Breaking news.
Posted on March 6, 2009
This past spring RedHouseWeddings was featured in the “Weddings North” magazine published by the Brainerd Dispatch. The story below was written by Sheila Helmberger, thank you Sheila, great story! —Aaron W. Hautala
Black tie. White Dress. RedHouse.
“It should be one of the two biggest days: one being your wedding, two being having a baby, that are the most foundational moments of your life.” That’s the theory behind the photography of RedHouseWeddings and its’ co-owner, Aaron Hautala.
Hautala became a wedding photographer by divine intervention, and it’s a journey he is thankful he had the ability take. So are countless wedding couples. Co-owner of RedHouseMedia with his wife Beth in Brainerd, his career path has included public relations, advertising, graphic design, editorial photography, publishing and art direction.
Aaron’s wedding photography career all began when a photographer he recommended for a college friend’s wedding cancelled a month before his friend’s event. Immediately, Aaron’s friend turned to him and asked “Your’re a photographer, can you do it?” “I didn’t want to do it,” Aaron said. But with encouragement from his friend and his wife Beth, he agreed.
“We ended up buying a camera, two lenses, a flash and four memory cards just for this one event. I shot it and could not believe how much I enjoyed it. Not to mention, I had a ton of fun with it,” he said. “What I enjoy most, even going back to that first wedding, is being with people, in real time, on a really important day, and being part of that moment and bringing even more fun and memory to it. I’m not looking to be the photographer that takes the energy out of the day or is so energetic that they turn into the main event themselves. I’m looking to be someone that can be there with the bride and the groom and add to it.” It’s his goal to be the photographer first - but also be looked at as a person who’s a part of the wedding party. “From the first time I set my eyes on the digital negatives from that first event,” he said, “the rest is history, I was sold on being a wedding photographer.”
Since then, his calendar has filled quickly, and his reputation has spread. He is a member of Wedding Photo Journalists Association (WPJA), a world-wide professional organization made up of photojournalists and wedding photographers. Hautala chooses to tell the story of a couple’s wedding day as a photo journalist capturing what really happened, through an unconventional light.
He commits himself to an entire day for the weddings he shoots. Often, this means 12 or more hours. It’s what he expected for his own wedding and is the reason he books only one wedding a month. “That’s my rule,” he says, “Because I really want to bring my A-game to each event. I don’t want to do the same thing every time. I want to approach it with a fresh eye thinking ‘What can we do this time?’”
“It’s just fun to be in the middle,” he said of a couple’s big day, “Even the challenging situations, where the stress can get a bit high, when the wedding day conflicts arise that’s when I get the chance to inject a calming sense, or a splash of fun depending on the personalities of the wedding party”
He also purposefully chooses to photograph the entire day to make sure the significant moments are captured. “The best part of the day is after the wedding couple says, I do,” commented Hautala. “That’s when you hold on to your seat and don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s when you see the stress drop and everyone is ready to be exactly who they are when no one is watching (except the wedding photographer that is).”
On a shoot, Hautala does make a point of capturing the traditional posed family photographs, but the day of photography won’t be all about those types of photos. He aims to tell the story of the day not just pose the guests beside one another. “ I do capture traditional shots but I don’t make that my main focus. There is a place for traditional portraiture in archival family history. I believe in this because when I’m 85 I’m going to appreciate that photo of myself and my son together on his wedding day.
For the most part he prefers to just stand back and shoot what’s happening, capturing the interaction of the guests and their surroundings. He has shot weddings at our Brainerd Lakes area resorts, private homes and cabins on the lakes, the twin cities, the west coast, and his personal favorite, a central Minnesota farm.
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A wedding photographer is one of the most important roles a couple will select for their wedding. Hautala has advice for couples shopping for one. “Don’t look at one photographer’s work that you really like and then expect a different photographer to match the same style of another photographer. What you see in a photographer’s portfolio, whether it’s online or in the print form, what you see is what you need to love. Just flat out love. If there’s any, ‘well I wish he/she was like so and so,’ then book so and so. When a photographer shows their work that’s what they do. I always make a pretty big deal with brides to say, ‘Look at my work. Is what you’re seeing here what you really like and if not, don’t book me because I don’t want to capture their event in a light that they didn’t originally love.”“The second thing to keep in mind is you need to like the photographer’s personality. Because if they’re too abrasive or too quiet or won’t take direction, or he/she won’t work with your family, or won’t let anyone else take a photo, that can be a problem. “
It’s also why he tries to book all of his weddings in person and not over the telephone. “I’ll go meet them or they can visit with us here - we need to make sure that we look eye-to-eye on things. You have to make sure it works in regard to both of your personalities.”
Hautala said takes 3-4,000 photos on a wedding day. Six to eight hundred of those will be selected, color corrected and enhanced by RedHouseWeddings digital darkroom specialist Dain Erickson and then presented to the bride and groom.
“Ultimately, I play the role of photographer to capture amazing pictures no one else saw, but also to ensure that everyone has the time of their life. It’s a pretty good rush when you come off a 12 hour shoot, take of your shoes – just as high as the bride and groom.” After spending one of the biggest days of their lives with them he said he feels like the bride and groom are celebrities. New friends at the very least. “There’s usually some pretty big hugs at the end of the wedding day,” he says.
To contact Aaron Hautala and RedHouseWeddings log on to www.redhouseweddings.com or call (218) 454-3210 ext 1.
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