I’M MARCELA. A NON-TRADITIONAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER BASED IN PORTLAND. TRAVELING WORLDWIDE FOR DESTINATION WEDDINGS IN CALIFORNIA, MEXICO & BEYOND.
“93 percent stardust, with souls made of flames, we are all just stars that have people names.“
Destination Wedding Photographer
hi, it’s so nice to have you here
I was sixteen years old when I picked up my first camera. I did what most high schoolers would do; I grabbed my bestie and we did our best at making images for Tumblr that ended up being a total cringe-fest. I loved every moment of it.
Photography has a way of bringing you back to a moment in time and reminding you of how it felt to be there. I think every kid has that experience of seeing old photos of their parents and feeling like they’re peering into another world. My parents came from a whole other country so it was a particular poignant experience to see where we come from.
Through photography I’m able to look back and remember those moments; road tripping up and down the California coast to visit my older sister in Berkeley. Summers flying down to Mexico to visit mis abuelos and all of my tios y primos. Swimming in the gorgeous turquoise waters off the coast of Nayarit. Exploring the metropolitan marketplaces con mi madre. Riding horses con mi padre through the Mexican cerros.
I’ve always been a dreamer, a lover, and a hopeless romantic. I believe in love, above all things it is the most raw and beautiful to me. My aspiration as a destination wedding photographer and storyteller is to capture all of the crazy emotions that run wild and help you relive them for years to come. More than anything, I love a good story. I would love it if you shared yours so we could create some beautiful imagery together.
So here I am.
I’m Marcela and I would love to take your photo.
What I’m Made Of
✳(STARDUST)
THROUGH MY LENS
The Images That Define Me
Every session gives me a new opportunity to see things differently. I love to plan & dream with my clients, as part of a shared creative process.
My Journey
Picked up my first camera
Back in my Junior year of High School, I picked up my first camera for my school paper, The Pepperbough. I was also writing album reviews for some of my favorites, including My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Blood Brother’s Young Machetes.
Shot My First Wedding
Back in 2011 I shot my first wedding with my best friend Stephanie for a friend of her family for $300.
We really had absolutely no idea what we were doing and just had a love for the craft. I had zero idea that this would in fact become my full time career just a few short years afterwards.
Worked in Yosemite National Park
Honestly, this year was the catalyst for it all! I graduated from UC Riverside with my degree in Psychology and promptly ran away to the woods, working in Yosemite National Park for the summer. I started to focus on landscape photography, just for fun. I ended up moving to Portland in December of this year.
Went full time as a wedding photographer
I started to really focus on shadowing some great photographers and learning more about weddings in 2015 while working full time as a corporate receptionist at Amazon HQ. The very next year I decided to go all in and went full time as a wedding photographer.
Since then I’ve shot a minimum of 20 (upwards to 40) weddings a year and delivered hundreds of thousands of photos to some truly spectacular couples madly in love, such as yourselves. It’s been an absolute privilege that I don’t take for granted.
