Orlando area wedding photogs?

mmmatt · April 11, 2010

Hey there guys. Just got a distress call from my father and my sister that may inspire me to move down to Orlando area (Titusville actually) for a couple of years. What's it like down there? What's the low-med-high price ranges? is the market saturated with photogs? Is it as seasonal as it is in Wisconsin or is the work more year round? Any insight would be very helpful... this is a huge decision I have to make, not only abandoning my existing business in Wisco and starting all over again in FL, but I am a 50/50 single Dad and my 11 yr old daughter and I wouldn't see each other for weeks and months at a time.

Anyone willing to look over my portfolio and my pricing to comment on if that would fit into the area market would be appreciated (link in my sig), and if anyone may have some 2nd shooter or sub-contract opportunities coming up after July 1st could post or PM as well...

I haven't made my decesion yet but I'm leaning toward moving down. My dad is having a tough time and has been living with my sister for a few months already. Up until 2 years ago he was in Wico for the summers but then decided to move down there full time. Today he cried on the phone from the hospital (currently pneumonia) telling how much he missed me and wanted me to be there with him. he is 86. My sister has 7 kids ranging from 3-17 and has her hands full. My brother in law works at the space center and since he will be without a job soon, he is taking night school business courses in preparation for starting his own business when the space program closes.

This is a tough decision since I have an obligation to my sister and father down there and an obligation to my daughter and her mother here. all parties involved think I should make the move including my daughter and her mom... just don't know if I can handle not seeing her every week. Sorry for the overblown venting. Any info on the wedding photog scene down there would be great.

Matt

ShepsMom · April 11, 2010

Wow, tough situation. Where are you moving from? You're moving to an "attraction" zone lol, so yes, entire FL is over saturated with photogs. I'm not in Orlando, but in Tampa bay area, and boy oh boy!

Is photography a full job for you or you can do something else? I would start there first, unless you have means to live without working for a while. Just like any other move you make from one place to another. Sorry couldn't help much. Best of luck to you.

pinkymaling · April 11, 2010

hello
Hey Matt,
Sorry to hear about this. I have aging parents as well (83 year olds) its very sad to watch them get old. What a difficult situation you are in. Prayers for you to make the right decision for all involved. Klinh and I will both keep our eyes and ears open and let you know if we find out anything for you. You are allowed to go on about things and vent:) Its kind of a cleansing. They could use a good flash expert down there in Fld. right? (That's what Klinh calls you) Gracie (pinkymaling)

mmmatt · April 11, 2010

pinkymaling wrote:

Hey Matt,
Sorry to hear about this. I have aging parents as well (83 year olds) its very sad to watch them get old. What a difficult situation you are in. Prayers for you to make the right decision for all involved. Klinh and I will both keep our eyes and ears open and let you know if we find out anything for you. You are allowed to go on about things and vent:) Its kind of a cleansing. They could use a good flash expert down there in Fld. right? (That's what Klinh calls you) Gracie (pinkymaling)

Cool! thanks for the compliment and the support. I'm moving from Milwaukee and I am full time. I do bartend 1 night per week and I am struggling, but I feel being able to honestly say that I have dedicated my life to photography is an important reason to hire me. I'm also a "single focus" kind of guy and haven't been know to excel and multiple jobs. The action I have been getting this year is far better than last year and I feel as though I am almost "there", but I have only been focusing on my own business for about 2 years and I feel I am doing pretty well. That all gets thrown out the window moving 1000 miles south. well... I will always have my portfolio and my experience so not totally a waste. My sister is very connected through her church and her homeschool groups (yes she homeschools all her kids through 9th grade) and she can help me get work, but with the Space center closing soon Titusville may be a ghost town in the near future. I see myself shooting more in Orlando or shooting low budget stuff in t-ville. That's some of the insight I hope somebody can give me!

My father has some money and offered to help me out until I get established. He has a gorgeous condo for sale that will come off the market and I will have a place to live for free... as much as it is a bad call from a business standpoint, I will have a leg up that I don't have here. I don't really like fl, I lived in Clearwater for 6 years and Jacksonville for 1. I moved back to WI because I like it here, but family is family! After my father passes I will move back to wisco and that is when it will be tough... starting all over again. I won't be able to survive another 3-4 year business building run...

The big deceision is wether it is more important to be with my father and help my sister right now, or be with my Daughter... she and I are super close and it won't be easy on her or me. She has a good mom and her stepdad and brothers are great too, but she and I are closer than anyone. She has been a daddy's girl since day 1 and it will be tough. She is 11 now though and girl stuff is around the corner so Mom will be more important than ever soon. I don't know if I can handle not seeing her every few days, but if my father died and I wasn't there with him I would regret it. My daughter will live for a year or two but my father probably wont. he has also said he would pay to fly her back and forth for all of her school holidays and fly me back to do whatever weddings I have contracted for the year. Luckily they are mostly clumped together and I can do it in 3 or 4 trips. Obviously I will be able to hang with her during those times too and I have friends I can stay with here.

Lots to think about! This is NOT a decesion I really wanted to ever have to make. my sister and Dad have asked me to do this before but I never considered it until now. Hearing your father cry and tell you he wants you to be with him is a really hard thing to hear... he's a tough guy too, and that caught me off guard.

matt

WillCAD · April 11, 2010

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Matt. My Dad had lymphoma last year, and I lost my Mom in January just as Dad was finishing chemo/radiation, so believe me, I know the anguish you're experiencing.

I don't know a lot about the photographer situation in Orlando, but I vacation there every year at Disney World and Universal Studios, and I can tell you that the wedding industry is definitely a lot less seasonal than in the colder states. Weddings happen in Orlando year-round, though my guess is that they are heaviest during the summer months, when kids are out of school and people are more free to travel.

