Meet Mark Hillis of Unveiled Wedding Photography and Hillis Photographic in La Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Hillis.

Mark, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started my career in commercial photography after taking various photography classes at Northern Arizona University. My major wasn’t in photography, but when I hit graduation I decided to go that direction anyway. I worked for a major studio in Phoenix from 1995-1998, first as an assistant, then working my way up to being a photographer.

At the end of 1998, I moved to San Diego and started two facets of my photography business: Unveiled Wedding Photography and Hillis Photographic. Commercially I was shooting in the studio and on location for large corporations and small companies. I was brand new to weddings though, so that aspect of my business was slowly building. While I was doing this I was teaching the occasional photo class at San Diego City College. By 2001 both businesses were in full swing and I was working pretty much 6 days a week.

Today, we still have these two totally separate aspects of our photography business. I’ve shot over 800 weddings to date here in San Diego, and commercially we shoot a range of things: product photography, food, portraits, and commercial lifestyle images.

My wife, Stacy, has been working with me since 2007 and does everything from shooting and editing weddings to designing wedding albums, styling commercial shoots, and designing our websites.

Has it been a smooth road?
There have definitely been struggles. When the recession hit there was an immediate affect: couples and families decided that photography was not as important as having cash reserves, and the phone immediately stopped ringing as the stock market was diving. We saw photography budgets go way down, and ironically, over the next couple of years we saw more and more people trying to enter the field of wedding photography, so the competition went up drastically as well. We were competing among four times as many photographers as there used to be, and many were beginners who had little skill, but pricing that was siphoning away clients. These low priced photographers sucked a lot of revenue away from established photographers. We still see this going on today. Another reason so many new photographers were entering the field in those recession and post-recession years was that the digital camera had come to fruition (with decent resolution), and it enabled more and more people to enter the photography arena. Learning digital was much easier than learning and shooting with film (though the quality of the photography from these “newbies” was fairly lacking). I remember in 2002 seeing around 20-25 competitors listed in a local wedding directory…then it became literally over 100 on the same website a few years later!

These factors above caused some seasoned photographers to leave the field to find new careers, and others to go back to what they did before photography. You also started to see more photographers just doing it part time as well.

These changes also pushed photographers who wanted to continue working full-time to reexamine themselves and really push their limits creatively and as business owners. You had to find new affordable ways to market yourself and you had to make sure your imagery and website galleries were competitive. Those that survived those lean years (and survive now as well) really pushed themselves and worked long hours for years. For many this is still a reality and I still see photographers struggling every day.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Unveiled Wedding Photography Hillis Photographic – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
On the wedding side of our business, we are known for our creative portraits and candid photos. People have commented that our photojournalistic coverage is some of the best in San Diego. I think we are also very consistent in our coverage. We’ve looked at a lot of portfolios of photographers out there that want to shoot for us, and you will often see that they have some great images, but they are not consistent. As a wedding photographer you have to be able to work under extreme time constraints with horrible lighting conditions and still deliver great images throughout the entire day. We see many photographers fail at this, and I believe it is one of our greatest strengths.

Commercially we are known for our ability to shoot products that are technically challenging (such as jewelry and other reflective items), as well as our ability to make creative compositions. A recent commercial photography client wrote us after shooting for her for the first time saying: “I’ve just finished going through the photos, and I have to say this is some truly excellent work. I (potentially for the first time ever) have ZERO feedback, everything looks spot on (including the color, I think you’ve managed to nail it precisely). Thank you so much for the obvious care and attention you’ve given this, it really shows through in the pics.” We also had another client send some high praise recently: “Just wanted to drop you a quick line and let you know that y’all continue to blow me away with these images. I’ve worked with several photographers in New York …. and in San Francisco when I had clients with unlimited budgets and flew in photographers — this is the same quality, if not better!” We get a personal satisfaction out of being able to work creatively on a daily basis, but getting feedback like this really makes our day as well!

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the fact that San Diego is so diverse. There’s such a melting pot here, and that spills over into all aspects of living… from the local cuisine, to entertainment, to personal experiences with individuals. Of course having the ocean nearby is a big plus as well.

I think the lack of seasons is a down side to San Diego unless you’re one of those people that wishes there was endless sunny days all year round. The cost of living here in general is very high also, so that does present challenges to many people that live here.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.unveiledwedding.com and www.hillisphotographic.com
• Phone: 619-660-2712
• Email: [email protected]

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