September 2009 Featured Photographer of the Month

Our Sept. Featured Photographer of the Month
Hiram Trillo

Check out Hiram Trillo [Art-Photography]

1 What equipment you do you use?
Canon 5D Mark II Bodies [4]
Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 AF Lens
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 AF Lens
Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 AF  L-series [2]
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L AF Zoom Lens - L-series [2]
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L-series [2]
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 AF Zoom Lens - L series

Canon 580EX II Flash [2]
Alien Bees B1600 Flash Units [3]
Alien Bees ABR800 Ring flash
Alien Bees Vagabond II portable power system
Alien Bees CyberSync CST transmitters and CSRB receivers
Wescott lightstands and softboxes
Bruce Dorn Asymmetrical StripBank
Apple computers
Photoshop CS3
Lexar Pro 8gb 300x Compact Flash Cards [6]
Camera Slingers straps, our new toy and I highly recommend them if you are a wedding photographer.  They are a must, you can thank me later.  Let me know if you want to buy them I have a discount code, just contact me. 

2 How long have you been shooting?
I have been a photographer for about 15 years.  Professionally I have done it for about 8.  We opened our studio, with a focus for weddings, In late 2007 and have not looked back since.  I could never have done it without the support of my beautiful wife.  We are the primary photographers in the studio, but have some amazing lighting assistants.    

3 Where are you located?
We are located in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

4 What type of photography do you take?
We do all types of photography, from Seniors, Maternity, New Born, etc.  We primarily focus on Weddings and continue our relationship with our customers for life. 

5 Price range of events?
All of our coverage is AlaCarte.  We have a base price of $1500 for weddings and $200 for shoots.  By doing this we let the customer design their own packages, and they decide how much they want to spend.  Most wedding couples spend anywhere between $3000-$10000.

6 When did you notice that you had passion for photography?
I have always loved photography.  I used to love the photography of the Mexican cinema, as well as the black and white photography of the last century.  Photographers such as Gregory Crewdson, Annie Leibovitz, Gordon Parks among many others have always been an inspiration.  I love to know more and I am constantly learning.I am in love with light and how I can manipulate it. I bought my first camera as a teenager after saving for a few years (a Canon T20).  I began with a Canon and will end with one. 

7 Is there anything unique about what you do?
I am a closet illusionist, which comes in handy to break the ice with my customers.  I enjoy what I do and feel extremely lucky to be doing it.  (”…if you enjoy what you do for a living, you will never work a day in your life” the sandlot) I truly believe that and we have as much fun as we can.  As you can see from our video.

8 What’s the funniest thing that ever happened during a shoot?
We had a ring bearer rock out with his i-pod during a wedding.  However we have had many others.  Weddings are fun.

9 What’s the scariest thing that ever happened during a shoot?
We have been extremely lucky, and until now everything has been well planned in all of our weddings and shoots.  (knock on wood)

10 How many events do you photograph each year?
I have no idea, I lost track.  This is a good thing.  However we do limit our weddings to no more than 25 a year.  By doing this we can have a personal attachment to each and it helps us stay fresh and creative.  We are not a factory photographer.

11 Have you had to changed anything to adjust in current economic times?
As I said earlier we let the customer create their own package.  This puts the power on the client’s hand and not on us.  They feel less pressure and more relaxed when the time of their shoot and purchase comes.

12 Describe your shooting style?
We take great care in each image we capture.  We create art for all of our customers and they see that.  All of the work is done in studio.  We never hire outside help.  All of the editing, album designs, framing, packaging is tailored to each customer.  We only use one printing company and all of our album companies have our custom specs.  We believe that each wedding is unique and for that reason we never use templates for wedding albums or shortcuts in the editing process.  We have developed our own editing techniques and actions.  We take great pride in all of our work and we make sure the client is happy with all of our products.