Starting Package Fee: $845 (Negotiable)* Home State: NY, New York Additional States Coverage: Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania Additional Traveling: Coverage States Only Photographic Equipment: Traditional and Digital Negative Availability: Yes Video Capability: Yes Phone: 917-623-5285 Web Site: www.orangestreetproductions.com

About Igor Kushnir

After graduating with a degree in multimedia design and psychology I went to work for a prestigious advertising firm in Manhattan. They had state of the art technology, the best software and some of the most acclaimed art directors in the world. One of them, who became both my mentor and friend, gave me the advice that would become the foundation of what sort of photographer I would become:

"The world should not stand still just because you're dealing with static media," he explained. "Make your subjects move. Make them speak. Make them flourish."

I spent the next few years working with the best and brightest minds in the advertising field. Sometimes I would work with people who knew the camera like the backs of their hands, like actors and celebrities. Sometimes I would work with people who were less enthusiastic about having their pictures taken, like sports figures. Sometimes the art director knew exactly what he or she wanted. Sometimes it was an exploration as to what we could find, and what we could make work. Every permutation and every situation was thrown at me. It was thrilling, and over the years I became not only a photographer, but also the ‘go to' guy with regards to Photoshop and finishing pictures.

The beauty of living in New York City is that everything is there in close proximity, and I did my best to take full advantage. I would often take extra jobs after work for smaller magazines and even blogs to hone my techniques as a photojournalist. I did an entire series of cityscapes and would travel up the Palisades to take pictures of the mountains. Many of my friends from college had gone into the entertainment industry allowing me access to the downtown scene; inside live shows, backstage and music video shoots. I did album covers, live shots, band shots, headshots for actors and promo shots for comics.

Then opportunity knocked. A year and a half ago a friend of mine got married. It was a wonderful event and everyone had a great time. A couple of weeks later I put the photos I had taken together and sent them to the bride and groom as a wedding present. What happened next surprised me. I got a call from the bride telling me that she loved the pictures and that I had done things that they wouldn't have imagined on a shot list. Within a week I got call after call from the bride's friends asking if I'd be their wedding photographer. It turned out that everyone loved my wedding pictures.

That was my light bulb moment. I realized that I looked outside the box and got the wedding shots that most other people didn't see. I understood that my experience had tailor-made me to be a wedding photographer. At that moment Orange Street was born, and I haven't looked back since.