Where do I start?

I know this may sound ridiculous to some of you. I've been enjoying photography soooo much. I would love to get into the business of shooting weddings.

Where should I begin and how should I market myself for my first wedding. It's going to be kinda hard booking something with no experience.

I know I probably need to start off as a second shooter to build my portfolio. But I'd love your advice on how to go about this. How do you even convince someone to hire you as a second shooter with no previous weddings?

here is some of my work...

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/92505621@N05/8​938107594/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/92505621@N05/8​926992983/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/92505621@N05/8​919114568/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/92505621@N05/8​746880427/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/92505621@N05/8​692836259/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/92505621@N05/8​499772384/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/92505621@N05/8​546459117/

"I want to be a wedding photographer" isn't a natural progression of "I like taking photos". It's a business, it requires hard work, investment of money and time, accountant, lawyer, marketing plan, business plan, etc.

Your photos aren't bad snaps, but you're not in the realm of being a professional, or even being at second shooter level. You could carry bags, and you'd learn a lot that way. You need to learn more photography and develop your skills before you can call yourself even close to professional level, then you need to develop a business.

There are already more wedding photographers than the market needs, and established professionals are lowering their prices to get work. It's a really difficult area to make money in, without working yourself to death.

tim wrote in post #16004466
"I want to be a wedding photographer" isn't a natural progression of "I like taking photos". It's a business, it requires hard work, investment of money and time, accountant, lawyer, marketing plan, business plan, etc.

Your photos aren't bad snaps, but you're not in the realm of being a professional, or even being at second shooter level. You could carry bags, and you'd learn a lot that way. You need to learn more photography and develop your skills before you can call yourself even close to professional level, then you need to develop a business.

There are already more wedding photographers than the market needs, and established professionals are lowering their prices to get work. It's a really difficult area to make money in, without working yourself to death.

Thank you for the Positive Feedback and Encouragement, I appreciate it

Michael

First thing that pops out is that you need to get adept with a flash. The sample pics you posted are very flat and you need to work on your light. Also work some on your composition and poses.

As you presented them your samples are very "snapshot" looking.

To be really honest I'm just having a hard time figuring out a positive and helpful way to say what Tim already did.

Fernando wrote in post #16004997
First thing that pops out is that you need to get adept with a flash. The sample pics you posted are very flat and you need to work on your light. Also work some on your composition and poses.

As you presented them your samples are very "snapshot" looking.

To be really honest I'm just having a hard time figuring out a positive and helpful way to say what Tim already did.

Thank You

Weddings can be tough to photograph. They are often fast paced and technically complex.

If you believe your technical expertise is up to being able to provide professional photographic services then I would suggest contacting local professionals and request some work as an assistant. I would not suggest trying to get second shooter jobs at first. Just assist. Pay attention to what the main photographer does and learn how weddings photographed before picking up a camera.

Be prepared to sell yourself and show how you can help the local pro to get the work. Show professional quality images and describe your experience photographing people/events.

The images you have posted may need improvement but you are on your way. They are composed well and like previously mentioned, they need a little help to be considered pro quality. Take friends and family to the park every chance you get and shoot. Get comfortable with off camera flash, choosing backgrounds and color correcting your files.

Check out the work of your future competition. You need to provide something your local pro's are not. It may be service related, quality related but do not start out by making it price related. You should not try to compete by charging g the least. You will be surprised how much you have to charge to actually make money.

I would join a local Smug Mug or meetup group. It will give you a chance to learn.

Keep shooting and improving your craft. Since your samples dont include anything inside or artificially lit you need to make sure you have some understanding of lighting. What I cant express enough is that there is a big difference between enjoying photography and being a professional photographer. Loving photography is about creating and getting off on the joy of making whatever image you can imagine. Working as a photographer(especiall​y a wedding photographer) means living within the limitations imposed on you by your clients, the circumstances of the shoot, and to some degree the genre that shoot. You take a lot of shots that you really dont care about, and only a relative few that thrill you. Its really easy to end up not liking photography or being jaded about it if you arent the right sort of person. So just make sure that its right for you.

I've said this before, but from my perspective, there's really no good reason to be pushing into the professional realm without first having a really solid understanding of the basics. The samples I see above show wild swings of color balance (between the first two) and a lack of discernment about where additional lighting can help (and that generally entails that you don't have the knowledge as well).

