Spotlight | Darrin Wassom Photography, Part One

I have had the pleasure of getting to know Darrin of Darrin Wassom Photography over the past few months. Darrin is one photographer you'll want to check out if you haven't heard of him yet. His passion is wedding photography, however he does maternity and boudoir photos, as well as commercial work. His Q&A is very detailed, so please read below for more info on his work, style and passion.

Don't forget to check back later today for part two, featuring some of his amazing Grand Rapids photos

What do you specialize in?
While I work in just about all areas of photography (commercial, maternity, boudoir, etc), my absolute favorite will always be wedding photography. I'm hopeless when it comes to romance so getting to be part of a wedding from the planning stages through the reception is extremely rewarding. Don't believe me? : ) I proposed to my wife in Paris, France on New Year's Eve after surprising her with plane tickets on Christmas. That's romance, baby! Of course, I may have peaked on the romance scale with that one act but I try as hard as I can every year to come close to that special day! Maybe I could tour all the cities of Paris around the globe? Paris, Kentucky? Check. Paris, Texas? Check.

Don't laugh but I cried through my vows because it was the happiest day of my life. I went from tears and trying to get the words out to startling our guests with the loudest vows recorded in the history of weddings. You know that feeling you get when you are trying soooooo hard to speak and then when the words come out you are essentially yelling? That was me at our wedding. Love rules. Plain and simple. I approach my wedding photography with the simple, love rules as my mission statement and capture your story from the eyes of a hopeless romantic. A quirky, nerdy hopeless romantic, but one that will always be in awe of the power of love. Cue Huey Lewis.

How long have you been taking photos?
I have been "that guy" with a camera for as long as I can remember. I always had a camera with me no matter the occasion. I even carried a very cheap, yet reliable Vivitar camera in my ammo pouch when I was in the Army. I carried my toothbrush in my other ammo pouch. The necessities of life, beautiful photos and clean teeth.

I began to get serious about photography a few years ago when my wife surprised me with a digital SLR camera on Christmas. I had been in awe of a particular photo of downtown Grand Rapids at night from a prominent photographer. I made several attempts at contacting said photographer in the hopes I could purchase a print without success. In a fit of anger after the last attempt, I declared I could probably make a better photo on my own. Of course, I had no idea what I was talking about and it was really an idle threat but Rhonda (my beautiful wife) saw my rant as the perfect gift idea. Since then I have photographed Grand Rapids at night countless times. I basically owe my start in professional photography to the very prominent photographer (that I still admire) that didn't return my calls and my wife, who believed me when I said I could make a better photo.

I opened my studio in February 2008 and haven't looked back. I am very fortunate to have two invaluable mentors in Jen of JK Photography and Amy of Amy Carroll Photography. They were kind enough to let me flood them with questions about the wedding industry and then hired me to work as their assistant photographer. In fact, if I don't have a wedding scheduled through my studio, you will find me working with Jen or Amy at their respective events. I'm kind of like the stray cat you fed once and now won't go away!

What sort of equipment do you use?
In the world of Canon versus Nikon, I fall squarely on the side of Nikon. Why did I choose Nikon? I can tell you that it was NOT because of their commercials featuring Ashton Kutcher. I chose Nikon because, quite simply, it fits my hands better than Canon. A fully-loaded camera weighs several pounds and will be carried 8 or more hours on a typical wedding day. In terms of specific equipment, I have Nikon D700 and D300 camera bodies with a wide range of tasty lenses from wide-angle, fixed and telephoto zooms. The lenses I use are extremely sharp and are outstanding in low-light environments such as a dark church. I use Nikon SB800's as my primary flash when on-location and Alien Bees strobes in the studio or on-location where extra light is needed.

For those with an extra penchant for techy talk, I use Adobe Lightroom for my image library and management and Photoshop for enhanced photo editing. All of my files are backed up hourly to external, mirrored hard drives and archived off site for at least 3 years. I'm a 'mac guy' and basically an Apple snob. My main editing computer is a Mac Pro with 4TB of storage and 16G of RAM. All of this glorious computing power is viewed on a 30" monitor and if I can say, it is a beautiful sight! I also have a Macbook that goes with me everywhere and yes, I even have an iPhone. I can't help myself.

Do you have a favorite past event?
That's a tough question to answer because I love all the events I have photographed. The first wedding I photographed was for my sister-in-law at Michigan State University, my alma mater. I didn't have a clue what I was doing but I was hooked immediately on wedding photography. I had one camera, cheap lenses and a book on 'how to be a wedding photographer'. Step one: Throw away the book. Step two: Tell the story through your lens. Step three: breathe. Step four: seek help for your newly formed addiction. It is my first wedding that I think will always be my favorite.

My stomach would like you to know that I photographed two weddings in 2008 where a particular reception hall features a Polish dinner of fresh kielbasa and kapusta (sauerkraut and cabbage) served in massive quantities. I love kielbasa and I really love kapusta so my stomach would rank these weddings as very memorable!

What inspires you?
I am inspired by life, as we live it on a daily basis. Every moment, in my opinion, is worthy of a photograph. I love when a photographer can capture the soul and character of a person in a single image. It is always rewarding to hear a client tell me that my photos captured their true essence. That's the best compliment I can ever receive.

I am continually inspired by other photographers and their individual styles. My favorite photos are ones where I ask myself, "how did they do that?" It can be a lighting style, a location or a moment that can get my creative juices flowing. The professional photographers in West Michigan are some of the best in the nation and it is a very close-knit community. I think the photography community inspires all of us to see creatively, make the best use of our surroundings and most of all, deliver high quality services to our clients.

What is a perfect non-wedding weekend?
If I am not photographing a wedding on a weekend then you will find my wife and I at our cottage in Traverse City. Northern Michigan is our second home and there is nothing better than relaxing with friends and family. Good food, good wine and hours spent hanging out on the lake or on the cross country ski trails is the recipe for a perfect weekend.

What is your favorite coffee drink?
I can't say I have a favorite coffee drink but it should be known that I am a coffee fanatic. I seek out coffee with reckless abandon and in pursuit of the "perfect joe". I believe I found coffee nirvana in, of all places, Bellaire, Michigan. There is a cafe in town called Moka and they roast their beans in-house. The espresso at Moka is pure bliss. There is no other way to describe the coffee goodness that comes out of Moka.

There is a new place in Grand Rapids called Madcap Coffee that is also out of this world. These guys know coffee and best of all, they are a locally-owned business. A true gem in the homogenized world of Main Street, USA.