Fran Ruchalski | Music Photography
The Quick Survey
- Name: Fran Ruchalski - The PhotoGuy of Amelia Island - The Photographer, LLC
- Located in: Amelia Island / Jacksonville Florida
- Started in: January. 2008
- Status: Made the jump to full-time June, 2010.....hence the new name
- Types of Photography: Music Photography & Portraits
- Primary Camera / Favorite Lens: Nikon D700 / Nikon 80-200 2.8
- Interesting Personal Fact: I have a blue spot in the middle of my forehead from an "extreme sport" accident....I was racing a shopping cart, lost control, and went skidding across the Wal-Mart parking lot head first. My pride was hurt more than my head. My mother always told me not to do it....maybe someday I'll listen.
Find out more
Website: www.photoguyofai.com
Blog: www.ishootmusicians.net
Twitter: @PhotoGuyofAI @IShootMusicians
Facebook/MySpace: The PhotoGuy of Ameila Island
Short Bio
I am many things to many people. I am Dad to 4. I am Pop to 8. I am the “significant other” to 1. I am “the ex” to 2. And I am the master to one crazy German Shepherd.
I have lived in a very large city and on a farm outside a small rural town. Yes, I’m a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. These days, I live in a little beach town on a small island in Northeast Florida, and I am very happy to be here. It’s a place that I truly feel at home and may be the place where I was always meant to be. For a beach bum like me, nothing beats living less than 5 minutes from the beach.
If I don’t have a camera with me, the universe seems somehow out of kilter. I’ve been doing this since I was quite young. And people…not only my mom…think I’m pretty darn good at it. I'm really good at candid shots of people. An art school professor once told me that I have a special way of capturing people. Who am I to argue with her? Actually, I think she was right.
While I've always loved photography, it's only fairly recently that I decided that I wanted to try to make it my full-time gig, and I am seriously studying everything I can to become better at it. I have fallen in love with lighting and stobist type shooting.
Concert & band photography is my passion. The combination of photography and live music is just so natural for me as they are both such a big part of my life. I went to my first concert when I was 12, over 40 years ago; it was The Grateful Dead at the Spectrum in Philly and they played for 5 hours. I’ll never forget it. I spent most of my teen years and beyond going to as many concerts as I could, sometimes 3 or 4 in a week. I’ve seen most every rock artist of the 70’s, a lot of them several times. These days, I get out to probably one live performance a week, sometimes quite a few more. I Shoot Musicians and I make people look like Rock Stars. I love to capture the moment when a performer shows their spirit and personality. It’s like magic. Capturing that energy and emotion is what it’s all about for me. Someone told me that I do it so well because I feel the music so much more than most people. Some of my photos have been published in Guitar World, Guitar Player, Guitar Edge, Musicians Friend, The Buzz, Axis Magazine, and other national and local publications as well as many sites on the web. While I take most of my photos in the Northeast Florida area, I have traveled throughout the Southeast to cover musical events. Now, if I could just figure out a way to make real money at it!
Tamara Young | Glamour Photography
The Quick Survey
- Name / Business Name: Tamara Young / T Style Photography
- Located in: Laguna Niguel, CA
- Started: 2007
- Status: Part Time
- Types of Photography: Special Events, Glamour and Boudoir Portraiture
- Primary Camera / Favorite Lens: Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm 1.2
- Interesting Personal Fact: I always get dressed up for events that I'm shooting, even wearing heels. I can run pretty fast in a pair of Stilettos and do the "Carlton Dance" in them, too. I'm left-handed
Find out more
Main Site: www.TStylePhotography.com
Blog: www.TStylePhotography.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com
Short Bio:
I really enjoy getting to know people, so for me, Photography is another way to communicate with the world. I'm a Southern Girl, born and raised in Memphis, TN and currently residing in Laguna Niguel, California. Of course, being Southern and all, I'll probably want to hug you because that's just what we do.
I admit to being fascinated by shoes. I wonder where people have been in them, where they are going in them. I wonder what special day was spent in those sling-backs. I find that shoes can really tell you a lot about a person’s journey through life. While I do love my stilettos, I also like to put my hiking shoes to use. I'm also very passionate about my traveling boots and dancing shoes. When a good song comes on, I start to move without thinking about it. In case you're wondering, YES, I'm that girl in the car singing at the top of her lungs and making faces as if she's performing for a crowd of 50,000.
I’ve been mentored by some of the best in the industry and am always looking to learn more about my craft and new ways to offer something fun and fresh. Being involved in non-profit organizations in my community is also a very important part of my life as a Photographer. I find giving back to the community and helping others as the best way to show my appreciation for the mentoring that I’ve received.
I love to capture the emotion of people enjoying a special event in their lives; a Birthday, an Anniversary, or even an Awards Ceremony.
