Welcome, I’m Hilary!
I am originally from sunny St. Petersburg, Florida– However, my heart belongs in the mountains!
I enjoy hiking, traveling, trying new restaurants and coffee-shops, and soaking up the nature of the Pacific Northwest. I love living where I can escape to the mountains at any time. Nothing makes me happier than some fresh sushi or delicious tacos after a long day’s hike. 🙂
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I graduated from the University of Florida, where an internship with Ragnar brought me to Salt Lake City. I enjoyed the change of scenery from swamp life to deserts and mountains and decided to make it my home.
In SLC, I also met my husband Brighton. After many long road trips and visits to national parks, we decided to get married to be adventure buddies for life!
Our wedding was amazing and very “us” since we got married in a Florida botanical garden, and the decor included garden puns since we were becoming “the Gardiners”!
In October 2020, we became parents as we welcomed our twin boys Jacob and Lucas. In July 2022, we added to our family with our newest addition, Zachary. We love taking our boys on lots of adventures in the outdoors.
We also have a golden retriever named Koda, and one cat, Diggles, who are our ‘fur-children’.
My Photography Journey and How I Began
My love of photography began as a kid with my dad. He was a photojournalist for many years, and since I was young I have wanted to capture my surroundings through the lens. Photography has always been important to me as it’s how we remember, reminisce, and pass on memories when the moments begin to fade. It started with disposable film cameras (do you remember having boxes of film rolls and prints?), then I graduated to point-and-shoot digital cameras (do you remember the ones with a flip-out screen?). Finally, for my birthday, my parents & I bought my own Canon Rebel DSLR. Since then, I’ve been the photographer of my friends and family for every family gathering, occasion, and everything in between.
After getting married, I decided to turn my lifelong passion and hobby into more, and I created Hilary Gardiner Photography. My husband, Brighton, is extremely supportive to HG Photography; he is multi-faceted as a: sherpa, pose-demonstrator, comedian, juggler, reflector master, and so much more! Don’t be surprised if you see him when we meet. 🙂
Take a look around, and if my photography speaks to you & your style, I’d love to chat! You can send me an email via the Contact page or via social media. Thank you for visiting and, most of all, for considering me to photograph your story. I look forward to hearing from you soon!