Today we’d like to introduce you to Siobhan Gibbs.
Hi Siobhan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I never once pictured myself in the wedding industry or working with a camera in my hand. I knew I would most likely end up in the entrepreneurial field, but if you would’ve asked me all the way up to the end of High School, photography wouldn’t have been in my top 10 of careers I would consider. The top career I was actually considering my senior year of high school, was massage therapy. I have always loved the idea of serving people and helping them realize how beautiful and loved they are.
During my senior year of high school, my best friend who was a photographer, was taking our prom photos when I asked if I could play around with taking the photos instead. A few days after prom, we sat at her computer in her house and edited the photos from that night and I slowly started feeling the itch to do it again.
At the very end of 2018, I bought the same DSLR camera that my best friend had and had every intention of using it to document my family and our lives. But living in a small town, I quickly started getting asked by family and friends if I could take senior photos for friends, engagement photos for coworkers, or family photos. It wasn’t until 2019 that I was able to second shoot a wedding for the first time when I fell in love with the wedding industry.
It was 2020, the year of Covid, when I had my first two weddings booked of my own. Of course they were small, 20 guests or less weddings and I think it was the best way for me to start my wedding career. I then moved to Corvallis the year after and took time to focus on college and socializing during this time.
Fast forward a few years to 2023, I was working at the local coffee shop in Corvallis and loving life. But I felt like my photography business was always getting put last, behind my coffee job and social life. I quickly noticed that I was growing impatient and unhappy with how my business was growing, or lack of.
Thankfully I had an amazing life coach for the first six months of 2023. It was her that helped me mentally become strong enough to take the leap to go full-time in photography in July of 2023. At that time, I only have 2 weddings for 2023, but I knew if I didn’t devote the time to growing my business, it wasn’t going to just magically do it on its own.
This leap was exactly was I needed, because the next year, 2024, I had 17 weddings on the books and another 17 weddings in 2025.
I’ve been so lucky enough to be able to photograph love stories not only in the stunning Oregon and Washington, but also New Orleans, Lousiana and Oahu, Hawaii as well.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. But I will say, this career has been so aligned with my purpose, so despite the bumps and obstacles I’ve encountered, it’s been the most life-giving decision I’ve made career-wise.
Having my first few weddings during Covid year, was definitely not the easiest start, but the blessings were also hidden in the details. The logistics of such a scary season of life made it tricky as a new photographer trying to learn the ropes of running a business. But thankfully the smaller weddings gave me the starting experience I needed to help me gain confidence for what would eventually become my full-time job.
Other than what was obviously a very difficult year for everyone, I’ve actually had a fairly smooth sailing with my journey to becoming the photographer I am today. Of course, like any other entrepreneurial/creative job, there’s so many more aspects of it that you don’t necessarily account for when you begin. You quickly realize you not only have to be a creative, but also learn how to market yourself, how to be a social media manager, a bookkeeper, and many other roles you might not have known you’d have to sign up for. Each role is a learning curve and all different types of muscles that need to be strengthened, but boy are they a chore and can be difficult to train while trying to keep your creativity alive and burning.
Beyond the multiple hats a small business owner must wear, I will say that my 2026 season has been a lot slower in terms of bookings than my past two years which can be a stressor by itself. It means reflecting on my business strategy, my marketing, my branding – anything that might be an indicator as to how I can better communicate my value to potential clients to increase bookings for the next year.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the owner and creator of Siobhan Lynette Photography. I am a wedding and lifestyle photographer based in the Columbia River Gorge who specializes in artfully designed moments with an honest and editorial style. I love aligning with clients that want to have intimate and detail heavy weddings that are focused on guest experiences.
I’m proud of how far my work has come from when I started. My style is ever changing, but I finally feel like I am so close to having it at a point that I love and think I will stick with for a long time.
I also pride myself on helping my clients navigate their wedding day in a way that doesn’t feel like a production. Wedding days go by so fast and most people don’t want to spend 90% of it taking pictures. My couples, and myself, love spending the day actually living it. I work closely with my couples to help guide them throughout the day with lots of wiggle room for breathing, slowing down, and soaking in the moments that go by too fast. This can involve as many calls as needed to make sure we create a photography timeline that allows for the day to not only be lived, but felt. My art and photography are then able to reflect those emotions of the day, because we’ve created an atmosphere for those emotions to present themselves in a very authentic way that doesn’t feel posed or forced.
I’ve also always been a people-person and getting to serve my clients on one of their biggest days of their lives is an honor I don’t take lightly. I pride myself on being able to read people and their energies better than most and knowing when a situation calls for me to stand up and direct more or if it calls for me being a fly on the wall and letting the emotions flow. When couples hire me, they’re not only hiring me for my work, but they’re hiring me for my calming presence, and the assurance that I will capture their day exactly as it unfolds and all the special moments that happen during.
How do you think about luck?
For someone who is fairly religious, I’m not sure if I would say that luck has played any big parts in my life and business, but rather God. Sure, I would say that I’m lucky when it comes to good parking spot, but anything I’ve earned or achieved in my life and business, I firmly believe that it came from hard work and the grace of God. I wouldn’t be the person I am without Him and I wouldn’t be at the point that I am in business without Him as well.
Pricing:
- Wedding Coverage starts at $6,500
- Lifestyle sessions start at $650
Contact Info:
- Website: https://siobhanlynette.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siobhanlynettephoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/siobhanlynettephoto
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@siobhanlynette
