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Aug. 10, 2009 - Featured Members |
| photo by: Dale Benfield
Name: Cathy and David Bock --- "Cathy and David Photographers" Location: Bloomington, Indiana (South of Indianapolis) Website Blog [ b ] School profile Follow David Follow Cathy Facebook Cathy, Facebook David How long have you been in business?: Almost 2 years. How did you get into photography?: When we met, we were actually both getting our degrees in graphic design, and although we both loved photography quite a bit, we never really considered it professionally. That is, until we started making plans for our wedding and stumbled across two amazing photographers, Bobbi and Mike (in Indianapolis). That's when everything changed for us. We became fascinated by wedding photography. Actually, obsessed would be a better word. We began blog-stalking anyone whose work we found inspiring and learning everything we could while still maintaining our day jobs as designers. We upgraded our film SLR's to digital SLRs and practiced as much as we could, shooting sessions for free as well as a free wedding, until we finally launched our blog in December of 2007, followed by our website in January of 2008. And we haven't looked back since. As of this year, we have been so blessed with success that we are able to both be full-time! And we are so excited to to see what the future has for us! :) Tell us how networking with other photographers has affected your business: We wouldn't be where we are without it! I can't emphasize that enough. Half of our weddings in our first year were referrals from other photographers, vendors, etc. It's because of people like Becker that we were able to learn so much about our industry. Our business is now evolving to be focused on nationwide coverage, and because of that focus, having a great network of photographers to share referrals with us has been essential for us in being able to get our feet wet in new cities. We never think of other photographers as competition, just another place to gain and share knowledge! :) What is your favorite part about shooting weddings? David: I don't know if it's weddings themselves that are my favorite part, but rather the reaction of friends and family when they see the slideshow at the reception, or when they see the photos from their wedding day. Our biggest compliment is when a friend who wasn't there tells us how perfectly we captured the couple's personalities or when friends and family members come up to us on the wedding day and tell us how hard we've worked and how much they appreciate us being there. I think it's being able to be a part of someone's most important day and being able to tell that story for them that's so awesome. :) Cathy: I would have to say that my favorite thing about shooting weddings is the challenge. It's the chance to do better than last time and improve on what I do. Sometimes I succeed, and other times I don't. But I think it's the challenge of it that gets me going and gets me excited. :) What's your favorite piece of equipment these days? David: I'd have to say my favorite piece of equipment would be the 35 1.4L. I think we use it for 50%+ of our shots. Its field of view, bokeh, everything about that lens, is all perfect. :) Cathy: Agreed! That lens is so sexy and dramatic. I can't get enough of it! ;) What is your favorite iPhone App? David: Twitterfon of course, but I really love the App called 'Darkness' it tells us when sunset is going to happen. Since we do our engagement sessions and hour before sunset this can be very handy, especially in new locations. :) Cathy: I guess I'm more utilitarian. I love that I can check and answer our email on the road! Please tell us something personal about you so we can get to know you better: David: I really love teaching and helping other new photographers get started. When we were first getting started we got a phone call from Gene Higa who gave us some tips for our business that we still use to this day and that have been pivotal in the success of our business. I asked what I could do in return for all the help and he simply told me to 'pay it forward'. I've made it my career mission to help photographers and to make a positive impact on new photographers' lives. :) Beyond photography, I love film, writing, design and food (we LOVE going restaurant hopping. :-D). Eventually I'd love to either write a screenplay, novel, or even direct a movie. I'm always working on writing when I'm not taking pictures and editing so maybe someday I'll have enough time to write something. Perhaps in the off-season? :) Did I mention we like food? Cathy: I am extremely shy! I don't really mean to be, I just get nervous around other people. So while David is in the foreground jazzing people up, getting them comfortable and making them laugh, I'm taking a step back and catching the shots. Also, I love pancakes. Where do you see the industry heading in the next 5 years: David: I think we'll be seeing less extreme over-processing with tons of textures and harsh color treatments. Just like in the printing industry when digital presses allowed for multiple colors at low cost, they saw a huge influx of designers using wild color combinations just because they could. Today, however, we see a much more appropriate and well thought-out use of color. I think it will be the same with post-processing techniques. Cathy: In the short time that we have been in business, I have