Meet Casey Oblitey | International Wedding, Couples & Family Photographer

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

Hi Casey, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I remember growing up and being in my teens even into my early 20’s, I worked for my parents business and having people tell me “you’ll never get a job in the real world, no one would want to hire you”… why? Would they tell me this because I didn’t have a passion for their business as they did…. I just didn’t like my job… Working for someone else passion is hard when you don’t care about that passion but yet you need a paycheck. I remember getting my first job in dental and never ever caring about someone elses teeth but yet I stayed in dental for years and years it paid pretty decent and it was something I was good at and familiar with.
Every dental job I left, my bosses were always so sad and always told me I was the best employee they ever had… but was it my passion? No.
My whole 20’s… I just remember I was always working jobs I never liked. BUT WHY…
I would literally dread going to work…I would dread Mondays… getting so excited for Fridays only to have 2 days “Free” to myself and they would FLY by… I remember coming home and crying to my husband about bad days at work. Sitting in traffic for an hour or sometimes more just to come home, make dinner for my husband and then go to bed wake up and repeat.
Having someone elses dream being my job, something I was supposed to have a passion for… it was not easy for me.
I was in dental for about 8 years and I never actually enjoyed it. I made some good friends in my co workers, but we all know you don’t go to work to talk to friends all day.
I remember one of my past bosses saying in a meeting once “these are our patients and we have to give them our ALL because teeth are our passion!” and in my head I remember thinking “wow no, this isn’t my passion at all”.
At this point I was already doing photography part time, but I knew I had to make it my full time… I just had to figure out how.
Ever since I was little, I have always loved photography… I got my first camera when I was a teenager and I took that camera everywhere… vacations, outdoors for nature shots, on trips with friends… I was always the annoying person taking pictures. But I LOVED it. I have also always been a sucker for anything romantic… love… weddings… I would dress up as a bride as a little girl playing dress up, I just always loved weddings… so why couldn’t I do something related to what I truly loved and get paid for it!
I started my photography business in January 2019 while also working full time in dental. I wasn’t getting much business, in the beginning I did a LOT of shoots for free, just to have photos in my portfolio and one of my first couples actually booked me for my first wedding! I was so excited!
In late 2020, my photography business was growing and I realized I was turning away my own clients, my own passion because I worked too many hours in dental so I went to working 3 days a week in the dentist office and having 4 days to do photography a week.
This helped so much and I was able to do so many more shoots, so many more weddings, going to events with other entrepreneurs, but I realized I still needed more…
January 2021 came around and my husband and I found out we were pregnant with our first baby. I knew 100% I didn’t want to put my baby in daycare, and we had talked about I could quit dental completely the summer our baby was due.. I worked harder, booked literally everything I could to save up money for when I would be off for maternity leave and July 2021 was my last month working in dental and since then I have been a full time photographer.

Was it scary quitting a job where you know exactly what you will be getting every 2 weeks as your paycheck? Yes, it was terrifying… the doubts crept into my head… what if I’m not a good photographer, what if no one ever books me again… what if this, what if that… but what good has ever come from staying in your comfort zone where you already aren’t happy? So was it WORTH it? Yes… Absolutely 1000%!

Nothing has made me happier than to be my own boss, make my own schedule, I get to capture peoples love stories, families, their sweetest moments… for MY job, finally following MY passion!

So take this is your sign, if you are scared to do something you are truly passionate about, I dare you… take the leap! I truly believe it’s truly never too late to start something you really want to do! At least you’ll never have to look back and say “I wish I did”.

It’s NEVER too late to start! Good luck & I wish you all the best!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is Casey Noelle Photography. (I talked about some of this in my first introduction, a little so if you feel that would be better in this spot please put here) 🙂
but I believe what sets me apart from others is my attention to little details, whether it’s your parents holding hands at your wedding ceremony, a tear running down someones cheek, you and your friends dancing and laughing in the corner, fixing your daughters hair bow, tying a shoe… as a documentary photographer, I try to capture all of the little “in between” moments, I want you to look through your photo gallery when and feel like you are re-living every moment.
Being a business owner is not always easy, there’s no knowing when you’ll get paid sometimes, some months you’ll book weddings and shoots like crazy, then it could be months before you book another… but isn’t it in those little moments that are more still where you can be super creative and I can spend more time with my family also, which makes me thankful for every day being different.

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 Kung fu tea, then go thrifing all over Northern Virginia, Unique in Falls Church, Savers in Fairfax, The Closet in Herndon, Salvation Army & Goodwill in Manassas, Bee Thrifty in Woodbridge… I could thrift the entire week haha but let’s be honest not everyone is obsessed as I am. We will head into DC and eat at Mi Vida Mexican or Zaytinya before going to explore and visit the Art Galleries, The Botanical Gardens, The monuments… Another day especially when it’s warm outside, one of my favorite spots ever is Dumbarton Oaks… it feels like you are in a Jane Austin novel or Bridgerton with the beautiful gardens, even several peony gardens… and head to get some macarons at Oliva Macaron… we will probably get a couple dozen macarons let’s be real.
We can go hiking and explore at some National Parks… Great Falls National Park and Shenendoah National Park are my favorite parks in the area… always amazing views great for sunset and pictures too 🙂
While we come back to where I live, in Manassas we will go to The Black Sheep for dinner then hang out there outside listening to some live music and get some dessert from the food trucks!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband, Michael for always encouraging me that I could quit my job and become a successful full time photographer, he encouraged me from day one and that’s all I could ask for.

Website: www.caseynoellephotography.com

Instagram: caseynoellephotography

Facebook: Casey Noelle Photography, LLC.

Other: TikTok: casey.noelle.photography

Image Credits
Casey Noelle Photography, LLC