You know those cheesy stock images where people are trying really hard to convince you they care about a random pie chart?
Yeah, we don’t do that here.
How about those awkward family portraits where everyone is wearing a pained smile, except for the demon child in the corner?
Nope, we don’t do those either.
I know what you’re thinking: “You’ve got to at least be able to do the plastic corporate headshots that belong in a Colgate commercial, right?”
Sorry, you’re out of luck.
“Well shoot…what do you do then?”
I’m so glad you asked.
Photography is about more than just “capturing the moment.” Your uncle Vinny can do that with his newfangled cameraphone.
It’s a balancing act of crafting beautiful artistic moments, while maintaining honesty.
Because I could capture a pretty awesome candid photo of you right after you roll out of bed, but you’d probably wince every time you saw it. I could also help you pick a gorgeous wardrobe, get you all spiffed up, and tell you to say, “cheese.” The photo would probably look ok, but your smile would be forced and fake (and let’s be honest, sometimes a smile isn’t the best expression), and you wouldn’t enjoy looking at it.
I’d rather help you feel comfortable so when you look at the photos you can say, “That’s totally me. And I love it.”
That’s what Blue Viz does. Photography. Honestly.
The Photographer
Raised by a tribe of wild penguins, Spencer learned the art of photography from an elderly, toothless polar bear in exchange for fresh-grilled icefish.
Many years earlier, the polar bear acquired a camera left behind by a team of scientists and—being unable to hunt properly and having nothing better to do—he became an excellent photographer. Sadly, due to the abysmal absence of photographic film in Antartica, there are no surviving prints of the old bear’s work.
The one bright spark is that he was able to pass his knowledge on to Spencer before traveling on to the great icefish buffet in the sky. After saying his farewells, Spencer (at this point very bored with ice and icefishing) stowed away in the hold of an off-course fishing schooner and made his way to…
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Just in case you’re actually reading this, here’s the real story:
My dad studied photography in college and then, fearing that photography was not a secure career path, joined the U.S. Air Force. (I obviously chose to ignore his wisdom, opting to learn the hard way.) Growing up in the military meant moving a lot and living in England and Japan where I grew to appreciate the cultures, art, and architecture.
As a Mormon, I chose to serve a two-year mission and was called to the faraway land of southern Washington state, where I fell in love with the cultures, art, and architecture—ok, ok, I fell in love with the trees and the mountains…and the rain (it really does grow on you after awhile—or maybe that’s moss…I’m not sure).
After two years of letting moss grow on me, I returned to BYU (oh yeah, I went to BYU for a year before the moss-growing thing) to study film theatre directing. Between returning to BYU and getting that piece of paper that says I did a thing there, I met Kayleen, married her, and helped her make a little boy named Xavier. I also got hired as a part-time video editor for the LDS motion picture studio.
About three years later we made a little girl, named Lydia. Now I’m using my design, film, photography, and storytelling skills to build a business—a business that’s all about photographing you.
Honestly.
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