This 9-Year-Old Wedding Photographer's Skills Will Give You Hope For The Future

Regina Wyllie's shots are picture perfect.

While most of us were still playing with i-Zone cameras when we were 9, Regina Wyllie is mastering using a real camera — as a wedding photographer.

Kevin Wyllie

There she is on the right, using her Fujifilm X-T1 with a 35 mm f1.4 lens.

Regina's father Kevin Wyllie, a professional photographer, has nurtured Regina's interest in photography ever since he first noticed it when she was little.

Kevin Wyllie

Kevin Wyllie

"When she was 3, she asked to come along with me when I was shooting a mountain bike race," he told BuzzFeed. "She lifted my Canon G9 compact camera from my bag and started taking some snaps. I have never forced her to shoot, or to learn anything, and prefer to wait for her to ask questions or to show me an image that she is curious about how it was shot."

All of that was practice for April 15, when Regina accompanied her father to his friends' wedding, where she captured 400 photos, completely unassisted.

Regina Wyllie

The photo above is one of her snapshots from the big day.

"Whilst I don't advocate child labour (she's only 9 yrs of age), and I would never never have thought of taking her along to a full wedding, it was the bride & grooms request, when they booked me, that she shoot with me as they'd seen some of her work previously and wanted their wedding to be her first (they're also close family friends)," her father wrote in a blog post.

To prepare, Regina cleaned her lenses, charged her batteries, and discussed ideas for shots with her father. On the wedding day, he offered no input and let her set up and take her own photos.

Regina Wyllie

"On the day she was an absolute star," he said. "She just did her own thing and set up her own shots. During the ceremony and formal portraits, she took up position in the places we had discussed earlier. Other than that, she just went wherever she saw the shot."

Wyllie was particularly impressed with this photo of the bride's shoes, which Regina conceived, arranged, and shot by herself.

Regina Wyllie

"She delivered 238 images to the bride and groom which I would have been happy to put my own name next to," he added. Wyllie admitted that while Regina did need some help editing using Lightroom, "there really wasn't much done to them except a wee bit of warming up, some tweaks to the highlight and shadow areas and a slight reduction in vibrance and saturation."

Wyllie's not the only one impressed by Regina's talent. Her work has been so well-received, he said, that "several of my future brides have asked if she can come along too."

Regina Wyllie

Regina Wyllie

Regina will shoot her next wedding on July 1.

Before Regina's big wedding photography debut, she was already a published photographer. She snapped this "trash the dress" shot for a camera bag company when she was 7.

Regina Wyllie

This photo was an even bigger triumph. “I was asked to shoot a comedian for a local magazine,” her dad told PetaPixel. He naturally brought Regina along.

Regina Wyllie

“As we left the building, Regina looked back to see the rain clouds coming in and asked him to ‘lie down and cross his legs.’ That shot was picked over mine for the magazine (yet again, lol).”

The photography gene is strong in the Wyllie family. Regina's younger sister, Alba, is 6 years old and, like her big sister, has a passion for photography, Wyllie said.

"Now [she] wants to know, 'When can I shoot a wedding?' This might end up costing me a fortune for cameras and lenses," he said.

Still, Wyllie is immensely proud of both of his daughters and plans to continue helping Regina — who took this stunning photo — work on building her skills.

Regina Wyllie

"To be able to share my passion for photography with my girls (at their own request) makes me the proudest man alive," he said. "Whether they choose to become pros or not doesn't matter. If they keep enjoying their photography, I will continue to offer my help and support as much as I can."