Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Ratterree.
Hi Jessica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story with photography started about 15 years ago, and honestly, I never could have imagined where it would take me. I’ve always been a creative and deeply sentimental person. I’m the person who holds onto photographs, little keepsakes, and things that remind me of people and moments in my life. There has always been something really powerful to me about being able to freeze a moment in time and have something tangible to come back to years later.
When I first picked up a camera, I wasn’t thinking about building a business or becoming a professional photographer. I simply loved creating. I loved capturing people and noticing the little things that might otherwise be missed. Eventually, people started trusting me to photograph their lives, and little by little, something I loved grew into a business.
Over the years, that business has taken many different forms. I’ve photographed weddings, families, babies, seniors, events, couples, pets you name it, I’ve probably photographed it. For a long time, I believed that being successful meant saying yes to everything. I was so focused on making photography work as a career that I didn’t always stop and ask myself what kind of work actually made me happiest. Life has a funny way of bringing you back to yourself, though.
The last few years have brought a lot of growth, change, loss, adventure, and experiences that have shifted my perspective on what really matters. Losing my mom this year changed the way I look at photographs in an especially profound way. Images that once seemed ordinary suddenly became incredibly important. It reminded me that what I create for people isn’t just content or something pretty to post online. Someday, these photographs may be some of the most meaningful things they own.
At the same time, traveling and photographing in places I had dreamed about for years especially Italy and Iceland reignited something creatively in me. I realized how alive I feel when I’m photographing people outdoors, exploring somewhere beautiful, letting things unfold naturally, and creating images that feel like the experience instead of just documenting what everyone looked like. That realization has brought me to where I am today.
After 15 years, I’m actually in a season of redefining what success looks like for me. I’m becoming much more intentional about the work I take on and moving my business toward elopements, intimate weddings, couples, adventure, and travel. I want to work with people who aren’t worried about perfection and who want their photographs to feel like them the laughter, windblown hair, tears, dogs, muddy shoes, quiet moments, big emotions, and everything in between.
I think for a long time I was trying to build the photography business I thought I was supposed to have. Now, I’m building one that actually feels like me. And after all these years, that feels a little bit like starting over but in the best possible way.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. I think one of my biggest struggles has been feeling like, after 15 years, I should have everything figured out by now. There have absolutely been moments when I’ve looked around and thought, “Shouldn’t I be further along?”
Comparison has been a big part of that. The photography industry can be incredibly inspiring, but it’s also easy to measure your success against everyone else their bookings, pricing, social media, travel, and how successful they appear to be.
I’ve also struggled with saying no. When your creativity helps pay the bills, turning down work can feel scary. For years, I said yes to almost everything because I thought being busy meant I was successful, even when the work wasn’t necessarily what fulfilled me.
There have been financial struggles, slow seasons, self-doubt, mistakes, and moments when I’ve questioned whether I was good enough to keep doing this. And through all of that, life continues to happen behind the scenes. This past year especially has reminded me that you can experience grief, loss, and really difficult seasons while still having clients to serve and a business to run.
But I think those struggles have also helped me redefine success. I’m learning that I don’t need to be the busiest photographer or have everything figured out. I want to make a living creating work that means something to me, connect with good people, experience more of the world, and build a life and business that actually feel like mine.
I’m still figuring it out and I think I’m finally okay with that.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in elopements, intimate weddings, and couples photography, especially for people who want their experience to feel like them. I’m drawn to adventure, the outdoors, travel, and couples who aren’t afraid to do things a little differently whether that means exchanging vows on the Oregon Coast, exploring somewhere completely new together, bringing their dogs along, or throwing tradition out the window altogether.
My approach is documentary-focused, but I also know most people aren’t professional models and don’t automatically know what to do in front of a camera. I give gentle direction when it’s needed and then create space for real moments to happen. I want the laughter, movement, tears, windblown hair, muddy shoes, dogs running around, and all the imperfect little moments that actually make a story yours.
I think one thing that sets me apart is how much I care about everything that happens before I ever pick up my camera. I don’t want to simply show up, photograph something beautiful, and leave. I help my couples with locations, timelines, planning, vendor recommendations, and all of those little details that can make an experience feel less stressful and more intentional.
After 15 years of photography, I’ve also learned that the value of a photograph isn’t always fully understood the day it’s taken. Sometimes its importance grows over time. My own experiences with love, life, and loss have made me incredibly aware of that. I want to create photographs that are beautiful now but become even more meaningful 10, 20, or 40 years from now.
And I’m a huge believer that dogs are family, so if your dog is part of your life, there’s a pretty good chance I’m going to encourage you to bring them along!
More than anything, I want people to look at their photographs and remember not just what everything looked like, but exactly how it felt to be there. That’s the part of this work I’m most proud of.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is to embrace all of it the beautiful moments, the messy ones, and even the really hard ones. For a long time, I thought success meant staying busy, saying yes to everything, and trying to fit into what I thought a successful photographer was supposed to look like. I’ve learned that the more I stop comparing myself and start trusting what genuinely feels right to me, the more connected I feel to my work and to myself.
I’ve also realized that I don’t only thrive in the happy, picture-perfect moments. Some of the hardest seasons of my life have brought the most growth, creativity, and clarity. I’m someone who feels things deeply, and instead of seeing that as something I need to tone down, I’ve learned to embrace it. It’s a huge part of how I connect with people and how I photograph them.
Life is complicated. There’s joy and grief, laughter and tears, beginnings and endings and sometimes all of those things exist at the same time. I think experiencing that firsthand has taught me to notice moments differently and to understand just how meaningful photographs can become.
Maybe the biggest lesson has been learning not to run from the hard parts. They’ve shaped me just as much as the beautiful ones have, and I think they’ve made me a better artist, a better storyteller, and a more compassionate human being. I’m still learning, still changing, and still figuring things out and I’ve learned that there’s actually a lot of beauty in that too.
Pricing:
- Adventure Elopements + Weddings: Collections typically range from $5,000–$7,500 depending on coverage, location, and experience.
- Intimate Weddings: Custom collections available based on coverage and the needs of each couple.
- Couples & Adventure Sessions: Starting at $400, with travel-based sessions available throughout Oregon and beyond.
- Destination Photography: Available throughout the Pacific Northwest and worldwide; custom travel collections are available.
- All experiences are customized: I encourage couples to reach out directly so we can create coverage that fits their story, rather than choosing photography based solely on a number of hours.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wildlightcollective.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildlightcollectivepnw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildlightcollectivepnw
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@wildlightcollectivepnw
