Today marks 15 years of Rebecca Douglas Photography! I can’t believe it has been 15 years since I first stepped into the world of photography as a business owner. It’s a moment that invites reflection on a journey defined by connection, creativity and a sense of purpose. What began as a leap of faith has transformed into a life centred on visual storytelling, the thread that weaves through every chapter of my work and life.

The Beginning: A Passion for Stories

When I started this business in 2010, I was drawn to the way photography is a way of expression of people, places and fleeting moments that unfurl. Weddings became my focus between 2010 – 2021 and over the years, I had the honour of documenting over 450 love stories across the UK, Iceland, and Europe. Family photography also became a cornerstone of my work, allowing me to witness people sharing life’s most intimate and heartfelt moments and it always felt like such a privilege to be entrusted to capture them.

The Shift: Finding Purpose in Branding Photography

By 2016, branding photography began to organically take root and I loved bringing storytelling to the business space and working with really soul aligned clients who I adored. But as the years went on, I realised something profound about the way I was working. Living on a timetable opposite to everyone else in my life, working weekends and missing out on my own family moments was taking its toll. I invested in business coaching in 2019 to face out that wild edge I’d been meeting and ebbing away from. It was time to make a shift, to reduce the number of weddings and leave space for branding work to grow more. Like any gardener knows, nothing new can thrive if a border is too full, you have to give plants space to blossom and so it was time to make intentional decision to stop taking weddings bookings in 2020 once I hit 20 bookings, instead of my regular 40+ a year. It felt scary, but thrilling all at the same time.

The shock to the system in 2020 became a turning point.

With weddings completely disrupted and my LTD company status making me ineligible for furlough, my business as I knew it, like the dreams all those couples had for their weddings was gone overnight. The pressure was on to innovate, first Lockdown Life, a project creating doorstep photos when I was able to leave home and shoot at a distance all the while energising branding photography and this became my sole focus.

At the same time, being trapped inside with everything we knew taken away, illuminated my own truth to me. I realised I am neurodivergent. All of the sudden, I could see everything so clearly, how I’d been running my business bucking up to the wild edges of burnout, working in a way that disconnected me from my VIPs and going from hedonistic days of epic celebrations on Saturdays and needing Sundays to be very low demand to recover, mean I was often pushing myself to be everything to everyone else (hello people pleasing, dopamine rewards) all the while feeling completely lost. This realisation was a calling off of the search, those lost parts could be loved with grace and understanding and it was the start of the biggest turning point in my life.

It was an era of digging deep in a way I never knew I could, all the while remaining open to possibility and trust that it would all work out in the end. I rebranded, this moment was a chance to align my work with my values of purpose, connection and impact. Collaborating with purpose-driven entrepreneurs and brands has been a nourishing journey, full of soul and storytelling. Co-creating with people in the most beautiful ways has reinforced my belief in the power of imagery to connect people to each other, to places and to the planet.

Light Chasing and Liminal Spaces

Photography for me is my way of connecting and expressing what I see and feel in the world, often both literally and metaphorically. As a neurodivergent photographer, I find myself drawn to the wild edges, the liminal spaces where boundaries blur, the known gives way to the unknown and creativity thrives. Whether it’s the golden light of a sunset, the surreal glow of the aurora or the unseen depths beneath the waves, these in-between spaces inspire me to see the world differently and tell its stories in profound ways.

Memorable Milestones

Over the past 15 years, there have been moments of recognition and collaboration that stand out:

• Capturing over 450 weddings – I will be forever humbled to have been entrusted to capture these stories, the sheer joy, creating images that only go on to increase in meaning and value to the couples and their loved ones as years go by. And how shooting weddings is like a bootcamp for shooting so many genres within a day and lighting in some of the most challenging and awe-inspiring situations!
• Hold Still – Having one of my images included in the National Portrait Gallery’s national archive was a humbling experience that affirmed the power of storytelling through photography. More about Hold Still here.
• 40 frames for 40 – First solo photography exhibition in dedication to my lifelong passion of chasing light, which I feel overwhelming gratitude that I get to call my job. Mor about 40 frames for 40 here.
• Trustee for Whale Wise – Supporting marine conservation through visual storytelling has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my journey. More about Whale Wise here.
• Wild Edges – solo photography exhibition exploring the places where nature’s raw beauty and human curiosity meet. More about Wild Edges here.
• Ocean Photographer of the Year 2024 – Earning second place in the Conservation Impact category was a reminder of the power of photography to inspire change and connection.

The Challenges: Lessons from the Wild Edges

The path of self employment isn’t one for the faint hearted, but I know it was the path for me. If I’d had a pound for each time I’d heard ‘it’s alright for you being self-employed’ while I gaze curiously about what that may mean……ha! Running a business is one that requires you to be pure energy in motion, while also managing that energy balance carefully too! As the years have gone by, I’ve found the challenges I’ve faced have been my greatest teachers, helping me refine my boundaries, honour my neurodivergence and fully embrace who I am so I can run a business that aligns with my values.

Looking Ahead: IMPACT as my north star

As I step over that 15 year in business threshold, it feels like a moment of opening the next chapter, my vision is clearer than ever. I’m committed to expanding the ways I tell stories, blending photography and videography to craft narratives that honour the wild edges where people, place and planet meet. I want to work on projects that deepen my impact, whether through collaborations with purpose-led brands or larger creative briefs, to empower and rewild our connection, to each other as part of nature.

Big dreams taking root in their own divine time

I’m marinading some big dreams right now, in this hibernation phase of the year they reverberate with their quiet hum of possibility. For the first time in my life, I am not rushing at realising it all as quickly as possible. I am sitting with the potentiality of it all, content on letting these big dreams unfurl in their own divine time, all the while hearing the whispers from the wild edges that are nourishing these ideas as they take root. They call me into the unknown, a space both thrilling and grounding, where alignment isn’t just a guide but the foundation. Rich, fertile soil for every facet of my being and my business to anchor, grow and reach toward the light with unwavering intention and purpose.

Gratitude: To the Souls I’ve Met Along the Way

To everyone who has been part of this journey, couples, families, clients, collaborators, friends and supporters: THANK YOU!!

Thank you. Your trust and belief in my work have made these 15 years possible. I’m endlessly grateful for the souls I’ve had the privilege to co-create with, the stories we’ve shared and the light we’ve chased together.

Here’s to 15 years of visual storytelling, to the liminal spaces that inspire us and to the wild edges that pique our curiosity to cross thresholds so profound, once crossed, are a portal to a whole new way of being.

Let’s keep telling stories that matter!