About Tim

Your Brainerd Lakes Wedding Photographer

Tim Larsen, wedding photographer — Tim Larsen Photography, Brainerd Lakes MN

I'm Tim Larsen — 19 years, 350+ weddings, and I still get that feeling when a couple sees each other for the first time. I've photographed at every major venue in the Brainerd Lakes area, and more backyard lake properties, family cabins, and barns than I can count. Every single one reminded me why I do this.

When you hire me, you get me. The person on the consultation call is the same person behind the camera from getting ready to last dance — no associates, no hand-offs, no surprises. When I bring a second shooter, it's someone I've worked with for years and trust the way you trust me.

When I'm not behind a camera, I'm probably on a trail somewhere — mountain biking, hiking, or working my way through the entire Superior Hiking Trail. I road bike when the weather cooperates and fish when it doesn't. I lead a high school youth group at my Catholic church. And I'm a dad to four daughters, ages 11 to 19. Turns out that's pretty good training for wedding photography.

The Approach

What It Actually Looks Like When I Photograph Your Wedding

About 60% of your wedding day, I'm invisible. I'm watching — staying close, staying quiet, catching the moments that happen when nobody's performing. Your cousin's toast that wrecks the room. Your flower girl asleep in someone's lap. Your parents holding hands during the ceremony like they forgot anyone else was there. Those moments can't be recreated. They just happen, and the photographer either catches them or doesn't. Family and the people closest to you are everything to me — in my own life and in how I photograph yours. The people in the room matter as much as the two at the altar, and I shoot it that way.

The other 40% is intentional. It's the portraits — the golden hour walk, the quiet ten minutes I carve out just for the two of you. During these moments I'm thinking about light and location and story. I give clear, simple direction — where to stand, where to look, what to do with your hands — so you're never standing there wondering. The result looks like something you'd see in a magazine, but it feels like you.

The balance shifts depending on the couple, the venue, and the light. But the goal is always the same: a gallery that feels like your wedding actually felt. Not a production. Not a performance. Yours.

Couple laughing together through the greenery — natural and relaxed — Tim Larsen Photography, Brainerd Lakes MN
Camera Comfort

You Don't Have to Be Good at Photos. You Just Have to Show Up and Be Yourselves.

Almost every couple I work with tells me the same thing before the wedding: we're not great in front of a camera. I hear it so often I'd be worried if someone didn't say it. Here's the thing — you don't need to be. The way the day is built takes care of it. The getting-ready coverage, the bridal party portraits, the energy of being with your people — by the time it's just the two of you, the camera has already faded into the background.

When we step away for portraits, I'm not going to leave you standing there wondering what to do. I give you clear, simple direction — walk toward me, look at each other, put your hand there. Not scripted poses. Just enough so you feel confident and relaxed. The photographs that come out of those ten minutes look like moments because they feel like moments.

By the end of most wedding days, the couples who told me they were terrible at photos have completely forgotten I'm there. That's when the best work happens.

Local Expertise

This Place Is Home. It Has Been for 19 Years.

I didn't move to the Brainerd Lakes area to build a photography business. I live here because I love it here — the water, the pines, the way the light moves across Gull Lake at 8 PM in July. I mountain bike these trails. I fish these lakes. I'm raising my daughters here. This place is in everything I do, and it shows up in the photographs.

Nineteen years of shooting weddings in this region means I know things a site visit can't teach you. I know where the sun hits at 7 PM at Grand View Lodge. I know which corner of the Lakeside Dining Room at Cragun's turns gold at sunset. I know how the light behaves differently at a family cabin on the Whitefish Chain versus a resort on Gull Lake. That knowledge comes from showing up hundreds of times, in every season, in every kind of weather, and paying attention to what the land does with the light it's given.

When you hire me, that's what comes with the camera.

350+ Weddings Photographed
19 Years in Business
52 Five-Star Google Reviews
Kind Words

"He is not shy about directing his subjects and moving things along, but also let us be our silly selves and improvise. Tim is a true artist who knows how to capture love and joy on film, and is a genuine pleasure to work with."

— Britt A., Google Review

Start Here

Let's Talk About Your Day

Whether it's a resort on the lake, a pavilion in the pines, or a backyard ceremony at your family's cabin — I'd love to hear what you've been picturing. The first conversation is the easy part.

Start the Conversation

Currently booking 2026 and 2027.