The first time I was introduced to Stephanie Fay’s beautiful work back in 2009 when I was reading one of Jasmine Star’s “Kisses and Disses” posts on her blog. She had mentioned Stephanie was a fabulous photographer in Phoenix AZ and had recently had a new blog design. Being that I was from the Phoenix area and was currently living in the South and missing my home state, I immediately wanted to check out some work from a hometown girl. Well I am so glad I did because she became a favorite of mine. She had a photojournalistic Wedding approach that I loved, and her use of light was amazing. I was not a photographer at the time I started following her, but as I started my photography journey and continued to devour her work, I appreciated her photography more and more. She truly is a master at what she does so I am super excited to share her talent with all of you today!
Can you take a second to tell us a little about yourself?
I was born and raised in Phoenix Arizona. When it came time to go to college, I had my sights set on attending Point Loma Nazarene University. I attended a few other universities until landing at PLNU, but finally I did and life just seemed to take off from there. After having changed my major around five times, I finally decided I wanted to major in Photography after seeing the wedding photography of David Jay. My college resident advisor was a friend of David’s. I was immediately inspired by his business and drove to Santa Barbara to have coffee with him. After the meeting, I felt ready to take on the world with my creative eye. Ever since then, I have been able to see the world from different angles through my lens and I feel SO blessed to be able to do what I love.
I know your husband photographs with you, how did that come to be?
I had a friend in college ask me if I could help him photograph his first wedding my junior year of college. After shooting with him, word got around that I was photographing weddings and I booked my very first stand alone wedding. I was SO nervous to shoot alone so I asked Stephen if he would help me. Stephen had never really used a professional camera, but he did an amazing job. Now, he photographs every single wedding with me.
Can you tell us what’s in your camera bag? What are your favorite lenses and why?
I ALWAYS have back up equipment in my bag. I have four 5D Mark II cameras we take on all of wedding shoots. The main lenses we shoot with are the Canon 24mm, 70-200mm, 85mm and the 50mm. My absolute favorite lens is the 50mm 1.2 and Stephen often shoots with the 85mm 1.2. This gives our images a very similar look.
You do a fantastic job at making your couples comfortable in their pictures. Do you have any tips for us on how to make our clients relax and feel comfortable?
Making people feel comfortable in front of the camera is one of the HARDEST things about photographing people. Not only is it hard behind the camera, but it’s REALLY hard in front of the camera. Having already had our engagement and wedding photos taken, we understand how scary it can be. We just want our brides and grooms to have a good time. Engagement shoots are usually the precurser to the wedding so feeling nervous for the first 15 minutes of the engagement session is often normal. Stephen and I show our couples how to pose so they feel more comfortable and can see exactly how we want them to pose. This helps them feel more comfortable. The most important thing about making couples feel comfortable is getting to know them on a personal level. Taking photos with a friend is way more fun and that’s how I view my clients. Investing in their lives is the best way to really pull out their true emotions in front of the camera.
You can read the rest of the interview on the bloom forum, so head on over, you don’t want to miss it!
Great interview!!! Her work is truly beautiful!