Weddings [Archive] - Photographers Online NZ Forum

Rick0r

03-04-2010, 10:57 PM

Wedding photography is 95% marketing & advertising (via web, word of mouth, magazine etc), and 5% skill.

Pimp yourself until you're blue in the face. Get your friends that you have shot weddings for, to post on various NZ wedding forums (they all have an area to either praise or bag on photographers) and get them to post about how wonderful you were.

From there, business cards, hit up suit/bridal hire stores, see how much magazine ads are, make sure you have a good website too.

PureKiwi

04-04-2010, 07:34 PM

i am aiming in the next 6 to 10 years to be a wedding photographer , i too am unsure in how to go about it or even start , because its such a special day i don't want to **** the photos up lol

Hence why i am taking pictures in my own time of pretty much anything so ill be the unofficial photographer at friends / family weddings

Watch about 10 dvd on wedding photography and god knows how much on genrule photography

possum

05-04-2010, 09:26 AM

I do weddings, but really, I'm just a baby. I am straight up with my clients, and they've all been stoked thus far. I let them know I am not that experienced with weddings (have done about 10?) and charge accordingly. Pick your clients carefully too, to begin with. Some people, it's all about the photos, and you don't want them for your first few shoots, lol. Others, it's about the day, and some photos of it would be cool, pick these people, hah!

Here are some images from one of my first weddings, it was a Pagan civil union.
Anna and Barry's Wedding (http://louisetreherne.weebly.com/anna-and-barry.html)

xxx Lou

PureKiwi

05-04-2010, 10:04 AM

possum

05-04-2010, 10:12 AM

Currently in the midst of editing a wedding, and I have about 500 images, all edited, all on disc.

It's a lot of editing. :lol:

xxx Lou

PureKiwi

05-04-2010, 10:34 AM

do you go buy your self or take assistant ? what equipment do you use ?

possum

05-04-2010, 10:58 AM

I should take an assistant, but with the low fees I am currently charging, it'd need to be someone in it for the love of it, lol. I shoot everything with my baby camera, hehe, my Olympus E520. To be fair, I have two of them, and always have both hanging off me, with two different lenses on them. They are kit lenses. I do plan to upgrade, but it's a matter of money, and finding something to fall in love with.

I don't *do* weddings as a rule, as in I don't advertise or go out of my way to find them. Though the moment I decided that, I was inundated with requests, hah. I have turned a few away, as I am not what they are really after, although they think I am. I take them on when they fit with my relaxed style.

When I take the next step with my business, which will include an upgrade of equipment, skills, and marketing, I'll feel more confident with taking on bigger jobs.

xxx Lou

Rick0r

05-04-2010, 02:47 PM

how much editing do you do possum

as iv been to a few photographer wedding price list and they say package include something like 10 edited photos of clients pick and rest untouched , and what is a decent amount of photos to overall to give them

That sounds pretty crappy to be honest. 10 edited photos for an entire wedding? That'd barely cover cutting the cake :]

I'd say it'll be 10 photos given the whole photoshop makeover, professional retouching etc, and then 50-200 other photos, not untouched, just not edited to the degree that the other ones were.
You'd be shooting yourself in the foot if you gave all the unedited away too. TBH you don't want the client to see all your crappy photos before you had a chance to play with them ;D
'unedited' in that case will probably just mean it's passed the initial culling of photos, it's been cropped, colour corrected, and adjusted a dozen times over.. it's just not a full photoshop makeover :)

Big rule here: Don't sell yourself short. Don't charge $500 for an entire wedding and promise them everything under the sun. There's too many photographers doing that, and there's a strong case to be made for the opinion that it's "killing" the wedding photography industry. If you're a professional, your time is worth their money, so make sure you're marketing yourself as a professional that is worth a few grand for a once in a lifetime opportunity. After everyones gone home, the cake's eaten and the music's stopped, all that's going to be left of the day are the memories and the photos.. They're worth a bit of money when you think of it like that :)

jackinavox

06-04-2010, 09:21 AM

You’re right about charging less to get your foot in the door, but you have to have a limit. Our first wedding we charged under $1k for a full day shoot: prepsàceremonyàreception and we were well tired and then of course we had to do the post processing and all.

We’ve incrementally increased the fees per wedding just to show we’re serious. I think we have heaps to go before we can call ourselves wedding photographers but i think we’re on the right track.

