Our third photographer in our spotlight series is Nick Bombich, owner of Photos by Nick. Nick definitely has a style all his own and I must say that I'm a big fan! He was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule and share a little information about himself, and his business that he and his wife have worked so hard to grow. Check out his Q + A session with us below:
1. First off, tell us a little about yourself:
I am a Pittsburgh native photographer but do a lot of traveling to capture the special moments in people's lives. My wife is my assistant and over the past few years, we have built a pretty successful family owned and run business. We started small and concentrated on one style then we branched off in to other areas of photography.
I went to school for graphic design and photography, so that is where I get my artistic side from. My wife is a teacher, so she keeps me in line and helps with the customer service and support side of our business.
We have achieved many awards such as the Knots top photographers, featured in WHIRL magazine, featured on KDKA, brides choice award, local print competitions and national album and print competition 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. I could go on and name every single award we have ever won, but Photos by Nick is not one to brag. We let our work do the talking and let our clients do the bragging.
2. How did you get started in photography?
I cant say that there is just one time that got me started. I have loved, lived and enjoyed photography my entire life. I like to say that you don't find photography, photography finds you! I just happened to grab hold of it and took it to a new level of creativity, style and fun.
Really how I got started in photography happened while I was in college. I loved photography and missed playing sports; so what better than to take 2 things I loved to do and mix them together. I started shooting my brother's hockey team for a few years. I was living his hockey dream through my camera lens and capturing some pretty amazing memories of him and his team. Then one day a few of the other parents got hold of my work and asked if I would do a wedding. At first I was hesitant and really didn't want to do it. I finally gave in and said ok but only if you don't pay me and don't yell if I screw something up. I never shot a wedding before and was deathly afraid to do this. But the bride was on a budget and could not afford a real pro (I wasn't one yet) so I knew I could make great pictures but just didn't know about this whole wedding thing yet.
I have to say 10 minutes into the job I fell in love with weddings. I was at home and so comfortable with every aspect of it. I totally nailed that wedding and could not wait to find another one to shoot. I spent the next 2 years studying wedding photographers from around the world and really capitalized on my skill and interests of becoming one of the best.
Now fast forward to today, here I am now living my dream and doing what I do best. But I have to give a lot of the credit to my wife who had faith in me and spent many Saturday nights working weddings with me. Over the past few years we have built a family business doing weddings together. If I could give one word of advice to someone starting out in the biz. Find someone you can trust, someone who you love to work with and someone that you can look in to the eyes from across the room and they know what you want them to do and you will have a great time building a photography business that will create memories for your clients to last a lifetime. There is a lot more to it but this is a good start!
3. Describe your wedding photography approach and style.
Unlike most photographers out there, I cant say that I have a style. I am my own style. I don't like to be like the rest, I don't like to say I am one certain way because then you are limiting your client base and your skills. But if I had to claim myself as a style it would be something different other than your typical Traditional/PJ/Documentary style photography. I would be a mix of hip hop/house/jazz/funk/country. I guess you can call it hiphousejunkcountry or just look at my work and see for yourself.
4. What do you like best about your job?
I like every aspect of my job as a wedding photographer but what I LOVE are all the fun places we get to go to shoot weddings. The part of the day I love the most is when it is my time to shine and be the leader of the pack and guide the bride and groom for the fun intimate moments right after the ceremony. Some people call them formals we call them fun.
5. If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be?
This is a hard one. I had to sleep on this one. If I were not a photographer I would work for the CIA or something crazy and exciting like that. I guess just like in a wedding, I like to have my heart pound with anticipation on what will happen next.
6. What is one thing you absolutely cannot live without?
Well that is another hard one. Since we live in a technology driven world, I would have to say I could not live without my iPhone. It connects me to the world, my business, my wife and my sanity. But if I had to do without my iPhone then one thing I could not exist without would be my wife. Without my wife I am only half.
7. If you could photograph a wedding for anyone, who would it be?
I would photograph a wedding for anyone who appreciates my work and is fun to work with. But if it were for someone famous then I would have loved to shoot a wedding for Frank Sinatra, James Dean or Marilyn Monroe. Why? Because they are fun and interesting and I think their weddings would have been a total high class blow out and I would want to be that guy who captured their day.
I cant say that there is just one time that got me started. I have loved, lived and enjoyed photography my entire life. I like to say that you don't find photography, photography finds you! I just happened to grab hold of it and took it to a new level of creativity, style and fun.
Really how I got started in photography happened while I was in college. I loved photography and missed playing sports; so what better than to take 2 things I loved to do and mix them together. I started shooting my brother's hockey team for a few years. I was living his hockey dream through my camera lens and capturing some pretty amazing memories of him and his team. Then one day a few of the other parents got hold of my work and asked if I would do a wedding. At first I was hesitant and really didn't want to do it. I finally gave in and said ok but only if you don't pay me and don't yell if I screw something up. I never shot a wedding before and was deathly afraid to do this. But the bride was on a budget and could not afford a real pro (I wasn't one yet) so I knew I could make great pictures but just didn't know about this whole wedding thing yet.
I have to say 10 minutes into the job I fell in love with weddings. I was at home and so comfortable with every aspect of it. I totally nailed that wedding and could not wait to find another one to shoot. I spent the next 2 years studying wedding photographers from around the world and really capitalized on my skill and interests of becoming one of the best.
Now fast forward to today, here I am now living my dream and doing what I do best. But I have to give a lot of the credit to my wife who had faith in me and spent many Saturday nights working weddings with me. Over the past few years we have built a family business doing weddings together. If I could give one word of advice to someone starting out in the biz. Find someone you can trust, someone who you love to work with and someone that you can look in to the eyes from across the room and they know what you want them to do and you will have a great time building a photography business that will create memories for your clients to last a lifetime. There is a lot more to it but this is a good start!
3. Describe your wedding photography approach and style.
Unlike most photographers out there, I cant say that I have a style. I am my own style. I don't like to be like the rest, I don't like to say I am one certain way because then you are limiting your client base and your skills. But if I had to claim myself as a style it would be something different other than your typical Traditional/PJ/Documentary style photography. I would be a mix of hip hop/house/jazz/funk/country. I guess you can call it hiphousejunkcountry or just look at my work and see for yourself.
4. What do you like best about your job?
I like every aspect of my job as a wedding photographer but what I LOVE are all the fun places we get to go to shoot weddings. The part of the day I love the most is when it is my time to shine and be the leader of the pack and guide the bride and groom for the fun intimate moments right after the ceremony. Some people call them formals we call them fun.
5. If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be?
This is a hard one. I had to sleep on this one. If I were not a photographer I would work for the CIA or something crazy and exciting like that. I guess just like in a wedding, I like to have my heart pound with anticipation on what will happen next.
6. What is one thing you absolutely cannot live without?
Well that is another hard one. Since we live in a technology driven world, I would have to say I could not live without my iPhone. It connects me to the world, my business, my wife and my sanity. But if I had to do without my iPhone then one thing I could not exist without would be my wife. Without my wife I am only half.
7. If you could photograph a wedding for anyone, who would it be?
I would photograph a wedding for anyone who appreciates my work and is fun to work with. But if it were for someone famous then I would have loved to shoot a wedding for Frank Sinatra, James Dean or Marilyn Monroe. Why? Because they are fun and interesting and I think their weddings would have been a total high class blow out and I would want to be that guy who captured their day.
Please share a few of your favorite photos that you've captured over the years:
Thanks for taking the time to stop and chat with us Nick! We've enjoyed getting to know more about you and can't wait to see how your business grows over the coming years!
All images courtesy of Photos by Nick.
1 comment:
Stunning photography !
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