Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Spooner.
Mark, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I came into photography a bit by accident. I’ve always loved storytelling, but it wasn’t until college that realized I could use a camera to do so. My parents graciously bought me a basic camera at the end of high school, and I learned to use it through a process of trial and error throughout my college years. I loved the experience of having photos to accompany memories with friends. I was a psychology student for the first half of college, and added a double major in film production towards the end of my sophomore year. I picked up a few small jobs shooting events for my school and family friends, and eventually had some friends ask me to photograph their wedding. I managed to successfully pitch and secure a full-time Staff Photographer role at my college upon graduating, and weddings were a great side hustle. Wedding inquiries continued to increase, and I began to transition my mentality from managing a somewhat accidental side-hustle into concerting an intentional effort towards building and maintaining a purpose-driven photography brand. Over 100 weddings later, this is suddenly my career, and I’m very grateful for it. My job has afforded me the opportunity to travel and document intimate moments of joy and celebration, and I love it.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
In some ways yes, in others no. I’ve been very blessed to have full-time work in photography while I’ve built out my own business. This has buffered some of the financial stress that I know many of my peers have had to manage while diving into a freelance lifestyle. At the same time, these circumstances in many ways accommodated what was at times a lackadaisical mentality towards the brand I was building. It wasn’t until I was several seasons into wedding photography that I began to really think critically about what fueled my motivation to photograph these events. I was ultimately faced with a season of burnout and fatigue with 30 some weddings booked for the following year. What should have felt like job security and validation of my work instead felt overwhelming and burdensome. It’s taken a reevaluation of purpose, time management, and brand identity to maintain and grow my fulfillment in this field. It’s an ongoing internal conversation, but I can genuinely say that I find great joy in being a part of documenting these special days in people’s lives.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Mark Spooner Photography – what should we know?
I am a photographer specializing in wedding and event photography. I hope that I’m known for creating authentic images that preserve real moments and emotions. My goal as a wedding photographer is to attend weddings that I ultimately don’t deserve an invitation to, and use my cameras to tell an honest visual story of the day’s events. I strive to create work that resonates with the masses (I’ve gotta somehow create enough universal appeal to get strangers on the internet to want to hire me), but also work that communicates something specifically true about the people being photographed. Ultimately, I want the quality of my work to be reflected in the significance of moments documented, rather than just their visual impressiveness. Of course I look for the moments where these two qualities intersect, but my primary concern is to make photographs that are going to mean something to the couples that I photograph. I love sunset portraits on a mountaintop just as much as the next kid on Instagram, but I often find a deeper fulfillment photographing those less glamorous but more meaningful in-between moments that color a wedding day.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I have an extremely gracious network of friends and family who have patiently supported me as I’ve stumbled through this learning process. I’m so grateful to have so many people in my life who will forgive me when my priorities get out of whack. I owe a great deal of thanks to people close to me who have seen the ugly anxiety that hides behind the Instagram presentation of how business is going and loved me anyway. I also believe that I have a God who likes me and loves me just the way I am, and that’s way bigger of a deal than I often give it credit to be.
Pricing:
- My wedding packages currently range anywhere from $4,500-$7500 depending on coverage. I’d love to chat more with anyone interested!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.markspoonerphoto.com
- Phone: 2672757799
- Email: mark@markspoonerphoto.com
- Instagram: @markwspooner
- Facebook: facebook.com/markspoonerphotography
- Other: Instagram @thenorthpinecabin (A lifestyle instagram account of a cabin I own in the Adirondacks)
Image Credit:
All photos were taken by Mark Spooner, besides the two of me with my girlfriend Molly (campfire photo and black and white shot of my arm over her shoulder). These two images were taken by Whitney Tracy of http://www.mountainairegatherings.com
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