When Frank Castle started his professional career as a photographer he was on vacation with his wife in St Croix. He did not know then that he would toss his Information Technology career aside. He was simply taking vacation pictures, but they were very high quality photographs. Being the jubilant guy that he is, he showed his pictures to hotel management and one of the resorts hired him to take promotional photographs.
Four years after taking his first clients, Castle has taken the plunge, opening up a swanky new studio in the peculiarly arvant-garde mall in Maryland called Savage Mill, where uniqueness is the theme each day.
Caption: Hammond High School Promotional Football Video Created by Yanair Photography
On Sunday, April 29th, Castle is hosting the grand opening of Yanair Photgraphy from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Castle has a full-service studio. While he is perfectly willing to take a headshot or still portrait, he specializes in natural movement – stopping action to create for his clients “memories for their whole lives,” as he put it.
In a press release sent to the Guilford Gazette, Castle said of his new studio, “We offer a comfortable, private and safe environment for you and your family. Our studio features 1000 sq ft of relaxing space where we usually have the music pumping to get the blood flowing. There is a large television connected to the camera where everyone can see what the photographer sees and really keeps everyone involved!”
Exactly what services does Yanair Photography offer? The business, staffed by five, not including the ownership team of Castle and his wife Shamane Rangasammy, contracts with individuals and organizations to provide still and action photography, plus videography.
The team includes Mike Palmer, Melvin McClean, Chris Townsend, Chris Thess, and Ricky Lasser.
Yanair Photography meets client needs from the ground or from the air.
They are licensed to use drones when the customer needs that aerial perspective. The jobs that keep him busy are typically weddings, births, head shots, and portraits; but he gets calls to cover high school and college sports. The shop also sells photographic art.
In 2016 Yanair Photography covered several Hammond Golden Bears sports teams for this newspaper. Later, the company volunteered on a number of occasions to create masterful images and video for the Hammond High School sports program.
Yanair Photography created two sports promotional videos for the school – one featuring the varsity football team, and the other for the men’s basketball team. Castle said he wants to cover women’s sports next.
Caption: Hammond High School Promotional Basketball Video Created by Yanair Photography
While Castle has been a professional photographer for four years, he has seven years of experience. He ran the shop out of his home in Columbia. He said, “We wanted to expand. We thought it was time. It’s better for our clientele.”
“It’s better when you have a real creative space. We have high ceilings; better lighting,” Castle said.
When asked, ‘Why Savage Mill?’ he described the management there as “really nice.” He added, that they understood his business and worked out a plan that made sense. He said, “It’s an artsy place. No big box stores.
It’s a perfect fit. It’s more of a creative space for us.”
Castle promises door prizes. The shop is located in the Weave Building. Savage Mill, a historic cotton mill is now a complex of shops and restaurants, antique center shops, home furnishing stores, craft galleries, artist studios, specialty shops, and banquet facilities.
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