KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Ann Marie and Dylan Pierce said they’ve had a few scares in the past misplacing their cameras and other production equipment in their home in North Carolina or car. They'd always “freak out,” she said, but minutes later they’d find it.
“We try to be responsible but when you’re in a hurry and you’re shooting here and shooting there, you might set it down for a second,” said Ann Marie during an interview. “You put a lot of faith and trust into people. Now, we learned like trust no one.”
Sunday, the Pierces had an actual “freak out” moment they said. They recently drove up from Carolina and shot a close friend’s wedding in Grand Rapids on Saturday. However when they spent the night with friends in Kalamazo, they woke up to find their cameras had been stolen from their car.
“The first thing I said was ‘the footage, the footage, like what are we going to do,'” she remembered. “We were just panicking. Like, I couldn’t even speak.”
Ann Marie said she hurt badly after it happened. Dylan felt violated. They checked the housing complex’s security cameras looking for the robbers and the equipment they took, which was mainly four cameras: Canon Mark III and two Canon Rebel T5.
“I mean as most people know, really expensive cameras,” Dylan said. “Then we also had a GoPro knock-off version that we use and then we have just a backup handicap camcorder that we use.”
They also took microphones and multiple lenses, the couple said. All of it was worth $8,000. However, more importantly, all the wedding photos were gone. They called police who dusted their car for fingerprints. In the meantime, Ann Marie spoke with the groom’s mother.
“I said ‘I don’t want to ruin their honeymoon,'” Ann Marie recalled. “'But I wanted to let you know because I want everyone to save any photos they took and video so that we can compile what others have and make the best product we can with what others captured.'”
The Pierces said having their equipment stolen also hurt them financially. They use the money they get from Pierce’s Production to hep fund special programs for the special-education students at her school in North Carolina. Ann Marie teaches at a Title I school and they receive no funding. A friend set up a GoFundMe page to try and recover their equipment so they can continue to help the students.
"We try to keep our prices affordable for people who can’t afford professional photography and give them a product that they’ll enjoy and cherish for the rest of their lives," Dylan said.
However, now, the Pierces are devastated they said. They spent most of the day calling around to all the pawn shops in the area and checked online for their equipment. So far, no luck. They’re hoping police will help recover their belongings so they can get the memory cards back.
“The cameras are replaceable,” said Dylan. “The footage we got is not. You can’t go back and do a wedding over. And it’s just very heartbreaking.”
***A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Ann Marie and her students. If you’d like to make a donation, click here.***
