Meet Eric Ronald, a down to earth, amazingly talented wedding photographer from Melbourne, Australia! Learn how he travels the world shooting weddings, gets featured in wedding blogs and just keeps it real perfecting and loving his craft!
Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your photography business and what makes you unique.
I’m a wedding photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. To tell you that I have a ’natural/journalistic approach’ doesn’t classify as being unique these days does it? I’m a big believer that we are our biggest asset. We have all legitimately been dealt a unique set of cards, so if you want to be unique, those cards are probably a good place to start. In other words, I think the more we can put ourselves into what we do the better. So for me, I try and really strive to be be genuine, passionate and creative. I’m also cursed with being a perfectionist which probably translates into my work. Ultimately however, I want to always be experimenting with my photography, take risks and hopefully push the envelope of the wedding genre.
What is it about photography that gets you jumping out of bed in the morning? What inspires you?
For me, there’s something magic about capturing a couples wedding day. To build a story with pictures that is pieced together with real moments of genuine emotion gives me all the feels and is the main thing that drives me. Secondly, what got me into photography in the first place is travel photography. To this day I am very inspired photographing couples in new and exotic destinations. I’ve been lucky enough to have been invited to photograph in some amazing places like Egypt, India, Cyprus, Sri Lanka and Thailand. I like to incorporate landscape, street photography and photojournalism into each story that I shoot which hopefully really brings the location into the photographs.
How did you go from being an aspiring photographer to actually doing it full time? How did you book your first paid job?
I had a pretty challenging 12 months when I started. I was working full time as a Technical Manager in studio television at the time while I transitioned across to being a full time wedding photographer. I booked my first paid job by initially charging virtually nothing and gradually dialled that up over time so I could eventually pay the bills and put food on the table. I was passionate but also patient which I think is important.
Are you happy with where you’re at? What are your goals moving forward?
Yep. I’m definitely happy with where I’m at. I feel incredibly luckily to be doing what I love and to be able to make a living doing it. There’s a lot of talented artists out there that don’t have that luxury. My goals moving forward is to continue to refine my craft and develop my unique style by constantly experimenting and rediscovering photography. If that equates to more business success that is a bonus.
Can you tell us one marketing strategy that is working really well for you at the moment?
Social media platforms come and go but submitting my work to wedding blogs has always been a surefire marketing strategy for me.
Which photographers or business people influence you, and how did they influence your thinking, photographing, and career path?
Perhaps to my detriment, I don’t put a lot of emphasis on the business side of things, so I don’t really have specific business people that influence me. I follow the simple (and perhaps naive) philosophy that as a photographer, the photos are king. The folks that inspire me creatively always changes as I go through cycles of feeding my brain with different stuff. Right now I find myself going back to the street photo genius that is Alex Webb and the dramatic African wildlife shots of Nick Brandt. I’m also a big sucker for the lighting master, Rembrandt. Most importantly though, my Mr Miagi is my son, Fox. He’s nearly 3 years old and schools me constantly on what is truly important in life. He is my biggest inspiration.
What would be one tip you could share for building better relationships with your clients?
Be yourself. Let the business person in you take a back seat and don’t be afraid to show your weird and wonderful self. When a couple hires a wedding photographer they want a real person and an artist, not a money hungry business person. In this day and age everyone has good radar for that, so if they sense that they will run for the hills. So just be yourself, be passionate and trust that is enough.
If you could go back to the beginning, would you do anything differently?
I took on far too much work in the beginning. It benefited me in some ways but took its toll in others. If that work/life balance isn’t right everything can suffer, including your photography. I don’t have any regrets however. That was my path and I worked that hard out of necessity. I certainly could have balanced things better though.
Can you offer one last piece of advice that has either really helped you grow your business or something that you can pass on to our photographers?
I think the mistake a lot of photographers make is to not put enough importance of their craft. I see a lot of photographers out there obsessing over how many social media followers they have, their branding, marketing strategies etc, forgetting about the very thing they are trying to sell. I think it’s important for a photographer to know their craft, and the ins of outs of their gear. Not only does that make you competent at what you are doing, but it also expands your toolbox of techniques that you can draw on to creatively capture what is in front of you.
To see more of Eric’s work and to learn more about him check out his website at:
