“Collages.net recently had the opportunity to talk to Ela Raveling of NEOART Photography in Pompano Beach, FL about her studio.

How did you get started in the photography business?

I have been shooting since I was 11 years old. My dad was a photographer in Poland, where I am originally from, and I started working for him doing traditional portraiture. I moved to the United States five years ago and started shooting weddings with my own style.

I know that you’re a husband and wife team. Is your husband from Poland, too?

No, my husband Jason is from Florida. When we met and first started dating, he got interested in wedding photography and we’ve been shooting together ever since.

How would you describe your style?

Our style is unique. We realized that there are two main styles of wedding photography: traditional and photojournalistic. We shoot somewhere in the middle. When I started shooting in Poland, everything was very traditional and in the USA, most wedding photographers shoot with a photojournalistic style. Our style combines the best of traditional photography with photojournalism.  We like to say that we enhance the natural environment of a situation.

How do you do that?

We still pose people and direct them, but only when they need it. When our subjects don’t need direction, we won’t direct them. We decided to name our studio NEOART Photography based on the name we created that describes our style.

So NEOART describes a style somewhere between traditional and photojournalistic?

Yes, exactly! It describes our style and the style that many photographers employ, but it hasn’t been given a name. We’ve decided to name it ourselves.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Our inspiration comes from outside-of-the-box ideas from fashion. I started watching runway fashion shows at a young age and actually organized fashion shows at one point. I was really inspired by being in the fashion industry. Fashion magazines also inspire me now that I’m not working behind the scenes of fashion shows.
What gear do you use?

I use the Canon 5D Mark II.

Do you have a favorite lens?

It’s hard to say because it really depends on the situations! Most of my lenses are at least 1.2-1.4 and range from 70-200mm.

Do you use Facebook or other social networking sites?

Yes, Facebook and Twitter are great social networking tools for our studio. I have actually created a networking group for local wedding vendors that’s called the Elite Bridal Network that’s gotten a lot of exposure because of Facebook. We meet once a month and have parties with anywhere between 200 and 500 people. They provide a great way for vendors to network with each other, which provides everyone with valuable referrals.

Does social networking benefit your studio?

Yes! A lot of our brides are on Facebook and ask us to give them photos to use as their profile pictures. We make sure to include our logo on their image, which provides us with even more direct business.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day and why?

Probably when the bride and groom are getting ready. At this time, I’m with the girls and Jason is with the guys, so we see a completely side of the same wedding. This time is when the bride and groom are the most excited and there are so many emotions going on. It’s also the time when we have the most alone time with the bride and the groom. It’s funny because when the girls are getting ready, there’s such a range of emotions from crying to laughing, but when the guys are getting ready, they’re usually down at the bar, relaxing and hanging out together.

What are doing to book more clients this year?

I decided to work more with magazines as a source of advertising. I mainly use Brides.com and we actually got a full page on the latest issue. We received so many leads from Brides.com last year that I wanted to put most of my marketing efforts into this resource. There are other magazines out there, but most of the leads don’t turn into being clients. By having an ad in this magazine, our potential clients know what to expect from us and they know our price range. We’re also focusing more on our online marketing and are about to redo our entire website.

If you could choose anyone to do a photo shoot of you and your husband, who would your choose?

Jerry Ghionis. He’s from Australia and is a great guy with a great personality. We feel that his work has a similar style to ours and is so talented.

When people leave your studio, what impression do you want them to leave with?

I want my clients to feel educated because I realize that 90% of brides have never shopped for a professional photographer before. Even if they decide not to go with us, we want them to know what to look for, what to expect when hiring a professional photographer, and we want to make sure they understand exactly what they want. We want them to feel comfortable and feel like we are more like a friend rather than that we are just people who show up at their wedding and do a job for them – we work really personally with our clients.”

The last photo of the day. The wind just pick up and the sky turned dark. We got the photo and run to the cars in the rain.

Photos by NEOART Photography.

Photos by NEOART Photography.

Photos by NEOART Photography.

Photos by NEOART Photography.

Photos by NEOART Photography.

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Photos by NEOART Photography.