Reflections on a Business with My Best Friend

There are some couples who say, “Working with my spouse is something I could NEVER do!” And we totally understand why. To be honest, before we started on this journey, that was exactly Courtney’s sentiment as well! Running a business as a couple isn’t for the faint of heart. It is not always easy. It comes with late nights, stressful deadlines, creative differences, and sometimes more conversations about budget, finances and future planning than all the fun stuff.

Building Cam & Courtney Photography together has become one of the most rewarding extensions of our marriage. It wasn’t always perfect. It pushed us to learn how to communicate in different ways, how to divide responsibilities, and how to not take things too personally- one that we still may be working at learning sometimes. But somewhere in the middle of all of that, we found our rhythm and built something really special.

Here are some of the things we’ve come to love about working together.

We see each other’s strengths

When you work side-by-side, you get the opportunity to have a front row seat to watch your partner’s gifts in action. You get to see the creativity, the caring, the funny, the talent, the personability, and the skill.

We, of course, admire each other’s work and work ethic, but more than that, for our business to succeed, we NEED each other’s strengths to do it well. We both shoot, and we do shoot differently, but the ways we shoot are complementary to each other. We work so well in tandem, and have come to recognize who is best at something and to not be offended, but rather be thankful when each of us is working in our gifting. What we create is better because we are able to create it together.

And nothing beats having your best friend cheering you on beside you as you are in your element, doing what you do best.

We trust each other completely

There’s something deeply comforting about shooting a wedding and not needing to look over your shoulder to see if your teammate is in the right spot. In working together, we’ve developed an unspoken rhythm- we just know what the other person is thinking (for the most part), where they are going to be, and how they’re going to see a moment.

That trust didn’t just magically happen overnight. It came out of years of practice, lots of debriefs, sometimes constructive feedback, and a shared commitment to continue to grow together. But now it is second nature. And it makes our work not only smoother, but more meaningful.

We give each other the grace and trust to experiment, to try, and even fail. We have each other’s best interests at heart and provide an environment that we believe is a safe space to learn, grown, and have fun.

We get to share the wins – and the losses

There’s nothing like walking out of a wedding, looking at each other, and saying, “We NAILED that! That day was amazing!” We’ve high-fived each other in parking lots, fist-bumped after an epic shot, and celebrated quiet little victories together that no one else would ever notice.

But we’ve also shared the hard days too. The technical failures, the editing marathons, the missed moment, the seasons where it felt like we were giving everything and getting nothing back. And somehow, going through those struggles made us stronger- not just as business partners, but as a couple.

There is comfort in knowing that when you are dealing with a failure of some sort, that your best friend, partner and business partner is right there beside you and you know they have your back- no matter what!

We’re on the same page about what matters most

At the end of the day, our business has never just been about taking beautiful photos. It’s about loving people well. It’s about preserving precious moments for families. It’s about honouring marriage, not just capturing weddings. It’s about serving God and doing ministry together, with a unified purpose and goal.

Working together has allowed us to stay aligned in that vision. When one of us forgets it in the middle of a busy season, the other is there to be that gentle reminder- the call back to our purpose and our focus. Our shared values keep us grounded in why this business started in the first place, and what keeps us going.

We’ve grown together

Photography shaped our marriage in ways we couldn’t have expected. We’ve learned patience, grace, and how to navigate conflict (with and without camera bags in tow). We’ve grown as creatives, as communicators, and as humans. And we’ve gotten to do it side by side.

And that is not something we take for granted.

We know this season of working together is coming to a close, at least in its current form. And that is bittersweet. But what remains is the bond that was built through it, the stories we got to tell, the people we got to serve, and the partnership we deepened along the way.

We wouldn’t trade that for anything.

We are so proud to have worked and served together. And we are so thankful that our business partnership is so much more than that. That we are each other’s best friends and partners in life. Together through it all, endings and new beginnings, the good and the bad, till death do us part.

xoxo

Cam & Courtney