Guys we are so excited to introduce you to Hunter and Maci! They are Reg & Kala Photography’s Lead Associate Wedding Photographers!!!

Hunter and Maci, husband and wife natives from Charleston, South Carolina. Now reside in Asheville, North Carolina. They have been wedding photographers since 2017. They love their puppies, plants, and people. They snuggle their pups while binging Netflix, Maci is a reader, Hunter is a hiker, and they both love the kitchen. Maci spent a couple years in culinary school, while Hunter has spent years reaping the reward of Maci’s culinary skills.

Kala and I knew at the end of 2021, we had to duplicate ourselves. Turning away almost 30 wedding clients in that year alone. Great clients, people we wanted to work with. Couples who had beautiful weddings and wanted us and our signature style to be the memories that they had of their wedding day, hanging on their walls and passing down to grandchildren 60 years from now.

But we couldn’t take them on, time was our enemy. We didn’t have enough of it. We delivered just shy of 80,000 photos in 2021. We knew we had to duplicate ourselves. Our clients deserved more of us. So that’s when we began the search. It wasn’t easy. We interviewed 86 photographers and had hundreds to apply. We knew this wasn’t going to be a quick or easy selection. There were a lot of specific qualities we needed in our new associates.

Hunter and Maci the entire way have been phenomenal. Their willingness to learn, to communicate, to assist has surpassed what we thought we would find in an associate team. After speaking to them during the initial interview, we just knew.

We had them shadow at first to see if we would work well together. Not only did we work well together, we liked them – a lot! Maci is so sweet and Hunter’s ongoing humorous sarcastic commentary is hilarious. Who else do y’all know like that??? Right!! I am so sweet, and Kala can be funny I guess. (And I will hear it after I post this.)

What do we love most about them? They put people first. They want to be there on your day, they will help carry your dress, hold your flowers (they get heavy), help you feel comfortable and relaxed.

They love traveling as much as we do. We get asked all the time if we moved. Nope! We just enjoy the travel that comes with the career and so do they!

What are we proud of them for? They have invested so much of their time and effort to become Reg & Kala photographers. They have learned our processes and our mission amazingly fast. They caught on and have mastered our style. What took Kala and I years to figure out, they have grasped on in months.

Just like Kala and I they give each other balance. One is technical, one is creative. One is more outspoken and big picture, the other is softer and detail oriented.

Why are we happy to have them on our team? Hunter and Maci share our belief’s that relationships matter and people come first, that how we do anything is how we do everything, and that good things don’t come to those who wait, it comes to those who work.

Below is a complete guide on hiring associate photographers, whether you choose ours (which we believe are the best) or someone else’s.

WHAT IS AN ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHER?

Often you will first hear about an associate photographer or an associate photographer team when the photographer you want is already booked on your day, or maybe their price is a little outside of your budget.

This new concept can cause confusion for most or maybe even fears. You’re afraid they are inexperienced, or not as good as the main photographer. Then (gasp!) their prices are lower which confirms your belief that they are not as good as the main photographers, because more expensive means better right?

Most people answer three questions when they book a photographer.

Do you like their work? Do you like them? Is their price in your budget?

If all three are yeses, then book them! Right?? Well, I know especially when its your wedding and it isn’t that simple. So here’s a few things to know when booking associate photographers.

STYLE

The great thing about hiring an associate team like Hunter & Maci, is that they are going to keep the same signature style of photography that Reg & Kala have created and curated over the past 9 years! When hiring Hunter and Maci, this was one of the first questions that we asked. Are you willing to create work that looks exactly like ours?

Associate photographers get to focus on shooting, while editing is still done by the main photographers (us). This ensures the consistency of the photos. So, you get the same service before and after wedding days, the only difference is who is actually at your wedding.

 WHY IS THEIR PRICE LOWER?

Most associate photographers have lower packages not because they aren’t as good, or they don’t have the experience, which is the fear most people have. It is because they don’t have to carry the cost of running the photography business.

Advertising, marketing, accounting, insurance, bookkeeping, social media, continuing education, image storage, editing software, travel costs, licensing, even branding costs like websites, photos and videos these are all things the main photographers must carry. Meanwhile associates get to do what they do best, take beautiful photos and help you feel comfortable in front of the camera.

Different associates on the same team can even have different pricing. Not because of difference in skill, but difference in the number of events they want each year and even preference.

EXPEREINCE

Most people believe associates are inexperienced, at least in our case this isn’t true. We hire photographers that want to be photographers while we handle the business side. All of our associates come in with at least 3 years experience as a photographer, and then we put them through our expansive training system.

Posing, lighting rules, exposure concepts, flash training, typical and a-typical posing, flattering rules, our client experience, and even some of our top secret tricks to deliver our signature style is all a part of the training that they go through before be “released” to shoot without us, the main photographers. 

WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO BE AN ASSOCIATE?

Being a photographer and running a photography business are two different things. There are some amazing photographers the world will never see, because they don’t know how to launch their business for great clients like you to find them. Many of our associates prefer the imaginative artistic aspect of photography to the business side as well as working in a team with support rather than trudging through alone.

BONUS!

One thing you may not have thought about, with a team like ours where we have multiple associates. If for any reason your scheduled photographer couldn’t make it to your wedding. (Like how I, Reg, ended up in the hospital after 3 weddings back-to back-to back on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday wedding days with Pneumonia). We have backups to send AND they are going to deliver the same style, experience, and use the same systems because the team is trained to deliver the same photos to you.

Hope this helps in your decision on if an associate is the right fit for you!