About Rachel

Happily married to my high school sweetheart, Trevor. We live in sunny Huntington Beach, CA with our darling daughter Winifred and our grumpy cat Onyx. I was practically raised by a village. My large family is my backbone. I only have a handful of close friends, but they are some of the smartest, sweetest, kindest people I have ever known. I feel my knack for finding beauty through the lens, even in the most unlikely of places, is because of them. When you are loved like your husband, friends and family love you, EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED.

I am inspired by my baby's one dimpled smile, my husband's sense of humor, my cat's creaky door meow, the selflessness of my family, the way Carl Sagan says billions, Robert Smith's hair, Peter Murphy's voice, Neil Gaiman's imagination, Walt Disney's motivation, Wes Anderson's aesthetic, Spock's humanity and RuPaul's femininity. And, yes I realize most of my heroes I've listed here are men. My women heroes exist in my real life and I just have too many to name.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Photography by Rachel McCauley Photography
Filmed by Gio Barot Films
Song by Ben Rector "Disarm" 
Music licensed through The Secret Road

EPIPHANY

Strangely enough I realized I wanted to photograph weddings at a funeral. Grandpa Joe had just passed. At the family gathering, I was sitting on the floor looking through the old family album. This was the album he showed us every year when we would visit for Christmas. Whenever he would bring out that album his eyes would light up as if it was the first time, every time.

The pages were made up of solid black paper. Aged, black and white photos of various sizes were taped on. Written on the back of each photo were names and dates written in his cursive. Dates and smiling faces of people long gone graced the pages, including his beloved Ethel to whom he was married to for over 60 years. 

As I stared at their wedding photos I hardly recognized them. So young, so happy. It put a smile on my face during a time when sadness prevailed. It was then that it hit me that we no longer would have those Christmases together, but we would always have the album along with our memories.

I ended up inheriting Grandpa Joe's vintage Kodak camera that he took many of the photos with that are in the album. It sits in a prominent place in my living room and in my heart. I take the photos that I do for the future generations. My only hope is that my images bring a lifetime of happiness and beyond for you and your family.

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