Any advice for moving my business to weddings?
rogerchester
Registered Users Posts: 90 Big grins
I am interested in trying to move my part time business wedding photography. I have been read books and reading articles in the wedding post on Digital Grin (very help full). I have listened to Louis Torres on iTunes he makes sound easy. I have done one wedding for a friend and i have another one in May For a friend at my work. Figure i need to shoot 4 or 5 weddings before customers will have the confidence to hire me. When i shoot a few weddings i will have enough to make a sample wedding album. But for know i will need to try to sell my self that i will able to shoot a wedding for their needs. Any advise will appreciated please dont beat me up to bad i am just trying to learn. Here is a photo of my first wedding i dont think they turned out very well but they seemed to like ok. I know were i messed up and will fix this. Thanks Everyone
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canon 40D EF70- 200mm 1:2.8 l is usm EF28-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM
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With the photography practice practice practice. Study other photographs/photographers and art (please look outside the realm of wedding photography). Study composition, lighting, etc and be able to create great portraits anytime any place.
Study business models, learn how to sell and price yourself. Hire an accountant. Stop buying gear.
Learn to make your clients feel at ease and show them that you are in control. Most of all, you must realize that we are here to serve our clients. Put them first. Treat them with genuine respect and interest.
Last, there are no magic bullets or secret formulas. This is incredibly hard work to succeed at and probably a terrible financial decision (trying to make a living at wedding photography). But if it's what you love and can't imagine doing anything else, throw your heart into it and make it work.
I agree, mostly, with Pat here. But... stop buying gear?
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Sorry, it's the ugly business reality that we all need to face. If new gear doesn't add to the bottom line (and lets be honest about this) it's not a good business decision. Trust me, I'm a a bigger gear head than most and buying more gear is usually not the best answer. To add to that, becoming a problem solver and learning how to do more with less also stretches your creativity and makes you that much better.
Unless this is a hobby... then buy it all.
From a business side, you REALLY need to fully understand everything there is to know about your market demographics and dynamics. If you invest the time in really understanding who's doing what, how often and for how much, you'll start seeing trends; oversaturation in one area, and likely a lack in another. Make an objective decision if the vacuum is something you can fill, want to fill and can you make money filling it.. if you answer no to any of those questions, move on.
I've been a stills guy primarily for 40 years. last summer we moved 600 miles to a city where we knew no one. I'm retired, so my immediate thought was " shoot weddings"...I've done lots, they aren't my favorite, but they make money.
I started looking into the market here and found that there were hundreds of soccer moms with handy cams shooting wedding videos, a few stills people shooting average stills.
What there wasn't was anyone shooting high quality, professionally editied multi media ( stills and video, proper off camera audio, lighting, etc.) I put together a demo reel, burnt it to 20 DVD's and stuck an ad on Kijiji and Craigslist. Everyone that contacted me I sent them a DVD along with a price list. I sent out 16 DVD's, and booked 14 jobs, at a significantly higher price than the going rate is.
You have to market yourself effectively...they will buy the total package; you, your equipment and your ability/creativity. Make yourself stand out. be will to explore other venues as well. I agreed to shoot a tribute video for an awards presentation, and found another vacuum with no one to fill it. I've done work fir the city, for the Provincial Governement, several businesses in that realm as well.
I've been here for 7 months...I did my first shoot three weeks after I arrived, and I have not had more than one week since without a job to shoot, and I am already booking summer weddings. There's lots and lots of work there if you look
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Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
+1 on that. Most often over-looked is the business skills.
I'd also consider shooting 1 or 2 weddings of people you do not know at all. Shooting for friends is one thing, because you probably know many of them. Interacting with strangers is different. I'd try to find some truly broke couple(s), shoot and fork over a CD, sell them a wedding book at "cost-plus-one" (in other words, they pay for their wedding album plus a copy for you). Contact a few local churches, explain what you're trying to do, see if they can get you in touch with some couple's who are truly on a small budget (as opposed to those who simply choose not to spend money on a wedding photographer).
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While I agree with the stop buying gear until you improve other aspects and have the investment capital to do so (mmm love my new 70-200 mkII... sorry couldn't help, just got that last week)... we should still see what gear you do have currently to make sure you've have at least got a good starter set.
And yeah, business skills are a must. You'll need to file taxes for your photography income, you'll need to be able to properly woo customers and not scare them away, etc. Even if you become a great photographer w/out business skills you will have troubles getting jobs and protecting yourself legally. (I also believe all people who get into shooting weddings as a business and not a hobby need to have insurance to protect themselves and their gear...)
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Renting gear is a very good solution when you are starting off. Purchasing a 2k+ lens can make sense once you are shooting 30 weddings a year, but it's hard to justify that expense from a business perspective if you are don't have work scheduled.
