Find the Best Photographers in Hattiesburg

Andrea Jones built Grace & Gold Photography around a simple idea: the parents in front of her camera are usually exhausted, and her job is to make the session feel easy rather than one more stressful task on a long list. A self-described lifelong maker who took art classes through school and still calls herself a DIY-er, Andrea turned that creative streak into a photography business run around her own family’s schedule as a stay-at-home mom. Her portfolio includes in-home newborn sessions, in-studio setups for local families in Petal, and hospital-based Fresh 48 sessions completed within the first two days of a baby’s life — a service that requires flexibility, since babies do not arrive on a predictable timeline. She also photographs maternity sessions in the months leading up to delivery, giving many of her clients a documented arc from pregnancy through the newborn stage with the same photographer. Working across Hattiesburg, Petal, and nearby towns like Sumrall, Andrea has built a name specifically around newborn and family work rather than broader event photography. Her focus stays on the mothers as much as the babies, aiming for a relaxed, unhurried pace during sessions rather than a rigid shot list, particularly for families who are trying newborn portraits for the first time. 

Jennifer Jones has spent more than a decade photographing Mississippi families, splitting her calendar between wedding days and the quieter, more intimate work of newborn sessions. Her home base includes both an outdoor studio with landscaped grounds and an indoor space built specifically to keep newborns warm and settled, which lets her offer flexible outdoor or studio sessions depending on the season and the family’s preference. Portrait clients typically invest between $275 and $450, with every package including digital images and printing rights, and Jennifer refers clients to trusted print labs rather than handling printing herself. Her approach treats a newborn session as its own kind of storytelling — less about a formula and more about documenting a specific, fleeting stage before it passes. Jennifer’s work has been recognized by wedding and parenting-focused publications, a reflection of a portfolio that moves comfortably between the two genres. She is based in Mississippi and available to travel outside the immediate Hattiesburg area for the right session. For families who want a photographer equally comfortable with a wedding party and a two-week-old baby, Jennifer’s dual focus and established studio setup make her a dependable, experienced option in the Hattiesburg market. 

Emily Lofton Photography is based in Sumrall and built its newborn practice around a full-service, styled experience rather than a bare portrait session — professional hair and makeup is included on the day of a maternity or family session, and the studio maintains its own wardrobe closet with coordinating outfits sized for an entire family. That level of styling extends to artwork design and installation after the gallery is delivered, so the finished product is aimed at wall art rather than just digital files. Newborn, maternity, family, and milestone photography are the core services, with a service area stretching well beyond Hattiesburg into Laurel, Jackson, Flowood, Meridian, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Mobile, and New Orleans — an unusually wide radius for a single studio. That reach means Emily Lofton Photography shows up as a realistic option for Hattiesburg families as well as those in several surrounding Mississippi cities who want the same full-styling experience without a different photographer for each life stage. Bookings and inquiries go through her website’s contact page. 

AM Photography by Valerie is based in Sumrall, just outside Hattiesburg, and focuses specifically on the earliest stages of a baby’s life — maternity, newborn, first-year milestones, and first-birthday smash sessions — rather than spreading across weddings or unrelated portrait categories. That narrow focus shows in how deliberately the studio is set up for infants: sessions are structured around milestone tracking, so a family can book a maternity session, a newborn session, and then a series of first-year check-ins as a connected package rather than one-off appointments with different photographers. Studio sessions are the primary format, giving Valerie full control over lighting, props, and temperature for newborns who need a warm, quiet environment to settle. Cake and food smash sessions round out the offering for families who want a documented first birthday alongside the earlier newborn work. For Hattiesburg-area parents who want one photographer to follow a baby’s entire first year rather than booking separately for each milestone, AM Photography by Valerie offers a studio built specifically around that continuity. 

