Our Story

We’re Jelani and Maya, a husband-and-wife creative team based in Bozeman, Montana. We love to tell stories through photo, video, and creative design. We focus on love, authenticity, and truth. We truly care to tell our community's story how it is meant to be told. We truly enjoy what we do.

Here is a little about us:

Maya and I have both known Montana as our homes since birth. Maya grew up near Twin Bridges, where her family built a beautiful house and cared for a variety of animals. Her father loved his cows. Maya would take her chickens out for walks. Meanwhile, I was raised right here, in Bozeman. In the beginning, my family struggled to make ends meet – so I knew a variety of apartments and a trailer home or two – but my parents worked hard. My sister and I were never without what we needed, plus some. And as life ironed itself out and we found stability, my parents found value in saving for travel opportunities. I have been able to learn many things from this broadening of my horizon.

Around the age of 12, I found a passion that has remained with me throughout a myriad of ever-changing interests: photography, cinematography, and storytelling. I started taking sunset pictures and filming homemade skits with my first generation iPad Mini. As time would go on, I would use whatever money I had to upgrade my equipment. I absorbed myself within online lessons, Youtube videos, and shadowing local photographers. I learned the tech and specs, but, more importantly, I found it to be a beautiful form of art. I walked within cities and shot lifestyle photos, I created documentaries, wrote novels and scripts and chased the dream to some day direct my own film. I never, though, considered it plausible for a career.

So, I eventually took after my dad and began working on roofs, tacking down underlayment and laying shingles. It wasn’t glorious… or fun… or what I ever would have first chosen, but for years it paid what I needed. Maya went to a trade school for massage and quickly got busy as a massage therapist. We soon met, began dating, and got married. Every single day, that continues to be the best choice I’ve ever made.

Later on, after one too many falls off of one too many roofs – and a cut to my leg that nearly took out my achilles – Maya helped support me through a variety of job options. Throughout whatever I did, however, since the age of 16, I was acquiring small jobs in photo and video and even learned to code in HTML, CSS, plus bits and pieces of JavaScript, for website coding.

One day, Maya and I decided we would take a jump. I would dive fully into the world of running my own business doing photography, videography, and creative design. It took heavy planning, lots of work, and some stress, but it was worth the effort. I love what I do. I wake up excited each morning. I get to work with my wife. It’s a dream that has come true.

And, in the end, I get to do this because of you. You and this wonderful community allow me this joy. So, thank you. It’s been awesome.

Let’s continue this story.