Meet Jesse and Moira La Plante of J. La Plante Photo in Boulder County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse and Moira La Plante.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
J: My parents are artists, so I spent the majority of my childhood traveling around the country to art fairs and music festivals. I was exposed to a ton of different artistic mediums from a very young age and always had an inkling that I would do something creative with my life. I studied photojournalism in college and started out as a newspaper photographer. After meeting my now-wife, Moira, on spring break in the Bahamas, we started J. La Plante Photo. Now we’re on our 12th season photographing weddings.

M: I grew up in a family-owned restaurant/bar/casino in Montana. But after spending 18 years in Montana, I thought I was destined for city life and attended college in DC, studying business. After five years in DC, however, I missed the mountains and wanted to move back west. Luckily, I had met Jesse a year before, so we dove into a new adventure together.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
J: It’s never been a smooth road. It’s more like a dirt path, with potholes, that winds through the mountains. We’ve learned through over a decade of business that building and growing a company is a constant struggle. We’ve had to figure out how to embrace the struggle and, as my high school football coach used to say, “enjoy [our] adversity!” One of my all-time favorite quotes is from Calvin Coolidge, who said, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Please tell us about J. La Plante Photo.
M: We only take on 20 weddings each year so we can devote massive amounts of attention to each individual couple and their wedding. The amount of work we put in on the front-end of each wedding is staggering; we want to ensure each couple not only gets fantastic photos but that they also have an amazing time doing it. This often means that we get a crazy idea and then have to figure out not just how to execute it, but how to execute it within all the constraints of the wedding day. And we draw inspiration for our ideas from all kinds of sources, from movies and paintings, to books and dreams and conversations, and so much more.

Our engagement sessions are a little different, as well. So much so that we’ve dubbed them “Alt Sessions.” We try to do something we’ve never done before, often drawing from our photo bucket list and frequently lasting more than seven hours. We’ve done everything from an MMA session to an epic hike at the Great Sand Dunes to a completely avant garde session with Holi powder. We’re constantly adding to our photo bucket list so we can find something that’s a perfect fit for each couple.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
J: If I could go back and talk to my 22-year-old self, I’d say, “Hey! Wedding photography doesn’t have to be boring!” We spent the first few years shooting what everyone else was shooting, thinking that’s what the market wanted. Instead, we found that when we started taking photos from new and different perspectives, we not only enjoyed our jobs more because we felt more fulfilled, we found clients who loved our work and trusted us to create something totally unique and interesting for them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jlaplante.com
• Email: mail@jlaplante.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.laplante.photo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jlaplantephoto

Image Credit:
All images by J. La Plante Photo

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