Starting a Wedding Photography Business

I have a friend with which I can go shoot a few weddings to build up a portfolio to show clients, but after I do this what should I do to begin developing a wedding photography business.

There's a huge negative associated with me - I'm 17 years old. I'm a graduating senior.

However, I have quite a bit of experience with photography and I'm extremely confident that I can compete with the bulk of wedding photographers out there.

How can I get started? How can I compensate for my age? A lower price until word spreads?

I'd appreciate any help from established photographers who remember how they began.

Thanks

Start out as a second shooter for a professional photographer so you can learn the ins and outs of the business and technical aspects of wedding photography.

finding a pro to work under is the best thing you can do right now.

Wedding photography is a extremely specific arena, and requires a lot of practice and specialized equipment as well as a creative eye. You could start your own and do the $500 wedding, but it would be very hard to really learn and improve.

By working with someone who is not only a good photographer but also a good teacher and business man, you could eventually have a huge advantage over the competition.

By trying to cater to the lower dollar market, you would not only undercut the market for everyone else, but you'll have clients that won't pay or ask for anything but the basics.

Age isnt as important as you would think. Yes, there are some people who think that because youre young you dont know what youre doing, but im 19, and i shot a wedding yesterday, and i know i got results that are much better than you would think someone with less than 1 years worth of photo experience would get. So just work your butt off, never settle, always keep progressing, and youll be fine.

I'll definitely be able to shoot with a professional, but I'd love to do some work of my own as well.

I need to get a summer job, and even if the $500 cheapie wedding wouldn't flex my creative muscle, I'd enjoy making that kind of money more than I would making five bucks an hour flipping burgers at McDonald's.

Maybe after college I'd like to establish myself as a high-end wedding photographer, but for now, time doesn't permit that.

What can I do to break into the low-end market (despite the disadvantages)?

think about it. 500 a wedding, 5 weddings, thats 2500 bucks. so if you get to the level of 5 grand a wedding, you do 10 weddings a year, 50 grand.

all you need is some business cards and a website to get started, and obviously sample images.

but you should look at the long run. a lot of pwople find it hard to move up out of the low market once you start. x bride will tell her friends if she liked the images and she'll refer her friends, but they'll expect the same package.


loot at some of the top websites out there. see if the images you can do really compete with theirs. if not, really spend some time working with someone else. you can learn from trial and error, but weddings is not a time or place for that.

check out sites like www.davidjay.com
he's 24-25, and just getting started. he's priced himself from 3000 2 years ago now to 10000 and is booked for every weekend of the year. so age and experience can be overcome. but they do require a lot of special skills. think about what you can offer that someone else can't.

do senior portraits and family portraits is a great way to get started, as it gives you time and opportunities to play around and get creative and without presure if something goes wrong

theyll expect the same if your lucky, they ususally expect more and better, so ive heard from a friend whos shot a dozen weddings or so.

Wow - David Jay's website is incredible. What a great photographer, too.

I've been doing some portrait work as well as some other stuff - pretty much anything that I can find.

Once I have a website, portfolio, and card, where do I go from there? What good is a website if nobody looks at it? Should I advertise? If so, where? Word of mouth is great, but given my age most of my friends aren't having weddings.

Don't depend on just a website. While that might be great for larger cities, people here in the rural Midwest seem to look more at print ads in local papers. I have trouble getting people to accept online proofing. They want "pictures they can hold in their hands," as one mother said to me.

a printed porfolio is priceless. people do want something they can hold in their hands, it looks better in print too, so youd be doing yourself a favor. dont scrap a website tho, just balance it out with printed work.

well contacts and netweorking is a big part of being in the business. you have to get people you have worked with to spread the word


i'd also strongly suggest taking some business classes, accounting, and business law. the more profitable photographers, well hell just the photographers that make ends meat are the ones that have the most business sense, not neccessarily the best images

Be an apprentice to a pro...its the best way because then at least in 2yrs time you have your experience and a portfolio and you have also matured a lot. I have to admit when i was 17, i knew nothing about life and my photo's really weren't that good. So as you mature so do your photograph's

Be a second at a shoot to learn and to get your experience. 17 is really young to take on the responsibility of something that people pay thousands for. If you get started with another photographer who knows the business, you will learn more than you would on your own. You don't want to re-invent the wheel when you can learn from an expert.

I wouldn't hire someone so young to shoot my own wedding, regardless of skill, portfolio, or maturity. I would suggest working in an established studio or under a pro, building up your skill and portfolio, until you have more age and experience. I'd also concentrate on getting a degree in something you enjoy and can make a solid living in, as a fallback to photography. I started out in IT, and I plan to work in IT 6 months per year and photography full time the other 6 months. Actually i'm just starting to hire two more photographers since i'm getting more inquiries and booking requests than I can handle at the moment.