I am drawn to real moments full of emotion and movement. Showcasing these moments with light, color, and angles is a great challenge and joy. I am genuinely curious about human connections and am a constant observer, I feel like these are two traits that help me 'catch' that just right moment. Making the experience fun and relaxing is also a huge goal. I will be a silly jokester (fair warning) and find out what your favorite movie is and by the end, I hope you will feel like we are old friends.
I knew early that I wanted to be a photographer. When I was 12 I saved up my babysitting money to buy my first 'big time' camera. I formed Arrae Photography in 2003 and went full-time with the business in 2008.
I'm a born and raised West Michigan girl (Zeeland specifically), and though I dabbled slightly with being a Californian it didn't stick. Grand Rapids had always felt like home when I visited as a youth and I'm proud to live here now, I adore this city.
I live in the Alger Heights neighborhood with my three darling children, my love and best friend Tim, our puppy/meatball Zoey, and jungle cat Muriel.
My current obsessions include lakehouse hunting on Zillow, Paul F. Tomkins podcasts, metalsmithing, houseplants, and paddleboarding.
This is just a bit of my story, I look forward to hearing yours. Ideally over mall pretzels.
Arrae Photography is a West Michigan portrait and wedding photographer serving Grand Rapids, Detroit, Traverse City, Chicago and beyond.
