Ventura Photographers

Wedding, Quinceanerea (Quinceañera), Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah, sweet 16, family, reunion, baby, pet, birthday, corporate events, private party, and all occasions. Also products & corporate headshots.

About John Park, Philosophy, Business Plan

Notice: I will book budget photography jobs per request. I am retired from photography. Please ignore my package/pricing. I will only take budget customers per request. I served Ventura County for over a decade. I have photographed hundreds of weddings. Email me: (home at venturaphoto dot com).

* If you have a normal budget, I am not a photographer for you. And PLEASE, I will not work for free. Expect to pay something. It takes me 5 hours just to get ready.

Your Ventura Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com

Why VenturaPhoto.com?

  • Best customer experiences: (customer testimonials)
  • Best personality (chemistry): None-offensive, positive, friendly by nature.
  • Best price
  • Best customer accommodation: Case Study (blog).
  • Best Communication: Super fast email communication
  • Qualifications:
    • AS in Photography: Moorpark College.
    • BS in Computer: California Lutheran University
      - Efficient equipment handling and cost effective digital flow.
  • Worked 5 years in Hollywood entertainment industry - Supervisor at a professional photo lab.
  • I use professional equipment - my photography equipment
  • I am a busy photographer who enjoys photography 24/7
    • Please browse the website I have created. You should feel my passion on photography and computer technology. This is my passion.  This is what I do for you.
  • I am proud that I am NOT a craigslist photgrapher.
  • I am proud that I do NOT belong to any photographer's association.

About John Park (bio)

Every single one of my family members has both college degree and a career in artistic field. I have enjoyed photography since I was a boy. After my AS degree in Photography, I spent five years at photography department in Hollywood entertainment industry.  During that five years I learned to read negative and learn to see the depth of photography. In the mid 90's I started my personal music web site (www.HollywoodBands.com). I photographed countless musicians in Hollywood. Some of my photographs were published in magazines such as Billboard (picture I took at Al Jarreau's house).

I moved to Camarillo (Ventura County) in 1999. I went back to school and earned BS degree in Computer Information System. Realizing music cannot be my career, I stopped going to Hollywood. I turned my attention to wedding photography in 2003.

With my Photography and Computer background, I am very comfortable with cameras & lighting systems. Wedding photography keeps me working overtime.

Wedding Photography as a Profession - Keeping Price Low

I work from home office.

Most ventura photographers work out of kitchen tables.  A "Company" usually means husband and  wife team. This is even more common for DJ's and Musicians. It's logical for most wedding vendors to be employed during the weekdays. This makes perfect sense to me, because weddings usually take place on weekends.

It is a well known fact that you cannot be rich being a photographer.  Average salary for photographers is about $40k.  If you do 25 weddings a year, then you have to charge $4,000.00 a wedding just to survive.  If a photographer outsources jobs or has a business partner, that will cut down income even further.  Hence, full time wedding photographers have to be expensive.

Think about it this way.  Do you want your photographer to make 2-3 weeks of living expense out of your wedding? or Do you want your photographer to make extra weekend cash out of your wedding?

I have a BS degree in computer and I enjoy my IT career during the weekdays.  I am very serious about my photography business.  My customers enjoy low price and my relaxed approach. 

Conclusion

We (Ventura Photographers) are just another sales people trying to sell you something. Don't let the photographers lecture you about "How to find a right photographer". You wouldn't let the car salesman lecture you about "how to buy a car".

It's OK if you want to spend extra money. It's OK if you want to save money. I am here as just another option. Some people will find me too cheap. Some people will find me too expensive. It's only a business. Take your time, have fun, and purchase what's suitable to you. Good luck~!

How I Keep My Price Low

  • I have designed this website so that visitors will qualify themselves as potential customers.  I invest very little time focusing on sales.
  • I have two college degrees and an IT career. I don't take pictures for survival.
    • This doesn't mean I am not serious about photography. Photography is my life force. I enjoy photography everyday. Photography is my best friend. Photography is all I think about every day.
  • My package doesn't contain leather albums. ($1,500 saving)
  • I do almost no retouching on my images - all retouching jobs are being done in-house.
    • It is every photographer's goal to take technically sound photographs so we don't have to retouch (fix) them.  But we all end up retouching hundreds of images at some degree.
  • Using my computer background, I have a system which saves me a lot of time on everything I do. I work full time job but I am able to take 30-50 weddings a year without hiring anyone.
  • I keep everything in-house. I don't contract out any jobs.

Philosophy

  • My current target market is people in Ventura County, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles who want good pictures without leather albums.  (A proof album is included with my package).
  • I believe $1.5k is a lot of money. The industry will try to convince you that $1.5k is dirt cheap.  Since when $1.5k "Too cheap"?  Most people slave to save $1.5k.  I will work just as hard to earn your business.
  • I believe my biggest asset is my personality.
    • Positive attitude is my core nature. 
  • I come to you as a friendly distant relative who happens to know how to take pictures. I do NOT have a snotty artist's attitude.
  • I make my customers & wedding guests feel very comfortable & relaxed. Again, please read my customers comments. That's what VenturaPhoto.com is all about.
  • I take mixture of candid and posed photographs.
  • I don't mind people giving me input and telling me what they want. If you are not sure what kind of pictures you want, I can instruct you for proper posed pictures.
  • My personality will make people to relax and have more fun.
  • I know when to be quiet, I know when to take charge.
  • My presence at your wedding will be a plus to your wedding day. Please refer to my customers' comments. I am very proud of them.

Business Plan

  • I am considering a few options on selling leather albums.  I am talking to other Ventura Photographers about possible partnership.
  • Spanish web site is under construction at VenturaFoto.com I do a good number of Spanish weddings and quinceañeras (Mexican version of sweet 16). My Spanish is getting better all the time.

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