Our featured vendor today is another talented Kansas City photographer, Claire Ryser of Visionaire Studios. A fellow wedding professional recommended I check out Claire’s work, and after chatting with her it’s easy to see she’s a romantic at heart. I can’t wait to share some of her most beautiful wedding shoots with you. Let’s find out a little more about her.
Where to find her: Website, Blog, Facebook
Claire and her husband live in the Longview area of Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Their home is surrounded by fields and trees, and just seconds away from Longview Lake, and the historic Longview Mansion. She works from home, but travels all of the world for photo shoots.
Claire says she has always loved the arts. Her father has his Masters of Fine Arts, and so she grew up around the work of famous and indie artists, with appreciation for the elements of design. Through high school and college she worked in the areas of graphic design and media production, doing shoots, editing, directing, and finally received her B.S.B.A. in Marketing in 2007. With a background in media Claire had all the tools, but it wasn’t until her own wedding day, a month after graduating, that she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her knowledge and passion. Thus her photography career began.
She began photographing everything she could in the summer of 2007. While working a full time production job she worked “like crazy” to build her personal portfolio and gain more wedding experience. She turned her new found passion into a full time business in March of 2008. She quit her production job in early 2009 and has been focusing on Visionaire Studios ever since.
When she’s not shooting a wedding Claire’s favorite subjects are her engagement sessions. She loves to do creative shoots, and enjoys the feeling of fun, excitement, and romance that come along with an engaged couple: “Those fun glances, the lingering kisses. It’s really amazing and its a “bonding” time for them and for us to get super comfy with each other!”
When I asked if she’s always shot weddings Claire answers: “The first thing that I ever photographed was a wedding. By myself, for 12 hours for a friend for $500.00. After reading my camera’s manual the day before. It was on 07-07-07 and I have been doing it ever since!” Claire certainly doesn’t recommend this approach, but said the experience was a total rush. She says she always inspired by her clients fashion, the style of their day, and the “moments in between moment”.
I asked Claire if she might have any words of advice for couples planning their wedding and choosing a photographer: “If you already love their work, choose a photographer who inspires you, gets you, caters to you, and someone you could see yourself being friends with…You’ll be spending the entire day with your photographer, and be around them more than anyone else. Check reviews, read their blog. Find one who loves what they do, and and you will too.”
Thanks so much for getting to know Claire. See more of her beautiful and most recent work on her Visionaire Studios Blog.
