Matti Photographic wasn’t really intended to be… Matti Photographic. I only meant to put my pictures out there online with an official name by which people could find me, and it seemed like as soon as I hit “publish” on my Facebook page, the business blossomed. I started taking pictures on my mom’s old Canon camera back when I was maybe seven or eight, which means that, for almost ten years, photography has been a huge passion of mine.
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity photograph two of the sweetest people I know. I had posted on my Facebook that I was looking for a couple to shoot, specifically for this post, and when Kassie and Kalton volunteered I wasn’t expecting to fall completely in love with the session like I did. What was only supposed to be a simple photo shoot turned into one of the most fun photo shoots I’ve ever done. We spent two hours of wandering in a little park in Corning, New York, and up and down our little Market Street which is lined with shops and, luckily, some remaining holiday decorations, trading the dog back and forth between shots, and laughing so hard it made us forget that our fingers were freezing. I asked them if they had any hobbies or interests that we could incorporate into their pictures. The first thing that Kassie brought up was music, but the second - and my favorite - was a dog.
Something I try to incorporate into every session is a mutual love of the couple - in this case, it was the sweetest lab named Julia. Chemistry is a huge part of every successful photo shoot. Not only between couples, but also a person and the location, or the model and the photographer; I look for matching settings in each photo shoot in order to compliment whoever I am photographing. If the person of whom I am taking pictures doesn’t feel comfortable either with the location, pose, or prop, my immediate response is to switch the setting up in order to make them feel comfortable which, in turn, makes them have more fun and their pictures more real.
When I tell people that, at seventeen, I have my own business, their first reaction is a little bit of an, “oh, sure,” yet when they realize that I am indeed serious, their faces light up. I love having this little business. I am doing something I enjoy every day, something about which I am passionate, and something that offers a feeling of completeness. Sitting at a computer for twenty hours (or more!) seems daunting to some, but to me, the feeling of accomplishment when I finish editing a wedding or senior shoot is almost overwhelming. I love watching people’s ideas come to life, and seeing them smile when they receive their final pictures. The happiness of my clients is what makes me love what I do.
COMPANY: Matti Photographic
WEBSITE: http://mattiphotographic.wixsite.com/matti
SOCIAL: Facebook
We shot the first part of their engagement session on a beautiful Minnesota summer night. Perfect natural lighting and only a few mosquitos. Kayla and Andrew are such a sweet couple and so natural in front of the camera.
When Kayla and Andrew booked their engagement session with us, they mentioned they wanted to incorporate a classic car that Andrew had just finished restoring. Unfortunately on the day of the session the car was still in the shop, but I knew we had to make this happen for them.
We finished the night with one our favorite shots we've ever taken. We directed them to the approximate area we wanted them to stand, and everything else was just... them.