Artistic Portraiture

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. I most commonly do Weddings and bridals. I love shooting fashion and beauty, and bridals allow me to really utilize those skills. I also enjoy the wedding environment because it's all candid, which is ideal for capturing emotion and situational surprises you don't usually see in posed work.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. My advice is to look at the photos. Experience isn't always the best measure of quality among photographers. There are many who have done it for years, but still produce mediocre photos, while others with little experience have excellent talent, and can produce professional-looking images from go. Also, ask what kind of lighting the photographer uses. A natural-light photographer should only be selected if they use an array of reflectors to control the light. If someone is shooting you with nothing but their camera, your photos might just come out amateur, and that's not what you want.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Many local photographers use only natural light, or on-camera flash, giving their work an amateur, snapshot feel. Only editing sets them apart from any mom with a camera. I use off-camera studio lighting on location, giving me the flexibility to shoot studio-quality photos anywhere, never getting blurry or backlit photos. I also have a long artistic history that predates my photography work, so I have a trained eye for light, composition and detail.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I've worked a lot of desk-jobs, and the differences between photography and those situations are what I like:
1. A finished product I can be proud of.
2. A customer who appreciates what I do, and loves my product.
3. Making my own money, not money for someone else.
4. A chance to use my creativity rather than just doing processes.
5. Getting out of the house to many different and beautiful locations.
6. Interacting with people in real life rather than just through email.
7. No boss!

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Customers, I think, are initially most concerned with how much I charge. My prices are intentionally lower than those of other local professionals, because I think people have a hard time understanding why it costs so much to take a few shots. I try to explain that the work done behind the camera is only a small portion of the work that goes into photography. For each high-quality portrait I take, I can spend between 30 minutes to an hour editing, not to mention time making prints or managing the files. I work hard on each image to make sure I'm providing something mind-blowingly satisfying for my subjects.