Candid, crisp and dramatic is how this dedicated father and full time wedding photographer is described by his clients. CMD agrees. Zachary Long, all eyes are on YOU!
Hi! My name is Zachary Long and I can happily say that I am a full time photographer. We are a three person wedding photography team based in downtown Atlanta, Georgia with my wife as my second shooter and our 8-month old as our constant source of inspiration (and future assistant). We moved from Orlando to Atlanta in July of 2010 and photographed six weddings in the last six months of the year; this year after transitioning to a full timed photographer I will have shot 28 weddings in 2011. I love weddings and the emotions of the day and am in love with capturing those emotions and creating works of art for the bride and groom to remember forever.
{Why and when did you become a photographer?}
When our son was born in February 2011, I made the leap from the corporate world to entrepreneur and decided to pursue photography fulltime and grow the business from just being a weekend warrior. I can’t really pinpoint when I became a “photographer” in the formal sense of the word, but remember saving up and getting my first digital camera in high school (1999) and being in love with taking photos ever since. I started doing “serious” SLR photography at the end of 2009 and haven’t looked back since. I love being able to express my creativity and make my clients excited when they see the results.
{How would you describe your style of photography?}
Our brides describe our imagery as candid, crisp, and dramatic. I focus really hard on capturing those subtle moments during the wedding day of interactions and emotions, but I also go crazy for creating dramatic portraits of the bride and groom. I can’t remember who said this first but I follow the same philosophy: I’m an available light photographer, if a light is available to me, I’ll use it. While some situations call for soft natural light, sometimes adding dramatic off camera lighting to the bride and groom will really make the image pop.
{What is your most difficult challenge in the business?}
Work/life balance. I thought the corporate world was bad with 14 hour days, but now I work seven days a week all day long, just on my own terms with plenty of breaks to play with our newborn. I have to remind myself that it’s okay to take a day off from editing weddings and just go out and recharge myself shooting my other passions like time-lapse photography.
{Where would you like to see your talents take you?}
Every photographer’s dream is always to travel the world and do destination weddings, right? I can’t say I blame them. We photographed 3 destinations weddings this year (Tybee Island, Orlando, and University of Notre Dame) and already have three booked so far for next year (Mexico, Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, and Orlando again) but I really would like to shoot a wedding in Big Sur, California or overseas in China where my wife is from.
{Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration?}
Besides our son who amazes me each day as he grows up, my favorite wedding photographer is John Michael Cooper. Every time I think I came up with a unique shot I look at his most recent work and am completely blown away by his Anti-Bridals. We have also begun adding video services and the work of Still motion and Visual Masterpiece constantly blow my mind and challenge me to think different in video as well.
In addition to wedding photography we also run an online camera rental store servicing the greater Atlanta metro area, CameraConcierge.com. My personal passion for time-lapse photography has been featured on numerous websites and I am currently involved in shooting time-lapse footage for a television show that is still in the production phase.
