From cake and crinoline to flowers and favors, weddings are a lot of hassle.

Hire a photographer and shed convention, counsels Tristha Cruz, who seeks to expand her wedding and lifestyle photography business to embrace elopements this summer.

SA国际影视传媒淲hy should you elope? Because there is not another love story like yours. Why not plan a wedding day thatSA国际影视传媒檚 never been done before?SA国际影视传媒� challenges Cruz. SA国际影视传媒淚 believe your wedding day should be easy. I feel like thereSA国际影视传媒檚 way more creative freedom in general (with an elopement) and I love how unique it is to the couple.SA国际影视传媒�

Cruz shoots weddings, too, even though theySA国际影视传媒檙e not as much fun in her estimation. Her business is still in the honeymoon stage, having just launched this past MotherSA国际影视传媒檚 Day.

SA国际影视传媒淚t marked a new chapter for me SA国际影视传媒� the working Mom life!SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚 have a one-year-old I love spending time with and it just made sense for me to start my business.SA国际影视传媒�

Her proverbial shingle reads: Heart and Hue Studio.

SA国际影视传媒淪A国际影视传媒橦eartSA国际影视传媒� for the human connections I love to photograph and SA国际影视传媒榟ueSA国际影视传媒� for the artful approach I take,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚 work with families and couples to make meaningful images.SA国际影视传媒�

Boreal beginnings

Born and raised in Yellowknife, Cruz bought her first camera in middle school.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was a purple Nikon point and shoot from RoySA国际影视传媒檚 Audiotronics,SA国际影视传媒� Cruz recalled. SA国际影视传媒淎nd then I eventually got a DSLR in high school.SA国际影视传媒�

In adulthood, photography matured from a hobby into therapy.

SA国际影视传媒淚 hit a very low point in my life. Photography was one of the things that helped with my depression. It allowed me to express myself when I couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 find the words, which was very healing,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚 started taking more photographs and then my friends and family began asking me to shoot for them. If you look at my photos from that season of my life, youSA国际影视传媒檒l find they are a lot moodier with darker tones compared to what I create now. IsnSA国际影视传媒檛 it neat how our art evolves through different life experiences?SA国际影视传媒�

Cruz said SA国际影视传媒淚 doSA国际影视传媒� to marrying photography with entrepreneurship in early 2020, while living in Australia.

SA国际影视传媒淏ut then Covid hit and thatSA国际影视传媒檚 when I moved back to Yellowknife,SA国际影视传媒� she said, adding she brought her Australian husband, Matthew Jackson, North with her. (They didnSA国际影视传媒檛 elope, incidentally, choosing instead to hold a small, picturesque wedding with some family in B.C.)

SA国际影视传媒淔ast forward to today; I am incredibly grateful I can finally do work I love and stay home with my baby,SA国际影视传媒� said Cruz.

Though she flirted with inanimate commercial photography briefly, Cruz prefers people to objects because of the narratives that their photos help to share.

SA国际影视传媒淚 love photography because of the stories,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 helped me tell mine and now I want to give others a way to document their story, a space to be vulnerable, and the feeling of being truly seen.SA国际影视传媒�

Heart and Hue Studio hosts a kiosk at the Yellowknife Farmers Market.