Getting Started in the wedding business

shebreathes

shebreathes

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California
This is my first official year in the wedding business, on my own. This is from a wedding I recently did and all comments and critiques are welcome!! The watermark is because I posted these on my blog so I'm sorry in advance!!!

Thanks!

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She was pretending to be annoyed with him..they were funny!

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Uncle Frank

Uncle Frank

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You had a great couple to work with. That was one helluva kiss! Creative poses and excellent post processing, Michelle. The shots of the flower girl and the grandma convince me you'll be a success.
 
Uncle Frank

Uncle Frank

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shebreathes said:
Thank you...but no, this is not my first wedding. This is my first year out on my own, I worked for a studio a couple of years ago and I'm finally doing my own thing :) it's a little scary for me
Click to expand...

Tough times in the wedding business right now. There's no end of offerings at $500, and a big trend toward backyard weddings with Uncle Bob and his Digital Rebel doing the photography. But there will always a market for quality work... I hope. Make sure to visit the Making Money forum. You might pick up some ideas... or give us some.
 
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shebreathes

shebreathes

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Jun 16, 2008
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thank you for the link, I will for sure check that out :)

It is a tough time for the wedding business..and everyone is a photographer so it's a big competitive market right now! I've been working the 9-5 behind a desk for so long and I'm finally just getting the guts to follow my dreams....so...i hope it ends up ok..if not..at least I can say I tried :)


Uncle Frank said:
Tough times in the wedding business right now. There's no end of offerings at $500, and a big trend toward backyard weddings with Uncle Bob and his Digital Rebel doing the photography. But there will always a market for quality work... I hope. Make sure to visit the Making Money forum. You might pick up some ideas... or give us some.
Click to expand...
 
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Paul Dunlop

Paul Dunlop

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Aug 24, 2007
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Highlands Ranch, CO
shebreathes said:
Thank you...but no, this is not my first wedding. This is my first year out on my own, I worked for a studio a couple of years ago and I'm finally doing my own thing :) it's a little scary for me
Click to expand...

Well done! and congrats for going out on your own

Don't apologize for those watermarks - they aren't in the way at all - which is a PROBLEM

Your placement lends itself to very easy cropping in almost every shot, without any loss of the subjects in the image

I would move the watermark to the middle and shrink these down much further if I was going to post them - make the watermark more obtrusive, so that it does its job
 
shebreathes

shebreathes

Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
34
Location
California
you're right..i had not thought of that before! thank you for the heads up, I shall fix this for my blog :)

Paul Dunlop said:
Well done! and congrats for going out on your own

Don't apologize for those watermarks - they aren't in the way at all - which is a PROBLEM

Your placement lends itself to very easy cropping in almost every shot, without any loss of the subjects in the image

I would move the watermark to the middle and shrink these down much further if I was going to post them - make the watermark more obtrusive, so that it does its job
Click to expand...
 
S

silver

Joined
Dec 29, 2005
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Location
Bournemouth, UK
shebreathes said:
thank you for the link, I will for sure check that out :)

It is a tough time for the wedding business..and everyone is a photographer so it's a big competitive market right now! I've been working the 9-5 behind a desk for so long and I'm finally just getting the guts to follow my dreams....so...i hope it ends up ok..if not..at least I can say I tried :)
Click to expand...

there are always going to be new entrants to the market and wedding photography is a business that has little regulation, low barrier to entry (just a camera!) and that's all you need

however to make money is not an easy thing,. it seems the majority have other jobs and enjoy wedding photography but do not rely on it for a living

there are potential clients at all price points as there should be,. it's rather arbituary to complain about those who charge $500 - surely then the photographers who charge 10k should be complaining about the ones who charge 5k and the ones who charge $500 complain about those who do it for free,.

personally I don't think it matters if you charge nothing, $500 or $50000 for shooting a wedding, if the client is happy with the results then...?
 
Uncle Frank

Uncle Frank

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silver said:
personally I don't think it matters if you charge nothing, $500 or $50000 for shooting a wedding, if the client is happy with the results then...?
Click to expand...

It certainly matters if she's trying to make a living from it, Silver. :rolleyes: Unless she's on a suicide run, she has to cover incremental expenses for each event (travel and prints at a minimum), as well as amortize her investment in cameras, lenses, and computer gear, which easily runs into five figures for a well equipped wedding photographer. And after paying state and federal taxes, she'll need to have enough left over to pay for a roof over her head, food for the table, a car, insurance, etc. The fact that a large number of her competitors will offer her potential clients $500 packages is certainly germane, as she will need to match their prices or differentiate her offering in order to book any business.

I realize you're well established, but perhaps you've forgotten how difficult it was to start your wedding practice.
 
S

silver

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Messages
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Location
Bournemouth, UK
actually I don't think it gets any easier going forward than just starting,. the thing is there are potential clients at all price points,. from free to $$$ and photographers who service those markets,.

I guess I don't get the complaining,. backyard weddings or craigslist photographers or $500 photographers,. there are many who do wedding photography for fun and there are many good photographers (I would guess!) who advertise on craigslist or charge $500 / wedding and clients who want to have their wedding in their backyard,. the market is diverse and that is surely a good thing? :smile:
 
S

silver

Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
2,434
Location
Bournemouth, UK
yep, I try,.

There's no end of offerings at $500, and a big trend toward backyard weddings with Uncle Bob and his Digital Rebel doing the photography. But there will always a market for quality work...
Click to expand...

how can we know that uncle bob shooting a backyard wedding for $500 with his digital rebel will not provide 'quality work'?
 
Uncle Frank

Uncle Frank

Joined
Jan 26, 2005
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Location
San Jose, CA
silver said:
how can we know that uncle bob shooting a backyard wedding for $500 with his digital rebel will not provide 'quality work'?
Click to expand...

We don't. Uncle Bob could be a retired wedding photograph, though his use of an entry level camera might suggest otherwise. In point of fact, Uncle Frank (me) flew back to Boston shot his niece's wedding last December as a wedding gift.

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But in doing so, I reduced the number of weddings available to local photographers by one. That's the point I was making - the pool of available clients has shrunk during these hard economic times.
 
0

0dBm

Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
300
Location
Southern California
I have done likely no more than a dozen weddings in the last 30 years. In each and every one, I made it a point to capture images of the parents and grandparents as at least 30% of the total number of mages. They were the parties that were paying the bills!

More importantly, although the parents and grandparents were not the main subjects, they lay the foundation for which the happy couple shall build upon their life together. Including them as pivotal parts of a wedding gives them something to look upon as an important contribution towards building the family unit.

Looks like you are off to a good start. Good luck and fare well.
 
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