Getting Started in Weddings

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Welcome to POTN Nathan.

As for getting into weddings, I don't know how long you have been shooting but learn everything you can about the basics of exposure, how to change them on the fly, understand light in it's quantity and quality, how to work with and get along with all kinds of people, and how to perform under pressure.

The modern dSLR has now made it possible for just about anybody to quickly produce pleasant and adequate photos in most situations. This is one of the reasons why so many folks have flooded the wedding market thinking it's quick and easy money. And for some it is...... for a short time - until they find out how hard it is to truly stay in a serious business.

Keep on shooting and shadowing. The more you shoot the better you'll get. Shoot all kinds of social events - this will give you a great deal of people experience as well as lighting experience. Do you have average consumer gear or something a bit better? If the former, then you're competing with millions of others. Better gear helps, but that won't win the business automatically. You have to have a unique style, produce consistent, high quality repeatable results, act in a professional manner, and not let people get under your skin.

I started out shooting for college newspapers. One thing led to another - dorm portraits, individual portraits, and pretty soon folks asked me to do their weddings. It just sort of happens if you are receptive to it, market yourself and are open to new things. - Stu

I almost forgot to mention - there is a wedding FAQ and tips section here with a ton of good info.... you may have to search a bit, but it's there and has been accumulating quite nicely for at least 6+ years. Use the search function and you'll find it.

Great advice. I've currently got mid level gear and I'm slowly working on getting it up to pro specs. I'm basically taking my camera everywhere I go so that I can constantly get more experience. I'm lining up more opportunities to shadow now and we'll see what happens.

Thanks for taking the time to tell me about your experience.

Just do it. First learn exposure, learn posing, learn lighting - i've been doing weddings 5-6 years and I still consider myself a beginner at some of those. Advertise somewhere low cost, like craigslist, to gain experience, or work free for people who can't afford it but value photography. Keep your website showing professional prices, but reasonable for your skill, so as not to undersell yourself. Once you're decent just got for it, away from the budget places.

Shoot everything, meet everyone. Get out and do things, go to events, strike up conversations and hand out cards. If you have the funds facebook ads are good. even if its $2-$3 a day. I would also suggest adding an 'about me' section on your website, anybody can take a good photo, clients book based on your personality. I would also recommend writing up each post and not just hosting photos. It will keep people on your site longer, which helps web traffic and if you explain the photos/how the day went it can put potential clients in a certain mindset which can in turn also help sell you.

Great advice and you have some nice shots on your site.

Just remember this is no such thing as a run of the mill wedding!

Good luck and ignore all the cynical comments I'm sure you will get from some so called wedding pro's!

All good advice. But...

Ultimately you will find your skill as a photographer, tho it's very important, is somewhere between 10 and 20% of the formula for success.

The other 80 to 90% is your skill as a business person.

Do a business plan and a cost-of-doing-business analysis. Evaluate the competition and set your pricing while identifying and keeping in mind the niche of the market that will be most productive for you.

Develop a marketing plan... It will help to have an "in" with a wedding planner. Get to know at least a dozen more of them in your area as quickly as possible, and to establish yourself in all their minds as an utterly dependable vendor they can recommend with full confidence.

Figure out what sets you apart, why people should choose you over other photographers. Do all you can to avoid a price war, since that usually ends up in bankruptcy unless you have huge resources to carry you over until the other guy goes out of business. Emphasize other competitive features, besides prices.

Don't give your services away "for the experience" or "to build your portfolio". If you do freebies, or heavily discount a lot, you will establish yourself as "that cheap photographer" and it will be a deep hole you might never climb out of. It's okay to offer discounts off your regular rates in exchange for something of value... say if the B&G will sign a model release and let you use their photos in your marketing materials. An "introductory" discount might be okay, done carefully. Or, package discounts where they get better prices when they buy more, are generally okay.

If people really beat you up on price, don't be afraid to walk away. Usually those are the people you least want as clients... They can often still be beating you up after the fact, trying to get refunds because you didn't get this shot or something, or because they aren't 100% happy with some of the shots you did get (real or imaginged faults with your images).

If you choose to market in bargain places such as Craigslist, you will get bargain hunting customers who put super low price ahead of every other consideration, plus will be jumping into a cannablistic feeding frenzy of weekend warrors with no business sense or plan, their first kit camera, and little real world experience.

Get your ducks in a row: business license, sales tax, legal documents and forms, insurances.

Be realistic.... This is not likely to be a very profitable business for a year or two, maybe longer. In other words, it will probably be a drain on your resources, not an income producer. If this is a problem, go be a 2nd shooter for other, established shooters for a while longer.