Dennis Viera

CALIFORNIA WEDDING PHOTOJOURNALIST CAPTURES UNIQUE STORIES

Dennis Viera is half of the internationally recognized, award-winning wedding photojournalism team of Viera Photographics and the primary photographer for Our Little Wedding. Based in Sonoma County, Dennis and his wife Jaime travel worldwide documenting weddings. Their business was born in 2006 on the remote South Island of New Zealand, precisely the same time they found out they were expecting their first child, Alex. (We work best under pressure) For Dennis, the photographic journey began in his hometown of Newport, Rhode Island the summer before graduating from high school, when he was awarded a lost camera from a part-time job he'd been working. From there, the passion for documenting life continued to evolve. Rapidly. Dennis began working for his college newspaper while attending the University of San Diego, learned the basics from the photo editor, and soon became his assistant while also managing the ads department and keeping the paper funded. He learned the basics of photojournalism and also how to set up more structured editorial and fashion shoots while processing film and scanning prints. Upon graduation, Dennis chose to forego an easy route to financial security and instead got a job at a small but incredible San Diego camera shop and darkroom. A little over a year passed when he was plucked from behind the counter and hired to run a commercial photography studio while also handling the events side of the business; all the while, continuing to learn by experimentations with all different combinations of cameras, lenses, and formats. This was at a time when digital was revolutionizing commercial photography studios and over his four-year period as manager, he led the transition from an all-film to an all-digital studio. Photography is not and has never been a job for Dennis, it's a deeply rooted part of him. Dennis loves photographing people, life, landscapes, architecture...so, weddings provide him the opportunity to weave together everything he's ever learned or experienced to tell each client's story in a unique way. When Dennis isn't shooting for a client or himself, he can be found hanging out with his son Alex and his wife Jaime, snowboarding, hiking, fishing, buying records, listening to music, baking bread, making wine, traveling Europe and trying to be the best husband/dad/son/human being possible.