New York Wedding Photographer | 2024 Weddings | Destination Wedding Photographer
2024 was full of travel, adventure weddings, and multicultural celebrations. Here are some of my favorite moments, and a little behind the scenes
By destination wedding photographer Kathryn Cooper Weddings
2024 in Review: Awards + Happenings
2024 is done with, and as for many Americans—it was an interesting year. But in the interests of getting neither sappy nor political, I’d like to present more of a 2024 Photography Year In Review.
Work, Awards+Articles, and Travel are my sections for this year in review.
Work:
Business had ebbs and flows, with many weddings and proposals, not as much commercial work, and a mix of headshots and conferences/events on the other side (I also run www.KathrynCooperPhotography.com, where I focus on nonprofit work, corporate photoshoots, travel projects, and more).
October was the business month of my life. In the span of 15 days, I had 3 full days of conference photography coverage in NYC, a 3-day multicultural wedding in California, a proposal in upstate NY, a wedding in upstate NY, an elopement in upstate NY, and an elopement in Acadia National Park, followed by quite a few more proposals and weddings later in the month. Needless to say, it was busy!
I did have a lot of lovely couples this year, though weather prevented some of the best photoshoots from happening in full. Still, I wish I’d had more time with each couple, which would have allowed for more creative, quirky, and perfected photos.
Work took me from New York to California, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine. As always, September and October were incredibly busy, with every week having multiple jobs—either conferences, weddings, or proposals. This carried far into November, where I had my second helicopter proposal of the year.
Helicopter weddings are incredibly exciting, while photographing helicopter proposals is an entirely new level of challenge, trust, and planning. Both went well, and were full of surprise!
I loved the couples who did trust me with unique nighttime shots or different ideas. Card game “confetti,” silhouettes, and colorful illuminated night photos were quite fun when we got the time to do them!
It was also a wonderful year for capturing all types of couples. I had many Indian celebrations and fusion Indian weddings; so many LGBTQ+ couples who trusted me to tell their stories in a rough political climate; and more intimate celebrations where couples eloped by waterfalls or wore whatever the heck they wanted!
All in all, it was a lot of fun capturing snowy elopements, waterfall weddings, and multicultural color all around the country. I even got to visit my old stomping grounds (orchestral camp when I used to be a musician) in Tanglewood, Massachusetts, where one of my couples had a huge Indian wedding on the music center grounds!
I also am an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University, and did work both in LA and DC amidst teaching my students. I also guest lectured online for a class in Japan, innovated for companies in NJ, and more. Here’s one of my classes at the American Red Cross in Washington, DC. Never a dull moment!
Wedding Photography Awards + Publications:
It was a good year for photography awards, where I won my 2nd-ever Fearless Award (and was chosen as the cover image for the album, Collection #80!), and several other awards. This Fearless Award win was a great moment for me, and I took the image on a playground during a 4-day destination wedding in Idaho.
Upon joining the WPJA—Wedding Photojournalist Awards—I also submitted to several images this year. I ended up winning 11 diamond awards and 4 spotlight awards (all of which can be seen right here).
Podcasts? I sure do do ‘em, and was the first-ever guest on NY Wedding Jam, a fun podcast from Martine (wedding planner Wedding MD) and Jason (videographer Hudson Filmr). I still haven’t listened to it because that never goes well, but am told it was a fun podcast.
Article-wise, I was featured in several publications, such as The Knot, Zola, and more. Love Inc Mag featured me in this article on wedding photography shots lists, and Offbeat Wed did a piece on Michele & Rob’s night wedding and smoke grenade shots, which I delightfully photographed.
One of my weddings was printed in the beautiful Sacramento-based Real Weddings Mag, and I got to see quite a few of my photos in glossy print. You can see the features online here (actual magazine article) and here (web article).
Then, I was told that I needed to have a fast turnaround for several photos from my couple. Why?
One of my couples–Harriet and Liz–starred in a series on The Knot’s new web series, and my photos and business were featured at the end!
Travel:
With both international and local business trips and work, it was another busy year!
4 countries outside the USA, 10 states, and various new pockets and cities within states I’d previously visited filled my year.
In January 2024, during a trip to the San Diego area, I got to do a falconry class, where we learned how to hold and command hawks and falcons.
For the first time ever, I took an overnight train from California to Utah, where I attended Sundance. And funny enough, one of my 2023 brides was working an event in town, so I got to see her and her company’s screening! I also took some time to go snow tubing, which was a total delight. I’m a kid at heart–what can I say.
After work on both coasts, I headed to Colombia with my good friend. The best—and most challenging—part of this trip was the 14,000-foot, 3-day hike in some of the country’s most beautiful lands filled with waterfalls, fog, unique plants, hummingbirds, and more. We only saw 6 other hikers over the entire 3 days—so yes, it was pretty remote.
After photographing tropical birds and exploring more lovely towns, I returned for 48 hours and then flew to my next new country.
Sri Lanka was always a place I wanted to visit. Though small on the map, there are quite a few different locations that take hours or days to travel/hike to. There, we saw unique birds, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, and more. The cuisine was very disappointing (hey, I used to live in India…I have high standards), but the people were lovely. It was extremely hot—even while scuba diving—but eventually we made it to some cooler areas, where I got to see stock car racing through tea fields on my birthday weekend. Yes, it was bizarre.
Work started in force, with weddings, engagements, and proposals. I had work in quite a few states, and was able to visit friends from India and California while in Colorado. There was some beautiful hiking in Maroon Bells and elsewhere—with wildflowers!
A film festival in Mystic, visiting friends in Maine in between shoots, golf, and a few days of camping with my Godson rounded out my busy work months.
After working right up through Thanksgiving Day (I had an intimate wedding at a rural house surrounded by snow), I left a few days later for Honduras.
Honduras was for jungle experiences and scuba diving, and while the trip didn’t start off great (food poisoning, rain, and murky diving), it continued to get much better with a giant nurse shark who stared into my eyes (below), new friends, toucans on the deck, and more. I also had local meetings for one of my Pepperdine classes, and connected with some interesting individuals using entrepreneurial skills to improve their regions within Central America. Even on vacation, work!
In fact, it was so much fun that my friend and I continued on to Guatemala (also my first time), where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day hiking a famous volcano. After exploring some tiny mountain towns and hiking around, it was time to return—just before NYE. While I was editing photos the entire trip, I still had more to do—so throughout the new year, I was busy editing ‘til the sun came up (literally).
In early January 2025, I delivered all my final wedding galleries! Now to create albums for clients and perhaps edit some of my travel photos…well, at least I have a few edited from my adventures below!
All in all, it was a fast year filled with tons of work and adventure. And that, friends, is my 2024 year in review.
Below are some of my favorite images and moments from the past year. Thanks for reading, and here’s to 2025! ~
Kathryn Cooper Weddings: Destination Wedding Photographer | Award-Winning Wedding Photographer | NYC Wedding Photographer