In The Spotlight: Fer Juaristi

Towards the end of last year I was looking around at various training courses and they all seemed much of a muchness until I found one at Aspire with a man called Fer Juaristi.  I had never heard this name (shamefully).  I Googled him.  I booked on the spot.  You will see why below….

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I would just like to personally thank Fer for being so honest, funny, charming and generous with his knowledge.  Apart from the really useful practical tips gained on the day it was hugely inspirational, everyone there was in agreement. It has had a big impact on how I shoot and interact with clients.  My images from that workshop can be seen HERE.

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Anyway I am delighted that Fer ‘the Mexican monkey’ agreed to talk to us a little about what inspires him and share some of his incredible work.  We know you are an incredibly busy man Mr Juaristi so a big thank you on behalf of the CC girls and all of our readers.

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~ Claire

(Many thanks to Boo Marshall for the questions!)

 

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Fer, we’ve heard that you get a lot of your inspiration from movies…. are there any particular film directors or films which stand out for you?  Could you share with us who and why?

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For sure, Directors of Photography are just awesome. From Emmanuel Lubezki to Conrad Hall, those guys really know what they are doing.   Just awesome visuals & beautiful inspiring frames.

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And, leading on from that… which of your photographs are you most happy with which came directly from those inspirations?

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There’s no particular images, I don’t just want to create wedding images, there are a lot of cliches in our industry, we can at least try to generate a mix of mediums.

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You only use primes. Why?

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Love the sharpness and they make me work harder!

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And if you could only take one prime to a wedding, which one would it be?

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35mm all the way

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You are clearly very successful at marketing. What tip would you give the newcomer to weddings and why?

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Trust the pros, don’t try to do everything yourself.  I work with a design firm, a web firm and a marketing company one on one to know that I’m on the right path.  I’m only a photographer.

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How did you start off?

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I was doing cheap advertising and  TV work here in Mexico.  A good friend was about to get married and I just went to Google and typed ‘wedding photography’ and a DVD called MASTERS OF WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY showed.  From there on I just quit my job & started loving wedding photography.

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Photographers have an unhealthy fascination for what’s in other photographer’s camera bags…. what’s in yours?!!

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Jajaja for sure!  Well right now:

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Nikon D3s with 35mm 2.0
Nikon D700 with 85mm
Leica M9 & M6
An LED light & 2 flashes .

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In your opinion, what elements make a great photograph?

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One that makes you think & feel at the same time.

 

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A lot of us dream of travelling; your job takes you to some amazing places around the world. Where has been your favourite to shoot and why?

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So far New Zealand, it was a dream to shoot there, mostly because of the vibe of the couple. It was something that even in my wildest dreams I wouldn’t expect to happen to me.

 

 

 

And where would you love to shoot a wedding that you haven’t yet?

Australia!

THANK YOU FER!

 

Fer Juaristi

Website:   ferjuaristi.com

Workshops:  fershops.com