Monday Meetings: Photographer Echard Wheeler

It's that time to introduce you to another amazing vendor: photographer Echard Wheeler! We always love working with Echard. His laid back style is always so appealing to us and our clients.  Echard has such creative, yet timeless, taste in photography. Meet Echard:

Tell us about your business!  
I know it sounds like a cliche, but I love photography. I love everything about it--whether it's digital or film (which I still use and regularly develop myself). The whole process is comforting to me, and has been since the moment I picked up a camera in my teens. I have a camera in my hand 99% of the time. Whether I'm on commercial assignment, a portrait shoot, documenting a wedding or just hanging around town, you can bet I'm taking photographs. Every. Single. Day. Because it's second nature to me, and if you love photography then you're inspired by anything and everything, every day.'

I consider myself a documentary wedding photographer. My goal is to capture your wedding day naturally, the human element, the grace, the beauty--a visual wedding diary, to be cherished and visited over and over again.

What kind of packages do you offer? 

Every couple I meet with is different, and they usually want a package that is customized to fit their needs on their wedding day. I start with a base 6 hour package. We can then add to it -- hours if need be, and all the extras like portrait sessions, photo booths and albums. By working with a couple to customize what they want, you get to know and understand the couple, so that as a photographer you fulfill their vision.

How do you make your work unique from other vendors? 

I have a beautiful wife and daughter and I know how it feels to love so much that your heart explodes. I can relate to all those emotions on a wedding day--the intense love a groom has for his bride, the pride and bittersweet adoration a father has seeing his daughter marry her soulmate. I feel it, and there have been many times at weddings when I am photographing with tears in my eyes. That's what it's all about--that's what I capture. I'm not going to stage you throughout the day to make pretty photos for my site, or retouch you beyond recognition. I'm going to record those precious moments that happen throughout your wedding day, those moments that take your breath away, caught when you didn't even realize I was there (my ninja photographer skills). That's been my goal when I began photographing weddings 16 years ago and I still have that fire in my belly today. 

What advice would you give couples who are in search of a good photographer? 

First, choose me--always choose me as your photographer :) And hire a great wedding planner!!!
Really, I think the most important thing a couple can do is to make sure they are a good fit with their wedding team. Know the work of the people you're choosing for your wedding day and make sure your vision is in sync (ie: don't hire a traditional photographer if you want photojournalistic photos) I like to have a comfortable relationship with my couples, so that on the wedding day there's an ease and trust between us. My photography work tells the beautiful and unique story of your day, and it's important to me to capture it sincerely and creatively.

What has been your most favorite moment while in the wedding industry? 

I love the real moments. There are those times that bring tears to your eyes--that special time between a father and daughter before the bride walks down the aisle...a grandmother's laugh...a child doing just about anything...a groom seeing his bride for the first time. So when I capture those magical moments for my couples, I know I've given them something they will cherish forever.


We especially love Echard because of our favorite staff picture he captured:


Meg of Fluttering Flowers. Lindsey, Antonia Christianson, Stephanie of ACE


Below are some of Echard's favorite shots from weddings he has had the privilege of shooting:
















1 comment:

Carrie said...

We were privileged to have Echard shoot our wedding in Hatteras. Almost 4 years later, I am still amazed at the beauty he captured and the story he told of our big day!

 

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