * below for compatibility).
Photos by Olivia Markle.
