Wife. Mother. Storyteller.

Hey there! I’m Marybeth- just a quirky, not-too-fancy, always giggling at something wife, mother, & photographer who is incredibly passionate about documenting the everyday lives of my beautiful people.

This is my hunky husband, Dana:

And these are our (ridiculously beautiful and hilarious and sweet and all that’s good in the world) girls:

Simply put, I love love. My husband and I have a beautiful story, and I’ll tell you sometime if you ask! But I will say, when he asked me to marry him on our second date, it was a no-brainer… and the only regret we have ever had in the past 8+ years since we said “I will” is that we didn’t get married sooner! 😉 We had our first daughter Nadia within our first year of marriage, and our second sweetheart Natasha was born 7.5 years after that. I’m obsessed with my life and the people I get to share it with, and I thank God for taking me on this crazy beautiful journey of life I’m living!

My Photography Journey

As a child, one of my favorite things EVER was finishing off a roll of 35 mm film that found its home in an old, brown, point & shoot camera that I loved and treated like professional gear.   Naturally, there was much excitement when I’d get the finished prints back from the drugstore (2 weeks later!) and get to relive so many memories that I documented of my two sisters, our incredible parents, and all my stuffed friends. Being home with my family was everything to me then, and it still is now.

However, I didn’t seriously begin my photography journey until I was in my very early 20s. I was working as a dental hygienist fresh out of college, but I knew early on that I wanted to really learn all there was to know about photography. So I worked my day job, brought home enough money to buy myself my first DSLR, and I enrolled in the New York Institute of Photography online school. Years later, I am even more in love with this art form than when I initially heard the beautiful purr of the shutter on my first DSLR. I still take yearly workshops online to learn and grow because I believe in lifelong education. I’m forever a light chaser, film lover, and storyteller. And it brings me immense happiness to know that I am currently in the middle of what was once just a dream.

Quite honestly, everything you’ll ever need to know about me can be found here on my not-so-personal Instagram: @marybethhancher so I hope you’ll follow along! (I dare you to find my IG post where I tell the story about the day my husband cut my hair into a mullet…. LOL!!) You might also be interested to see my professional work with my business Dear Heart Photo Co. so check ‘er out!

FUN FACTS ABOUT ME

• I’m an INFJ + a Type 4 on the enneagram. Feel free to draw whatever conclusion you’d like about me using that information.
• I’ve watched The Office like 52,927 times, and it was never gotten old. Ever.
• Other favorite shows include: Parenthood, New Girl, Gilmore Girls, Parks & Recreation… and plenty more. 
• My favorite music artist is John Mayer, and his song “Gravity” can bring me to tears at any given moment… Seriously. So stinkin’ good.
• I overuse emoticons online, and I’m not at all sorry about it. You’ll get used to it. 😉
• My Starbucks drink of choice is a French Vanilla Frappuccino with whipped cream. If I’m paying for coffee outside of the usual black cup I drink every morning at home then I’m doing it right, baby.
• My girls have the exact same initials, so monograms totally won’t work in our family. (Maybe we could use NNH1 & NNH2??)

Thanks for reading a little about me, and I hope I get to know you in time, too!