But there’s a different kind of magic that happens with Glamour and Boudoir Photography. I have the opportunity to inspire women to be happy with themselves. No matter what title they hold or how they are seen by others (Mom, Wife, Daughter, Employee) beauty exists in every size, race and social status. I believe that every woman has an inner Goddess who’s confident, strong, and incredibly beautiful; flaws and all. I want them to see themselves as beautiful and confident FIRST! Many have said it, but I’ll say it again…."confidence is both sexy and attractive."
Stuart Townsley
The Quick Survey
- Name: Stuart Townsley Photography
- Located in: Beverly Hills and Woodland Hills
- Started in: 2000
- Status: Full Time
- Types of Photography: Weddings Portraits and other Events (Bar/Bat Mitzvahs)
- Primary Camera / Favorite Lens: Canon 5d MkII and 70-200 2.8 IS
- Interesting Personal Fact: I love Jello am a bedroom DJ and triathlete
Find out more
Main Site: www.townsleyportraits.com
Blog: www.townsleyportraits.com/blog
Short Bio:
“I was born in 1970 to a poor southern family of migrant field workers my pappy beat me every night....”
I don’t know what to say about myself I started shooting in 1998 and just haven't stopped. I have shot for rich people and poor people and every type in between. I have shot happy people, nervous people and disasters. I only know how to do one thing and this is it and I love it!
I am always always ALWAYS trying new things to keep it fresh. 2009 was a real breakthrough year for me. My work changed a lot and by using the internet blogs/social networks etc.. I was able to add a lot of exposure to my work. 2010 is going even better! Stay tune.
Wade Heninger | Dance Photography
The Quick Survey
- Business Name: Heninger Fotographik
- Located in: Seattle, WA
- Started: I started working in the late 90s.
- Status: Part Time. I also work for SmugMug as their resident designer.
- Types of Photography: I shoot mainly dance, family and portraiture, with a few weddings mixed in to keep it interesting.
- Primary Camera / Favorite Lens: I <3 my Canon 5D MKII. My favorite lenses are: Canon 24-105L and my Canon 70-200 L 2.8 IS. However, my absolute favorite lens is my Summicron 50 on my Leica M8. Bar none that lens impresses me every time I use it. Wish I could mount it on the 5D
- Interesting Personal Fact:I love to shoot dance performances in my kilt. Its dressy, and it has some big pockets (Utilikilt) for holding all that crap we need to carry around. If I ever pass out shooting, I full expect someone to scream "We have a photog down, repeat a photog is down" in a nice scottish accent.
Main Site / Blog: http://heninger.org/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/heninger
Short Bio - I started in photography as a kid when my grandparents gave me an Argus 126 camera for christmas one year. I burned thru a lot of film before the economics of it all outstripped my modest 8 year-old finances. Much later on I picked up a camera when digital was just starting to catch on and before long I was back learning traditional photography and working in my own darkroom. I worked as a designer at Adobe and gravitated towards the photo side of their offerings, working on Photoshop, Camera Raw and finally Lightroom - a product which I'm very proud of and use to this day.
I spent the better part of 5 years doing mainly fine art street photography - prowling the streets with my Leica and learning how to edit my work. I kinda stumbled into dance photography when I suggested a small project with a local studio where my daughter was dancing. One thing lead to another and now I find myself shooting several big dance events a year in the Seattle area and am the studio photographer for Emerald Ballet Theatre in Bellevue, Wa. Dancers moving fast in dark environments have really pushed me technically, and I've been really happy with the improvements in hardware over the past 5 years.
My style has morphed over the past decade, and what was once a body of very traditional, very rigid black & white work has morphed into a much more varied presentation using colors, toning and more than a few vignettes. Lightroom has had a huge impact on that broadening focus beyond my comfort zone. I shoot a lot more these days, and as my volume has increased, I've actually handed off the proofing, sales and printing to SmugMug and its pro lab which has saved me a huge amount of time.
I don't do much active marketing per se, but I pick up a manageable volume of family, senior and portraiture work thru the dance studios clientele - its a nice symbiosis.
Each year brings a new bunch of stuff to learn, and I enjoy the challenges photography brings. Furthermore, I find a lot of inspiration with both the contemporary and historical work out there. I'm a huge fan of using the social media outlets, especially twitter and facebook to publicize my work and I'm amazed at the connections I've made thru that venue. I try to limit my follows, but those I do constantly impress.
My job designing photographer tools for the last decade has allowed me to travel, attend conferences (you'll always find me at WPPI & PPE) and meet with some great artists and interesting people.
Finally, I do a weekly roundup of the important happenings in the Lightroom world, entitled "Lightroom Tuesday" that is chalk full of tutorials, tips and tricks for making the most of today's outstanding workflow software. Follow me on Twitter for the weekly reminders.
Its a great time to be a photographer.
