Name: Stacy Reeves
Studio: Stacy Reeves Photography Photography (www.stacyreeves.com)
How long have you been a photographer: shooting for 5 years, full-time for 2 years
Camera that you use: Canon 5D - you would have to pry mine from my cold dead hands to get it from me!
Your favorite lens: That's like asking a mother who her favorite child is! I love the Canon 100mm 2.8 USM Macro for details, the 85mm 1.2L for portraits, and the 16-35mm 2.8L for all-around usage.
Your favorite photography website: www.flickr.com - There is so much undiscovered talent on there, and I love the ability to "Favorite" a photo so I can go back and be reinspired again and again.
My approach to photography: I truly feel that everyone deserves to feel like a model at some point in their life. My business is as much about the process of taking photos as it is about the photos themselves. When they look back at their photos, I don't want them to think, "Man that pose was so uncomfortable and awkward," I want them to think, "Wow we had so much fun that day!" I have had clients come back to do two, three, even four couples sessions with me in the span of a year - not because they needed any more photos, just because they realize that they actually enjoy having their photo taken. I love knowing that I can make someone feel that good about themselves!
What advice would you give to the first time buyers of Forbeyon albums?
I know that a lot of photographers, especially new ones, tend to get small sample books at first because they just want to "test the waters." However, you will sell what you show, so if you present your clients with huge, luxurious albums with all the upgrades, then that is what your clients will want to buy. Virtually all of our sample books have the nicest leathers, custom metal cameos, text embossing, and 50-60 pages of images. It really impresses our clients, and it creates a super high standard of excellence that they then compare to other photographers they meet with.
How would you describe the product you receive from Forbeyon?
Expensive-looking. We charge around $2,500 for a basic book and more than $4,500 for a fully-upgraded book, so to justify that cost, we have to offer an album line that is not only high-quality, but extremely luxurious and impressive to hold. If our clients are going to pay us that much, we have to provide them with a book that is amazing in every way. The weight of the books, the smoothness of the leather, the thickness of the pages, the quality of the printing... All of these things create a product we are really confident in.
How do Forbeyon albums compare to others you've seen or used?
What inspired you to use Forbeyon?
For awhile, we offered several different album lines and gave our clients the choice of which book they preferred. We began to notice that the clients were choosing the Forbeyon books over and over again. That, coupled with the amazing service we received from the Forbeyon staff and the convenience of having the Forbeyon offices right down the road, made it a no-brainer. Now we use Forbeyon exclusively for our wedding albums.
How did you learn about Forbeyon?
I began using Forbeyon after a colleague suggested them to me, as well as their presence at the Dallas Professional Photographers of America meetings. Now I tell everyone I know about them!!
If you could create your ultimate album, what would it look like?
I am nuts for the Pearl leather cover with the silver metallic leather stripe. I am a hopeless romantic, and for me, it is just the epitome of wedding elegance. The brides love it! Even though we only currently offer square albums, I love the new 20x8 album option.. I think that is really going to stand out to our clients! As for the content.. Well.. I think a vacation on the Italian coast would make a great album ;)
As a photographer, what is your most important objective when shooting?
Creating art. Any Uncle Bob with a camera can stand at eye level and take a basic auto-exposure flash photo. The reason my clients pick me is because I can create something that they don't normally see with other photographers. In the span of a two-minute First Dance, I can create 15+ photos that all have vastly different angles, lighting, background, exposures, expressions, and composition, all of which are wedding-album-worthy. I work really hard to create something unique, dramatic, and romantic that that couple will be proud to hang on their wall.
How do prepare for your wedding events?
I really love to look through couture fashion and bridal magazines and tear out poses that inspire me. I have a huge journal with magazine tearsheets and stick figure poses, and before each wedding I go through and pick out 3-4 poses that work well with that wedding's particulars (time of day, location, size of wedding party, shape of wedding gown, etc.) and I commit them to memory so I can use them later that day. Sometimes I will show the bride a pose I want her to emulate, and she will say, "There is no way I can pull that off!" but once she sees the finished photo, she is amazed at how glamorous and beautiful she looks. I think every female deserves to feel like a supermodel at least once in her life!
What do you do during the "wedding downtime"? What downtime? You guys get downtime?!? ;)
On the rare occasion that I can't think of a single thing to photograph, I try to blend in with the wedding guests and do what they are doing. Sometimes I will help a bridesmaid with her shoes, or play with the flowergirl, or go out and dance like a wild woman on the dance floor (especially when the DJ plays "Living On a Prayer"). My hope is that by acting like just another guest, that's how they will see me, so they will feel more comfortable around me when I am taking their photo. I find that I do much better work when I can have fun and be myself with the person I am photographing. If I know that I will have a lot of downtime during the reception (such as a seated dinner or a four-hour block of dancing time), I will put together a Same Day slideshow of some of the images I took earlier that day and play it on a screen near the dance floor. That gets everyone talking about me all night long!
I spent a lot of time comparing album companies when I started my business, especially in terms of cost and profit potential. Honestly, it wasn't even a contest.. Forbeyon won on virtually every factor I could think up. Their books look the nicest, their customer service is unbelievably great, their turnaround time is pretty tough to beat for the quality, and the cost to me - especially for sample books - is less than what I would pay elsewhere for a book that isn't nearly as nice. I love that because not only does it keep more of my profit in my pockets, but it also means I can buy a lot more sample books for coordinators and venues, which means more business for me. Coordinators flip out when I bring them a big, beautiful Forbeyon album of their work - that is far more profitable to us than any magazine ad or bridal show!
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