There are other photography opportunities in Orlando, too; there are lots of conventions, millions of vacationers per year, and plenty of pro sports such as golf and baseball spring training. How many photographers there are competing for those jobs, I don't know. ShepsMom's post makes it sound like the place is crawling with pro photographers, which doesn't bode well, but hey, just because there are a lot of photographers in a city doesn't necessarily mean that there are a lot of good photographers, right?

mmmatt · April 11, 2010

That is true Will... If it is anything like Milwaukee there are some crappy photogs getting a lot of the work! I do fancy myself to be a pretty good salesman too, so that may help me. I do some sports and some general event photography but my heart is in weddings and anything else is not as satisfying for me. I do that stuff now to get by, so it will be something I'm sure I would do there. I may have to do it and chalk a year or two in Florida up to family and try to keep my contacts here alive.

I will have a place to live and I will have food to eat even if I don't work a single day, but that is a different kind of hell and I have no intention of doing that. I have dates booked into next year so if it is a year or two in FL, I may not really loose too much business. Referrals don't happen overnight and I may very well be able to book WI dates from FL. I don't really even have to tell past clients I'm gone I suppose.

Matt

ShepsMom · April 11, 2010

Hey WillCAD

, i didn't mean to say that Orlando is "packed" with pro photogs. What i'm saying is, Orlando is a big city, and as you know, big cities have big competition pretty much in anything. Of course, i don't know how many pros are operating in it's vicinity, but i can tell you one thing, FL is not very big state, a lot of photographers in FL travel from east to west coast regularly to shoot weddings. So even if Orlando on it's own might not have too many wedding pros, they will be coming from any place in FL, just keep that in mind.
And yes, anywhere you look, there is a wedding photographer, just Google Orlando and look, never ending list, that doesn't include Craig list and such. Just sayin'
Not to discourage Matt, please do what you have to do, and I'm really sorry about your situation, please take care of your dad and your family, I understand how hard it must be, but don't get discouraged, good things bound to happen and you never know what might come along.
Best of luck!!

mmmatt · April 11, 2010

ShepsMom wrote:

a lot of photographers in FL travel from east to west coast regularly to shoot weddings.

If this is typical that would be helpful for me. I don't foresee Titusville being much of a draw for weddings. The real Estate market has gone to crap already and the space center still has a year to go. Real Estate is almost at 9/11 prices already and I don't expect them to go up anytime soon.
that is unless Obama decides to reverse the decision on closing the space center. I would happily traverse the state to shoot a wedding but driving a few hours each direction for a meeting to hear "we'll let you know" would not be fun!

Matt

Kinkajou · April 12, 2010

I'm in Gainesville, which is about two hours north of Orlando. I think you can plan on shooting year round with busy seasons extending into March-May and Sept-October, which are usually slower elsewhere. Shooting in June, July, and August will probably be unpleasant due to the heat and humidity, so that's a factor to take into consideration when dealing with outdoor portraits. I personally am ok in the heat, but I have had some subjects who were not as comfortable as me - especially in dresses and makeup or shirts and jackets. Be ready with tissues to offer to sweaty subjects... not the most pleasant, I know, but it's a fact. If you are able to get outside and get your shots done quickly and accurately and then get people back into the A/C, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

I think that the statement about traveling between coasts is definitely true, especially if you're smack in the middle like we are.

Obviously, Gainesville is a much smaller community so take that into consideration, but it seems to me that the prices here in north and central Florida are not as high as other areas. As you probably know from living down here for a while (you know, Florida is not really my cup of tea either. Don't get me wrong, Gainesville is a great town, but I could have less of the cockroaches and more of the fall foliage and winter snow and be perfectly happy), I feel like Orlando is in the cross-over zone to south Florida, where people are willing to pay a premium for high quality wedding coverage so it might be worth doing some research to see if you want to advertise in that area as well.

It might also be good to familiarize yourself with areas like St. Augustine that are popular 'destination wedding' spots for Floridians; I have one there in July. I'm not sure about where folks from the Orlando/T'ville area would go for their destination spots... maybe St. Pete?

I don't envy your position; it sounds incredibly tough. If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know.

mmmatt · April 13, 2010

Sweet! Thanks for all that info kinkajou!! Been to Gainesville many a time. I went to HS in Fl and a lot of my friends went there so I would visit. I went to UNF in Jacksonville. My cousin is a teacher at UF too, and my sister and b-i-l met while attending there.

I can handle the heat... marched in HS marching band and drum and bugle corps in it back in the day. I will say it is one of the primary reasons I moved back to Wisconsin... well weather in general. Thanks for the pointers on handling it on wedding day though.

this is not an easy decision! More because of my daughter vs my father/sister but the business end is a tough thing too.

Matt

Kinkajou · April 14, 2010

Oh nice! Send your sister and BIL a 'Go Gators!' for me

I wish you luck through this whole thing and feel free to get in touch if there's anything you need.

mmmatt · April 15, 2010

Well, I have made a decision for anyone who is interested. I can't move to FL. As much as my father needs me I think my daughter needs me more here. The only real reason I can't travel to FL more is because of my pets so my solution is to get rid of them. I love my pets but when compared to my father and my kid they are nothing so they get the boot. My plan will be to fly down every couple of months and spend time with my family there, and maybe during the winter make an extended trip around the holidays. This way I can keep my business healthy, help my daughter as she transitions into womanhood, and still be able to give my sister and her family the opportunity do do things away from their home without my father slowing them down. Just knowing that I can come at a moments notice is comforting to me and my family.

thanks for all the advice and input here.

Matt

Orlando area wedding photogs?

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