The feeling is the point
FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS HERE FOR OPEN MINDS, QUIET QUIRKS, AND BIG LOVE
We believe in editing for all skin tones. We believe queer love stories are it. We believe people are the most interesting subjects to photograph. We have a self-diagnosed allergy to pretending and pretenses.
HEAR US OUT:
Trust first, and ease will follow.
You don’t trust blindly. But you do trust in artistry and expertise. You know your people, and you know they’ve got you. You don’t need your inbox flooded with mundane updates. You need an artist who sees your vision, is perceptive enough to have one of her own, and knows how to move mountains to make it all sing like a masterpiece.
Accurate? Great. You’re in the right place—and you’re about to meet the right people.
meet Nikki
Before photography found me, I spent years as the head social worker of the special victims unit at the Baltimore City state attorney’s office. Bearing witness to people’s most challenging experiences taught me to leave space for emotions and discomfort to live—and to never try to change a truth into something neat and compact. While the work is entirely different now, the way I show up for you is the same: in place of prescribed approaches and a need to make it all fit nicely, I let my empathy and intuition lead the way—and neither have failed me yet.
While I was still knee-deep in that previous life—and feeling crushed by the weight of it—a friend brought over his camera. What began as an artistic release quickly became a fixation. My camera collection grew and grew, people started asking to pay me money (what?), and I left behind my day job—but brought along the lessons it instilled in me (in a Prada fanny pack).
I went on to spend years honing the technical aspects of my craft—and today, I know my way around my camera like I do the best place to grab a glass of champagne and a caviar treat in SoHo (read: my photos aren’t happy accidents). I shoot film and digital; I can light anything up—because it’s not all sunshine and blue skies out there, folks—and I tend to really thrive when things go left. Complicated family dynamics, heated moments, and plan changes will never give me pause (years in the court system will do that to you).
More than anything, I’m deeply curious and incredibly fascinated by people—and I aim to create work that brings you back to the expansiveness and beauty of being human each time you revisit it.
KEYED ALL THE WAY IN TO THE EMOTIONS AND ENERGY—WITH THREE CAMERAS STRAPPED TO ME LIKE APPENDAGES
FOUNDER + WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
I. DAY TO DAY
Sun’s up, caffeine. Sun’s down, edibles. Text after 6pm and find out.
II. WEEKEND
Gut a bathroom on a whim. It’s not that serious.
III. MOTIVATOR
Deadlines, urgency, and a rip-roaring case of ADHD.
IV. MUSE
No one can compete with my Greecian Yia Yia in the kitchen—but I try.
V. DON’T CALL ME MOMMA
Save for Alice and George, my dogs.
closer
ali valdez
Ali creates powerful visual narratives that highlight the most soulful and intimate moments of a wedding day. Ali is known for her signature approach honoring artistic, documentary style, with the seemingly effortless elegance of an editorial. Ali's work is synonymous with romance, and the expressive and timeless photography that captures it.
Creating magazine-worthy photographs, Ali’s couples appreciate her fashion-inspired aesthetic and intuitive approach.
lead photographer
View Ali's Portfolio
"The girls who get it, get it, and Nikki Daskalakis just gets it. Words could never do her justice, she is a singular force in the lives of those who know and love her. She is empowering, emboldening, radically empathetic, and for me, an unequivocally fearless leader in a storm. She embodies what it means to be a champion of women and of course there is the obvious, that she is an unparalleled, fucking fantastic photographer. She is Nikki.
It is truly impossible to describe what Nikki was able to create on my wedding day or who she has become to me since then, but I will try.
When looking for a photographer I wanted someone who could deliver timeless, elevated, candid photos that allowed us to just enjoy the moment. There is a level of trust required when you choose to largely abstain from staged wedding photos. Will they capture us in a way that holds meaning for me, will they be able to capture the small moments I will forever cherish? One can only imagine the kind of human she was as a social worker as her ability to read the room is done with seemingly innate precision, she is constantly scanning, one finger on the emotional pulse, capturing your most sacred and intimate moments that others simply could never find. She is the woman behind the lens repeating "slay" to you over and over, so much so that you forget all the bad things you told yourself in the mirror and you believe her when she says you're perfect. She is the woman who remembers to take the photos of your best friends, one pregnant in a nightgown, another helping you put your necklace on, another standing in the corner watching it all unfold, the day you've all talked about since you were little girls. She is the woman who captures your mother, holding your wedding gown tight, eyes closed, when she thinks no one is watching and your parents, holding hands, beaming with pride, as you recite your vows. She is the woman who is honored to bear witness to your life's most precious, nuanced moments and transforms them into art. She is Nikki.
If you examine her work you will find the insane range she possesses, and how individual her look is. It is often I see a hotel or event and think, this is Nikki's work, before seeing her credited, because her style is uniquely hers. She is impossibly chic with a keen eye for fashion. She seamlessly delivers photos that are equal parts editorial and emotional, she herself unknowingly describes her work best, "the feeling is the point". What she delivers is timeless, sleek, sophisticated. She has no time for anything resembling the word basic. Her work on film is nothing short of genius, she flawlessly captures the movement, the tone and the emotion of a room taken in a split second, a fleeting moment in time. In action she is a beast, Prada fanny pack hanging from her shoulder, three cameras slung around her neck, not a singular ounce of stress present. She is so stealth, by the time you hear the rapid fire clicks and turn to face her she shrugs, coyly smiles and is off. In an instant, you realize she already has the shot, because of course she does.
It was like rain on our wedding day, but who would have thought I booked the best for the job."
-Kelsey, bride
The only one you’ll ever need to read
“If you examine her work you will find the insane range she possesses, and how individual her look is. Her work on film is nothing short of genius, she flawlessly captures the movement, the tone and the emotion of a room taken in a split second”
TLDR:
ALLOW US TO INTRODUCE YOU TO OUR ETHOS:
Our ability to read a room and pivot on a dime—combined with a deep technical understanding of equipment and lighting—is a tour de force. We show up prepared but perceptive. We respond to the energy that surrounds us and capture the things begging (or whispering) to be captured. A shot list could never compete. If you’re down, you’re down.