Passionate Photographers Choose AsukaBook

Tell us about your company or studio.

I started my wedding photography business in 2005. To gain experience, I photographed some non-wedding events and also worked weddings as a second shooter (usually unpaid) for most of that year, so in reality, I didn't begin in earnest until 2006. However, Hurricane Katrina had really thrown things into disarray during this time. Bookings did start trickling in as the city recovered from the storm and I've been fortunate to have had a full calendar every year ever since.

Why photography?

Weddings, in particular, appeal to me because they are a "target-rich environment" full of people who generally are there to have a good time. Though I enjoy the various disciplines of photography that generally accompany weddings (still life, landscape, architectural), what really gives me a thrill is capturing the emotional interactions of people, especially the couple. I love knowing that when they look at these photographs, whether a few months after the wedding or 30 years later, they'll be taken back to exactly how they felt at that moment.

Why do you use AsukaBook?

Though I do also offer other albums, AsukaBook (the Book Bound EX, in particular) was my very first album, and has always been very popular with couples who want something that does not look at all like their parents' wedding album. I love the high quality printing, and simply can't live without the Laminate Matte pages.

Any selling tips for other photographers?

Though it's a cliché, these books really do sell themselves. Admittedly, I'm not much of a salesperson, so rather than try to push a couple towards any particular type of album, my preference is to simply show some samples, and see which one they are drawn to (in most cases, there is a very clear preference shown almost immediately). I just work from there, pointing out the various features that set that product apart. My AsukaBook sample is about 5 years old, and really should be replaced with something that shows more current work, but the age of my sample is actually a good selling point...it is handled frequently and still looks great. This serves as a good answer to questions about durability.

What else should people know about you?

One of my earliest childhood memories of photography was my dad letting me try to take a picture with his AE-1. It seemed like an impossibly complex piece of equipment to me at the time! But I loved that satisfying click of the shutter and would sometimes sneak and fire off some imaginary shots with the empty camera when no one was home.