READING TIME: 4 min 5 sec
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/03/2025
Some photographers chase perfect light. Some chase perfect moments.
But a rare few — like Susanna Nordvall — understand that the most meaningful images live somewhere in between.
Her work feels like a soft breath, a glance, a whisper of sunlight on skin. It’s intimate, film-like, and filled with the kind of quiet emotion that lingers long after the wedding day fades into memory.
Born on Finland’s West Coast and now rooted in Helsinki for over a decade, Susanna’s journey into photography is woven with intuition, curiosity, and courage — the courage to follow what felt right even when it wasn’t the popular path.
“I started shooting family sessions when professional sessions with only natural light weren’t a thing in Finland, but most people went to a studio to document their milestones.”
From that single decision — to trust her eye and shoot outdoors — grew a career that now spans weddings, families, milestones, and destination celebrations across Europe.
Susanna never expected photography to become her full-time world. At the time, she was studying International Business and Marketing. But something deeper kept calling her away from lecture halls and spreadsheets.
She remembers those early days vividly: carrying her camera into open fields, working with families who were excited — and often surprised — by the natural-light approach that was still new in Finland.
Word spread quickly.
Work poured in.
And a choice had to be made.
Susanna trusted her intuition.
“Being pretty much the only one shooting with natural light in a small town quickly got the word out and I had so much work that I decided to quit my studies… and started my own company.”
It was a leap.
But it changed everything.
Today, she is not only a wedding photographer beloved for her softness and attention to detail — she also runs Nord Stories, her family and lifestyle photography brand. Both branches of her work carry the same quiet elegance and film-like sincerity.
Every photographer has a signature.
Susanna’s is unmistakable.
Intimate, film-like, light, focused on the details, connection and emotions.
Her imagery is defined by softness — diffused highlights, tender gestures, honest emotion, and the subtle storytelling that happens in hands touching, hair moving in the wind, or the golden lines of evening light.
She documents the story around the story: the shadow that falls just right, the reflection in a window, the moment when two people think no one is watching.
This instinctive sensitivity is what makes her photographs feel less like images and more like memories.
Susanna’s gear is simple and intentional.
“I use Sony’s mirrorless cameras with mostly prime lenses.”
Prime lenses allow her to work unobtrusively, moving with her couples rather than positioning them. They let her frame intimacy without interrupting it.
Her editing process is equally thoughtful:
“I use the Archetype Process as a starting point and edit all of them individually… I also remove objects that take away the focus, such as exit signs, signs in general, trash cans etc.”
Every detail is refined so the viewer sees only what matters — emotion, connection, and light.
For Susanna, photography is not a technical craft.
It’s not even a visual craft.
It is human.
“Definitely the people! The challenge of how to capture their memories and the beauty of it all.”
She speaks about her couples with warmth — their personalities, their energy, the way their story shapes her approach.
The details thrill her too:
“Also the details and light — shadows, reflections and rays.”
These small observations aren’t just notes.
They are the soul of her work.
Despite her years of experience, Susanna never follows a one-size-fits-all structure.
I always personalize all my offers to my couples based on their tentative plans and needs. So, to give you a short answer: Yes, absolutely!
Whether it’s an intimate elopement, a Finnish summer wedding, or a destination celebration, she adapts the experience to her couple’s rhythm, not the other way around.
This flexibility — grounded in empathy — is one reason couples feel so deeply cared for.
Many photographers ask Susanna how to start, how to grow, how to stand out.
Her advice is generously honest:
“Find your niché, your own thing how you’ll stand out from the rest and become excellent at it by constantly shooting and improving yourself.”
And equally important:
“Stay humble but ambitious, be friendly and approachable. Community over competition.”
There is grace in her words — the same grace her images carry.
Susanna extends that same care to her clients.
“For my wedding couples I always send a complimentary wedding guide to help them with the wedding planning process.”
This guide isn’t just informational.
It’s emotional support — a way to ensure couples feel prepared, confident, and present on their wedding day.
Most of Susanna’s weddings take place in Southern Finland — lakes, forests, islands, and serene Nordic light.
But she says yes to a handful of destination weddings each year.
Italy is always such a stunning place to shoot.
And yet, her dream remains rooted in something even quieter, more atmospheric:
“My dream is to shoot an elopement or an intimate wedding in Scotland, Ireland, or in the Cotswolds.”
Fog, cliffs, stone paths, ancient landscapes — places where her delicate style would feel right at home.
Susanna Nordvall carries many roles — mother, partner, daughter, friend.
All of them shape how she sees.
She photographs with empathy.
She edits with intention.
She works with presence.
And above all, she listens — to light, to emotion, to the subtle stories unfolding moment by moment.
Her art feels quiet, but it speaks loudly.
It reminds us that beauty lives in the softness we often overlook.
It turns ordinary seconds into something everlasting.
A true gift — and one she continues to offer to couples across Finland and beyond.
