Meet Gretchen Troop | Photographer, Singer, Graphic Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gretchen Troop and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gretchen, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Experience, hard work and taking all aspects of my job very seriously. I have trained with some fantastic photographers over the years. I’ve worked on business, lighting, storytelling, marketing, customer service and the technical aspects of my equipment for years. I am also a part of a strong community of wedding professionals and spend lots of quality time with them discussing the intricacies of our unique and challenging job.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

Currently I am primarily a wedding/engagement/elopement & portrait photographer, but am a multi-discipline artist.

My first love was being a dedicated and studied singer in the soul~funk genre. I was blessed to have a fulfilling career in music as an singer/songwriter before I gave it up professionally to pursue photography full-time. I have been a DJ on KGNU since 2011 for the soul~funk show Dusty Grooves (9-11pm every 3rd Friday, 88.5FM). I also have learned how to play bass and am still playing small shows with just bass and vocals.

Ever since I graduated from college I have also had a side career in graphic design. I currently work in 2d and 3d animation, video editing, websites and of course photography. I have a Bachelors of Science degree in photography from Syracuse University, which I put aside to pursue my music career.

When I gave up on music full-time I returned to photography with more interest. I already had a secondary career as a landscape and music photographer but I reconsidered my trajectory and after much meditation decided that I needed to put service first. The question I asked myself is, “how can I create an art that fulfills a need in the world?”, rather than “what is my dream”. While I stood out in my artistic endeavors, it always felt narcissistic. As an artist you are always asking people to “Like” you. “Come to my show”, “buy my work”, in general, support me! And I was rather exhausted with it and have always found marketing myself to be the most awkward and uncomfortable part of my career.

In 2012 I begrudgingly photographed a wedding for a music fan’s daughter, and discovered that it was really hard! The next year I became a part-time wedding 2nd photographer for a music photography friend. I did that for a while before it truly started to click (pun intended). I recognized with wedding photography I could create photographic art that would be valued and have a permanence that was missing in my other arts. And then I started to fall in love with it!

Once I decided that I was going to become a full-time wedding photographer I went all in. I joined a national associate photography group and worked for them for about 3 years developing my portfolio, equipment and most importantly learning everything about this complex job. During that time I learned and practiced the most important part of wedding photography, lighting. When you are starting out in photography you pick the time of day and weather you want to photograph in, when you are photographing weddings there is no option besides “what it is”. The first time you walk into a dark room with an important life event happening in it you know you need to learn off-camera lighting. I invested years of mentorship and hard work to get to the point that I am now where there is no situation I can’t get great photos in. And that’s what I love most about wedding photography, it demands every single technical aspect of photography in one day. I thrive on how many interactions, details, creative ideas, decorations and beautiful moments there are to document.

In 2023 I completed my ninth year of photographing weddings and I seem to fall more in love with it every year, mostly because I am fortunate enough to work with amazing clients! They find me from many sources. I am a Preferred Photographer at 7 outstanding wedding venues in the area, mostly in Boulder County and Estes Park. I am also a proud member of Estes Park Wedding Association. The group is a unique community of the top wedding vendors in Estes Park all working together to make sure that we keep the wedding industry in Estes Park world-class.

I have won multiple wedding photography awards in the last few years and am firing on all cylinders for my business, I have a great team of videographers, 2nd photographers and assistants who emphasize my commitment to outstanding customer service, as well as having a blast with each other and the clients. The places I get to take photos… I mean it’s nuts, I have to pinch myself sometimes when I’m out in the mountains with two people madly in love, elks bugling in the background and the exhilaration of the mountain winds, just doing my job.

Wedding photography isn’t a doctor or a fireperson, I’m not saving lives, but what I am doing is making the important experience of a wedding and the memories of it into something joyful and beautiful… and that works for me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would go to Denver, eat at Cholon then head over to see a music show at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, I’ll probably photograph the show. If it’s summer we are definitely going for a show at Red Rocks! Then we need to head out on a camping trip somewhere in the mountains, so many places to choose from, but Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park is always a favorite. While we are there, maybe do a short, but oxygen starved hike up to Emerald Lake with a campfire and cognac on our return to camp. After camping I always love a trip out to dinner at Stella’s Cucina in Boulder, then take a walk on the Pearl Street Mall and enjoy the views in Boulder.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Sean Lara, Lara Photography, https://seanlara.com/

YWCA Boulder, https://www.ywcaboulder.org

Bruce Borowsky, Pixel Mill Studios, https://www.pixelmillstudios.com

Jodie Woodward, Bass Player, Twenty Hands High, https://www.twentyhandshigh.com

Websites:
https://boulderweddingphoto.com/ (wedding photography)
https://gretchentroop.com (general photography)
https://gretchentroopsinger.com (music)
https://gtdigitalstudio.com (graphic design)

Gretchen Troop Photography
https://boulderweddingphoto.com
https://gretchentroop.com/

GT Digital Studio
gretchen@gtdigitalstudio.com
https://gtdigitalstudio.com/

Gretchen Troop, Singer
https://gretchentroopsinger.com