Today we’d like to introduce you to Walter Afalla.
Walter, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I studied graphic design and photography at the Art Institute of Seattle graduated back in 1989. Graduate top of my class and best graduation portfolio, I ended up pursuing a career working for various transportation engineering firms in Seattle. At the time, I was coaching figure skating, a childhood passion that I had growing up and achieve my goals as a national and international level coach/choreographer. Balancing both professions was a challenge, but I was able to achieve my goals as a coach. I retired from coaching back in 2014 to focus on my wedding photography. I was laid off from my graphic design job back in 2009 due to the bad economy at the time. This gave me the opportunity to open my photography studio called AfallaStudios. I focused on a variety of photography from high school senior portraits and weddings to headshots and landscape photography. In 2015 I was mentored by world renown headshot photographerPeter Hurley from NYC and was inspired to focus on my wedding photography by creating my wedding brand, White Tiaré Weddings (WTW). This new brand reflects my Polynesian culture because the Tiaré is a Tahitian gardenia that is worn by both women and men. The word Tiaré derives from the French word Tiara, which means crown. And what bride doesn’t want to feel like a queen for the day, right?
I place so much value in capturing raw emotion through conversation. I like working with people who trust my work and value the art of photography. I want my brides to be able to relax on their wedding day knowing that, I got this. WTW celebrates love in all of its diversity and is committed to serving ALL COUPLES regardless of background, ethnicity, gender identification, or sexual orientation. LOVE is LOVE.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like every entrepreneur, there will always be challenges along the way. When I first opened AfallaStudios, I didn’t know what type of photography I wanted to focus on. And the challenging part was that I did all forms of photography well because of my formal technical training. Another challenge was my age is that I’m 52 years old and sometimes feel like I’m late to be part of the wedding industry. However, the advantage that I have is that I’ve gone through life experiences in my personal life and also professional life. Age is just a number and should never be taken lightly. I’m very young at heart, though.
Back in August of 2014, my father fell ill and passed away. Nine months later, my mother passed away. At the time, I had to put my camera down and turn away a lot of business because I had to deal with my loss. Battling depression for two whole years, I didn’t pick up the camera because my focus was on my family and dealing with the legal issues of their estate. It took my mentor and friend, Peter Hurley, to encourage me to pick up the camera again and move forward with my passion. Photography saved my life actually. It had put things into perspective and allowed me to explore the areas of photography that I had the most talent and passion.
In a very competitive community of photographers, I had to separate myself from the average wedding photographer. Today there are a lot of people that are doing it thanks to the iPhone. However, with my work experience in the professional corporate world, I wanted to create an amazing experience with my clients. So it’s not just about clicking my shutter button but to really get to know my clients and bring the best out of them by being in front of the camera.
Please tell us about White Tiaré Weddings.
Like I said earlier, WTW is a wedding photography business specializing in telling stories- love stories of couples. Couples come to me ‘just because’ they want me to photograph their love for each other. They don’t have to be getting married or engaged. Some are dating and want photos of themselves together. What I’m known for is how I use the training that I’ve had from Peter Hurley, the world-renown headshot photographer. I’ve implemented the psychology of headshot photography into my photoshoots with couples. A very high percentage of people really don’t like getting their pictures taken. People would often stiffen up once the camera is aiming towards them. Most of the time they would give the “deer in the headlight look”. And when I photograph couples, it’s usually the males that get the most nervous. I carry the couple through a conversation and get the energy built up to the point where their interaction with each other is very real. That’s when I start clicking my shutter. I love capturing raw emotion- nothing that is fake or staged. In today’s society, thanks to Steve Jobs and the iPhone, everyone is a photographer. And many have learned this amazing art form from YouTube. And that’s great! But what’s missing is how we, photographers, take these images. There’s a lot of thought behind all of this. There are a lot of ‘picture takers’ but a few ‘photographers’.
When comparing my images to the average photographer, I’m proud to say that I’m able to show the love between two people in an image. I use my engagement photoshoots as a time for the couple to get to know me behind the camera. How would you feel if a stranger takes a photo of you smooching with your loved one? Wouldn’t it feel odd that this strange man is taking a photo of the two of you? So, having these engagement shoots allows the couple to feel comfortable with the process. And once they feel comfortable, they know what to expect the day of their wedding.
Another important separating factor that WTW has compared to most photographers is that I photograph as a hybrid photographer- switching between photo to video throughout the shoot. By doing this, I create short 3-5 second video files in which I piece together to music and create a masterpiece of movement of a kiss to when the bride wipes a tear from her eyes. So having that experience in both photo and video editing is a big game-changer. By doing this type of photography, my service becomes cost-effective for the bride and groom. They wouldn’t have to hire both a photographer and a videographer separately.
And with the surge of social media, I’ve used this hybrid approach to photograph my couples during their engagement shoot by creating a short cinematic one minute video that they can share on their Instagram or Facebook account. These are the little touches that I like to give to my clients in marketing their wedding to their clients to RSVP on time. I had a bride that invited 300 guests and two weeks before her wedding, she was panicking because only 100 of them RSVP’d. I created an Instagram video that alerted her invited guests to RSVP, and she ended up with 289 guests at her wedding all because of the mini video. I’m very proud of the work I produce.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I’m very lucky to be raised by my loving family. Most of my childhood was growing up in Hawaii. I came from a military upbringing by a father who served our country in the US Army. He was also a fisherman. Not the type that would cast a fishing pole but the type that would spearfish and other edible creatures. Let’s say that the beach was our playground. On the weekend, mom would start the morning by making lunch to take to the beach for the day. She would make the best tuna fish sandwiches and fruit salad. Dad, sister Leila and I would pack up the truck with our diving gear- face masks, fins, snorkel and spears including spear guns. I was taught how to free dive spearfishing at the early age of 7. And we were taught survival skills when times were tough. Fish was free and easy to catch. Growing your own vegetables was free. He taught us how to live the ‘old Hawaiian way’ of life, which has made me the person I am today.
Pricing:
- Prices for my photography including video services with wall print and albums start at $2900
Contact Info:
- Website: https://whitetiareweddings.com
- Phone: 2147325452
- Email: info@whitetiareweddings.com
Image Credit:
Photo credit for my personal photo of me goes to Terry McCranie of Terry McCranie Photography. All the other photos that I submitted were taken by me.
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