Madeleine Tilin, San Francisco Bay Area Wedding Photography

We had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Madeleine quite recently and how could we not blog about her? Madeleine Tilin is a photojournalistic wedding and portrait photographer in the San Francisco Bay area. Her love of photography stems from a favorite childhood memory: her grandmother playing family slides for her on a projector. “I knew some of the people, not all,” she says, “But the images gave me a sense of history and community. I was hooked.” Graduating with a degree in journalism, she worked as an art director, graphic designer and photo editor in the magazine publishing industry for many years. In 1996, during extended travels in Asia, she realized that photography was her true calling. She has been shooting weddings, events and portraits in the Bay Area for four years.

Because of her background in graphic design and art direction, she tells us she really enjoys experimenting with filters and effects when the situation calls for it. “I try not to overuse them,” she explains, “But I find they can enhance a mood or transform the energy in an image. My custom work on images can be included in certain packages if the client is interested in this option.” Madeleine also tells us she loves love. “Who wouldn't enjoy being around that energy? It's an honor to be invited into this day to document all of the energy, love, emotion, crazy, fun moments and sacred, quiet moments that encompass a wedding day. My radar is wide and very pointed at the same time. I'm so ‘in the moment’ with the person I am shooting, but at a wedding you have to be really aware of everything going on around you. One thing you can't learn is great timing: I have it. Otherwise, you just have pictures of people with no story.” Looking at her work, you can see what she means.

She tells us her influences behind the lens are music, nature, yoga, and her own history. Photographically, Annie Leibowitz, Richard Avedon and Dorthea Lange are her portraiture heroes. “Staying fresh as an artist means being open to these influences around you all the time,” she says, “It means constantly looking at other photographers' work to see what works, what doesn't. It means going to museums and galleries and taking in other mediums of art and reflecting on what the connections are between what I'm looking at and what I do. It means being curious and understanding nuance.”

Should you choose to have Madeleine with you on your Big Day, you will no doubt have an artist and friend by your side. “When I meet a couple for the first time, I'm really trying to get a sense of who they are as people. Before we take another step together, I tell them it is important that we feel comfortable around each other because I will be following them around for 8 hours, and that's just the wedding!” http://www.madeleinetilin.com/ for more insanely beautiful images, totally Bridebound approved.