Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellice Boone.
Ellice, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I got into photography at 15. Got my dream job working for a big studio shooting high-end weddings when I was 18. That’s where I met Johnny who started a year after me. In 2005 I left the studio and opened my own company. In 2008, Johnny and I were finally both single at the same time and ended up dating. He proposed to me at the top of Machu Picchu with a string he tied around my finger (the ring was stolen along with our camera gear the day before).
In 2010, we got married in Morocco with ten friends as our witnesses and continued our adventures through travel and photography. After five years of marriage and a baby we finally decided to make things “official ” and merge our two photography companies, we launched Boone Studios. Now we take on destination weddings and large projects as a photography team and continue to book our own separate projects as well.
We have also launched our video production company – John Boone Productions and a photo booth company – Tipsy Booth. We still love to travel and have brought our 4-year-old daughter to eight new countries far. We love to combine our passion for travel with photography – it makes our travel itch a little more sustainable. 🙂
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
After having a baby, I dropped off the face of the earth for the first six months it was hard to get back in the game and reinvent myself. My business suffered bc I wasn’t putting myself out there my top priority was being at home with my baby. It took a while to rebuild and let people know I was back in the game. That was a hard year in half bc my business dropped so much, so we just had less income at that point. But it also gave me a chance to rebirth and reinvent myself and find my passion and my drive for what I do again.
We def met some struggles in joining our company even though from the outside our business structures were so similar – we are completely opposite in how we accomplish each task. But generally, we end up in the same place at the end. It took a lot of communication to get to where we are now. Just being married, working together and raising a kid together means we spend every moment together, so we have to really keep our communication strong and open so that we still love each other at the end of the day and don’t allow little irritations to build up.
There have been times when we didn’t know how we would pay our mortgage – having both people as independent contractors, and no steady or guaranteed income is challenging. We had to learn to trust that the jobs would come in. So far we have not done advertising – just word of mouth referrals for our photography. We also have never taken on any other jobs to supplement income, so we really have stuck it out through thick and thin times – faithful to our first love – photography and creating and capturing moments with our clients.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Boone Studios – what should we know?
Our dynamic as a married couple is really awesome at weddings we make a great team supporting each other to get the best images – covering each other and also being truly supportive of our clients. Sometimes I feel like we take on the role of a therapist, hair stylist, dress stylist, coordinator, maid of honor, best man and photographer at different parts of the day.
What sets us apart is we each have 18 years of experience while still being young and fun. We try to push ourselves out of the box like traveling with a two-year-old for three months in Australia, Bali & NZ drumming up work as we went and just embracing the gypsy lifestyle. We came back with a totally fresh and new perspective. Things like this keep us inspired, motivated and reignite our creativity.
We also really love our clients we spend time getting to know them. They feel like friends at the wedding day, and we just happen to be celebrating and documenting their moments along the way. The years of experience we come to the table with means we have seen it all an are capable of taking on any challenge it also gives us a calm demeanor that Brides and Grooms find very settling.
We know how to work very fast under pressure and get all the images we need as well as organizing and posing groups in a super efficient and fast way so that we can get through the posed pics with speed and ease and keep everyone laughing and enjoying themselves. I think its quality of work and well-rounded work – mixing the artistic and edgy with the shots the Parents of the B&G need to have, and the family pics you don’t want to miss that set us apart.
As well as the experience. It is SO important that we create a great experience for our clients. We make the photo experience fun and enjoyable and memorable. We keep things flowing smoothly and on time, and we always have the clients experience and memory of the day as our highest priority.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Our boss at the studio where we met was a huge part of our success he really shaped the two of us. Training us to find our passion and to step outside the box and get creative. To think on our feet and always be flexible. To keep things light and fun no matter what the circumstance – like even in a torrential downpour – or more recently when two of our weddings were relocated 24 hours before because of the Woolsey fire.
To capture the beauty in a banquet hall in the city that was meant to be a beachside wedding and keep the bride and groom in good spirits and focused on the important things like the fact that they are there to celebrate their love with the people they love and that is all that matters… especially when life throws you a curve ball. Besides it makes a great story – just like our ring being stolen before Johnny proposed or our complications with our wedding venue in Morocco once we arrived and having to change the ceremony to just be standing in a park instead.
It’s all adventure, and when you look back it’s about the moments and the story – nothing exciting goes exactly as planned. I think our old boss Michael taught us that. He was an amazing Mentor to both of us. Also, the vendors and clients who have continued to refer us through the years have literally kept our business alive. Also, our moms have both been key in helping us get a photography education, internship, and different opportunities. They have each been our biggest cheerleaders.
Pricing:
- Wedding Photography packages starting at $3250
- Cinematography packages starting at $2800
- Photo Booth Packages starting at $800
Contact Info:
- Website: www.boonestudios.com
- Phone: 3106005281
- Email: ellice@boonestudios.com
- Instagram: @BooneStudios
- Facebook: facebook.com/TheBooneStudios
- Other: www.tipsybooth.com
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