I am so excited about today’s Featured Artist Friday! I had the pleasure of listening to Zach and Jody present at PartnerCon last year…after that I knew I had to personally meet them! They talked about their love for one another, their love for God, and their love for the art they create…which is seriously so good. I also had a great opportunity to join The Youngrens shooting group at PartnerCon where Zach and Jody were our wonderful models! You can check out the pictures I took of Zach and Jody by clicking HERE. Zach and Jody are masters when it comes to off-camera lighting! They even have a workshop called “IN-CAMERA” where they teacher other photographers to get it right IN-CAMERA the first time so you can spend less time editing and more time shooting! I love it and wish I could goooo! Someday. Anyway, I am so happy Zach and Jody were willing to help me out with this post, because I know they are busy being so fabulous! Be sure to check out their awesome blog and bookmark it because it’s so worth going back to! So without further adieu…
Meet Zach & Jody.
I love them.
Aren’t they the cutest?! I also asked Zach and Jody some random fun questions that you can read throughout the post!
Enjoy! And leave them some love!
Any “I can’t believe I just did that!” moments?
Too many! One time, we were shooting a wedding here in Nashville and had just set up all our gear for a shot with the bride and her girls. They all came over and this was the first time we had met the bridesmaids. I (Zach) got down to do my first shot and dislocated my shoulder! Now, I have done this many times before, so it was not that crazy to have it happen, but it still hurt like nobody’s business – so right when it happened, I bowled my brand new 5D camera with a nice L lens on it across the concrete ground. That was really un-cool! Luckily, one of the bridesmaids was a doctor and she walked right over and popped it back into joint. Two Advil later and we were on to shoot the rest of the day!
What do you two hope to be doing with your business 5 years from now?
Hopefully something similar to what we are doing now. Jody and I have a real passion for helping other photographers believe they can have any type of business they want to have. Jody and I both grew up in poorer homes with our parents always struggling to provide for us. We have seen both sides of that in our marriage and are now extremely blessed with the success of our business. Both financially and in many other ways as well. We want to help as many photographers realize that dream which is why we have begun to teach, host workshops on shooting and business, and simply make ourselves as available as we can to any and all photographers.
This is exactly why I love them.
What is your favorite part of a wedding to photograph?
Jody is all about the girls and all about the moments. She grew up with a camera in her hand and has a real eye for the little things that are happening. My favorite image that she has ever taken was from one of our first wedding we ever did. It is a photo of a bride and her father’s first dance and there is a tear coming down his cheek. It is one of those moments that if it wasn’t photographed, the bride may not have ever known that happened. I love that shot! I (Zach) am way into the fashion and lit shots I specialize in. I love taking dramatic shots that really showcase our couple’s cool sides!
Favorite summer meal or drink?
Hmmmm.. For Jody, it is Berry Berry Berry Good Ice Cream from Cold Stone Creamery. Yum!! For me (Zach) it is a Starbucks Frapp for sure!
Your favorite lens?
Jody loves the 50mm and I love the 16-35L 2.8 for those high drama scenic shots!
If you could photograph anyone in the world, who would it be?
Easy! Carry Underwood’s wedding 5 times in a row! She lives here in Nashville and we are trying to figure out how to get her to notice us! 😉
Describe your perfect day!
Wake up, make a delicious caramel latte for two, sit by the pool and get a tan, hang out with some awesome friends for lunch, home cooked dinner for two, movie and a make out session on the couch and make tons of money too. Perfect… J.
Who in your guys’ life has influenced you the most and why?
Jody and I are really inspired by a lot of people, so it is hard to pick just one! Can we pick three? The first one is Jesus for sure who loved us so much that he died for us both so that we could know him in return. The second is Dave Ramsey who is a financial guru here in Nashville. He taught us (through his hit radio show and New York Times best seller books) how to get out of debt and control our financial futures. The third would have to be our mom’s. Both of our mothers are absolutely amazing and have taught us everything we know about how to love people, how to press on during hard times and how to not be selfish (although we are both still working on the selfish part!). 😉 We are also inspired constantly by the books that we have read like, 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller, E-Myth, The Purple Cow by Seth Goden, Gorilla Marketing by Jay Levinson and a ton of others.
I hope you all enjoyed getting to know Zach and Jody…aren’t they just awesome?
Thank you and Zach and Jody for being so kind and always making time for the little people like me.
Great feature! I love their work!
I just recently discovered these guys and LOVE LOVE LOVE them! I too, am working the Dave Ramsey steps to becoming free from debt and have a love for God and Jesus. I can’t wait until I save up enough money to attend their workshops! THANK YOU for this interview and further insight into this amazing couple! I love them even more now!
Was so inspired by this entry. Thanks for sharing.
I also had the opportunity to meet them at PartnerCon with the photoshoot with The Youngren’s and I also had the opportunity to listen to them speak and WOW! I am totally obsessed with them now! I absolutely LOVE their work and just them as individuals! I even have a blown up pic of them in my office:) Great job for featuring them on your blog and I hope that Zach and Jody get the chance to photograph: CARRIE UNDERWOOD! P.S. Zack&Jody I will carry your bags if you do get to photograph CARRIE!
I love this post on Gray Photography. I’ve had the privilege of meeting and learning from Zach and Jody at their workshop. They are beautiful people!
My favoritest photography couple in the world! Yay! Thanks for featuring Zach and Jody on your blog.
Loooooove!!!
ah! I can’t believe we didn’t comment yet!! Thanks so much, girl for having us be your featured photographers. Hopefully we will see you soon, maybe even in Washington 🙂 Blessings, JG
[…] You can see some of the photos I took of our amazing couple, Zach & Jody Gray, by clicking here. Erin and Jeff also took time out of their busy schedules to come up to Seattle and speak to the […]
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