Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronnie Sunker.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Growing up, I watched my parents take pictures of everything, and the family always having cameras around helped spark my interest in the art form. We all had Polaroid cameras growing up, but I watched my parents use larger cameras that were much more intricate and involved to shoot, especially the Super 8 film movie camera that was used, with spotlights, to document all major events in my youth. These little things started an interest in using cameras to capture moments, and not just point and shoot, but using all of the functions of these cameras to accomplish it. I even had a darkroom attached to my bedroom as a child. I was at the top of my fine art classes while at Kingwood High School as a member of the National Art Honor Society. And I went on to study Photography and Graphic Design at the University of North Texas, with a minor in Marketing. During this time, I learned in-depth knowledge of using film cameras and digital editing software that has now become standard in this industry. I started out using 35mm and medium format film to shoot, and cover friend’s weddings and events, and eventually got into the digital world as soon as I could afford to make the change.
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?
Nothing in life comes easy, there is always going to be sacrifice and struggle along the way when you are trying to better yourself and especially when you try to pursue something you love. Having a wife and 2 young children at this point in my life, the struggle to pursue photography is probably the most difficult it has ever been for me. Family comes first no matter what. Which means having to work twice as hard to be a professional in the industry, with limited time and resources to dedicate towards my passion. Providing for my family comes first, then after that I can scrape together to purchase the newest and best equipment I can get my hands on to be able to keep up in the modern photography world. But it’s not just the struggle to stay current on equipment. Time is hard to come by as parents with young children. Only my wife can understand the time and effort that I put into a photo shoot from start to finish. Because she knows the late nights and lost sleep that goes into processing images after they are taken which usually starts after the kids are put to bed at night. I love what I do, so it’s very difficult to stop myself half-way through a batch of photos and go to sleep, I want to see all of my images in their final state as soon as possible, which turns into long nights processing to perfect my work. But long-story short, I love being behind the camera, so any struggles involved with achieving this are worth it to try and get to where I want to be.
Sunker Creative Studio – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a photography business and we also do design work when we can. Our main focus as business currently is anything portrait related. We like to photograph all aspects of a family from early stages and on, such as maternity photos and newborns and on into the growing years. We love family, so we love capturing all stages of a family beginning and growing, from engagements/weddings to anniversaries and milestones along the way. That is our most recent focus as a business, but we also do event photography on small and large scales. And another particular favorite genre is photographing personal possessions, such as musical instruments or hot-rod cars and motorcycles.
Our specialty is in candid style photography, capturing people in their natural state. Anyone can line up a group of people and snap a picture. But we try to shoot before and after the “say cheese” moment to catch natural smiles and expressions since nobody is comfortable smiling on command. And we apply this style whether we’re shooting babies, adults, or even a motorcycle.
As a business, we are most proud of the fact that we continue to provide our services to anyone we can. We will work with any budget, so we will find a way to work with budgets big and small, to make sure that anyone can find a way to enjoy beautiful images. We try to keep our prices reasonable and work with our clients to make them happy whether they have $100 to spend or $1000.
We set ourselves apart by our family mentality. We are a family business in all aspects, but when we gain a new client, they are brought into our family. We have learned over years in customer service environments how customers want to be treated, and we know how we want to be treated. And the closest way to describe that, is as a family. We go above and beyond with our clients to ensure their happiness with our services, and stay in touch after the job, even if there is no future work lined up. We also involve our entire family in our business when we can and when appropriate. Our two children have been known to be present and even help during a photo shoot. Our 4-year-old daughter is full of smiles and playfulness that helps keep the tone light and fun on-site, and she even knows how to operate a full-frame camera and loves to shoot! Our entire family is involved from the shoot through the post-production process on a regular basis and we try to keep it fun. We’ve even been known to hand-deliver final prints as a family to your family!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career so far, was in the early stages of our business development. For any small-business owner, the first time you make a big sale or get your first customer through your doors, is always a proud feeling of accomplishment. So when we put ourselves out in the online world to become legitimate, not just doing work for friends or friends of friends, it was of course a painful wait for our first customer to come knocking. I’m very proud of every First Step that we’ve hit along the way, from our first customer off the street to hire us, to our first family holiday portrait, and our first wedding. It’s one thing to play photographer for your friends and family, it’s a whole different world when someone you have never met hires you and puts their trust in you to capture their important moments in life. If you mess up something like photographing a wedding, there’s no do-over, so a client has to have full trust in you and your business to handle the job for them. I’m proud of every first step, and also every day we continue to grow because I know what we have gone through and sacrificed to get here.
Pricing:
- Our rates are currently $50-$100 per hour depending on the type of shoot we are doing.
Contact Info:
- Address: Canyon Falls
Flower Mound, Texas 76226 - Website: www.sunkercreativestudio.com
- Phone: 940.206.5768
- Email: ronnie@sunkercreativestudio.com
- Instagram: @RonnieSunker
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sunkercreativestudio
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sunker-creative-studio-flower-mound
Image Credit:
Ronnie Sunker – Sunker Creative Studio
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