Former prints staff member and international wedding photographer `achfoo took the time to sit down and answer some questions in an interview for my group, =The-Canon-Club. He and his wife ~MissAchfoo run a wedding photography business in Florida, called Root Photography.

->=IaiaRose: What does it take to be a wedding photographer?

`achfoo:A positive/outgoing personality, an appreciation for happy people, and a quick eye. Sure you can be a grumpy person who doesn't appreciate people smooching on each other, but you're not likely to make it very far or attract clients that are going to make your job any more fun!

-=IaiaRose: What equipment do you use the most?

`achfoo: Jensey (~MissAchfoo) and I both use Canon 40Ds and our lens are (all Canon) : 15mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 24-70 2.8L, and 70-200 2.8L IS and one 550EX and two 580EX flashes. For engagement sessions, we normally just bring our two work-horse lenses, the 24-70 and 70-200 and a single 8GB card per camera. (In our backup bag we have a few extra CF cards, batteries, and flashes just in case.)
The same actually applies for weddings most of the time. In a tight room, we'll naturally throw on the 15mm and might break out the 50 1.4 if we want something with really shallow DOF.

->=IaiaRose: What is a day in your life like? (doing the job).

`achfoo: Crazy. The morning of is normally filled with making sure everything is ready to go. (camera bag = lenses, flashes, batteries, cf cards are cleared and ready, client contract, directions to locations, shot list for posed family photos, etc.) If we have any say, we like to drop by the salon first or wherever the bride is getting ready. It helps us ease into the day and no one hits the ground running into a stressful situation. We check in early, get some prep photos and if the day works out, we go out for lunch. It's such a more relaxing start to the day when Jensey and I can sit down together for a bit and talk about what's going to happen.

We shoot 95% of the day together, which is great. Since we don't really pose any events, we both spend the day shooting whatever's happening. Sometimes that's side by side and other times it's from across the reception hall. Just like the engagement session, we both shoot the bride and groom together after the ceremony. (Or beforehand if they're super cool!) And during the group shots, I'm setting things up and taking the posed photos while Jensey grabs candid details and the likes.

During the week, we spend most all of our time in our home office either working on wedding photos, wedding albums, guest books, client emails/inquiries, or scheduling/shooting other sessions. Jensey does 99.89% of our editing and well, somehow I manage to make myself look busy too.

->=IaiaRose: Why did you choose photography as a career?

`achfoo: I didn't! hah I was attending UCF for a degree in Digital Media, Internet and Interactive Media to be specific. I was going to be the best programmer in the world! At the end of my senior year, I landed a job with a local photographer doing some database work for his website. I ended up assisting him in his office and coming to weddings as well. It wasn't long until I realized I enjoyed shooting weddings and my previous photographic hobby could really pay off. So after a slow start, business snowballed and here we are!

->=IaiaRose: What drew you to photography? How did you get started in wedding photography?

`achfoo: I got my first digital in December of 2000...a Nikon Coolpix 775. I didn't really appreciate it as an artistic hobby, but I liked capturing what was around me. And to be honest, I have a horrible memory for important things, so I've always seen photography as a perfect way to keep my memories intact. And with a photo, I can capture that memory in a specific style.

Like I said above, the start all came thanks to my apprenticeship with that local photographer. It was a great thing to realize not only were weddings fun, but I could make a living at it. So in 2006, Jensey and I started out with 9 weddings. By the end of that year, Jensey and I quit our other jobs and we took the plunge into being full-time photographers. 2007 brought 30 weddings, 2008 has brought 36, and 2009 already has 27.

->=IaiaRose: What's the most useful piece of advice you have for people wanting to shoot weddings?

`achfoo: Go into it with a strong positive outlook. And be over-prepared. People often think wedding photography is tough and boring and stressful. It is if that's how you walk into it, but if you prepare yourself, manage your client's expectations (and your own), and attract the right type of people, the whole thing can be incredibly fun and rewarding.

If you're serious about shooting weddings full-time, don't give up. It can easily take a year for your business to start growing and take the shape you want it to. If you can't build a portfolio by assisting another photographer, don't be shy about offering your services for little or nothing to friends and family so you can have something to shoot. We did a lot of engagement-type shoots for friends when we were starting and it helped us immensely just having that practice.

Create a blog for your business, let your personality shine through and, I know this sounds cheesy, but be yourself. You want to attract people who can relate to you and, as your business grows, you'll find yourself loving your job more and more.

->=IaiaRose: Besides weddings, what other sorts of things do you like to shoot?

`achfoo Whatever I want to remember, honestly. So if that means I capture our dog, Huck Finn, I'll do that. Or when we travel, I want to document the trip...not because I particularly love landscape or street photography, but because I want to remember where I was and what it was like.

