A woman with long brown hair and glasses, wearing a blue jacket and jeans, sits on a wooden stool in front of a collage on a white wall. The collage includes photos, drawings, and various pieces of paper, some attached with tape.

Documentary Film Photography with a Slow and Intentional Approach

My life has been punctuated by documenting love. You have an open invitation to see people through kind eyes, with warmth and heaps of humor.

After nine years with a camera in my hand, I’ve photographed hundreds of weddings, couples, families, businesses, and artists. I’ve witnessed a whole lot of life. I want to be where the memories are being made, camera in hand and heart open.

I intentionally fade into the day, becoming an observer with the lens of a friend. I want each person to step away and think, “She saw me.” Without this work, I wouldn’t have been able to witness so much joy, sadness, bravery, grief, tenderness, and each unique experience that makes life worth living in your full, soulful humanity.

You lead, I listen. Discover heart-led storytelling with my approach and experience your life documented truthfully.

Pink outline of a framed chalkboard or mirror with a wavy border, glowing purple against a black background.

INQUIRE

MY VALUES

I believe ALL love is welcome here. You and your favorite people will find a safe place to land and an advocate to boot.

I am honored and delighted to work with all people regardless of gender, sexual orientation/identity, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, disability, or economic background.

I believe a wedding can be whatever you say it is, no traditions needed, just a whole lot of love.

Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable in my business and goes against my core values as a person and business owner.

I believe no wedding, elopement, union, or ceremony must look a certain way to hold value.

Integrity, humor, service, high-quality work, kindness, hope, courage, & creativity are the values I look to as a guiding light in my life.

I fervently believe your humanity is the best thing about you.

I hold humor in the highest esteem. I want to laugh with as many people as possible.

I choose to be a part of the messy, real, wonderful life around me, and make something outrageous of it.

A woman sitting cross-legged on a pink bedspread, with a Super 8 camera in front of a hanging quilt.

Photographer and Therapist

I’m a Kansas City based photographer using both analog and digital mediums. With formal training in fine art photography, my work is defined by humor, light, and tenderness. I blend a photojournalistic approach with a bit of editorial photography for those who want to slow down and be witnessed.

When I think of the 200+ weddings that I have photographed over the last 9 years, I think of all the love I have witnessed and couples I have been lucky to document.

What a gift it has been, becoming so intimately acquainted with joy.

Alongside photographing weddings, I have my Master’s Degree in Marriage, Couple, and Family counseling. Being a trained therapist for individuals and couples brings along a great capacity for presence— my ability to truly see others is one of my favorite qualities.

I bring all of myself into this work. It is what makes working with me so different. I want you to bring all of yourself too, because that’s where the good stuff lives, and how the best work is made.

GET TO KNOW DELANEY

A woman kisses a man on the cheek in a park with trees in the background.

You will spend most of your wedding day with one person, and that just happens to be your wedding photographer, so you better like them.

In 2020 I married my best friend! Together we travel the world and thrift shop like nobody’s business. Next up on our list is New Orleans!

A woman gives a speech with a microphone during a wedding reception. The bride and groom are seated at a decorated table and listening attentively.

Being a great friend is my number one goal in life. I am so lucky to be a part of a village of incredible people (who trust me with a microphone at their wedding, risky!)

People dancing and singing passionately at a crowded celebration or party picture in black and white.

My sports of choice are: karaoke, tearing up a dance floor, dinner parties, and time in the sun.

Pink bougainvillea flowers with green leaves, shadows cast over the flowers

If I wasn’t a photographer or therapist, I would love to be a florist! You can catch me in my garden all summer long growing so many flowers.

Bookshelves filled with books, a round overhead light, a small framed picture, a MCM light fixture, and a red sign on display in a bookstore or library.

I’m a total fantasy nerd. I play D&D with my friends and read 100 books a year out of sheer power of will.

A circular mirror on a pole reflecting two people taking a photo, with a building, greenery, and cityscape in the background against a blue sky.

I want to see as much of the world as possible. So far love has brought me to 40 states and 6 countries!

A small motorboat cruising on a river with a cityscape in the background.

Three years ago, I decided it was the year of the canon ball. So naturally, I did 104 canon balls all over the US, Sweden, and into the sound in Denmark (pictured above).

Photograph of a couple walking together. Groom is holding the brides dress.

Warm

Thoughtful

Grounded

Playful

Curated

35mm film photograph of a couple kissing during their wedding ceremony

You can embrace your true selves, whether that’s silly, contemplative, joyous, or even a little cranky, because photographs mean the most when they are telling the truth. The soul of documentary photography is presence.

A couple celebrating getting married with their arms stretched wide in front of the Nelson Atkin Museum.

You need a photographer to invest wholeheartedly in your people, offering support before, during, and after the wedding.

A bride in a white dress wiping a tear from her eye while her wife, also dressed in white, looks on. She is holding her vows and listening to her wife share what she's written.

A bride and her bridesmaids holding bouquets walk outdoors in a sunny park, one in a white lace dress and the other in a floral dress.

You want hand crafted images that speak to the heart of your unique story. Ready to start the journey together? Learn more below.

Digital drawing of a rectangular picture frame with wavy edges, outlined in blue against a black background.

INVESTMENT

Couple entering into their wedding reception at La Villa in Kansas City, MO.

Your wedding day isn’t a performance. You want to be fully present and open.

You can be so immersed in the moment that you forget a camera is there, capturing it all. You want someone who can step back and let the people you love be seen. You want the day to be rooted in observation and reflect how you stayed completely in the moment with your very favorite people.

A black-and-white photo of a joyful toast at a formal dinner with multiple people raising their glasses in celebration, with a backdrop of a lively, Hotel Kansas City.

From the small smiles while you’re getting ready, to the buck wild dance party, you want to be present for it all and bask in the joy of the day. You can look back and relive those feelings through film. Where it wasn’t perfect, but it was full of love.