Vendor Spotlight: Kris Rae Photography
Today we are featuring a local wedding photographer Kris Rae Photography. We had the pleasure to work with him at one of group meetings & wanted all our readers to get to know him a bit more.
How did you get into photography?
For me, becoming a photographer was a natural evolution of my family’s business. My grandfather owned an independent print shop in the 1970s & 80s, so I grew up with the sounds of the shop and the smell of the ink all around me. This, combined with my mother’s encouragement make me into an artist from a very young age. By the time I was in High School I was drawing portraits with pencil & charcoal, and I had begun to claim our camera during family vacations. In my Senior year, I elected for photography classes and was captivated by the “immediate” process of making a portrait on film and being able to develop it in a relatively short amount of time. Where once I was spending days to craft a perfect portrait with pencil, I could do the same within the span of a single afternoon. I never looked back.
What do you love about photography?
My love of photography has changed over the years. Where once I loved perfecting my craft more than anything else (and it’s still a high contender), I have re-tuned and am in love with flaws and imperfections that keep an image honest. Small hairs out of place, a stray splash of light or an expression that hasn’t quite hit it’s peak… the story that is told through the imperfect is so much more compelling than the story told through only the Highs of life.
What would you say is your photography style?
As a student to so many different niches of photography, I have an amalgamated style, and can quickly switch between them given the story arc of the day. I will shoot light and bright for a fall farmland wedding, or use the drama of the shadows in a classic historic building. If we’re specifically talking about weddings: I feel that couples most often choose locations that reflect their personalities and the way that the light plays in those locations directs me how to shoot and present the story.
Do you shoot digital or film?
While I started on film 15 years ago, and indeed, was part of the “last class” at my college to have a purely film workflow, as soon as I graduated and started stringing for the local newspapers, they put the first viable DSLR in my hands ( the original Nikon D1) and I became a digital shooter through and through for my professional work. However, I’ve always had a roll of film in a camera in the car, and shot personal work with it to keep myself aligned to the feel of film. Remembering to work slow and appreciate the tonal qualities of images that shouldn’t be digitally processed… I like to think it has kept me grounded and honest in my work. Never too much retouching. Never portraying something that “Is not.”
Tell us why brides should choose you to capture their wedding day.
I can’t honestly tell someone why they should hire one photographer or another. There is no amount of skill or a particular style that deems one photographer better than another. A couple will hire the professional that they connect with. After all they are trusting this person with documenting the biggest day of their lives to date (there will be bigger days to come!) and you have to trust the guy who is with you for the whole journey, pointing a big-ass lens all the while. That’s a big deal. If you connect with the work in my portfolio, and when we meet, if you think you can trust me (and you can!), and we could be friends as well as vendor/client, then please do hire me. It’ll help me feed my kids. ;)
