Meet Hannah Mertz | Wedding and Lifestyle Photo and Film

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hannah Mertz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I went to Aquinas College to become an ESL/bilingual education teacher. After graduating, I taught for 8 years. I loved teaching, I loved developing relationships with my students and helping them reach their educational goals as a student in a school where the language was not their primary. However, public education has changed. It felt restricting as the years went on. As if I was testing more than teaching and developing curious minds. I have always been a creative at heart, taking photos, sketching, writing poetry and song and performing; so when I felt that my creative soul was being squashed, I knew teaching wasn’t it for me anymore. I had already been doing photography as a hobby so when I started having my own children, I wanted to capture everything! I wanted to capture their joy at every milestone and the connection between us as a family. I wanted others to have this treasure as well. I wanted them to have beautiful, artistic photos that embodied their connection as a couple or as a family. Photography, to me is a about looking for the most creative way to capture movement, connection, and relationships.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Ever since I was young, the way life played out in front of me was always like a fairy tale whether sweet or sad. Capturing that with my camera is my way of remembering those stories and doing this for others brings me such joy! Photography is more about movement and moments to me. Moments that show that heart thumping love between a newly engaged or married couple. Moments that show the incomparable joy of young parents snuggling their newborn baby. Or moments that show a family doing what they do best together whether it be having a tickle fest or racing across a field.

My style is more cinematic in that I want people to feel the emotion in the photo, I want them to feel the chemistry between the subjects. I am most proud of the relationships I have built with my clientele over the years. I strive to make people feel comfortable and to see themselves for the beautiful individuals they are. I believe this is a big part of why I have a large returning client base. My clients become my friends and I love that!

One of the biggest challenges I have faced since creating my business, is work and family life balance. This changes as my kids grow. When they were babies, it was challenging leaving them for weddings, I had fears about their care and them eating while I was away (as I nursed). Finding a wonderful, reliable nanny has been a God send for this as well as having my own loving parents step in. Now that my children are in school and sports, the challenge is making sure we have time together outside of school (most of my sessions are in the evenings and weekends). It can also be difficult missing occasional soccer games. As each year goes by I learn more about what I can handle and not handle in terms of work. My family is THEE most important to me so I have learned that taking 10 weddings a year and only two sessions a week seems to be the best balance for me and my family. This also means I create a better connection with my clients when I am not spread so thin. That being said, every year I learn something new about work and family life balance.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If we are speaking about my favorite spots in AZ, it would definitely be the Tuscon/Sonoita area! My brother lives in Sonoita but lived in Fountain Hills prior to, so we have taken many trips to both of these areas! My absolute favorite winery is The Meading Room in Sonoita! Not only is the mead delicious, the winery is set in the middle of a beautiful mountain landscape with their own lavender field that they use in some of their recipes! I also LOVE the atmosphere, industrial but cozy. They have outdoor and indoor games for adults and children as well as an adorable playhouse for kids and a field with soccer balls. They have live music on the weekends which totally sets the vibe! My brother, B.K. Mills performs there. A gorgeous spot to hike is at the Saguaro National Park in Tuscon. The views on the Tanque Verde Trail are phenomenal! Another beautiful hike is at Carr Canyon Waterfall. My favorite tacos were in Nogales at a small family run restaurant called Cocina La Ley. The Lengua (beef tongue) taco was AMAZING!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to first and foremost give a shoutout to my husband! While I always loved photography and film, he taught me the ins and outs and technicalities of the camera and photoshop. He helped me with every aspect of my business from second shooting, helping with film, to website creation. I also want to give a shoutout to Stormy Solis. Her work and creative, calm demeanor is an inspiration to me! I loved every minute of the workshop I did with her in 2021.

Website: https://hannahmarchienphotography.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahmarchienphotography/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahmarchienphotography/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDO0cD9F8Ts1nG02LjyrJOQ

Image Credits
Hannah Marchien Photography