Lauren R Swann Photography

de and recommendation for Lauren as our wedding photographer in 3500 characters, so I'll bullet point this review as best I can. *THE BUBBLIEST PHOTOGRAPHER YOU'LL MEET: For a while, I had this dream of getting my wedding portraits taken at the National Mall. Unfortunately, most photographers I reached out to either refused or, at the very least, were hesitant, to do this for us. Some suggested that I do a National Mall photo shoot the day before or sometime after my wedding, but I wasn't willing to shell out the money to get all dolled up again on a separate day. Others were worried about tourists, the timeline, and logistics. My now-husband was gently nudging me to forego the portraits at the Mall. However, when I got Lauren's response, it was a breath of fresh air. I could tell just from her email that she was enthusiastic about her job; she told me that she LOVED the idea of portraits at the Mall and reassured me that it would not be a logistical nightmare. I think my then-fiance was so relieved by Lauren's response that he told me to book her without even looking at her work. On the wedding day, Lauren and her associate, Nichole, were so upbeat and had such a can-do attitude. It was clear that the entire bridal party was feeding off of their energy and positivity on what was otherwise a stressful day! My bridesmaids kept commenting that my photographer had "such great energy" and "the best personality". I have been in bridal parties before where the photographer is a bit cold or a bit inflexible and demanding that it makes the whole photo-taking experience a drag. Lauren was the complete opposite of this! She was our own personal wedding-day cheerleader :) One of the most memorable moments was when Lauren gave me and my husband five minutes to just enjoy the Jefferson Memorial and not have to pose for photos. We were able to breathe a sigh of relief, regroup, and share some words of encouragement with one another. How sweet and thoughtful of her! *A CONSUMMATE PROFESSIONAL: Don't let her bubbly personality and can-do attitude fool you! She is a true professional and works incredibly quickly. I was surprised how quick and painless she made the engagement photoshoot, since both my husband and I weren't the most comfortable with the idea of posing for photos in public. She walked with us to one location, got a variety of shots and poses, and then soldiered onto the next. Even when my husband and I had trouble posing because we were getting bitten by mosquitos, Lauren didn't flinch or complain and troopered on until she got all of her shots. Her turnaround time for getting us the edited photos was also lightning fast. In fact, we were able to enjoy some of our wedding photos while on our honeymoon! *BEAUTIFUL BLOG-WORTHY PHOTOS: We were so pleased at how our engagement and wedding photos came out. I love the aesthetic of her photos; to me, they seem very romantic and ethereal, but in a very warm and unpretentious way. She even brought some props to our wedding to make our accessories and decor appear more swoon-worthy in the shots than they were in real life! Those who are blessed to have Lauren as your wedding photographer will only have one regret: that the time you spend getting to know her and work with her is too fleeting!

he showed up for our wedding, she felt like a close friend! Lauren gave us the most beautiful pictures in an incredibly timely manner. I am so grateful for Lauren and would recommend her to anyone!

having photos to look back at. I am so thankful to have found Lauren. Not only is she an incredibly talented photographer, she is also just a lovely human being who is sweet and cheerful. Her positive energy and upbeat personality was so nice to be around! From the first email I sent her, to our engagement session, to the last email she sent us with our wedding gallery, Lauren was so easy to work with. She captured all the details I asked her to at our wedding, in addition to being creative and finding those unexpected shots. The ceremony pictures and family formal pictures in particular are photos I will always cherish. When we returned home from our honeymoon, Lauren even surprised us with a large canvas on our doorstep of one of our favorite photos she took from the wedding. Just one example of how she goes above and beyond. If you are engaged and looking at potential photographers, I highly recommend contacting Lauren to see if she's available! Thank you Lauren for capturing our day. I will cherish the photos you took!

SO pleased with our engagement shoot. We had it done in Fell’s Point (a place that is special to my fiancé and myself) and Lauren gladly met us there on a date that worked for us. When we got there, it was the most beautiful day in November and the streets and different areas of the harbor were FULL of people. I was worried that it would be difficult to get pictures because of all of the people. When we got our pictures back, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked like we had the whole place to ourselves! There was not a single person "photo bombing" our pictures. Lauren did a great job during the engagement shoot making us feel comfortable and directing us the entire time. She has a great eye and knew exactly where we should stand and what we should do to get the perfect shot. You can tell that she is the perfect mix of a total “natural” and well educated professional in her field. She provides the pictures on an “online gallery”, which I loved. It was easy to access and I loved the fact that I could print out whatever I wanted – made great Christmas presents! We were SO pleased with the quality AND quantity of our pictures. We had several people ask who did them and many comments such as “I hope that’s who you have doing your wedding! She’s great!” Another aspect that I was very pleased about was her turn-around time. We were featured on her blog in less than a week, and we had our entire gallery with all of the edited pictures in less than 2 weeks! I know several friends who had complaints about their photographer’s turn-around times, but I could not have been happier with Lauren’s! This was definitely my “splurge”, but her prices are competitive with others with similar packages and talent. Pictures are the only thing you have left after the wedding is over – and knowing that Lauren and her second shooter will be the ones taking them and editing them definitely takes away a lot of stress. I plan to write another review after I get my wedding pictures back – but based on the engagement shoot, her work online, and her professionalism, I would give her my highest recommendation!