Melany Hodges Photography is run by a Hattiesburg photographer who spent more than twenty years as an elementary school teacher before turning her attention to newborn and family photography full time, and that classroom-honed patience carries directly into her newborn sessions. As a wife and mother of two herself, she talks openly about wanting to document the fast-moving stretch from pregnancy announcement through newborn days into the ordinary chaos of raising children, rather than treating each session as an isolated transaction. Her practice covers motherhood sessions, newborn photography, children’s portraits, and full family sessions, serving Hattiesburg along with reach into Jackson and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Newborn sessions lean toward a soft, true-to-life documentation of the earliest days rather than heavily staged studio setups, which suits parents who want authentic images of this specific stretch of early parenthood rather than a formal portrait-studio look. Because she works with the same families across multiple stages — pregnancy, newborn, toddler years — many of her galleries build into a longer visual record of a single child’s early life rather than a one-off session. Booking and portfolio browsing are handled through her own website and an active Instagram presence. 

Shea Gibson works out of Mississippi covering a wide stretch of the state — her site lists Hattiesburg, Jackson, and the surrounding Gulf Coast region as regular service areas rather than a single home base. Newborn sessions sit under a broader “motherhood” category alongside maternity and family work, an approach that treats the newborn stage as one chapter in an ongoing relationship with a family rather than a standalone transaction. One client review singles out her patience with a newborn and an energetic five-year-old sibling in the same session, which points to a practical skill that matters more than lighting or posing for families with more than one child in the frame: managing a toddler and a two-week-old at the same time without either being an afterthought. Her monogram branding and portrait style lean toward a soft, editorial look rather than bright and candid, consistent with the rest of her motherhood-focused portfolio. For Hattiesburg families who want a photographer already established with a track record across maternity, newborn, and sibling dynamics in one ongoing body of work, rather than someone specializing narrowly in the newborn window alone, that continuity is the draw. 

Courtney Anderson runs a Hattiesburg-based portrait studio built around one long list of life-stage categories rather than a single specialty: boudoir, milestone, family, maternity, birth, and newborn all sit on the same menu. Newborn sessions come in a lifestyle format rather than a posed-studio one — sessions happen in a family’s own home or an outdoor location instead of a controlled studio backdrop, built around a baby in the nursery or with the people already in their life rather than wrapped and set against a prop. That in-home approach means less driving for new parents in the first weeks and a set of images that reads more like a real record of the nursery and the house than a staged set piece. Anderson also shoots birth photography, a rarer offering among general portrait studios, which puts her in a position to document a family from delivery room through the newborn stage without switching photographers in between. She’s based in Hattiesburg but says she frequently travels the Gulf Coast for sessions, so families slightly outside the city aren’t automatically out of range. For parents who want a documentary, at-home newborn session rather than a wrapped-and-posed studio look, that’s the clearest reason to choose her over a traditional newborn specialist. 

Hattiesburg families make up a meaningful share of Sarah Wells Photography’s newborn bookings, even though her home studio sits in Smithdale, closer to McComb than to the Pine Belt. She markets herself as one of Mississippi’s dedicated newborn specialists, and her site backs that up with specific training in infant posing and safety rather than general portrait experience applied to babies. A session isn’t run on a stopwatch; feeding breaks, fussy stretches, and slow transitions between poses are treated as normal rather than something to rush past. Alongside newborn work she also books maternity, sibling, and milestone sessions, so a number of her Hattiesburg clients first find her during pregnancy and stay on for the baby’s arrival. The studio itself is stocked with wraps, headbands, and neutral backdrops, meaning parents don’t need to shop for props before the appointment. Word of mouth has clearly done a lot of the marketing here, since her service area stretches well past her own town and deep into the Hattiesburg and Petal corridor. For Hattiesburg parents open to a short drive for a specialist rather than a generalist, she’s a well-reviewed option worth the trip. 

Steph runs Starling and Sage from a dedicated studio space in Hattiesburg, organizing her newborn portfolio as a set of individually named client galleries rather than a single mixed highlight reel – James in Hattiesburg, Quinn in Jackson, Samuel in Clinton, Emmy Lisette down in New Orleans. That structure lets prospective clients browse a specific baby’s full session rather than a scattered sampler, and it shows the range of her actual service area stretching well past Hattiesburg proper into the wider South Mississippi and Gulf South region. She offers both traditional studio sessions and in-home lifestyle newborn work, letting families choose between a fully controlled studio environment with backdrops and props or a more relaxed, natural-light session at home. Beyond newborns, Starling and Sage also runs seasonal mini-session events and school picture days, giving the studio a broader footprint in the local portrait market than a newborn-only specialist. The studio’s imagery favors soft white and neutral tones with an emphasis on genuine parent-baby connection over heavily staged prop arrangements, and galleries are delivered through an online client portal for easy viewing and ordering. 

