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20 Things You Should Be Doing Now To Improve As A Wedding Photographer

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1. Redo your samples. If you have a studio, frame some new images for your walls. If you meet with prospects regularly, create some new sample albums to showcase your best work. Remember to create samples based on what you want people to buy. We sold multi-album sets because we presented our prospects with multi-album samples. You will get what you show. So make it good!

2. Find a new album company that improves the look of your final product. You can check out my list of resources, or do a search for professional wedding albums. There are many beautiful options that consumers can’t purchase on your own – which gives them more reason to book you.

3. Get out of the office and meet people. Don’t just hit a Chamber meeting or a local networking group; work to find a wedding group. With places like ISES and ABC in many cities, you should easily be able to find a place where you can talk about weddings with peer vendors.

20 Things You Should Be Doing Now To Improve As A Wedding Photographer

4. Sign up for a bridal expo. From large, nationally organized events, to small expos put on by a few vendors, there is always an opportunity to set up a bridal fair and reach out to potential customers. Check out things like the Great Bridal Expo, or Google your area to find something near you.

5. Attend a photography conference. One of the biggest tradeshows for photographers is coming up in March in Las Vegas. WPPI has been helping thousands of photographers for years. From print competitions, to classes with the best photographers in the world, to a tradeshow that’s miles long and showcases hundreds of vendors, you’ll come away inspired. [Read more...]

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What Makes A Wedding Photojournalist Different Than A Wedding Photographer?

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What is the difference between wedding photojournalism and wedding photography? As we learned early on in our career, it’s a blurred line.

For many photographers, photojournalism simply means capturing the event as it happens. They pose the formals, and along the way throw in a few candids for good measure. Then they use those candids to promote themselves as a “photojournalist”.

But is that really photojournalism?

Not by my definition. I like how the Wedding Photojournalist Association says it:

What sets our members apart in the industry is their candid, documentary approach – a distinctly artistic vision toward wedding photography.

We offer a new perspective on wedding photography – quietly capturing the real moments as they happen for the bride and groom. It is our goal to use photography to tell the story of your wedding day, not dictate it for you.

Its How You Approach It

A candid is simply a photograph taken without the subject’s knowledge. And while a great deal of wedding images can be classified as candids, a selection of candids doesn’t mean you are a photojournalist. [Read more...]

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Wedding Photography – There Are No Second Chances

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The wedding season is just gearing up here in the states, so I’ve been seeing a lot of commentary about wedding photographers. One being this video put out by PPA.

In the video was this quote:

“An amateur photographer may get the shot right sometimes. A professional photographer is paid to get it right every time.” Mark Campbell, Professional Photographer

How true. As a wedding photographer myself, I’ve written about the importance of using a professional wedding photographer again and again.

You get one shot at getting it right. The guests will only be together one day. The formalities and details will only be available one time. Get it wrong and its disaster.

If you are a wedding photographer, two things should be at the top of the list of priorities.

1. Being the best wedding photographer you can be.

2. Marketing your wedding services to your prospects, and educating them on what is truly important.

Being The Best

The first task is the easiest. You have to educate yourself not just on photography, but also on every aspect of wedding photography. There is a big difference. Learning how to shoot is straightforward. If you’re standing in front of a waterfall, you can keep adjusting until you get it right – the waterfall isn’t going anywhere.

But that changes with a wedding. You have dozens of subjects moving and changing every second. You have a variety of shooting experiences – bright sunlight for formal images, and dark reception halls with mere candlelight as your light source.

Study with other photographers. Be an assistant to some of the top names in your community. Take their classes and week long training courses. By their books and posing guides. Do everything you can to become a little better every day.

Marketing and Educating

The second task is a lifelong challenge. Once you’ve achieved a professional status with your wedding photography, you have to prove it to the world.

This video is a great help. Why not incorporate videos like this into your own marketing – YouTube embed feature means you can easily put it onto your blog. And if you’ve joined organizations like PPA, you can also use that as a motivator that you are taking the next step to prove your experience and commitment to the photographic industry.

Not everyone will “get it”. Some people only care about price. And if that’s the case, let them go to another photographer, and take the chance of not getting the best results.

But in many cases it only takes a little education. Don’t stop with one liners and showcasing your gallery of images.

Tell people what they need to look for, and watch out for. Most people have never thought about the dangers of hiring a friend until its too late. Fear works in marketing – if you hear a horror story, you’re more likely going to try and avoid the same situation.

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