seen the perceived value of wedding photography in our area rise dramatically. Great photography is more and more important to today's couples. And I don't see this changing anytime soon. I think that as this continues, quality photography will be the last thing sacrificed in a low-budget wedding rather than one of the first. Who's your favorite vendor in the industry?: For us it has to be ShootQ. No more 3-ring binders stuffed full of information on leads, contracts, etc! Yay! :) ShootQ provides automatic invoices, questionnaires, correspondence emails, custom package proposals, star-ratings for leads, digital contracts, online payments, etc. etc. ShootQ has allowed us to be excited about getting a huge influx of leads and bookings in a week rather than being overwhelmed and freaked out. I seriously have no idea what I would do right now if we didn't have it. ShootQ has allowed us to be able to enjoy success and has helped us build upon that success. How important is your blog? It's everything to us. We think we're awesome photographers but honestly there are a lot of awesome photographers out there. Our blog allows us to show people more than just our great photos. It gives us a chance to show who we are and to show the relationships that we build with our couples. We have so many brides & grooms tell us that they booked us because of what they've read on our blog and because of how much they enjoy reading it and just want to be a part of it too. How has Facebook and/or Twitter impacted your business?: Twitter & Facebook are a huge part of our business. They allow us to quickly trade referrals with our network of photogs and also help our clients get to know us more personally. Facebook also raises awareness of our business through the tagging of images and sharing of links. We've had so many clients who first learned about us by seeing the pictures we took of their friend show up in their newsfeed. It's an awesome way to spread the word without much effort. Favorite thing about [ b ] School? We've loved the [b] school ever since our question was featured on the blog way back when on (I think the first??) edition of 'Ask Professor [b]'. We seriously jumped up and down like little kids when Becker called us out. And now it's come full circle with us being a featured photographer. We can't tell you how excited we are to be here. :-D We think our favorite part is the student union, and the boards. We LOVE asking questions, getting feedback and answering them. It's such a great place to be able to share ideas without fear of 'Grumpies'. We've just never found any networks or forums that come close to what the [b] school offers. And the videos that people put up to help other photographers are amazing. For us though, the biggest impact was joining as a private schooler and getting Becker's Price Check video, which revolutionized our price list. Are there any workshops or upcoming GTGs that you'd like to plug? We're the "Indy Bosses" for Photog Shootout and we'll be having our first GTG on August 12th in Indianapolis (This Wednesday!). We'll be having photogs coming from Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky as well, and we'd love to have you join us! Email us for details, or join our group, "Indy Photog Shootout" on Facebook. We're so excited to be able to help other photographers network so that we can learn from each other and just have fun! :) Tell us what you like about the attached favorite photographs: |
| This is something we look for in our favorite photos. Not only is the couple overjoyed but their friends and family are too. We love the action of this shot captured in the frame, the flowers floating in the air, the light through the trees, the glow in the bride's hair. Everything about this shot says exactly what we strive for in our photography. :)
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| Quite possibly one of our favorite photos. We make it a point to never pose any of our candids. The scene here was perfect for Cathy to be able to capture the moment of the bride getting ready, her bridesmaid helping her, the wallpaper of the hotel room, her moment framed in the mirror. LOVE.
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| If you can't tell, we love mirrors. We don't know why but we find that reflections help to pull the viewer back from the scene, to sometimes see more than was there, to capture not only what was going on behind this bride, but the look on her face as well.
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| I (David) love this photo.. I love that you can tell how happy the bride is by the posture of her shoulders, how all of her friends and family are so excited to see them. The natural light coming in through the big floor to ceiling windows, the people in the shots that defined this bride & groom's friends and family. Even though we always try and get an awesome composition, photos like this show what we really go for: emotion, mood, and moments.
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| This photo was taken on the balcony of the couple's hotel room. We'd never taken shots there before but jumped at the opportunity. The flash we used for this was done with a snoot bounced off the white plaster wall next to them. We like to get the 'just before they kiss' shot simply because it adds tension and intimacy to the photo that a full on kiss might lose. |
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