What was before YURU?
- Sep 14, 2017
- 3 min read
My name is Eric Adams and my wife's name is Marci. We are the founders of YURU.
She's literally the brains and beauty of the operation. I'm the elbows and spleen. She has been the one to have the vision of what YURU could be from the second she heard the concept.
I should say that we never actually tell someone what YURU means. We sometimes give hints but believe it's something that you've got to find out for yourself. It will be revealed to you eventually. To begin to explain it, here's a little history...
My father was a photographer, my grandfather was a photographer and my great-grandfather was a photographer. While my father didn't teach me a lot, I'm sure that being around photography helped get it under my skin. It seems to be in my blood and I love it.
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My career started out working for my dad in 1992. I built his business for 16 years. During the time that I worked with him, we opened 166 studios! He sold the company and, in 2008, I was out of job. I did take some key skills from my time there. Primarily, I learned how to interview and train photographers.
The idea of working to make someone else rich again didn't seem smart so I became determined to build my own business. I opened a photography studio named FotoFly in 2010. It was a completely new concept determined to make excellent photography affordable. Our mission is 'Everyone gets great pictures!' We focused on small children.
One studio led to a second, then a third and then a fourth over the course of five years. In 2011, I invented a new concept for Santa pictures. I had always hated Santa pictures! The creepy Santa always made me uncomfortable as a child. With this in mind, I invented a new completely new way of doing Santa pictures: FotoFly Santa! With FotoFly Santa, the PARENT is the one who dresses up as Santa and we only photograph part of the parent. We photographed over a thousand families the first year and did almost six thousand sessions in six weeks last year.
In 2014, in an effort to help other photographers, Marci and I started FotoFly Academy. Our Academy is a four month school for aspiring photographers to learn: Camera settings, composition, lighting, posing, newborn, children, family, seniors, engagements, bridals, weddings, setting up a business, website design, and social media marketing. Our tuition is $12,500.
In 2015, we were approached by a local high school asking if we would photograph their students for their yearbook. Again, I had always hated school pictures. I thought they were boring and not well done. As always, I wanted to do them differently. Marci and I created a new concept where we would photograph the students TWICE! The first picture would be a traditional headshot and the second image would be of the student doing exactly what he or she wanted to. We called the concept YURU (if you spell it out, you'll know what it means). The students, parents and even faculty loved it the concept. We loved seeing the students try to be UNIQUE, rather than simply fit in. It seemed as if YURU was helping the children think about who they were and embrace their individuality.
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Earlier this year, we decided that we would open a completely new concept that would continue the journey we started with YURU school pictures. Instead of a high-volume/inexpensive price, we've created a very high-end, custom studio focused on the elderly. YURU is born.
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I've been a photographer for 25 years. Everything I've done up to this point has prepared me for YURU. The photography talent I've developed over so many years guarantee that I'll create an image as beautiful and unique as you.
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