50 Essential Portrait Photographers: Gracci Pelaez of Pelaez Photography

Gracci Pelaez is one half of Pelaez Photography, a photography studio that focuses on creating contemporary art by capturing the glamour and romance on weddings and is building its portrait portfolio for babies, moms and families.

Why did you get into photography?

I’ve always had an interest in photography early on in life. It turned into a serious hobby that I eventually shared with my husband. Now, it’s a privilege to be trusted to document a wedding day, to capture the beauty of motherhood, the innocence of a newborn or the playful nature of children. I also love that I get to meet a lot of new people, many of whom are still good friends of ours.

Tell us a bit about your company.

Pelaez Photography started out as a wedding photography studio. It wasn’t long until we started getting requests for maternity, newborn and family portraits by past clients, their friends and family. While we mainly market ourselves to brides and grooms, we are slowly branching out to portrait photography. We’d like to think that our studio is growing along with our family. We have a daughter who is turning 3 in a couple of months and the importance of preserving that moment in time at different stages in life becomes more and more apparent to us.

How would you characterize your style of photography?

We focus on capturing our client’s personality and the family dynamics. We always tell our clients that their photos should represent them well but in an artistic way. The environment is just secondary. We photograph them where they are most comfortable in and they are encouraged to be themselves. When our clients bring their photos home, we want them to appreciate the images as contemporary art wherein the subject just happens to be them!

Who are your clients?

We have a style that is very much our own and it is important to us that there is a good fit between us and our clients in terms of style. We also want our clients to be really involved in the process and yet have confidence in our vision. Our clients walk away from the experience with images that reflect their true self with an artistic twist.

What should your mom clients expect when working with you?

Our portrait experience is a collaboration. We want moms to be open minded when it comes to our vision but at the same time we are open to hearing their ideas to see how we can create unique and beautiful images that they will love. ÊWe are also very easy to work with. Parents, in particular, can get worried that their kids won’t sit still long enough to get a “family photo” or their newborns won’t “cooperate” in the shoot and we say, let them be! That’s who they are and that’s how you want to remember them. Even if it means that we have to get down and dirty with the kids to get the shot or act silly to get the attention of small babies, we do it.