DigiLabs Pro Blog

Heather Waraksa is a wedding photographer in Brooklyn, NY.  One look at her work and it is clear that Heather is an artist, capturing the bride and groom in their most joyous moment. Most recently featured in Style me Pretty and the Knot, Heather’s experience in fashion and editorial photography is easily visible through her weddings.

I am addicted to my Google reader and I read a lot of wedding inspired blogs.  Not only is it FUN but it’s also my way to see new styles in wedding photography.  I knew Heather as a customer so it’s really amazing to see your customer blog featured while doing some personal reading.     This type of exposure is a perfect example of how blogs can be a great (free) marketing tool for photographers . That is just the tip of the iceberg.  Check out Heather’s website and awesome blog.  Feel free to visit her sample gallery to see how she uses DigiLabs.  Now time for our feature presentation:

Describe your personal style. Intimate, fashion and sometimes cinematic inspired.

What inspires you when shooting wedding after wedding? What keeps me going is knowing the gravity of my position. I’m motivated knowing that the day is a special milestone for my couples and that I’ve been entrusted as their photographer. I’m inspired by working in beautiful and new locations… a great dress or pair of shoes… but mostly my couples. I like to get to know my couples.  I’m a sucker for a good story and I want to know how they met, etc.  Each couple is unique and their weddings reflect that. I want to bring that personality out in the images…this keeps me going.

I’ve also found that taking the time out for myself and my life has been very beneficial for my business.  By not being so work centered, I am allowed to stay creatively fresh. I’ve set a max number of weddings per year, spaced them out and will not take more than one event per weekend.  This prevents any form of burn out.

What photographers inspire you? Paolo Roversi, Sally Mann, Peter Lindbergh, Stiechen, Helmut Newton, Sarah Moon, Ellen von Unwerth, and Meisel.

What gear or gadgets can you not live without? Of course my Canon 5D Mark 2.  I also love my iPhone, Wacom Tablet, and my GPS.  My sense of direction is terrible.

Name a person, place or thing you can’t live without? Penny (my frenchie), travel, morning coffee, family and friends.  Oh, and having a side projects.  Right now I’m building a teepee with my boyfriend in Virgnia.

How does your studio set itself apart from the multitude of NEW photographers out there that keep popping up? I try not to look so much at what new photographers are doing, or what’s hot right now. I’m just trying to do what feels right to me. This really comes across when couples meet with me and I think it makes me valuable.  I am not trying to be like everyone else, I am just me.

How are you changing your business to incorporate things like selling the high-resolution images? I actually have always included the hi-res jpeg images in my package. If it were me getting married, I would want the hi-res files, and I’ve worked it into my overall package.  Of course, I edit and process the images before I give them to the couple.

How are you changing your business to incorporate social networking? As of now, the only way I’ve incorporated social networking is through my blog. It’s a way for me to show current work (wedding and personal projects), updates…  Not only do I include recent weddings, but I make sure to add what’s going on with me – this way I allow visitors to see who I am.

I see where Twitter and Facebook could be beneficial but I find I’m in front of the computer a lot as it is. I prefer to keep things simple with the blog, face to face networking and word of mouth.

How does Digilabs Pro help your business? My favorite thing about DigiLabs Pro are the web galleries. Couples, friends and family can view the whole wedding and order images as they wish. I like that I have the option of setting my own prices and it’s super easy to use. Also, their customer service is top notch.

Tell me one of your biggest disaster from an event you shot? I am lucky enough to say that things have gone pretty smoothly.  I can’t think of anything in particular but I have been getting really good at putting on the boutonnieres for the guys.

Best advice to give to other photographers? If you’re looking to break into weddings, I recommend finding a photographer you admire who needs a second shooter. I worked for another photographer for a year and the experience was invaluable.  I was able to learn on the job while building my portfolio.

And there it is, another educational and informational Photographer of the Month.