Meet Joanna Krueger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joanna Krueger.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’ve always loved photography. I love taking photos, looking at photos, everything about them. I ended up going to school at the University of Houston to get a degree in music education. Upon graduating, I got a job teaching elementary music. It was during my first year of teaching that I bought my first DSLR camera. I was so excited! I started going to local parks and taking pictures of everything- flowers, trees, nature, anything! Then one day, a friend of mine asked if I’d ever tried photographing people. I admit that the thought never crossed my mind. So, I started taking portraits of myself, my friends, and my family. Then, I had a family offer to pay me for a photo session. It was that moment that I realized my hobby could turn into a side business! So, in 2013, I took a big step forward and filed my business with the state of Texas!

Before I knew it, my calendar was filling up! I found myself teaching full time during the week and photographing sessions on the weekends. I loved getting to meet so many wonderful people who ended up becoming friends. Later that year, a friend from college reached out to me and asked me to photograph her wedding. As you can imagine, I was very nervous! I had never photographed a wedding before. But, the moment I began photographing, I realized that I was discovering a hidden talent. I instantly fell in love with weddings, and all those nerves just went away! I realized I was good at this!! After I shot that first wedding, my business continued to grow, and I began to book more and more weddings. I knew I couldn’t photograph weddings alone, so I quickly recruited my husband, Michael, into my business! We became a husband and wife wedding photography team, and we’ve been photographing every wedding together ever since!

As you can imagine, teaching full time and photographing weddings on the weekends was not easy to manage. After four years of running my business and teaching full time, I knew I needed more balance in my life. I decided to specialize in the wedding industry and stopped photographing all other kinds of sessions (family, maternity, newborn, etc.). It was a difficult decision but one that has proven to be the best for my business! Since then, our business has grown tremendously! It grew so much that I resigned from teaching and went full time in my business. As a wedding photographer, I’ve had the honor of being published in Southern Bride Magazine, Weddings in Houston Magazine, and several online publications. If you would have told me six years ago that I would have a full-time wedding photography business, I never would have believed you! But I’m loving every minute of it!

Please tell us about your art.
In our business, we have certain words that describe our work, and “joy” is one of them! We serve brides who desire to have dreamy, genuine and joyful images on their wedding day. Our photographs are bright, colorful, and full of joy. My goal is to preserve the memories of the first day of our clients’ marriage in the most genuine and joyful way- just like they remember. I want our brides to remember all those raw emotions they felt on their wedding day. From the moment she puts on her dress to the moment she walked down the aisle to say “I do” to marry the love of her life, there are so many valuable memories that she’ll have for the rest of her life!

I love creating timeless images so that in 25 years, our clients can look back on their wedding photos and still be in love with their photos! When their grandchildren flip through their wedding album in 50 years, I want them to see all the joy and love their grandpa had for their grandma on their wedding day and to desire to have love just like that! That’s such a special gift to be able to give someone! We believe that love has the power to transform marriages for generations to come, and we want our clients’ children and grandchildren to have this legacy too. When you look at it that way, you just can’t put a price on it.

Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
My first piece of advice is to practice, practice, practice! It takes time, patience, and a lot of practice. Discovering your style as a photographer doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a journey. It has taken me years to get to this point in my business, and I can’t help but look back and be proud of the journey I’ve taken. Also, you will never grow just by copying someone else and expecting immediate results. It’s so important to be patient, rather than looking for instant success and to take some time to truly find your own style. It has taken many of the most well-known photographers many years to get where they are today whereas you may be in the beginning stages of your journey. People hire you for you and what you can create…not what you can copy.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can find our work on our website, blog, and social media, not to mention on the walls and bookshelves of our clients’ houses! People can support us by following us on social media, sharing our work, and telling their friends about us!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joannakrueger.com
• Phone: (409)651-8402
• Email: joanna@joannakrueger.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/joannakrueger
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/JoannaKruegerPhotography

Image Credit:
Joanna Krueger Photography

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