What's the difference?

BETWEEN

AND

Many are confused as to why we are associated with two separate photography studios.

First of all I would like to say that this is Justin writing. My Beautiful wife Jennifer asked me to write this blog to help clarify things. My first blog ever "boy-O-boy"!!

Here is a little background to clear things up.

Sooo.... Jennifer and I searched a great deal when we were planning our wedding to find the right photographer. As you may know Jen is a perfectionist when it comes to events and this one was the most important event of her life. In addition to her passion and talent for events I myself have always had a love for photography and had taken some classes on the subject in college purely out of interest. So I was particularly involved in this aspect of the wedding. Actually I was pretty involved in the entire thing. Just ask Jen. I am about as picky and meticulous about things as she is. No wonder we are perfect for each other.

So once we met Matt Wheeler from Still Life Studios and saw his work we knew we found the right fit. While Jen was concerned with the flow of the day and the romance to be captured I was bombarding Matt with geeky tech questions and trying to obtain some photography secrets. I annoyed him I am sure.

On our wedding day I must have had 10 people come up to me and ask who our photographers were. They asked if we hired the paparazzi because they were everywhere. Let’s say they got the job done and done well.

With Jennifer being in the wedding business she inevitably kept in contact with Matt after the wedding in regards to business. While Jennifer and Matt were busy talking numbers and bookings I saw this as my opportunity to write Matt extensive emails asking him all kinds of questions. He responded with promptness and politeness. I mean he didn’t really have a choice in the matter. If he wanted to get business from Jennifer he had to put up with her annoying photographer want-a-be husband. I had him trapped:)

After seeking his advice on cameras and flashes I purchased my first DSLR and flash with the loving support of my wife (this stuff ain’t cheap). I was then able to convince some very daring couples to let me shoot their weddings for free. At this time I had one camera, one flash and a film camera for backup. This is a great departure in comparison to what we use today. Not to mention I had only shot one other wedding before this so I had very little experience and really no training. But I must say I truly appreciate those couples that allowed me the opportunity to practice my passion.

About a year after our wedding we finally were ready to order our album and set up a meeting at the studio. This had been the first time I saw Matt since the wedding so I was excited but Jen told me "no photo talk, we are here to talk about our album". Got to love her for putting up with me.

During our conversation Matt asked me what I was planning to do with photography. I had mentioned to him that I would love to shadow him during a wedding once and the wheels were set in motion. One my first shoot with Matt I realized very quickly I had NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING!! He gave me about $4000 worth of equipment and said "here shoot with this and don't drop it". Matt is such an amazing photographer and teacher it was just awesome to see his passion for what he did and hear the things he said. I had heard many horror stories about pro photographers treating the students like crap and not teaching them a thing. This is truly not the case with Matt. He loves to teach and does it well. From that point on I was on a mission.

One and a half years of intensive training later, some $$ in equipment, and most importantly the support from my wife that I could actually do this, I shot my first wedding under Still Life. I was nervous but delivered a good product to the bride and groom.

So where does Social Grace Studios come into play? While I love Still Life Studios I still wanted to maintain some unanimity with my photography. Matt and I put together an agreement that worked out great for both of us. Jennifer and I obtained our business license and became an official entity of our own business:  Social Grace Studios (Jen had been in love with the name "Social Graces" for some time) . We built our website and started our studio.

All weddings I shoot are shot under Still Life Studios. I am subcontracted by them for the event. All other photography (family,babies, maternity, event, commerical, fashion, etc) I am able to perform though our company, Social Grace Studios. This is the perfect situation for both of us. Weddings require a great deal of post production work and I simply do not have the time to.  But other types of shoots are much more manageable for us to do.

SOOOO. I hope all that makes sense and I am sure it was way too much information for some but there you go. I did it…We did it. I pursued my career goal of becoming a Physical Therapist and still dove head first into my passion for photography and no this is not a temporary thing. We plan on growing Social Grace Studios and working with Still Life Studios for as long as we can. We love working together and creating stellar imagery for our clients whether it is under Still Life or Social Grace.

Summary: We own and operate Social Grace Studios. I was trained and am subcontracted for weddings by Still Life Studios. We are all amazing friends and have a great time together.

Thanks for letting me ramble. I am long winded when I write, and a special thanks to Matt Wheeler and the amazing team at Still Life Studios. They are all amazing people and amazing artists. I also want to thank my amazing wife Jennifer for the support and belief she had in me during my pursuit on this endeavor. She puts up with a lot from me and always pushes me to do my best. I love her for that and know I would not be here without her.