Working out of Richton, just south of Hattiesburg, Michael Newman built his newborn business around a full-service model that follows a family from the first phone call through a finished, installed piece of art on their wall. He markets under the phrase “because babies don’t keep,” leaning into the urgency new parents feel once they realize how quickly the newborn stage passes. Sessions are handled personally from start to finish rather than passed to an associate photographer, which he presents as part of the value of booking with him directly rather than a larger multi-photographer studio. His portfolio favors quiet, emotional moments over heavily styled prop work: a newborn gripping a father’s finger, a sibling leaning in to smile at a new baby, a mother kissing her daughter’s forehead. That documentary-adjacent approach sits alongside more traditional posed newborn photography, giving families a mix of both styles in a single gallery. Newman also photographs families and seniors, and his site references work as far away as Jackson, suggesting a service area that stretches well beyond his home base in Richton to cover much of South Mississippi. 

Braxton Wallis runs a documentary and cinematic wedding photography and videography studio out of Bogue Chitto, Mississippi, with regular work in Hattiesburg, where the business keeps a studio address as well. His guiding philosophy, as he puts it, is “unapologetic documentary photography and filmmaking” — a commitment to capturing weddings as they actually unfold rather than interrupting the day to stage shots, so that the resulting galleries and films hold up as an honest record couples can revisit for a lifetime. That documentary instinct extends to his videography work, where he blends still photography with cinematic film techniques to build out a fuller record of a wedding day beyond static images alone. For couples who want a bigger production, Braxton offers a second videographer as an add-on, giving multi-angle coverage of the ceremony and reception without losing the same eye that shapes his photography. Reviewers describe him as bringing a notably calm energy to a wedding day, which matters more than it sounds — a photographer who stays unhurried and low-key tends to put nervous couples and wedding parties at ease rather than adding to the day’s stress. As a newer name gaining traction in the Hattiesburg wedding market, Braxton Wallis Media is building a reputation around that same blend of technical documentary skill and an easygoing, unobtrusive presence on set. 

Greg has been behind the camera at Gulf Coast weddings since 2004, which makes itsGMB Studios one of the more tenured wedding businesses serving the Hattiesburg market even though its home base is Long Beach, Mississippi, closer to the coast. Over two decades, the studio has expanded from photography alone into a full wedding-day lineup — photography, videography, and DJ services — which lets couples consolidate multiple vendors under one team that already knows how to communicate with itself on a tight wedding-day timeline. That range shows up in reviews: clients specifically call out how professional and attentive Greg is, and how quickly he turns around finished photos and highlight videos after the event. Packages start at $1,200, positioning itsGMB as one of the more accessible options for Hattiesburg-area couples working with a tighter photography budget without sacrificing an experienced, long-running studio. While Greg’s base is on the coast, itsGMB regularly travels inland to Hattiesburg and the surrounding Pine Belt for weddings, and Hattiesburg clients have specifically praised his responsiveness and reliability in reviews. For couples who want a single vendor to handle photography, video, and music, backed by two decades in the wedding industry, itsGMB brings both the tenure and the multi-service convenience that a lot of newer single-service studios can’t match. 

Angelina Piper Parker — known professionally as Piper Photography — has been shooting professionally for almost four years, though she picked up a camera as a hobby years before turning it into a business. Based in Hattiesburg, she focuses on couples, intimate weddings and engagements, senior portraits, and lifestyle photography, and she’s upfront that her approach is as much about the relationship as the final gallery. On her site she describes her role as being “a new friend and the very best hype man,” which tracks with how she frames her services: less formal studio transaction, more collaborative creative partnership with whoever’s in front of her lens. That personal, approachable style has made her a fit for couples planning smaller, more intimate weddings and elopements rather than large-scale productions, and she’s built her Hattiesburg-area client base largely on word of mouth and repeat referrals. Reviews highlight her energy on set and her ability to put nervous subjects at ease quickly, whether it’s a couple’s engagement session or a first-time bridal portrait sitting. As a newer name in the Hattiesburg wedding photography scene relative to some of the market’s longer-established studios, Piper brings an enthusiasm and hands-on client relationship that couples looking for a more personal, less corporate wedding photography experience tend to respond to. 

