Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Spears.
Hi Richard, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey in photography is probably a little unusual. I started out buying a 35mm film camera in the ’80s to take pictures of my newborn son. While some photographers look back on film as “the good old days,” I hated working with film; or rather I hated trying to learn photography with film. I’d shoot a 24 exposure roll of film, take it to a drugstore who would send it off to a lab, and in about two weeks, I’d pick up my prints, only to find that most of the pictures were overexposed, or underexposed, and useless.
I worked as a police officer back then, in a large department. I was very interested in what would later be called crime scene forensics. I worked with an officer who was the crime scene photographer, and he taught me the fundamentals of photography: Light and shadow.
The photography world changed for me with the introduction of digital cameras. I could see the image that I took immediately and could make changes to the aperture, shutter speed, and even change the ISO to get the perfectly exposed image. I saved up money and eventually bought a decent Nikon digital camera. One of my hobbies was riding motorcycles, and I would take my camera to rallies, and take pictures of the bikes and the riders.
Around 2005, some friends asked me if I would photograph their wedding. I explained that I wasn’t really that type of photographer, but with a little arm twisting, I agreed to do it. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I quickly found that wedding photography was an adrenaline rush of pressure to get the shot and keep going quickly from start to finish, with barely enough time to change batteries. It was controlled chaos, and I loved it.
I knew I wanted to be a wedding photographer, so I thought I would find a mentor or someone well respected in that world who would take me as an apprentice. I must have contacted over a dozen wedding photographers in the San Antonio area. I offered to work for free. I just wanted the ability to watch and learn. I told them I’d carry their equipment, and help any way I could. None of them would even talk to me. One of them finally emailed me and said he didn’t want to train someone who would be competing with him. It was very frustrating.
I decided I would figure it out on my own. I’d start small and build it up slowly. I would advertise cheap wedding photography on Craigslist. I would meet couples downtown at the courthouse, and photograph their vows in some of the judge’s offices. I was also busy learning how to use Photoshop to do my own editing. I took several college-level courses in Photoshop. Any money I made was re-invested in my equipment.
Each year, my number of weddings would increase. I developed relationships with wedding venues, makeup artists, DJs, and more. People were recommending me to their friends. It has been a very rewarding journey. While photographing a bridal portrait, she asked me how I got started. After telling her my story, she said “You mean, you became good at doing portraits from photographing dead people at crime scenes?” Yes… that’s pretty accurate.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No, not a smooth road. It was difficult finding my niche, the type of clients that I mesh with. It was also extremely difficult in the beginning, trying to learn the business of wedding photography. I would call and write to every popular wedding photographer in the area, asking if I could be an apprentice, a second-shooter, or even just carry their equipment so I could learn from them.
I’ve never encountered such insecurity and rude behavior. I made a promise to myself that if I ever became successful, that I would never turn down someone wanting to learn the business of being a wedding photographer.
In 2020, I was photographing an event in Houston, and my car was broken into. Literally, all of my equipment was stolen. The equipment wasn’t insured, and I had to start over from scratch with a new camera and lenses.
Covid was a huge struggle. Prior to Covid, I would photograph 30+ weddings a year. Last year, I had three weddings. All of the venues were closed, and weddings had to be rescheduled.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I like to think that I do creative work. Several years ago, I had a couple contact me who wanted to do a Star Wars wedding, complete with lightsaber battles and costumes. They had been turned down by other photographers. I thought it would be fun, and I had a blast editing those pictures. I took one photo of the wedding party running down a path being attacked by Imperial All-Terrain Walkers.
Doing composite pictures, where I combine two or more images is something I love doing, and have developed a talent for.
Any big plans?
I retired from Law Enforcement in 2019 and I plan on expanding my wedding and portrait photography business. I’m also doing more real estate work and have added a drone to my company equipment to do aerial photos and video.
Contact Info:
- Email: rich@rspearsphotography.com
- Website: www.rspearsphotography.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rspearsphotography
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/OWv02yOVZxE
Image Credits
Richard Spears Photography
