Northern Virginia Wedding Photography Ends Year Strongly

Ronda Gregorio, owner of Northern Virginia Wedding Photography, attributes her booming photography business to technological developments, and worthy mentors.
By: Matt Rome
 
Dec. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- Northern Virginia Wedding Photography Ends Year Strongly

December 6, 2010, Huntly VA

Despite the tough economy, The Huntly, VA based wedding photography company Northern Virginia Wedding Photography has lensed more weddings in Charlottesville, Warrenton, Front Royal, and Winchester, this year than in any year past. Founder and principle photographer, Ronda Gregorio, explains that both the key to successful photography and the key to running a business are the same, "You need to do whatever is needed, you must fulfill every roll at different times." Ronda states that another main ingredient to success is the commitment to a "can do" attitude for the client, stating that "This is my clients' wedding day. An essential part of my job is to operate seamlessly, to put no stress on them."

Ronda contributes part her success to modern photographic technology... "Digital photographic technology has really released the financial shackles from photographic artists. In years past, we needed to spend a lot of money on the film itself, as well as the whole post production of developing and detailing pictures. Now It's all digital, all computer hardware and software. The camera I now use, the Canon 5D Mark II is fully digital, it contains no film, and while I typically manually adjust the settings, it is surprising how professional-looking photos can develop just on the automatic settings. Unlike the old technology, there is no clicking noises that come from the camera that could distract the subject, or annoy video crews. Also, there is no need to swap out film in the middle of important moments. In the past you had to be careful to not burn out your roll during the crucial moments, like the bride's walk to the altar, or the newlyweds exit from the ceremony. Now you can just click away, the memory chips capacity makes these past issues a basic non-factor. And of course, it costs no money to shoot-- no film to buy. That's a serious expense cut. Actual film is an expensive product. I've heard that significant portions of motion picture budgets are spent just on the film, that smaller budgets need to be critical on how many takes they shoot. I believe it." Ronda further added, "And speaking of expenses, I used to spend a hefty chunk of funds on post production elements, not to mention the hassle-- I had my garage converted to a darkroom with the foul scents of developing chemicals permeating everything, I needed trays, tubs, lines of string to hang the drying prints, etc. Those days are over. My Photoshop Lightroom software is a delightfully complete post-production platform. I know a few die-hard photographers who still develop their professional photos in that way, but, honestly, I for one, will say that modern technology is really up to snuff. If you buy a good high resolution camera, and use joint-photographic-experts-group files (JPEG's), the amount of data in the images is so dense that not only is the resulting image professionally saturated, but you can manipulate the color and shading to a remarkable degree, as well as blend out any undesired details." Ronda does admit, "The technology does have hazards. I once lost 2 external drives, that's about 9000 photos! Fortunately I had them saved on my main computer, but it took many hours to re-sort the media from an unnamed jumble to appropriately named and sorted files. It wasn't just archived stuff, I had three active accounts in there. The clients needed their photos immediately. I suppose I should be most thankful that I was able to recover the files, but it was a very unpleasant experience to say the least. Moral of the story-- Make sure you have multiple back-ups, and be mindful with your equipment!"

Ronda is also quick to attribute her success at Northern Virginia Wedding Photography to a couple of her mentors... "I learned a ton from a photographer named Meg Perotti. While shooting, she moves around quietly, stealthily like a cat she captures the moments without disturbing her subjects, as if she's invisible. And the presentation of her work on the back end, she makes sure everything comes out flawlessly, perfect. I've sen many professional photos from photographers with voluminous portfolios that show things like acne or dandruff on the subjects. I've never seen such flaws on Meg's photos. Dedication to perfection like that takes an exceptional amount of resolve and follow-through. It's very inspiring. Honestly there are times when I'm backed up with work, and I need to hit a deadline, and the devil on my shoulder is saying 'nobody will notice these details, just move on". Knowing that others like Meg can achieve such a high level of consistency lets me persist."

Ronda continued... "I also want to talk of Laura Grier at Wedding Day Photography. Laura is a master of color; her photos invariably have a trademark vibrancy to them. I was lucky enough to be her apprentice in Venice, California. She also taught me the art of working with a group, how to assist and also be assisted, to share ideas without being overbearing, and to grow from criticism. She's also the one who taught me the intricacies of the Canon 5d-mark II camera. After working with Laura, I was fluent with the technology which let me focus fully on my subjects. This fluency with the technology really gives confidence, and my confidence rubs off on my subjects, and in turn they relax, which, in the end allows beautiful images to take place. Working with Laura really was invaluable."

Although Ronda has filmed all over the world, she keeps returning to her roots of Northern Virginia, "I suppose part of my reticence to leave the area is rooted in the fact that I grew up here, but it's more than that. This really is one of the most beautiful areas in the world. The local government here does a great job preventing unmitigated sprawl. Most of the area is unadulterated farmland, or wilderness. That makes fertile photographic opportunities. There's beautiful old weathered barns and covered bridges with the paint peeling off just so. There's sheep and cows and horses, deer, even chickens and wild turkeys that can be found during wedding shoots. Just when I think I've exhausted my luck with opportunities, another will pop up at the new location. It's a photographer's dream. I just can't leave!"

Ronda has reason to expect an even bigger year in 2011. "It seems a bit of luck combined with my efforts are now paying off. I feel very lucky to be thriving in this economy. I guess whatever the economy is doing, people sill want to get married, and they want pictures to remember the ceremony. While it's best for me to keep a level head about the future, the numbers predict about 20 wedding shoots next year, maybe more."

# # #

Northern Virginia Wedding Photography is owned and operated by Ronda Gregorio. Please go to http://www.northern-virginia-wedding-photography.com for more information.
End
Source:Matt Rome
Email:***@northern-virginia-wedding-photography.com Email Verified
Tags:Northern Virginia Wedding Photography, Warrenton, Charlottesville, Winchester, Fairfax, Commercial, Wedding
Industry:Services, Technology, Photography
Location:Charlottesville - Virginia - United States
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