Anna and Ryan Leonard didn’t start out as photographers — they were both educators before Refuge Photography became their full-time calling, and that background still shows in how methodically they walk couples through wedding-day logistics. Based in Jackson, Mississippi, the husband-and-wife team travels throughout the state, including regular work in the Hattiesburg area, and has built out a destination roster covering more than a dozen national and international locations for couples who want their wedding somewhere further afield, including regular bookings along 30A in Florida. Their photography is built around a faith-based mission — they talk openly about wanting couples to feel “loved, valued, and seen” through the lens, and about capturing genuine celebration rather than manufactured, staged perfection. That relationship-first approach has led plenty of couples to describe Anna and Ryan less like hired vendors and more like friends who happened to be at their wedding with cameras. As the studio has grown, Refuge has expanded past just the two of them, building out a small team of associate photographers along with an educational platform for other photographers, while Anna and Ryan continue to personally shoot select weddings. For Hattiesburg couples drawn to a documentary, joy-forward style with a warm, personal touch, Refuge is a well-established option with more than a decade of shared history in the business. 

Courtney Anderson spent over a decade shooting photography as a serious hobby before she ever booked a wedding — she didn’t step into wedding work professionally until 2019, which means her technical eye arrived well before her wedding-specific experience did. Based in Hattiesburg, she now splits her calendar between wedding-day coverage, bridal portraits, and engagement sessions, with a service area that stretches along the Gulf Coast and beyond for couples willing to cover minimal travel fees. Courtney calls herself a “light chaser,” and her portfolio backs that up — bold, high-contrast images that favor mood and directional light over flat, evenly-lit snapshots. Beyond weddings, she also shoots boudoir, maternity, newborn, and family sessions, which gives her a wide-angle view of how people want to be photographed across every stage of a relationship, something that carries into how she frames couples on their wedding day. Reviewers consistently point to her professionalism and sense of humor as much as her photos, describing her as easy to work with under the time pressure of a wedding schedule. Packages start at $1,250, with custom builds available through a consultation that can bundle engagement sessions, full-day wedding coverage, and a second shooter for couples who want more comprehensive coverage of a large guest list or multiple venues. 

April and Paul are a husband-and-wife photography and videography team who’ve been documenting weddings for just over eleven years, and their portfolio reads like a passport — Zion National Park, Big Sur, the French Quarter in New Orleans, and plenty of ceremonies right in downtown Hattiesburg, where they call home. They describe their approach bluntly: “we’re not your mom’s photographer.” Instead of steering couples through a checklist of traditional poses, they chase spontaneous, emotional moments and lean into whatever makes a couple’s relationship distinct, even if that means an unconventional location or an offbeat shot list. That adventurous streak has translated into national recognition — The Knot has named them a Best of Weddings photographer for two consecutive years — while their Hattiesburg roots keep them booked for local ceremonies at venues around downtown and beyond. Clients frequently mention that April and Paul go beyond the camera itself, helping with day-of logistics and easing pre-wedding stress in ways that go past a typical vendor relationship. Whether a couple wants a classic Mississippi wedding or a destination elopement halfway across the country, the duo’s eleven-plus years of combined experience and artistic, unscripted style make them one of the more distinctive wedding photography teams working out of the Hattiesburg area. 

