Chris Perea
***Apologies for the strange audio syncing issue at the beginning. The zoom recording was having trouble keeping up in this first section of this interview. It does get better as the video goes on though.
Hi, I am Chris. I remember when I got my first professional camera in 2008: I was out taking photos every free moment. I loved nature photography and my favourite time was spring when everything was in full bloom and apple or cherry flowers (not native to Arizona, more about that later) made a fantastic subject in my pictures. I also went to a few concerts and took my first official portrait photos. I was fascinated that a fleeting and emotional moment could be frozen in time forever in a photo.
People became my favourite subject and I soon started to ask friends if I can photograph their birthdays and soon after that, my first wedding. I loved everything about it! It combined my love for detail (in the detail photos of the rings, and the wedding bouquet arranged like art) and capturing all the emotion from the wedding couple, family and friends forever. Since then, I have been a wedding photographer at more than 50 weddings.
Now to the apple and cherry blossoms: I’m originally from Switzerland but I live in Arizona with my husband Mike since 2019. We both share the passion for photography and also have a youtube channel about landscape photography.
I got into landscape in 2017 when I tried to learn something new in photography. I'm a strong believer of learning the best if you get yourself in an uncomfortable situation and out of your comfort zone. I thought landscapes is all about long waits (for sunrise, or sunset which it is), early getting out of bed (it is, but I don't mind to be honest) and having a very specific gear (tripod, filters and super wide angle lenses).
In the end, I learned so much about composition, colour and I got more patient (waiting for sunrises or sunsets, the weather to change, the tide to roll in or recede, another season or just a cloud to move). Features, that also helped me evolve and transition onto the next level in people photography.
https://www.chrispereafineart.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/PereaPhotography/videos