La Brisa Photography: Q&A with Hoffer Photography

Tony and his lovely wife, Amy, are phenomenal photographers. They have incredible style which I absolutely love. Their work doesn't stay stagnant, they continue to evolve and push their creativity. Please join me in welcoming Hoffer Photography in the latest Q&A series! =)

Let's start with a little bio, tell me about yourself

I'm a really tall dude who looks nothing like a person who spends his time at weddings. My wife Amy and I work together and we shoot weddings, engagements, portraits, commercial work, families and lots of other stuff. We live in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, PA and work all over the country (and occasionally in others). You can see our work on http://hofferphotography.com and our recent work at http://hofferphotography.com/blog. We're also releasing a Workflow DVD that you can find at http://photographerworkflow.com and take part in a group workshop which you can see at http://genesisworkshop.com

How did you become a photographer?

By accident. I had a career (that was going relatively well) as a graphic designer and got a camera for a hobby with no intentions of using it. One summer my mother volunteered me to shoot some Senior photos for a coworkers kid. The next year my mother-in-law volunteered me to shoot a wedding for her coworker. That same year, we ended up shooting 7 weddings. The next year it grew to 25 and I eventually left my job. Since then, we've been shooting 40+ every year and lots of other stuff on the side.

Why should I book you as a photographer?

Well there are lots of reasons why people book photographers (personality, prices, location), but we really want people to book us because they think that we're the best photographers that they can find. That certainly may not be the case for everyone since tastes can vary greatly, but our goal is that every client that books us does so simply because they think that our work is better than anyone else's. So if you think that, you should book us. And if you don't, then you shouldn't :)...

How would you describe your style?

A jumbled mess. We try to focus on everything and nothing at the same time. Really, our biggest goal is to have a wide breadth of knowledge and skills so that we can change it up for different clients. The things that seem to stay consistent are our bold colors, fun-loving people, and lots of freedom in the way we play with light.

What's in your camera bag?

We currently have 2 5DMark2's and a 5D classic as well as a variety of lenses from Canon and Sigma. I shoot mostly with a 35L and an 85 f/1.4 from Sigma. Amy shoots mostly with a Sigma 50 f/1.4 and a 135L. We take a ton of lighting gear, from speedlights to strobes, gels, modifiers and lots more tricks that we never seem to use as much as we want to.

If you had to pick your favorite piece of equipment, what would it be and why?

My favorite things are probably things that I don't use very often, but that are PERFECT when I do. Things like gaffers tape, Honl speedlight grids and a stiff-frame reflector. Also, I'm really digging the Motibodo keyboard for Lightroom editing.

What advice would you give to aspiring photographers?

Being an aspiring photographer is a COMPLETELY different thing than being an aspiring photography business. Photography is a great, fun and interesting hobby. A photography business is running a small business with instances of photography mixed in. This is something I wish I knew going in. We love our career, but only because we like running a business too, not just taking photos.... but that's cool too :)

This is from a few months ago. We love shooting far away and incorporating environment... Having the small bridal party was ideal for this.

I get really proud of images like this because it looks simple enough, but was definitely a bit of work and I think our clients really feel like themselves in it.

Amy took this and it's one of those shots that we try to grab whenever we can because I'd love to have something like this for our walls.

This is atypical of our normal work, but last month we took on a huge portrait project to try to stretch ourselves and get some photos of our friends. This was one of my favorites...

This is from our most recent wedding and I just loved having the ring bearer in there. These kids were all over the place, so it was a really good moment to summarize the day I felt...