Rangefinder Magazine
March 2005

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Profile: Charles & Jennifer Maring by Harvey Goldstein
Small Town Photographers Make Their Mark

Charles Maring and his wife, Jennifer, own and operate Maring Lifestyle Photographers and a small digital lab, ResolutionLab.com (Rlab), in the bedroom town of Wallingford, Connecticut, located between Hartford and New Haven. Wallingford’s population is only 17,500, and although Charles and Jennifer enjoyed the appeal of being able to reach the majority of Connecticut’s brides on the Interstate 91 corridor, this young couple set their sights on higher goals. Why settle for being the premier wedding studio in Connecticut when, with the proper use of the Internet, they could be THE premier wedding studio?

The Marings both come from families with similar backgrounds with a love for photography. When they teamed up over 15 years ago, they developed an idea, a dream along with a hard work ethic and optimism—their recipe for success.

A little over a year ago Charles and Jennifer decided, in addition to their Connecticut studio, to rent space in New York City and explore unfamiliar ground. Their thought—if you are going to dream, dream big and hopefully have some fun at the same time. They knew that if nothing else, they would have an experience.

They wasted no time in finding a location in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. With their party planner connections from previous events and their new location, they began to receive referrals almost immediately. This new office opened other doors, including a project to photograph a series of books.

They began photographing weddings at Manhattan’s more sophisticated venues, which led to photographing the wedding of Al Reynolds and Star Jones of the television show, The View.

It just so happened that Donald Trump and Melania Knauss were guests at Star and Al’s wedding, and they were planning what the media was hailing as “The Wedding of the Century.” Donald and Melania had seen the photographs from Star and Al’s wedding in People magazine, which showcased a beautiful photograph of the newlyweds. They loved the photographs and the Marings' unobtrusive approach so much that they called for a meeting and hired the Marings on the spot.

There was a lot of media attention for both weddings, as well as requests from newspapers and magazines for information and photographs. Because they believe celebrities’ private lives should be kept private, the Marings did not cooperate with the media, and so built a strong trust with their clients. This trust led to photographing several celebrity parties in New York and Beverly Hills for People and US magazines, as well as behind-the-scenes events for some television shows. They firmly believe their new venture would not have flourished without trust.

Being in the midst of the art gallery district, the Marings have spent the past year organizing their work and building several portfolios that include travel, fashion and design photography. Considering themselves photographers of life and style frees them from the labels specific genres of photography. Their highway to success is an open road without any self-imposed obstacles.

Although some may consider them wedding photographers, they really are a little bit of everything rolled into one package. While photographing a wedding, they may be fashion photographers, interior design photographers, photojournalists and portrait photographers.

Because they often work in low light situations at weddings, their camera of choice is the Canon 1D Mark II. They find it works for them because it is durable, fast and has excellent low-light capability.

Again, because of the low light, they prefer to use the fast glass of the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens.

For lighting at weddings, Charles and Jennifer use the Canon 580 Speedlight. “Working in New York City isn’t like working in any other place in the country. You have to be ready for anything: huge, dark cathedrals, extremely high ceilings in the ballrooms, sometimes combined with dark wood walls and indoor portraits under wildly varying lighting conditions. At Star Jones’ wedding, there were 52 people in the bridal party, and we were under tight time constraints to get to the reception. We were able to quickly take the photographs with integrity by combining the on-camera flash with a secondary Speedlight. With speed and precision, the flash lit the bridal party perfectly.”

The Marings advise others to be positive. They refuse to even think thoughts that do not lead in a positive direction. During one of the biggest recessions in years, when many photographers complained about business falling off, lowering their prices and cutting back on services, Charles and Jennifer refused to buy into the negative thinking. It was during this recession they opened their successful second market in New York. Charles states, “When you focus on quality and simply concentrate on being the best person or company you can be, the rest falls into place.”

To learn more and see some of their work, visit www.maring photo.com/.

Harvey Goldstein from Branford, CT, has been in the photographic industry for more than 30 years. He is a former studio owner and presently edits numerous association newsletters and magazines, as well as being a freelance writer.