Sarah Cramer was always that kid at slumber parties and football games. The one with the Olympus point-and-shoot, squeezing everyone together into a grinning frame, documenting the day. She credits her parents’ support — they allowanced the 10-year-old one roll of film a week — for her incredibly successful wedding photography business.
 
Cramer Photo launched in 2005 after Sarah fell in love with shooting friends’ weddings. A UVA grad with a degree in cultural anthropology and fine art, she socked away every penny from nanny gigs, bartending, and waitressing to buy camera equipment.
 
“I’ve been a storyteller since I was a little kid,” Sarah says. “I see the light and beauty in everything. I always have. I still can’t believe I get to do this for a living.”
 
Parallel with her active on-the-go family and personal life, Sarah’s work style is energized and intentional. She describes it as a back-and-forth of pure joy, constantly moving throughout wedding day spaces, putting couples at ease, and asking questions to trigger genuine emotion.
 
“Pictures are stressful for a lot of people,” she says. “I’m very efficient. I know where the best light is at every venue. And I can work quickly.”

The Charlottesville wedding photographer's lens is always on the lookout for the real moments that tell the story. A shared smile over an inside joke. A father’s single proud tear. A grandmother’s touch. Those tiny glimpses in between the bigger events are the fabric that tells the most personal tales. When you look at your wedding photos ten years from now, Sarah says, you’ll know what the weather was like, which people were interacting, how they enjoyed the food, and who rocked the dance floor.
 
“We’re not going for that posed or fake shot. We’re not posing in a field for the cover of Bride magazine,” she says. “A wedding day is fluid. I like it to be very honest and very real.”