Photography: Jobs Landed

I happen to be one of those lucky few that gets to say " My job is awesome, be jealous". Every day that I enter our office filled with gorgeous leather bound photographic albums and dogs of every size (every employee has the option to bring their furry friend to work ), there is a new adventure to begin and a new project to tackle.

We work exclusivley with professional photographers  specializing in Wedding, Boudoir, Children, Family, and other quirky imagery. I travel all over the country to meet new clients and promote our products, it gives me the opportunity to enjoy many personalities! Although few of my travels bring me to a better city than home!  Ann Arbor is an absolutely thriving town, I could not imagine living anywhere else!

Photo Credit: Emily Pogozelski of Pogo Photo in Jupiter, Florida

As owner and photographer - I do a little bit of everything.  We specialize in location photography - knowing we'll get the best photos when the client is comfortable.  And usually that means at home or a fun outdoor location.  It allows us to be creative, flexible and gives us the freedom to capture posed AND spontaneous moments as they unfold.  I got my start at a very early age.  As far back as I can remember, I've been fascinated with photography.  From the borrowed 1983 Canon A-135mm (on loan from my brother) to the Canon Rebel-G I received on my 16th birthday - photography has always been a part of my life.  What started as a hobby (like many people, I took photos of family, friends, vacations - my parents have many photos of scenic backdrops), eventually turned into taking more and more photos for other people.  While I was in college (Kalamazoo College, '04), I was able to pursue formal training while I earned my bachelor's degree.  As I continued to learn and take photos as a hobby, I still wasn't thinking about it as a business.

That would change in 2009.  I happened to be in a wedding with a friend from childhood who runs the theater program at a local high school and she happened to be looking for a photographer to shoot her shows.  I shot my first show with her the fall of 2009 and since then have not only continued to photograph shows for her, but added the vocal music program.  Additionally, I have added more schools and theater programs in the area to my list of clients.  

Having grown up and now living in the area it felt very natural to set up shop here. It also allowed me to take on local high school interns, teaching them the not only photography technique, but time management, business strategies, and more.  I also serve as webmaster and graphic designer for some of the programs.  From these programs, it was a natural progression to senior portraits, family and child photos, weddings, and everything in between.  I'm very lucky to be able to do this for a living - there's not too much to complain about when your job is to capture important moments in people's lives.  There is something very humbling when people ask you to be a part of their first moments as man and wife, or to capture pivotal moments in their history.  And as I continue to build my business, it's been tremendous to see families annually and see the changes in their kids as they grow into young adults.  I look forward to the day when I can compare a photo of a bride or groom with one I took from their childhood.  There are a lot of components to my job that may be tedious but necessary (editing comes to mind), but at the end of the day, I'm pretty lucky and happy to be able to observe and preserve moments with my camera.

I worked as a Journalist for several years but moving to the US in 2008 put my life to a different perspective. I was looking for a way of expressing myself and the universal visual language of photography offered me a perfect creative outlet. After a couple of years of studying photography and assisting on sets in San Francisco, I relocated to Ann Arbor and decided to open my own photography studio. In my work as a wedding and event photographer, I am the observer, not the creator to an existing scene. I use visual language to tell stories and I pride myself in being able to capture the personalities of my clients. I had the opportunity to photograph celebrities on the Venice Film Festival`s red carpet this September 2011 and traveling, quite frankly, is the best part of my job.

I'm the big guy at Good Stuff Studios, the BOLD Ann Arbor-based graphic design firm! It's still a young firm, so I'm the lead designer / photographer; the accountant; the chief salesman; the guy who creates invoices and estimates; etc. I'm very fortunate to have a part-time assistant, Vanessa Peña, who's able to maintain some semblance of order amongst my chaos.
    
For these profiles, Concentrate Media asks you to say why you chose the area. Well, simply put, I love this town. I even tell my friends and family I'm the King of Ann Arbor. (Of course, they justifiably roll their eyes at that.) I went to art school at UofM and found out pretty quickly this place takes its creativity seriously; and I really enjoy the challenges that come along with that attitude.
    
When it comes to graphic design, it's all about the people! We create imagery for the auto parts industry; we create imagery for holistic healing; we've created stuff for a radio station; we've created graphics for different charities; etc. I could go on and on about the different clients we've been fortunate enough to work with, but the point is these are all very different industries with very different personality types. We've not only been able to help them stand out graphically from their competition, but we've also been able to do this while getting along with them! It sounds like a no-brainer, but anyone who's worked across multiple industries knows what I'm talking about.
    
I have to say, I love the work. I sometimes joke that if science would find a way to get me a paperwork monkey, my life would be perfect. In all honesty though, the thing I enjoy most about what we do is seeing how happy our clients are with what we've created for them. We've even received a check with a thank you note attached! I don't know about you, but I don't send thank you notes when I pay my bills.
    
If you'd like to discuss our services further, shoot an email to get@goodstuffstudios.com or give us a call at 734.660.9359. We never charge for a consultation, and sometimes we even spring for the coffee!

I make photos of all kinds of different people and for a lot of different reasons. I love photography because I can show others how I see the world. And I love to photograph people because I get to show each person how I see them.

As a wedding photographer, I am responsible for managing the day to day wedding and portrait photography operations in the Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit areas.