(Business name or key word)

Our Newest and Best Edition... over 350 pages!
Order your copy of San Antonio Weddings Magazine today!

Rick Shelley Photography

738 Barchester Dr San Antonio, TX 78216-6121 210-308-5705 www.rickshelleyphoto.com

Rick Shelley has been knee-deep in photography his whole life. Since he was a child growing up in his parents' studio, Shelley's life has been cameras, flashes and shutters. He's spent hundreds of hours in a dark room, thousands of hours behind a camera.

“I was born into it,” he said. An easy-going man who sold his first photo – a picture of a wrangler at a rodeo – at age 17, Shelley grew up learning how to take an excellent shot in the midst of the action. Now that he's photographed nearly 1,000 weddings, he's honed his skill to an art. He's so good, in fact, that he's learned to let the action carry him.

“After all these years of experience, we're able to blend into the scene and kind of take over when we have to, but mostly we're really observing with the camera,” he said. “We're swimming with the events, almost carried along with them, in a way.”

Shelley's habit of going along with the events makes him seem like a natural part of the reception and ceremony; almost like a member of the family. “Over half of what we do, the guests aren't aware we're taking photos,” he said. Blending in fits nicely with his sense of his business.

“It's always been a family business,” said Shelley. “We didn't go to Harvard Business School. We don't high-pressure anybody. We're pretty down-home and old-fashioned and low-key.”

Being a family business means treating people with courtesy, respect, and simple hospitality. Shelley's mother, Dorothy, a photographer who at 79 is the company's office manager, is “his secret weapon.”

“The brides come back again and again to see her,” said Shelley, who says Dorothy's advice and practicality seems to forge a bond with the brides. They often come back to visit after the wedding.

Even though it's a family business, Shelley doesn't take his work lightly. He uses the best equipment and has carefully selected his two staff photographers – brides can choose from either Shelley himself or one of the other photographers. Whoever they choose, that photographer will work with the couple from the beginning to the end.

The beginning, which is often an engagement photo, to the end – the wedding itself – offers limitless possibilities. Shelley's unique pricing arrangement allows brides unlimited time on the day of the wedding and as many photos as they would like.

“I think the two strongest things are that we have no time limit and no photo limit,” he said. “We're able to concentrate on the wedding itself, rather than the clock or the number of rolls we're shooting. We're there from beginning to end. We're able to photograph everything, not just the high points.”

When he says everything, he means even the little poignant moments– a grandmother kissing a flowergirl, the newlyweds sneaking a kiss. Shelley just wants to photograph the moment that the bride and groom have spent so much time and energy planning.

“They didn't just decide to have a reception and show up,” he said. “They planned this thing. I just shoot it just like they planned it.”

When needed, he's happy to help guide the couple. But he knows that it's their special moment. “I mainly try to back off and not control the wedding. It's the wedding day, not the photo day.”

More About Us