THE STORY BEHIND

“Make Adventure Your Tradition”

About Shutterfreek

Meet the team

About Shutterfreek ✷ Meet the team ✷

Family of five taking a selfie on the beach near the ocean, with waves and cloudy sky in the background.

About us

We’re Paul and Katie McPherson — husband and wife, best friends, and the photo + film duo behind Shutterfreek. Married for over 17 years, we’ve built our life around creative storytelling, raising our three kids, and chasing meaningful moments together.

Shutterfreek began in 2009 with a simple belief: weddings and elopements deserve to be lived fully, not rushed, staged, or reduced to a checklist. Capturing love, connection, and the adventure of marriage has always been at the heart of what we do.

A man and a woman stand on a sandy beach near the water, smiling and talking, with the ocean and a clear sky in the background.

Rooted in the Southwest

We live in Farmington, New Mexico, right in the heart of the Four Corners. A place where desert meets mountains, cultures overlap, and the landscape constantly reminds you how small (and how lucky) you are.

Being based here gives us rare access to some of the most diverse terrain in the Southwest, from high desert mesas and red rock canyons to alpine forests and wide open skies. It also means we don’t just visit these places — we know them.

our values

our values ✷

  • Family

    The greatest miracle to transpire in our lives without a doubt has been our 3 children Nora, Kayl & Asa. Their existence influences every aspect of our lives. When we have spare time, they get it. When we need a break, we sit down and figure out what things we can do that will become significant memory making material for them. Don’t get us wrong, WE LOVE having our alone time, going on dates, and being “kid free” from time to time, but at the end of the day, we recognize that our time with them spent this intimately, is limited...so we do our best to take advantage. There is no greater joy than the joy that comes as a result of our children.

  • Faith

    We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints & believe that Christ should be at the center of anything we do. We believe that this life has a purpose, that we were created with specific talents and abilities unique to our personalities that allow us to add maximum light and beauty to this world. When the weather app on our phone shows nothing but rain, we watch in faith as clouds part.  We love relying on faith to insure that as we put forth our very best effort, everything will work out exactly the way it needs to. We trust that God is ultimately in control & that we're better off involving Him in our decision making. We understand the value of sharing the same faith with your spouse.

  • Politics

    Simply put, we're conservative. That being said, we question the current state of our government, and respect it as much as the Bible suggests we should.  We believe in the nuclear family and conservative values and at the same time believe we don't have the right to judge others. We teach our children to love all people unconditionally. We believe in not letting the past define our future, that today is the most important day to focus our lives on. We don't believe any political party will have the answers to all our problems, but want to live in a country that enjoys freedom of speech & religion at its core.  For more insight, visit our Twitter. 🤣

  • Food

    We're best friends. It sounds so cliche, but we really are. We do everything together. There is a trust, and a bond so indescribably permanent that we would be lost without each other. Consequently, we don’t have to do much to have a good time. Sometimes shooting weddings even feels like a date. But probably our most favorite thing in the word to do is to enjoy a really really good meal together. When we go to New York, we go to eat. When we go to LA, we go to eat. Fine dining + our friendship = pure magic. If you don't feed us at your Wedding we will be seriously disappointed haha.

  • The Beach

    The one downside of living where we live is NO BEACH! We both have California roots, and the second our feet hit the sand and we can hear the melodic sounds of the waves, we’re in immediate in heaven. Our kids can’t get enough of the ocean. Tide pools, surfing, boogie boarding, digging up sand crabs, we love all of it!

  • You, Me & TV

    One of our favorite addictions is binge watching series on Amazon Prime or Netflix, especially while mass editing photos. The most recycled show we have watched over the years is The Office & New Girl. Our top favorite shows currently are Survivor, Alone, Big Brother,  Stranger Things, The Crown, Brooklyn 99, Super Store, Mandolorian (and Katie is a sucker for most HGTV shows lol) .  At the end of the day it’s always you, me and the TV. (Don't tell anyone be we love binge watching shows on the road. While driving).