I feel your pain about the chicken-egg dilemma regarding building a wedding portfolio, but is there a reason why you can't build a portfolio of at least friends and family ? Is there a reason you can't be fabulous at off-camera lighting, and mixing ambient + flash or posing or using environments etc. before offering yourself up as a professional ?

It's definitely helpful to think about your future goals; but my recommendation, again, would be to be a really fabulous photographer in general before pushing into the specialized niche of wedding photography.

You should start off as a portrait photographer, start with a couple of free shoots then you can start charging around $50 for an hour shoot and work your way up. I currently second shoot weddings and I have a couple booked for next year. I have been focusing on professional photography for the past 3 years and it is definitely not something you just step into, especially weddings. If you want to get serious about photography, start with simple challenges then you can start overcoming stronger challenges.

MichaelLynn wrote in post #16004079
I know this may sound ridiculous to some of you. I've been enjoying photography soooo much. I would love to get into the business of shooting weddings.

Where should I begin and how should I market myself for my first wedding. It's going to be kinda hard booking something with no experience.

I know I probably need to start off as a second shooter to build my portfolio. But I'd love your advice on how to go about this. How do you even convince someone to hire you as a second shooter with no previous weddings?

When I look back at how I started it amazes me to realize that it was entirely dumb luck. I was shooting a corporate video gig and while I was there one of the employees asked me if, by chance, I did wedding photography. And with no experience I said 'yes' and that turned into my first wedding gig - as a solo shooter. They turned out to be an all-star couple and I just knocked it out of the park and that was all I needed to get going - the referrals just came rolling in. And still do. Like, as late as yesterday.

Had that not worked, I have no idea how I would have broken into doing anything. I was just prepared and confident to meet the opportunity when it arose.

The wedding industry, as has been mentioned, is already incredibly over-saturated. Untrained, inexperienced shooters (or even assistants) are an enormous liability that established pros don't have time to deal with. It's not really even something you can offer to do for free.

I can say that to have any hope of getting picked up for one of those gigs, your technical skills should border on prodigious. You need know how to use a variety of speedlights in your sleep. And if you want to assist for shooters like me, you should know how to deal with using studio strobes on location (modifiers, power, triggers, etc). You need to be able to capture compelling images in natural light. You need to know how to find good light and good compositional opportunities. You need to know at least basic wedding poses and you should be comfortable being the rodeo clown during formals. Basically, to shoot weddings you have to be at the top of your game across the board. Anything less won't cut it. Your work right now is not going to attract the interest of a serious professional.

Long post. Sorry. I just really wanted to respond to note how much dumb luck factored into how I got started.

Micahel - you may also want to consider teaming up with a DJ to offer "zap shots". This will help get you familiarized with the event industry.

MichaelLynn wrote in post #16004968
Thank you for the Positive Feedback and Encouragement, I appreciate it.

There's plenty of people here who will blow smoke up your a*** and tell you you're awesome and you'll make millions. I'm the reality check. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying to become a real professional is tough.

MichaelLynn wrote in post #16004968
Thank you for the Positive Feedback and Encouragement, I appreciate it

You don't want the truth? Because maybe you can't handle the truth.

tim wrote in post #16007719
There's plenty of people here who will blow smoke up your a*** and tell you you're awesome and you'll make millions. I'm the reality check. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying to become a real professional is tough.

I'm starting to think you have serious issues. Maybe this is how others responded to your posts earlier in your career and this is all you know. I posted this question here to get some feedback and some info on how to get started. You responded. I thanked you for the reply and the feedback. Then you reply 2 more times in a bullying way. I have no idea how I could have been any nicer or more respectful to you for taking the time to view my work and offer your opinion and advice. I'm an art student who gets critiqued everyday. I have thick skin, those critiques will help my work get better. I'm a very polite person, I'm very appreciative there is such a great site like this available to help all of us photographers.

These kind of responses are going to only make you come across like an E-Thug. You come across looking very insecure. I looked at your sites and I think your work is absolutely breathtaking. So why would you post two more times in that fashion after someone thanked you for you reply. Thank you to everyone else who took the time to respond. I appreciate it. Happy Shooting!