We caught up with the brilliant and insightful MARIA MARTINEZ a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

MARIA, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?

I believe that a photo or video should always create some level of emotional response in the viewer. Sometimes I see professionals just focusing in lights and equipment and forgetting about the couple and their wedding day. I like having fun while we take photos, enjoying the moment, capturing every single detail without being intrusive.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

WE’RE MARIA AND RICARDO, WE ARE HUSBAND AND WIFE AND THE HEART BEHIND THE PICTURES.

WE ARE BASED IN NYC AND SHOOT WEDDINGS ALL AROUND THE US AND ABROAD BUT WE ARE ORIGINALLY FROM SPAIN AND PUERTO RICO
MARIA IS YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER, ALL THE IMAGES ARE TAKEN AND EDITED BY HER. RICARDO IS YOUR VIDEOGRAPHER AND RUNS THE BUSINESS AND MAKES SURE EVERYTHING GOES AS IT SHOULD. THERE IS A LOT GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES.
OUR PHOTOGRAPHY IS BOLD & CREATIVE, AIMING TO TELL STORIES AND DOCUMENT THE REAL MOMENTS. WE ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SHOOT A FEW FORMALS AND WE ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO THE BRIDE AND GROOM SESSIONS. IT’S A GREAT CHANCE TO GET SOME AMAZING IMAGES OF YOU BOTH TOGETHER.

We always really loved photography, but didn’t actively pursue as a career until we found ourselves as a university graduate with a day job that didn’t allow for creativity.
We wanted to be more creative and so we started photographing portraits for friends, and then we photographed our friend’s wedding as a favor as she couldn’t afford a professional. From there, we found more and more work. When we are not working, we love exploring . We’ll meander around an area that we’ve not been to before.
We like to get lost and then find our way out, passing through shops, art galleries, stopping for coffee. We’ll happily walk miles, and I love the feeling of “Ooh, that’s a pretty street! Let’s see what’s down there!” We love reading about design, modern architecture, and street art. We love a good conversation over a tasty meal with our family who unfortunately is overseas. When we’re out, we like to dance, going to comedy clubs and whatever weird events we can find happening .
We like images and videos that show emotion and aren’t too stiff. We’ll do a little bit of posing as we want you to be in the right light that’s flattering. We want you to laugh and smile and enjoy.
The core images that make up our portfolio are the dramatic couple shots that we do in probably 20-30 minutes. Throughout the rest of the day, we love capturing the moments that are happening.

We are aware of how our presence may affect a moment so sometimes we are ninjas, and sometimes we need to encourage the interaction to get the most out of it. We are relaxed, but we still pursue the images and videos we really want to get.
We like talking to our customers and helping them feel comfortable and having a good time ourselves, we know how we appear on the day can affect the vibe of the day.

The technical aspects of photography and videography are very important to us and our customers love that. We want images showing movement, emotion and a beautiful moment. We want our images and videos to be well composed, sharp, and have lovely processing to boot.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

After living in more than 10 different countries ( Maria 7 and Ricardo 5 ) we started from zero in NYC. We worked 7 days a week in two different jobs ( bartender, Spanish teacher, uber…) and after one year we got our first cameras. Our first models were family and friends and the word of mouth was incredible. Our business has grown very fast in despite of the pandemic. We were still doing small weddings at private properties.
Right now we have done weddings in Colorado, Arizona, Puerto Rico, Los Angeles, Spain, Bahamas, Florida, NYC, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Utah……

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Communication. I will say it twice, communication. Be responsive, be attentive, have empathy and manners. It is very important for us to always have a great communication since the first approach (from the inquiry to videocalls, emails, text, calls, communication with other vendors, visiting the venue before the wedding…. ) I get a lot of brides complaining about the lack of communication or late responses from other vendors. I am sure we can all get some 5 minutes a day just to let them know you are busy and you will get back to them soon.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.capturedgroup.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/capturedgroup
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/capturedgroup
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtv4M3q4N2A&t=1s