DWF – Let’s start off with a little bio, tell us a little bit about yourself.
ISAAC – My wife Amber and I run our little photography business, specializing in weddings. Currently, I work full-time in the business, and my wife is a primary school teacher – but will be joining me full-time in 2010.
When I’m not shooting or editing weddings, I’m out surfing – Hamilton is located within one hour of Raglan (on the West Coast) and also Tauranga (East Coast) so there’s always a wave to be found somewhere. It’s just coming into winter now, the other day I went out for a surf and it was -2 degrees C outside when I left… that’s cold!!!
DWF – How did you become a photographer?
ISAAC – The same way many people did I suppose… I shot a few weddings for friends & family when photography was a hobby for me and thought – man, this is so much fun. It snowballed from there – breaking into the market, and then going through about 4 price increases in my first year until we ended up where we are today.
Our business is still very new – and there are so many avenues I just haven’t had the time to explore yet – so am really excited about growing the business in the future.
DWF- Who or what inspires you as an artist?
ISAAC – I get inspired by random light…. I walk around the street and see a weird patch of light filtering through a building or splashing a wall and think to myself “man, wish I had a bride to put in there”. Obviously I usually don’t have a bride handy (or a camera for that matter) – so I am content with letting it fill me with anticipation for my next shoot. The amount of times I’ve nearly crashed my car because I’ve just noticed the way the sunlight is streaming through the clouds & hitting a field in a particular way….
If I had to pick a “who” I’d say Huy or JMC – I see in their work the pure joy that is a wedding day, captured in a unique way that I would never think of. I look to people like this as a way of expanding what I see happening around me – learning to look beyond the obvious. I have a long way to go.
DWF- If we needed a photographer today why would we book you? What makes you unique?
ISAAC – I think one of the things that sets us apart from our competition is our focus on finding cool locations, and working with them in an interesting way. Many of the weddings here take place in “venues” that have their own gardens & “photography spots” all built in. We prefer to look around the surrounding area – find a cool field or barn or something, and then convince our brides to climb fences, walk through the grass, etc to get there!!
We also aim to really connect with our clients – so that on the day we can deliver a really relaxed, comfortable style of photography – so prior to the wedding it’s not unusual for people to come & sit on the couches in our meeting space, look through albums, drink coffee, joke & chat for an hour or two – ensuring that we really gain an insight into them as people & individuals.
DWF- If you had to pick a favorite “Tool of the Trade” what would it be? and why?
ISAAC – Hmmmn – that’s a hard one, my favourite “toy” of the trade… (because they’re still all toys to me)…
I’d probably have to go with the 5DII. Being able to shoot comfortably up into ISO4000 has really opened up new avenues in our photography, and decreased the reliance on using flash in dark rooms. Combined with a splash of video light, I think it’s much easier to capture the mood of a dark setting using this camera.
Ask me the same question a different day, I’ll probably give you a different answer!
DWF – Care to share your favorite photographs?
RICHARD & AMY -
The first one here was just a quick grab shot of two guests at a wedding fooling around, taking photos of themselves with a camera. I just love the expressions on their faces.
The second is a shot of a bride with her treasured cat – for some reason I really liked this image, and it’s now printed as a 16″ x 24″ in our studio and looks fantastic.
The final one here is just a shot from last week’s wedding – I think it sums up our style as a whole.. we look for some big, open space with plenty of sky, throw in some off-camera lighting, & shoot wide… we try to find a location every wedding where we can shoot something like this, to upsell as a canvas print or do as a big album spread.
DWF – How about some final words to live by?
ISAAC – I feel that to really capture a wedding day, you need to love weddings – not just photography. We play such a big part in the day, being there with the couple for 8 hours or more, influencing their schedule, the entire day. We probably spend more time with the couple than anyone else on the day – so I feel it’s incredibly important to love weddings, to be excited for them, to share their joy, and then to capture it.
Location – Hamilton, New Zealand
Business Name – Instant Wedding Photography
Years in Business – 2
Website - http://www.instantphotos.co.nz
Blog - http://www.blog.instantphotos.co.nz
2 Comments at "DWF Featured Member Isaac de Reus"
*Sigh*
Yet another success story the so closely parallels where I’m at. We see many of these kinds of stories on DWF, and every one of them has me itching to make the jump and change professions.
Anyone know what the success rate of such attempts is in the central US?
I’ve got the glass, I’ve got the production hardware and software, I’ve got the know how, I’ve got the experience, and people say I’ve got the skills, but at 24, I’m still in the beginning stages of being an architect. Don’t believe what you see in the movies- architects aren’t usually paid that much.
At this point with a new wife who’s not yet employed, I don’t think I can take the leap, but later this year…
I don’t know. Does anyone know if the St. Louis wedding photography market is close to saturation, or in times like these can a one-man (maybe with an assistant) show undercutting the big services with similar (and often better quality) product make it?
Man – I’m 24 as well… and I can tell you, it was a scary step – but oh so incredibly rewarding.
The market is pretty saturated here as well… I think you just need to push the aspects of yourself that are different to what others are offering.
If you’re qualified as an architect, you can always go back to doing that in the future, no?
It’s the same here – I had just qualified as a secondary teacher, had worked 2 years in a job @ a really well respected school – good prospects of rising up the ladder… and I thought to myself “I don’t want to get to 40 and regret never having a go at this”.
You can always go back to the career you trained in if it doesn’t work out – so why not give it a go!! If you can make it work in this economic climate, it bodes well for your future.
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