So, you’re probably wondering who I am as a person. My name is Esther, and I grew up in Southern California but moved to Southern IL for school. I came to Illinois to pursue my nursing degree. I had and still have a love for helping others so I knew from a young age that nursing was always something I wanted to do. I intially moved here with the goal of getting my degree and then moving back to California but it did not take me long to fall in love! While at Carbondale High School, I stumbled upon the cutest little red head. He was rebelious and adventourous. He laughed everywhere he went and lit up a room with his mere presence. He turned out to be exactly what I needed. And so after getting my nursing degree, I realized I could not leave. I had not only fallen for this boy but I had also fallen in love with Southern Illinois.

After getting my nursing degree, and buying a house in the area, I still felt like something was missing. I had all this creativtiy and desire to want to do something different. I initally started off taking pictures on my phone. It was fun, and it got me out of the house. I slowly starting taking pictures of the family at holidays. After a while of doing that, I started taking pictures of friends and pretty much anyone and everything. From there, I purchased my first camera, and really started to dive into photography. Photography allowed me to connect with people in such a freeing and creative way. As a nurse, I was used to talking to people at their most vulnerable and on their worst days. As a photographer, I was still with people at a vulnerable time but in a much different way. This way was more joyous, and it allowed for more expression and feedback. It allowed me to use my creativity to help people capture their best selves. And photography also helped me by getting me in new places that I normally wouldn’t be. And it allowed me to see parts of Southern Illinois that are beautiful, fragile and magical. It gave me a new appreciation for not only the people around me but the place.

I apologize, I tend to stray and talk about photography often! I am supposed to be telling you about me! So my love, Kevin and I bought a cute little house, I got my nursing degree and we wanted adventure, so we bought a van and wanted to try a couple of months of vanlife. We purchased a van in late 2019 and wanted to coast across the US. I thought it would be fun to take my camera with and to see the beauty that was out there. We spent several months building our van. We had solar panels, a ceiling fan, a bed and were working on the kitchen. But then COVID hit and suddenly we were stuck in the house with nothing to do. We had heard from friends that the foster care system was struggling as COVID was becoming rampant. A lot of the group homes had been closing, and this essesntially left thousands of kids with no place to go. And to make it worse, a lot of foster parents were not comfortable to help because there was so much we did not know about COVID at the time. It was scary. After a lot of converstions, we decieded we wanted to help. We wanted to do more and so we started taking our fostering classes in April of 2020 and became certified foster parents in June of 2020. We accepted our first foster child into our home June 22, 2020. Kevin and I have continued to be foster parents since then. We love giving back to the community and feel that these kids impact our lives just as much if not more than we impact theirs. As a photographer, I offer free photography sessions to foster families in the area. This has been something that I have offered since we became certified as foster parents.

As a family, we love watching TV! Netflix is a go to! We are currently watching Succession but definately enjoy shows like Peaky Blinders, Wednesday, You and pretty much everything on the top 10 ten list on Netflix. We are also obessed with TikTok. It is absoutely addictive! I love hanging out with friends and enjoying a nice glass of wine or some tea depending on the day. I have a diverse group of friends from different walks of life and this of course is also reflected in my work. I have a diverse group of clientale, and that has always been a priority for me. I have photographed really old folks and really young people. I have photographed black, white, hispanic, and everything in between. I have photographed interaccial couples, throuples, lesbian/gay couples, and other members of the LGBTQIA+. I value being an inclusive photographer and making everyone feel beautiful regardless of your beginnings and where you started.

As a photographer, my favorite groups of people to photograph are couples! I love them! I love the joy, the palpable feelings of love and the chemistry that I get to witness and capture. It is amazing! And I hope this gives you a little insight into who I am. I think its important that you know me. A wedding is a very intimate and vulnerable moment in your life and I don’t want you to feel like some random stranger was there randomly clicking a button. I am a real person with a family and a life. And I care about you, and I want this day to be special. I want to capture every tear, every jittery butterfly and every kiss! I hope that this helps put you at ease as we get closer to the exciting day when you get to say yes to your soul mate.

And to close this out, I thought I would share some tips!

Tell your bridal party to stand close to one another and to be smiling during the ceremony. If they stand far apart, it makes for some awkward gaps so stay close together. As the photographer, I am taking pictures of you and of them while they are up there so they want their faces to look happy and joyful.
Tell the day-of coordinator or your planner to have people move up and inward towards the aisle so that we don’t see empty chairs in your pictures. And if they can, have them remove the extra chairs so we don’t have a lot of gaps.

3. The ideal time for portraits is during golden hour or one hour before sunset! This is when we want to focus on your portraits as a couple because this is when the lighting will be best! It will be soft and glowy.

4. Some things will not go according to plan, but that is okay. Be ready to go with the flow and to pivot as things come up!

5. The day will pass by so fast, so schedule some time for the two of you to be together with no one else. It can be at the beginning or in the middle but spend just a few minutes enjoying each other.

Alright, that is all for now! I will continue to check in, and share more as we get closer to the date! And of course, if you have any questions for me, do not hestiate to reach out.

Your favorite photographer,

Esther Kabwe Photography

Now a little bit about me….

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