JOE FLEMING – Seeing Bonafide Barbers Through the X-T2
Seeing Bonafide Barbers Through the X-T2
In late 2015, my wife and I explored the possibilities of opening up our first retail store for our beard grooming products, Bonafide Beards. The initial idea was to have a location that offered retail, production and office space. The location we chose was on the premises of Urban Grind Coffee Roasters in Parkhurst. Their shop had the wood clad look and feel that we enjoyed, and it was something that we could match up quite closely.
Fortunately enough, our initial plans changed very quickly when one of our local barbers, Morgan Price “Sinister Barber” approached us about using some of our shop space to cut hair.
Within a week of people flowing in and out to see their barber, we realized that there just was not enough room to have a barber, production, and retail. We needed to scratch the production space, and turn the location into a full on barber shop. In January 2016 we officially opened up ‘Bonafide Barbers.’ To us, we wanted the barber shop to show our customers who Bonafide is and offer them a truly unique experience when they walked through the door.
For me, the priority of the shop was to make it as visually appealing as possible so that I’d be able to use it as a photo studio of sorts and to make it easy to showcase clients. To get that we needed warm lighting, good textures in the shop and to put in pieces here in there of what makes Bonafide.
Flash forward a year later, and we have grown to having three barbers in-house, and what we feel is the best barber shop in the country.
Often times you’ll find me at the shop, working in the back on the couch and if I spot something of interest my Fuji XT2 is within arms reach to get up and photograph as necessary.
One of the amazing things that the XT2 has really helped me with around the shop is the power of its video capabilities. I produce a lot of videos for the shop, and primarily it was all done from my phone. That’s changed. Now, all of our video in-house is shot on the XT2 in 4K. Each of our barbers has their own video bio as well as various videos of the shop itself.
We’ve found that people from all walks of life come to have their hair cut at our shop; we’ve got regulars of famous musicians, entrepreneurs, UFC fighters, comedians and everyone in between. Our barbers are male, female, coloured and can cater to any ethnicities of hair. We tick all the boxes and meet any needs.
We want our family (customers) to come in and feel at home. Everyone is welcome to come in, have your hair cut and each time you come in you’ve got the option of a complimentary coffee from Urban Grind Coffee Roasters next door or your beer of choice from Red Rock Brewery.
We’re also a pet-friendly shop and often times when people visit, Morgan’s dog, Titan, will be lounging around and if you’re lucky my dog Abby will run up to greet you with a smile and lots of love!
If you find yourself in need of a haircut we’d love to see you! Check out our website, www.bonafidebeards.com, book an appointment, and if I’m here I’d be happy to take some photos of you!
