Nick & Allie Friesen

Who are Nick and Allie Friesen?

We are a married couple and two photographers based in Austin, Texas. Together we run Friesen Co, a wedding photography studio serving Austin and destinations worldwide. Before weddings we photographed more than 2,000 people over eight years through The Match Artist, our portrait studio. Wedding collections begin at $8,000.

At every wedding you get both of us for the full day. Allie is not an assistant holding a backup camera. She is a photographer with her own frames and her own instincts. Two photographers, two angles on the same day, one collection.

How did Friesen Co start?

Friesen Co grew out of a portrait studio, not a wedding one. Nick learned facial expression coaching, tested it on a friend's dating photos, and watched the results change that friend's life. Eight years and more than 2,000 clients later, the couples we photographed kept getting engaged. Weddings were the natural next step.

The first test subject was a friend whose dating profile was going nowhere. I had been studying facial expression coaching, the mechanics of what a face does when the feeling behind it is real. We reshot his photos. His matches multiplied. He later met his wife.

That experiment became The Match Artist, a portrait studio for people who wanted photos that looked like them on their best day. Eight years and more than 2,000 clients later, a pattern was hard to ignore. People kept writing back. Engaged. Married. A few asked if we would bring a camera to the wedding.

We did. Allie was already shooting professionally, so weddings became the first work we could do together. We have not stopped.

What experience do you bring to a wedding?

Thousands of portrait sessions. Most wedding photographers learn to direct people on the job. We spent eight years doing nothing but directing people, one session at a time, before we photographed weddings. That practice shows up in how quickly couples relax in front of our cameras and how natural the portraits look.

Directing people is a skill you earn one session at a time. After thousands of sessions we know how to give a nervous person something real to do, when to prompt, and when to stop talking. On a wedding day that means portraits move quickly and the two of you look like yourselves in the frames. How we structure a wedding day is on the weddings page.

How would you describe your style?

Experimental, exploratory, editorial. We plan the light and the locations, then we try things. Some frames are composed like magazine work. Others come from an idea we had ten minutes earlier. We photograph a wedding the way we photographed two thousand portrait clients: directed when it helps, loose when it is not.

Editorial means we treat composition, wardrobe, and light the way a magazine shoot would. Experimental means no fixed formula. If a hallway, a storm cloud, or a neon sign looks interesting, we use it. Exploratory means we keep moving on the day and let the location change the plan. The portfolio shows where that lands.

Where are you based, and do you travel?

Austin, Texas, and yes, we travel. We photograph weddings across Austin and the Texas Hill Country and fly for destination work. Recent weddings and sessions took us to Costa Rica, San Francisco, Charlotte, and Fort Worth. Wedding collections begin at $8,000.

Details on collections, typical ranges, and what is included are on the pricing page. Planning a wedding in town? Start with our Austin wedding photographer guide.