->=IaiaRose: What was your most favorite shoot, and why?

`achfoo: Great question, but pretty much impossible to answer! My favorite weddings are ones where we can really capture what we're supposed to. Emotions. You'd be surprised how hard that is to capture some days. Sure people are smiling, hugging, and maybe crying, but it's not always as apparent as you'd think. So it's especially rewarding when the day is filled with stuff like that and you can see quite plainly that the couple loves each other, the families are bubbling over with joy, and the wedding day is exactly what it should be. Those make me happy.

As for specific sessions/wedding, I loooved a wedding we did in Spring Island, South Carolina this past May. It was a small island residence only open to a few people and the grounds were just archaic and wonderful and totally different than anything we've ever shot. I also had a great time with an engagement session we did in downtown Memphis...stepping outside the comforts of a well-kept resort or park was exciting. Mmm, grungy abandoned parking garages.

->=IaiaRose:What methods do you ordinarily use to scout out potential shooting locations?

`achfoo: We used to do this a lot when starting out. It gave us a bit more confidence going into the wedding day because we already knew where we'd go for things. So we'd check out the ceremony or reception venue and see where we could take the couple for photos. (We'd do this at the same time of day as the wedding day so that lighting would be about the same.)

If we had access to the church, we'd also take a few test shots to plan for the posed family photos. We don't do any of this any more for two reasons... 1) We don't usually have the time to drive across town to scout things out and 2) We can usual scout a location on the wedding day with a few minutes of spare time. Lighting only takes moments to adjust now that we're comfortable and used to it.

->=IaiaRose:What's a common mistake to avoid in shooting a wedding/event?

`achfoo: Being unprepared! With any wedding we shoot nowadays, we always make sure to have extra batteries (for the flashes and cameras), extra CF cards (we bring 80GB+ to each wedding nowadays), printed directions from each location (salon -> church, church -> reception, etc), phone numbers for each location and the clients, a mini-cooler with waters, etc. We rarely need these things, but you never know.

If you're new to the area and aren't 100% sure where to shoot or what to do, go scope things out the week before. (Preferably at the same time when you'll be shooting there so you can see how the light interacts.)

Also, don't take yourself too seriously. Obviously you need to be professional, but don't act like someone you're not if you want people to hire you for who you are. I wear jeans to our meetings and I'm awkwardly goofy during photo sessions.

->=IaiaRose: How do you divide the work with your wife, ~MissAchfoo?

`achfoo: On the wedding day, everything just seems to flow. I'll normally handle the direct interaction with the couple for family posed photos and Jensey will capture the more candid moments. But for the rest of the day, we both act as independent photographers, capturing whatever happens.

As for the post-wedding work, Jensey handles a huge amount of the artistic direction. She edits and processes every image that the client sees. She also does our wedding and engagement album designs. I deal with the clients directly; Phone, email, scheduling, order fulfillment, etc. I'm very fortunate that Jensey is as strong of a worker as she is. We compliment each other very well in this business.

->=IaiaRose: What was your first camera?

`achfoo: My first camera that I learned with was a Canon AE-1. Great to learn with until it broke and I didn't want to spend the money to fix it. Yet I still convinced myself spending $1000 on ebay for a Canon D60 was the smart route. I remember being absolutely amazed at the clarity and size of a 6 megapixel file. It felt like I was peering into a world I didn't even knew existed. (And since then, we've upgraded to the 20D, 30D, and now 40D. And hopefully the 5D mkII early next year!)

I wish I could have spent a bit more time learning with that AE-1, though. I wasn't shooting anything critical and was still learning a lot, so it would have been great to train myself longer with film.

->=IaiaRose: How did you come to dA? Why did you pick the name achfoo?

`achfoo: I came to DA in July 2002 after lurking here enjoying random digital art. (1280x1024 wallpapers FTW!) I'd always been a fan of the story of Achilles and (I always hate admitting this part) but I was in the habit of calling friends "fool" at the time. So, well, there ya go. And I liked the sound of it. (Pronounced "Ak-foo", by the way.)

->=IaiaRose: Take a moment to pimp your business...

`achfoo: Oddly enough, this has been the hardest part to write this whole time, lol! Obviously, if you'd like to see more, you should check out our website ... [link] And then there's the infamous blog that Jensey keeps up... [link] And then, let's see ... our facebook group if you're into that! [link] And if you're getting married, drop us an email!! We travel internationally and are trying to find exotic places to shoot and are always happy to work discounted packages for stuff like that!

Thanks so much for reading and extra thanks to Jen for putting this together! And if anyone has any questions, I'd love to answer them in the comments!

=IaiaRose: Thanks to you `achfoo for taking the time to answer our questions!