So Gronde Photography is coming up on its one year anniversary of being an official business. I'm almost done with my degree in Photography and Brandy has completed her associates and continues on to her bachellors degree in Entreprenural Business Administration with a minor in Marketing. Am I ready to take on this job full time and quit my IT job? No, not yet. Having a day job doesn't make us less photographers like some might think. What it DOES allow is for us to take risks, try things we wouldn't normally try and be inovative in our photography because our photography isn't what is paying our bills. We aren't double booking weddings because it's the off season and we need the business. We do this because we LOVE doing this! It also allows us to keep our prices low and allow people who can't afford the average $3,000-$5,000 for wedding photos for this area to still have beautiful wedding photos. We don't have to charge an arm and a leg because all our bills are paid by our day jobs; all of the procedes from our photography business pretty much gets turned around back into the business to buy new and better gear and other things we need to make our service to our custmers that much better. When you're in school and you are trying to figure out what you want to do with your life, people always ask, "If you had all the money in the world and didn't have to work every again, what would you do?" The answer is simple... I would be a photographer! But if I had all the money in the world I would just go around giving great photos to brides who couldn't afford it. And other pro-bono work for cancer foundations, senior photos for kids whose parents can't afford it, and so many other organizations! Everybody deserves great photos!
Lets look at what's going on now. We do have over twice the shoots booked for this year that we shot last year already. I can't wait to start shooting weddings again this season. Courtney is one of our first ones up and we had such a great time with them in their engagement shoot last summer and she is our first bride to book a bridal session/"trash the dress". Did I mention she's a firefighter, a local hero, and we will hopefully have free reign to the fire house for photos?! Keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook Page to see those pictures! The Cherry Blossom Festival is also here in DC and it's such an incredible backdrop for beautiful pictures and we hope in the short time that they're in peak season we'll have some clients who choose to take advantage of it cuz either way I'm gonna be out there shooting.
Also, for school I've been working on a documentary photography project on the DC Metro escalators. For those of you not from this area, there are 588 escalators on the Metro line leading to and from the stations. On any given day 15%-20% of those are broken or undergoing maintenance. Several have had failures causing injury to patrons. I've been going around and documenting these repairs as best I can without getting arrested by Metro and TSA that now roam the stations. You can watch my flickr account to keep up with the status of that particular project. Another project for my Adobe Lightroom class has been a series of portrait sessions I've called, "The Alter Ego". Two of these photos my professor has encouraged me (who by the way NEVER likes my photos and has been known to tell me my shots are "too comercial" for her taste) to enter them into a jurried gallery show where they have a chance to be hung in the campus art gallery and even win a cash prize. I'll keep you posted on the status of THAT! I have a few more weeks left and if anyone would like to help me by modeling for my "alter ego" project please email us or comment below!
Finally I'd like to show two sets photos.
They are all of my second favorite model to shoot (Brandy will always be #1) and a dear friend of mine since we were 15, Victoria (Torri) Barth. The first photos are from the first shoot I did as a professional with the help of my lovely wife Brandy not only modeling but also assisting with wardrobe, styling, and art direction. The second are from my most recent shoot, one of the "Alter Ego" shoots, of the same model. Changes in style composition, posing, editing workflow, and lighting are quite apparent and the reactions to this photo from the last are exciting. I'm so happy all of our clients have enjoyed their pictures thus far, and Brandy and I are both SO excited for the shoots we having coming up and continuing to grow and share and capture all of their special memories on film!
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Chris and Brandy
Gronde Photography
Providing Northern VA, DC, and MD with all your portrait needs! From family photos to Wedding photography. From Senior photos to newborns and maternity! We capture your special memories on film!
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