I am quite literally writing this portfolio piece on Maddy’s launch day because THAT is how excited I am to show the world this project.

(This is unheard of for me, by the way. I’m the biggest Portfolio Procrastinator on the planet. The Internet hasn’t even seen like 40% of my best projects because I just… keep writing website copy + neglecting to add to my portfolio. Sry.)

I’m kind of nervous to admit this to you in writing, but… I don’t love writing photographer websites.

It has to be a really special kind of photographer for me to be down.

The vast majority of photographer websites are cookie cutter, boring, cheesy, overly romantic (but in a low key fake way), and sterile. I don’t ever want to read “capture your love on camera” again.

But when I get an inquiry from a photographer like MADDY?! I’m in.

The Client

Meet Maddy — a Boston Wedding Photographer committed to capturing your real moments as they unfold, instead of curating rehearsed moments just for the sake of the photo.

While you may have heard that “the best candids start with a prompt” — Maddy is of the opinion that all it takes to capture a beautifully authentic photo is creating a comfortable space for you to be yourself, where you feel like you’re genuinely able to let your walls down (even if you classically “hate having your photo taken”).

Using an observational photography style, she photographs all of your best moments, without ever having to pull you out of them.

👀 Stalk her About page here!

The Goal

We did not want Maddy’s site to resemble the “typical” wedding photographer website: same tired lines about love, same “best day of your life” references, same confusing “experience” vs. “investment” page with elusive pricing options…

WE WANTED HER TO STAND OUT — because, while her work speaks for itself, we know how important it is to have a website that reflects her expertise, skill, and style.

Photography is one of the most leads-have-17-tabs-open industries ever, in my experience… meaning that when someone is looking for a photographer, they have 16 other photographers’ websites open right next to yours, one tab over. They scroll through quickly, the X out even more quickly. We needed this to be eye-catching, honest, and perfectly Maddy.

As aforementionedddd! I don’t love photog sites — but Maddy was different.

She has such a great backstory, such a defined style, and (my favorite part about her!) she knows herself really well. She knows exactly how to describe what she does, and exactly what her target audience wants.

She just needed me to put it all into words for her.

AND THAT’S WHAT I DID!

The Lesson

With every copywriting project I complete, I have a few goals:

#1 — For my client to be utterly obsessed with their website (I want them to want to live inside it)

#2 — For it to be worthy of my portfolio (I go into every single project with a “this WILL be the best website I’ve ever written” mindset)

#3 — To be able to use it as an example when I’m teaching

This last one is an added bonus compared to goals 1 and 2, but it’s a beautiful natural side effect that comes

The lessons in Maddy’s website are aplenty — a full deep dive will be coming to my Site Series® Sprint students on what they can learn about authenticity, clarity, and specificity in website copywriting — but one I want to share with you now is this:

Not everything has to be on your site!

Shocking, I know. Especially coming from a website copywriter.

I often see clients and students wanting to put every little piece of information ever on their site; specifically their Services page.

…but, more often than not, those “extra” things actually belong in a discovery call conversation, on your blog, or in an Instagram post.

In Maddy’s case, I could’ve written an entire SPEECH about how she makes couples feel comfortable — but who has time to read through all that? That’s a lot of scrolls.

So, we made reading that speech optional, by adding it to her blog.

For the people who want more: they have more!

For the people who want to simply catch Maddy’s vibe: they can do that without an overwhelming scroll!

I also chose to make the overview of her process a little more minimal — something photographer websites aren’t typically good at, in my opinion — because the actual in-depth version of “how it works” belongs in a discovery call conversation.

While we’re on the subject of Maddy’s services pages, can I just SAYYYY I’m obsessed?! She’s definitely in my Top 5 favorite Services pages, for sure. I love how clear the copy is, how engaging the design is, and how much her true tone of voice comes through.

The Review

I’ve been obsessed with this site since Kleist sent me the preview, but then again… I’m obsessed with every website project we get to work on together. (You can stalk them all here, by the way!)

Earlier today, Maddy sent us the sweetest email that perfectly sums up the project:

“I can’t even express how obsessed I am with the site, and how THANKFUL I am for you both. 

Thank you times a million for all of the creativity, time and attention you poured into this project. I was showing Eli my site & his two points were:

“Wow it’s so cool the writing sounds exactly like you” & “Wow it’s so cool this site I’ve never seen a site like this it’s so engaging” and to put it simply — yes he is correct!! 

The copy really does feel like it was plopped from my brain but made 1000 times better, and the design is something I could’ve never even imagined. The attention to detail is unmatched.”

Point of the story: I loved this site & I’m sad our project is over!

Guess I’ll have to find a reason for Maddy to take my photos… 👀

WEBSITE: maddybethunephoto.com 🙂

DESIGNER: my bestie Sarah Kleist!

COPYWRITING: yours truly, baby! You can stalk my services right here or keep scrolling through my portfolio to see more. xo