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WNC Wedding Wisdom- Two Ring Studios Part 1

An Interview with Derek and Galen from Two Ring Studios Photography and Cinema: Part 1

Bride and Bridesmaids sitting on a Pickup Truck
Photo by Two Ring Studios

For those of you who don’t know, I have been blog-stalking Two Ring Studios’ blog for months. It all started when I found Meg + Justin’s fantastic wedding video on Vimeo and wrote a post on it. Wait, maybe it was finding their Flickr Photostream… can’t remember.

But I do know this: Derek and Galen, the owners and talent behind Two Ring Studios, are deeply committed to making some of the best wedding photos and videos in Western North Carolina.

I recently had a chance to do an interview with Two Ring Studios, and they were gracious enough to share some of their beautiful photos with me. Enjoy!!!

Two wedding bands
Photo by Two Ring Studios

1. What attracts you to wedding photography? 
The people. Happy couples and their friends & families make wedding photography thrilling for us because of the emotion and energy they emit. As photographers we feed off that! We are also attracted to it because it implements all types of photography: candids, portraiture, landscape, etc. We take the art of photography seriously and are basically obsessed with it. It’s what we do full-time!
Two grandmothers look at a wedding ceremony program
2. Where do you find your inspiration?
From the simple things: subtle glances and smiles between the couple, people dancing and having a good time, a sunset after the ceremony. There is so much joy and celebration at weddings.

 

Indian men dancing
Photo by Two Ring Studios

3. What is a typical day for you on a wedding shoot?
A typical wedding day is usually long. We offer complete coverage to our clients because they deserve it. Our typical wedding day coverage is 8 hours but we’ve done weddings that lasted up to 16 hours! We want to tell a complete story so in addition to the ceremony and reception we arrive pre-ceremony to capture people getting ready. No wedding is ever the same so we just roll with it and have fun.
Groomsmen in a line while a flower girl runs in the opposite direction
4. How would you describe your style and philosophy as toward wedding photography?
We love all aspects of wedding photography: from taking a photojournalistic approach and capturing the story as it unfolds, to taking creative, posed portraits of the bride and groom. We like to let people be during the reception and capture natural moments without interfering. There are times when you have to get close to a scene to get the shot; we’ve photographed enough weddings and events to know when it’s appropriate to get close and when you should stay back and be a fly on the wall. Our philosophy is to make our clients completely happy. It’s all about them and if they are happy the photos will show it!
Groom and Best man on dirtbikes
5. What would you say you do you do differently or, to put it another way, what makes you stand out as a photographer?
First and foremost: color, lighting, and composition are really important to us. Also, we spend a lot of time with each photo after it’s been taken (post-production). Some photos require 2 minutes and others we spend 30 minutes on. In the days before digital photography, film required a lot of love and work in the darkroom to get it right. The fact that some photographers boast that they don’t process their digital images is kind of strange to us. Photos are meant to be processed, which can mean something as simple as brightening up a subject or making the sky more blue. Our clients deserve quality and we make sure each image reflects our studios standards.
Bride with blue eyes getting bright pink lipstick applied
Come back tomorrow for Part 2 of my interview with Two Ring Studios…