Joy Sumner Photography was born from a love of travel. My husband and I live in south Georgia and we love traveling to different parts of the country. Whether it's jumping on the train to see the northwest, hopping on a plane to hike the Rockies or taking a road trip up the East Coast, we love traveling! During a trip to Chicago, we began photographing the city and the sites. And I fell in love with it.

When we got home I was photographing everything! I began photographing my son and that grew into a photography business, thanks to really good friends who volunteered to be my first clients. I'm constantly learning new techniques and getting new insight into my style.

I consider myself a wedding and portrait photographer combining traditional, candid and lifestyle shots into my sessions. My clients' homes and the outdoors are my studio. I tend to see the more artistic side of a shot while my husband is all about the technical side of it. (We work well together.) I love it when I find a shot that wasn't meant to happen during a session. That's when you really capture a person's true self.

The random moments that happen during a shoot are the best. Posed shots can work well, but the real magic happens when everyone forgets I'm there and starts being themselves, not posing for a shot, or not trying to keep that perfect smile on their faces.