“In reality, it’s like, guys, the most successful photographers aren’t the most perfect photographers. They are the people that are doing something different, they are the people that are breaking the mold, they are out there doing something, and they are out bursting the mike, they are getting the word out. They are not just doing it in their little hole in the studio, they are doing it in the public eye.”
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Wedding photography is said to be one of the most difficult of all the photography specialties. How do I build my wedding portfolio? How can I break in to the highly competitive wedding industry? Do I assist another photographer for a couple years first to get experience? Do I need to go to school? Am I doing this for the money or do I really like weddings?
Things have changed enormously in regards to wedding photography. Traditional Wedding Photography, just like film photography, are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Some argue that Traditional Wedding Photography is here to stay and “timeless.” 8-track tapes are still “timeless”, right?
Today we hear many buzz words like Photojournalism, Documentary or Lifestyle wedding photography. With that, there are many ways to get started in your adventure of becoming a wedding photographer. Most will assist, 2nd shoot and then start their own businesses. Some go to school for photography and decide to shoot weddings. Others will cross over from Fashion Photography or Editorial Photography to the wedding game. There are also those hobbyist photographers who love photography! They start shooting families’ and friends’ weddings and events. These “weekend warriors” have full-time jobs and shoot part-time. Eventually they may go full-time upon retirement from the 9-5 grind, or leave their jobs once they feel confident they can make it as a Professional Photographer.
There are many, many ways to become a successful wedding photographer. What ever route you take, you must do your homework first! My background is in scientific research, and I’m a firm believer of it in order to lessen the risk involved with any business venture. Anyone can take pictures…but, not everyone can create and maintain a successful business. You’re probably familiar with lighting and perspective, but what about your niche market and overhead? I’d recommend stopping by your local Small Business Development Center or SCORE. Your taxes pay for those services, so why not use them? They have many resources and contacts that will help you get started!
Hints:
- Relationships - Create and maintain relationships within the community, the couples, their fam and friends and vendors. Very, very….very, very, very, very important. You have to be a people person and like people!
- Passion - If you don’t honestly love wedding photography…don’t do it. I see so many other photogs shoot weddings for some extra money.
- Wow Factor - Make sure that your couples RAVE about you every step of the way. An extremely satisfied client will help you book more weddings than a magazine ad or web ad! Gary Fong talks a lot about the importance of “Rave Marketing” in his instructional DVDs. He makes a lot of sense with his theories.
- Pricing - Don’t be afraid to charge accordingly. Don’t be the low-end photog who shoots a wedding for $800 then gives away the CD of unedited dig negs. This is terrible for the couple, your studio and the whole wedding photography industry! Remember that you are an artist.
- Niche - “Find your niche and scratch it!” You will need to decide who your clients are. The more specific the better. Understand that you can’t shoot everyone’s wedding. My website and blog help me screen the couples. This way, the couples who contact me are a lot like me and that has been key to my success so far!
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Summary:
Find your yin and yang of being a Professional AND a Photographer.
~Rob Nicholson
3 responses so far ↓
1 Joshua Word // Dec 22, 2007 at 5:23 am
Its easy to assume you can break into the wedding industry with a bit of knowledge in photography. I agree that there is need for charisma. All professions can benefit from it but some need it to survive, wedding photography definitely does. Yes, do your homework in the lab and out. Above all thing keep your brides happy. (it doesn’t hurt to have friends that are tech-savvy wedding photographers as well..) I do disagree with one thing though.. even if you didn’t like wedding photography you could stick around for the cake and ice cream..
2 Vlad Khavin // Dec 23, 2007 at 6:23 am
The idea that a successful professional wedding photographer is running a business can’t be underscored enough. As a person who loves photography, and shoots for the love of the art, and for capturing the moment, it’s very easy to lose sight of that. One of the key things (but far from the only thing) that sets a professional photographer apart from a hobbyist is that you not only have to shoot to wow and consistently deliver the goods, but you have to run a successful business and make money doing it. Which means you have to keep your books balanced, and you have to constantly find ways to promote your self. If you are a professional, you do this for a living. Even if it’s part-time, and you’re still holding down a day job… you are doing this as a source of income. While it’s absolutely true that raving previous clients are a great source of promotion, that will bring future customers to your door, you still have to go out and get more customers on your own. For one thing, you have to pull in that first set of customers that will be doing the raving!
I am a photographer. I love to shoot. I have never worked in a marketing department, or the book-keeping department. These are not my favorite things to do. Quite frankly, I would be much happier if I could just spend all of my time behind the camera, or editing my pictures. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works if you want to pay the bills with your eye and your lens. I guess the best advice I can add to all of this is… learn to love the parts that are necessary. Learn to love marketing; going out and getting the clients and promoting yourself. And yes… learn to love your income statement and balance sheet. And if you don’t know what those are… perhaps you might consider learning about them sooner than later.
3 marie moyers // Dec 23, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Thank you for this post. Be original! Mike stresses this in his classes… Yet I see people who worship, mimic, and plagerize all that he (and others) do. Just last night I was at a website that almost to the T copied Mikes signature that opens at the begining of his website.
Be original, be the first, be you! We already have a Mike Colon, David Jay, Dane Sanders, Jessica Claire, and they can be better at being themselves than you can.
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