Today's Guest: Owen Kassimir of Owen Imaging in Syosset, New York
Today's Host: Damien Allen
September 2007
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Owen Kassimir
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Owen Kassimir Expert PageANNOUNCER: Welcome to the VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight with your host, Damien Allen. Today's program is sponsored by morephotos.com the online photo sales solution to professional photographers worldwide.
DAMIEN: Good afternoon and welcome to the VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight. I'm your host, Damien Allen, in for the vacationing John Bentley. Today we are in the Studio via phone we are on the phone with Owen Kassamir, who is the owner and founder of Owen Photography in Syosset, NY. Good afternoon and welcome to VTalk Radio's Photographer's Spotlight, Owen.
OWEN: Thanks for having me today.
DAMIEN: We understand you have a big thriving photography business out there in Syosset. Why don't you tell us a little bit about it.
OWEN: We're doing pretty well here. We opened in 1985 and moved to different locations. We started out in Great Neck, Long Island, and then after 8 years there we moved to Syosset, Long Island, where we've been ever since. Things are doing well. We specialize in probably everything, but mostly we do weddings and Bar Mitzvah's and family portraits. We do some boys leagues and summer camps and an occasional school now and then.
DAMIEN: Why did you decide to become a photographer, Owen?
OWEN: Oh, I studied architecture in college and decided that was not for me after two years of school. I was given a camera when I was about 10 by my grandfather with no instruction books and just started playing around and when I decided that architecture wasn't for me, I pursued the photography career.
DAMIEN: Now, with doing families and Mitzvah's and weddings, you're using a lot of different venues. Are there any particular halls or banquet facilities or hotels you tend to do a lot of photography in?
OWEN: I don't work with any caterers at this time. I do work primarily on Long Island, but we do reach out to Manhattan and Connecticut and New Jersey. We do travel a little bit for some of our weddings, but I personally like to go into a new place and find new areas to shoot. It just makes it more exciting for me.
DAMIEN: Now with the travel and destination and venue stuff with weddings and Mitzvah's, do you also have a studio in town that you do family portraits out of?
OWEN: Yes, we have a store front studio and we have space in part of it to do portrait sessions for individuals up to about 12 - 15 people.
DAMIEN: What do you do to make your clients more comfortable during a session? A lot of people don't like being in front of a camera. What do you do to try to capture the essence of what they are or make them comfortable for that session?
OWEN: I try to relate to my customers one on one for an affair as a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah or sweet 16 or any type of affair like that, I try to become part of the family and that comes out because I'm able to get expressions and fool around with the kids and the adult and the grand-parents on all different levels. So, they appreciate that, and I'm always smiling and laughing and making jokes and having a good time and it shows in the photographs.
DAMIEN: How many photographers do you use on a session like that where you're doing say a large wedding or a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah or a sweet 16 where there's a lot of people involved, lot of people milling about within a venue? How many photographers would you use on a shoot like that?
OWEN: Every wedding or affair is different. Most I would say it would be me and an assistant or two and there are a bunch of jobs that are larger and scale like 200 people, 250 people or up, and then we'll bring two photographers or even three sometimes plus assistants.
DAMIEN: Now as you've been in business for over 20 years as a family and wedding photographer, you've seen the change from film to digital. Are you still using film in any way or have you converted strictly to digital cameras now?
OWEN: I was one of the first people on Long Island to venture into the digital realm in 1996. We started out using digital equipment at Bar Mitzvah's doing photo favors and the way I do it is we design custom frames that would print out right on the photographs, and we generally do 5x7s. We print them out right at the job, and we do quite a few jobs that way. And it was a great add on to my previous Bar and Bat Mitzvah's sales which was just terrific. And we, I mean, as we continued, I converted fully to shooting affairs digitally probably in 2001 when the cameras just got really much better and today, they're just fantastic. We haven't shot film since 2001.
DAMIEN: Do you miss it at all?
OWEN: Do I miss it, I do not miss it at all.
DAMIEN: Do you do all your editing in house?
OWEN: We do all our editing in house. We do all our album designing in house. We're not a big place. I have one full time studio manager, Heidi. And someone who does my album designs; that would be Janie. And they'll be thrilled that I mentioned them. And Janie and I do the album designs and then we go for editing of all the images.
DAMIEN: Besides the photo packages for the family events and the album design, are there any other products and services that you offer?
