the wedding forum - suggestions? ideas?

ivar

Hello all :wave

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I've recently been given the 'keys' to the wedding forum and I'm very happy to be here :smo I've been passively present mainly so far, reading through some threads, looking at what all goes on here. I have to say, I like what I see. Lots of great threads, discussions and photos, and I think the average quality of the photos is quite high.

The photo forum is a relatively new forum. Even though it falls under the 'shots' category, this forum is about more than shots. Questions, tips (technical and non-technical), all wedding related issues are welcome. Kind of a one-stop place for wedding shooters.

I've already revamped and updated the wedding photography resources sticky. I hope it's more legible, and makes things easier to find. If not, let me know. Also, if you have more suggestions for that list, please let me know :thumb



Now, what else?
Even though there is already quite some activity in this forum, there can always be more. More threads, more photos, more information, more fun.

I have a few ideas, let me know what you think?

Idea 1

The great dgrin-wedding-shooters-tips-and-tricks-thread
What is your best trick? what tip would you give to all wedding shooters? What's the one thing you can't do without?
In this thread, every week (?) one dgrinner posts their best tip; This can be technical and non-technical. What piece of equipment do you always have with you? How do you efficiently store/organize/process the shots? How do you turn bridezillas in to meak lambs?
There can also be another thread for discussion. That way we'll have one thread with tips & tricks only.

Idea 2

Explain yourself!
Every 2 weeks (?) one dgrinner picks 2 (?) of his/her favorite shots, and explains what (s)he did to get them to be like they are.
Where was it taken? What lens/focal length? shutterspeed? aperture? Where did you place your lights, if any? What did you do in post, if anything?

Idea 3

You tell me!
...
...
...

Shima

I really like the idea for #2 of explaining how we did specific shots.

Let's see other ideas, I'll throw a few out.

1) Best business practices perhaps? We can get more in depth discussing contract tips, advertising tips, pr tips, website improvement tips, etc.

2) To expand on my last idea on #1 above, people who want to get their website "ripped apart" aka critically looked at by one and all to improve the marketability of it to potential wedding clients could get put "in the spotlight" for a week or two where they would be the only website we were all charged w/ looking and critiquing for that week and then at the end of the week or two hopefully be able to end up with a much more polished look to their site

3) I really like the "best wedding" or "best engagement pose" things we've had recently. Maybe we could take this further with a theme every few weeks. Say maybe "best ring shot" one week, then another week "best bridal" another week "best almost kiss" and "best father - bride dance" then "best flowergirl shot" etc, etc, the possibilities are endless

Anyhoo these are just a few for now, give me some more time to ponder and I'm sure I'll think of other ideas

FedererPhoto

Selfishly, I'm more interested in business tips and info than in the images themselves... there are hundreds of other places I can go for just images.
That having been said, I appreciate the insipration of some of the great images here.

ssimmonsphoto

Shima wrote:

1) Best business practices perhaps? We can get more in depth discussing contract tips, advertising tips, pr tips, website improvement tips, etc.

2) To expand on my last idea on #1 above, people who want to get their website "ripped apart" aka critically looked at by one and all to improve the marketability of it to potential wedding clients could get put "in the spotlight" for a week or two where they would be the only website we were all charged w/ looking and critiquing for that week and then at the end of the week or two hopefully be able to end up with a much more polished look to their site

I like your ideas, Shima! Even though the photos are the end result of the business, without the customers to shoot, it defeats the purpose. I have already learned a great deal about the business aspect, but I know that I have a long way to go.

jeffreaux2

I like the idea Shima had on contracts....even going so far as to develop one as a team and have it stored somewhere that we can download it and taylor it for ourselves. I have one that I was lucky enough to get from another dgrinner, but am positive I have seen discussions on items that were amiss from this particular contract.

- Either way, I hope we do open the place up for discussion of all things wedding. It is frustrating to pose a question aimed at wedding photographers and then realize it was moved to...techniques..or Big Picture...to be answered by folks who may or may not know anything at all about the business.

-In all, the community here is pretty helpful. I was lucky to be put in contact with a photographer in Tennessee when I first had thoughts of selling myself as a photographer. He coached me through a lot of details pertaining to the business side of things. I still have things to learn. One thing I openly admit is that I am definately a capable photographer....but as a businessman I am much less.