  • Music

    We probably have the most eclectic taste in music ever, gravitating more toward chill, happy, uplifting, upbeat vibe music. We’re hardcore spotifiers and love finding new unpopular gems destined for greatness. There are very few moments when we’re not adding a soundtrack to our real life. We're "freekbox" on spotify.

  • Ice Chunks

    We’re on a serious ice-cream mashup fix right now. We are generally working with Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerrys. Our favorite mashup right now is Häagen-Dazs Chocolate + Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. We don’t just throw scoops in and eat it. We mash it with a fine metal ice-cream blade. Sprinkle a little milk over the top. Push and fold until there’s a chunky, iced, mix. Then add 5 small dabs of whip cream. Every night. Perfection!

  • Addicted to Adventure

    There really is not place we'd rather be than exploring the great outdoors.  Whether it's hiking, 4 Wheeling or road tripping we're constantly on the go.  Paul is an avid Onewheeler and loves to blaze bikes trails every chance he gets.  We lead active lives, try to stay healthy and try to bask in all the natural wonder that exists here in the four corners.  Our favorite thing is take people into spectacular places they've never been.  Our camping trips our by far some of most valued memories.

  • Paul's Apparels

    Paul has always been obsessed with starting his own apparel company under the brand Shutterfreek.  He truly believes that every person that loves cameras should want to rock our merch  Personally I think he does it just so he has a closet full of new tees to wear, but it's something he's been passionate about through our entire marriage.  And, the designs really are pretty cool haha.  Check out merch our site!

  • Katie's gift of gab

    Katie is one of the kindest, easiest people to be around you'll ever meet. She's helped more Brides through stressful situations than we can count. She has a knack for having conversation and many times you'll find Paul reminding her that she's working and that there are shots about to be missed if she doesn't stop talking lol!  It's not that she just talks a lot, it's that everyone she meets wants to talk to her.  I consider it a super power and it truly comes in handy most all of the time. 

  • What's in the bag

    While we're hoping to get more into Sony, we are loyal Canon users.  We currently operate with Canon C70 cinema camera, 2 - Canon R5's with all RF lenses. Drones - DJI AIR3 and the Air 2S.  Our favorite go-to lens is the RF F2 - 28-70mm.  We shoot everything including video in RAW / CLOG. We also shoot film from time to time with a Pentax 645 and a Canon P.  We shooting all video in 4K 422 10BIT. We are very meticulous about our gear and approach so that we can deliver the highest quality / resolution product possible.

  • Katie is Joanna Gains

    It never fails, at every event at least 1 person tells Katie that she looks like Joanna Gains. She's as sweet, as creative and thoughtful, as intentional and even more gorgeous if I do say so myself.  And while I don't look particularly like Chip, I am the sarcastic one of the duo, so together we do make for somewhat of a "Chip & Joanna" experience at each Wedding haha.  

the artists behind the lens

the artists behind the lens ✷

We are More Than Photographers

After hundreds of weddings and elopements, we’ve learned that being great at this work isn’t just about cameras:

✷ It’s about knowing how to stay calm when the timeline falls apart.

✷ It’s about reading a room.

✷ It’s about making space for emotion without forcing it.

✷ It’s about stepping in when something needs fixing…and stepping back when it doesn’t.

Somewhere along the way, we became more than photographers — we’re the calm in the chaos, the voice reminding you it’s all going to be okay.

A man and woman stand side by side outdoors on a wooden deck, smiling and looking at each other, with a large tree overhead and a building in the background.
A smiling woman with long dark hair and a man with a beard wearing a wide-brimmed hat and patterned shirt, standing outdoors with hills in the background.

Featured on

Featured on ✷

A collage of three vintage-style photographs taken in a desert landscape. The top image shows a woman in a flowing dress riding a horse with a large rock formation in the background. The middle image depicts a couple dressed in stylish, modern attire, standing close together and holding a bouquet of flowers against a sunset backdrop. The bottom image features a woman and a man sitting and standing on the back of an off-road vehicle, with desert scenery and mountains in the distance.

Let’s Tell
Your Story

No matter what kind of day you’re planning, or where it takes you, we’d be honored to be part of it and bring our decades of experience.

Desert landscape with tall saguaro cacti, various smaller desert plants, and dirt ground.