OWEN: We offer framing and at events we do the digital photography as I mentioned for the photo favors. We also do photo crystals at events now also where the photos are actually adhered with UV lights onto crystals and that's a pretty high end product and a lot of our clients seem to like it.
DAMIEN: We're in the studio today with Owen Kassamir, of Owen Photography in Syosset, NY. Owen, before we go into the commercials could I get you to give me your website and contact information please.
OWEN: Sure. The website is www.owenimaging.com and our address is 45 Jackson Avenue in Syosset 11791. Our phone number is (516) 364-6650 and our 800 number is (877) 696-6936.
DAMIEN: We're in the studio today with Owen Kassamir, of Owen Photography in Syosset, NY. This is the VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight. We will be right back after these commercial breaks.
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ANNOUNCER: This VTalk Radio Spotlight is sponsored by morephotos.com, the online photo sales solution to professional photographers worldwide.
ANNOUNCER: We now return you to the VTalk Radio Photographer's Spotlight with your host, Damien Allen.
DAMIEN: Welcome back to VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight, I am Damien Allen and today on the phone we have Syosset, NY, photographer Owen Kassamir. He is the owner and founder of Owen Photography. Welcome back to the program, Owen.
OWEN: Thank you very much.
DAMIEN: Well, we've been talking about the services and products that you offer at Owen Photography, and the fact that you are a small studio, but you love to travel and you do stuff all over the place. Sounds like a three or four state range. What are some of the other cities and communities that you service?
OWEN: Mostly we're on the north shore of Long Island, but we do travel to Manhattan and the shores of New Jersey. We've been to Connecticut and a few out of state jobs. We did some weddings in Las Vegas, St. Louis and Florida.
DAMIEN: So, have camera, will travel as long as they've got an event you're willing to go to it.
OWEN: We will do that.
DAMIEN: Do you have any advice for a client who wants an event say a Bar or a Bat Mitzvah, sweet 16, or a wedding, do you have any advice for the clients before they have the event shot? Is there a way they should be set up? Is there a specific type of clothing they should wear? What things should they have in mind when they want to have a professional photographer come in and shoot an event?
OWEN: I think that the clothing is very important, but most people are going to dress the way they like to dress. I think the most important thing is that once you chose a photographer and you're comfortable with them that you let them do their job and they're going to do it to the best of their ability and that's what we do. I mean, we do the job and we do it right, and we make them comfortable, and you know when people say, "Oh, we need this extra shot." It's not a big deal. But when you come and present the list, I think most photographers regret seeing the list.
DAMIEN: What is your most important goal, Owen, when you're shooting one of these events?
OWEN: When I'm shooting an event, I want to capture everything. I am usually there early, and many times one of the last people to leave the venue at the end of the job. I think when the band or the DJ is finished, there are still some important photographs to take, and we capture a lot of those. We like to be involved with the family. We like to see those hugs and we like to capture those expressions when the hugs are given.
DAMIEN: Having been in the band or been the DJ at many of these affairs, I can tell you for a fact that lots of cool stuff goes on as soon as I'm starting to put the gear back in the truck. What makes your services unique and what separates you from the competition?
OWEN: Because I'm a small studio, we don't do any advertising except a few little charitable events here and there. So all my clients are coming from word of mouth, and I think that's mostly because of the service that we provide and the quality of the images that we also provide.
DAMIEN: And by looking at your portfolio up on your website, the images are very, very well done, very definite good eye in capturing those pictures and if you'd like to see what kind of work Owen Photography is doing, that's where you would go is up to the website www.owenimaging.com. Owen if you had one particular dream shoot; one dream photo shoot, what would it be?
OWEN: One dream shoot...wow, I like to travel so I think that traveling out of the country maybe doing an African Safari trip or an Australian trip in the outback I think I would probably enjoy that very much.
DAMIEN: We would like to thank you very much for joining us today on the Photographer Spotlight and sharing a little bit about your business.
OWEN: Thank you very much.
DAMIEN: If you could one more time give your website and contact information for the listening audience.
OWEN: Sure. The website is www.owenimaging.com and Owen Photography is located on the North Shore of Long Island, NY at 45 Jackson Avenue in Syosset 11791. And the phone number is (516) 364-6650 and our 800 number is (877) 696-6936.
DAMIEN: Thank you again for joining us today, Owen.
OWEN: Thanks for having me. It was a pleasure.
DAMIEN: We are speaking with Owen Kassamir of Syosset, NY, photographer and owner and founder of of Owen Photography. You have been listening to VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight. I'm Damien Allen. Have a great afternoon.
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