Rent as needed, try out various solutions and find what works best for you. That way when you are able to afford to buy the gear you can make wise decisions. Just because a certain piece of gear works very well for everyone else it may not work well for you. Besides, do you want to be just like everyone else?
As mentioned, there is no magic bullet or hidden seceret that if you discover you'll be shot to fame and fortune. Your biggest asset is business skills.
Networking, marketing, advertising, promoting.
Start with the loqw/no cost things first. also be careful that you will be targeted as a new business by the seasoned advertising reps that can smell fresh blood and will offer you fantastic " deals" that will supposedly have every bride in a hundred miles beating your door down.... except they never come and once they have your money they neither care or gaurantee anything.
I suggest stay away from advertising till you get a feel for things.
I would be approaching other local businesses and working with them and their clients. I print up some vouchers that the other venors give out for a free print if they book me or some other offer that looks like it comes from the refering vendor to make them look better in the eyes of their clients and brings them to me as well.
Don't be afraid to tell these people your just starting up your wedding biz, but I would avoid telling them you have only done 3 or whatever weddings.
Also don't feel you have to show them anything either. If you sell yourself right they will assume you know what your doing and if your quality matches your price, then you have nothing to worry about.
The main thing when you talk to people is to show you are interested in them and their wedding. When I do an interview I'm lucky if I talk to the people ofr more than 5 minutes about price or inclusions. When they ring on the phone I prequalify them that i am within their budget and that determined, price takes a real back seat.
And thats what you have to understand. If there is a magic bullet it's that people buy the PERSON, the product and the price IN THAT ORDER!
Most people get it backwards. Don't make that mistake.
I will talk to the people for at least an hour when they come to see me and ask every question about their day. apart from the obvious of when, where etc go deeper.... what are the Bm dresses like? Do they both have both parents ( you don't want to be calling second husband Dad) what are they into, how did they meet..... just be interested in them.
At teh end of your chat, then talk prices. This is what I offer, this is how it works, are you happy wtiht that, would you like me to book you in for the date?
And that is an important one... Ask for the order. many shooters don't and I couldn't remember how many times I have won the deal simply because I said do you want me to book you in rather than give them a brochure and say get back to me.
Now, as for gear, not sure how that started but if i had to go shoot a job with what you have listed I wouldn't have a worry in the world. After more than 25 years shjooting weddings, I don't use much more than that now.
If you don't have one, you'll need a decent flash of course, ( i'm still using my 45 metz's I bought new over 20 years ago) and a good solid tripod and your there. More gear does not equater to more work or better work or more profit.
The one thing to remember is that couples are not like people on forums that are going to pick the eyes out of every shot you could ever put up. They are very forgiving of technicals and far more interested in the EMOTION and capturing the story of the day.
I tell everyone that comes to see me that my style is to shoot the day as it happens, to create a natural, relaxed and fun style without kitch poses that they will look back on in 10 years and be embarrassed. I ask if that is what they are looking for and every single one says yes.
In my studio i have about 3-4 wedding pick, about the same amount of glamour pics and I regularly book wedding without even showing the couple an album. It's all aabout showing your interest in them and their day, not fussing over prices or numbers or sizes of prints which is 90% of what most shooters talk about and 5% of what I do .
Determine they can afford you on the phone then sell yourself so they want to book you.
What I tell people is for every thing you read or learn about photography, put the same time into learning business, sales and marketing.
A talented business person with average photographic skills will always make more money than a talented photographer with average business skils.
OK, the others are saying some things I agree with, including mentioning business skills. One business skill in particular that I don't think was mentioned, is actually grammar and spelling. I'm going to have to play the part of the grammar and spelling police here, since you asked.
Grammar and spelling are a HUGE part of earning the trust and respect of clients. You have shown a fairly weak amount of talent in that category in your post. More than likely, you are more careful about it when emailing potential clients, but sometimes even spell check won't help. Especially when you are dividing single words into two words. You wrote "my self", which is actually one word(myself). You also wrote "help full", which is also supposed to be ONE word, not two. (Helpful). Also, "for know" should have been "for now", unless I am not understanding you there.
Seriously, I would strongly recommend you do a small amount of study in this category. Most potential clients of any stature will drop you like a rock if you can't spell, or if you keep dividing words into two parts. I know I would drop someone for that if the problem is consistent though an email or in his website.
I hope this doesn't seem too insulting, but I'm just bringing it up as something that really needs attention. I do wish you well though, and your photos are beautiful.
Now, I hope my spelling and grammar was good in this post, or I'll look like a total dork! (which I really am anyway)
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