Allyson Norton has been photographing South Mississippi weddings since establishing her studio in 2016, and in that time she’s built a reputation for a specific kind of restraint — she’d rather catch a real laugh mid-sentence than direct a stiff pose. Based in Sumrall, just north of Hattiesburg, she serves couples across South Mississippi and is willing to travel wherever a wedding takes her. Her stated goal is honesty over polish: capturing “every laugh, tear, and joyful detail” so a couple can relive their actual wedding day, not a staged version of it, when they look back at their gallery. She balances that documentary instinct with the portraits families still expect — traditional formals alongside candid coverage of the small, unscripted moments in between. Allyson keeps her annual wedding bookings deliberately limited, taking on only a set number of weddings each year so that every couple gets her full attention rather than being one of dozens on a packed calendar. Client reviews consistently mention her flexibility with last-minute changes and how easy she is to reach throughout the planning process, not just on the wedding day itself. For couples in the Hattiesburg area who want a decade of experience paired with a photographer who treats each wedding as a singular event rather than a repeatable formula, Allyson’s studio is a strong fit. 

Ted and Heather run Storyhouse Photography Co. out of Hattiesburg with a shared résumé of more than fifteen years in the photo and video industry, and it shows in how polished their finished films look. Where a lot of wedding photographers treat video as an afterthought, Storyhouse built its identity around editorial-style, moody-lit cinematography — the kind of dramatic lighting and composition you’d expect from a magazine spread rather than a standard reception reel. Ted, the primary shooter, talks about “making his own light” rather than waiting for the right natural conditions, which lets the team deliver consistent, cinematic results regardless of venue or time of day. Their packages scale from video-only coverage up to combined photography-and-videography bundles with a full nine hours of wedding-day coverage, an engagement session, and optional drone footage for anyone wanting an aerial view of their venue. The business serves couples getting married across Mississippi and the Gulf Coast, plus destination weddings in Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana. Reviewers consistently mention how comfortable Ted and Heather make them feel on camera — not a small thing for couples who’ve never been the center of a shoot before — alongside praise for how quickly finished galleries and films come back. For couples who want their wedding to look and feel like a short film, Storyhouse is built for exactly that. 

Shea Gibson didn’t set out to become a wedding photographer — she was working toward a doctorate in higher education administration at the University of Southern Mississippi when a work assignment to photograph her colleagues accidentally revealed a passion she couldn’t shake. What began as a side project alongside grad school slowly grew into Shea Gibson Photography, a Mississippi-based studio built around what she calls ‘marriage & motherhood’ work: weddings and the family seasons that follow them. She keeps her wedding calendar intentionally small, taking on roughly eight couples a year so she can go deep rather than wide — learning the names of grandparents, remembering which bouquet flowers matter, coordinating with planners on timelines before the day even starts. Her photos favor quiet, specific details over generic posed shots: a grandmother’s hydrangeas tucked into a bouquet, a father’s cheek kiss before the ceremony starts. Based near Hattiesburg, she also serves Jackson and the greater Gulf Coast, and her wedding work has been recognized in Mississippi Magazine’s wedding features across multiple years. Clients describe her less as a vendor and more as a friend who happens to also be an exceptional photographer — someone who’ll help troubleshoot a shot list as readily as she’ll capture the walk down the aisle. 

Ask around the Pine Belt for a wedding photographer and Kaleb Hill’s name comes up fast. Based just outside Hattiesburg in Petal, Kaleb served as an Army infantryman with a tour in Iraq before trading a rifle for a camera, and that same steady, mission-focused mindset shows up in how he runs a wedding day now. He’s photographed more than 350 weddings across South Mississippi, and clients consistently point to his ease under pressure — chaotic timelines, weather scrambles, cranky in-laws — as much as his eye for a shot. His style leans natural and unposed: genuine laughter over stiff formals, though he’ll still deliver the classic family-portrait shots parents expect. Kaleb built his business on straightforward pricing with no hidden fees, offering three coverage windows (five, seven, or nine hours) plus optional videography and photo booth add-ons, so couples can build a package around their actual day rather than a one-size-fits-all bundle. He’s a Christian business owner who’s open about his faith informing how he treats clients, and it shows in the volume of repeat referrals from Pine Belt families. Mississippi Magazine and Bluffs Bayou Magazine have both featured his work, and he’s picked up multiple Best of The Knot awards. For a Hattiesburg couple who wants dependable, unfussy, deeply experienced coverage, Kaleb is the name most locals mention first.