Passionate Photographers Choose AsukaBook
AsukaBook is proud to shine the spotlight on our customers! We love the great images these photographers capture and the high standards they set in the industry.
Tell us about your company or studio.
I own a small boutique photography studio in northern West Virginia, which is where I spent my childhood. After going to school, living in Massachusetts for 10 years, and then living overseas, I returned home to raise a family. I photograph weddings and families but also do editorial, corporate and personal work.
Why photography?
I find photography to be an entrance pass into places and situations that I might not otherwise have access to: other people's lives and love, conflict, turmoil and resilience. A camera is a tool that magnifies the opportunity to learn about relationships, conflict, social issues, and humanity. I find it to be constant exercise for making sense of the world and also knowing myself. My ultimate goal would be for that exercise to result in some sort of visual poetry, images that have meaning for families but that transcend time and occasion.
Why do you use AsukaBook?
I collect one thing - photography books. They're a source of inspiration, even when thinking about albums for couples. I am a stickler for printing, and I love the quality of AsukaBook. AsukaBook fits well with the way I shoot weddings - as a visual narrative. There are a substantial amount of pages, allowing me to combine several images to tell a story. My favorite is the 16x12 size!
Any selling tips for other photographers?
I have a sample album that I share with prospective clients. Most couples will buy an album when booking their wedding if there is a great product to view.
What else should people know about you?
Photographic experiences have offered life-changing opportunities and growth for me. A couple of years ago I was on an editorial assignment for a magazine in West Virginia. The story was about a weekend with women friends in the mountains. It entailed a lot of adventuring, including zip-lining with full photography gear. The final day of the assignment entailed a "Bridge Walk". West Virginia has the fourth largest arch bridge in the world with a height approximately 900 feet above the gorgeous New River. This was probably the only occasion when not being well-prepared for an assignment benefited me. I thought I would be walking across the top of the bridge, which is scary enough by car. However, 'walking the bridge' meant being on a swaying catwalk for two hours; and I'm deathly afraid of heights! My saving grace was my tour leader. He helped me move through one of my greatest fears by posing this question: "One day your daughter will be old enough to do things like this. You're either going to get over your fear and join her, or you'll be sitting on the sidelines." I crossed that bridge!