We got in the easy way, after our own wedding, we befriended our wedding planner and she opened the door for us (specially for couples on a budget). We learned from our own wedding photographers who didn’t mind sharing secrets and guiding us. We also look at a lot of other photographers work and try to emulate their shots.

At the end of the day, we do it because we like doing it. We have day jobs so at the moment its all about enjoyment. We’ve got about 5 weddings to go this year so time will tell.

tomberkley

06-04-2010, 06:23 PM

thanks for all this info guys it helps. I am wondering what is better: to go it solo? or find someone who has some exp and I could learn off etc.
Not to sure if I want to be doing weddings for ever but its fun and it seems like a good way to gain exp as a photographer.

smurff

06-04-2010, 06:49 PM

ive always wanted to see how a good wedding photographer works there way through the day of a wedding, all the planning, any arranging etc.

-smurff

jackinavox

07-04-2010, 07:57 AM

planning the shot-list

it's all about the details for me and forward planning.

but most importantly, knowing what the couple wants. so building that relationship early on.

for the past few weddings that we've done, we've met with the couple numerous times before the wedding, we even attended their rehearsals and visited the venues early on to scout possible photoshoot locations and areas of interest nearby that we can use.

whittyp

07-04-2010, 02:34 PM

If you are starting out find another photographer and offer to be their assistant (unpaid) as a way of learning the ropes. I would never shoot alone as with at least two of you it is much easier to cover the angles and get better shots. It also provided insurance if you making a mistake or have gear failure.

Like others have said develop a shot list. You can download ones from the web. I would look at other wedding shots for inspiration.

smurff

07-04-2010, 04:48 PM

found this one
http://www.digitalartsphotography.com/Forms/WeddingShotlist.pdf

there looks to be a lot of work in a wedding 1st few would make you awful nervous

-smurff

Rick0r

13-04-2010, 02:54 PM

found this one
http://www.digitalartsphotography.com/Forms/WeddingShotlist.pdf

there looks to be a lot of work in a wedding 1st few would make you awful nervous

-smurff

Bugger that. In the weddings that i've done, there's about a dozen or so max that the couple want (mostly certain combinations of family members) that are outside of the normal ring/cake/kiss/hands/celebrations standard wedding shotlists that are the meat and veg of any wedding.

jackinavox

13-04-2010, 03:11 PM

most weddings in NZ are low key compared to overseas anyway.

elsewhere they do value the 'details' and all the candid moments.

ShutterNut

16-04-2010, 09:48 PM

Sorry but I have to disagree that it is 95% marketing and 5% skill - I would say the opposite! But that is just me. I believe there is a huge difference between photos taken by a professional photographer who understands how to shoot well in manual - exposing correctly, nailing the white balance, getting great comp and so forth - and someone who can take a nice photo in auto or is learning the basics in manual or Av/Tv etc.

I think the best way to get started is to be a great photographer. I vowed I would not do weddings - they scared me too much (if you stuff up there is no going back to do it again, unlike portraiture). But once I started learning and people started seeing my portraiture work, I started getting wedding enquiries.

I think second shooting can be a good way to start, and see if you are up to speed, or if you even like it. Make sure you choose to second shoot for someone whose work you admire and respect - there is no point shooting for someone with lesser abilities, or someone whose work you don't like.

I am new to wedding photography, and these are only my opinions. :)

tomberkley

17-04-2010, 08:17 AM

good advice cheers

smurff

18-10-2010, 07:49 PM

hi guys, i got asked today if i would shoot a wedding, for a friends friend. sounds like a small day, nothing fancy. having not done anything along these lines before, i have declined the opportunity.

Is this a common thing to happen, people ask you to do wedding when they know you havnt done that sort of work before. i haven't even done much portrait work so i have no idea why they asked me.

I feel saying no was the right thing to do, was it? or have i turned down a good chance to learn, sounds like they just want photos, possibly not much money to spend on a photog.
i have recommend a few people to them. not sure what there budget was so gave them a good variety. ( i never asked about money when they offered me the job, i knew i was going to say no )

-smurff

PureKiwi

18-10-2010, 08:23 PM

I get that abit to for weddings and automotive racing, i think some people find it hard to grasp the idea that it's not just point and click

smurff

18-10-2010, 09:37 PM

thats good :D

i would hate to ruin someones day by bad photos, even though in this case i dont know if they will even pay a professional to do it. dont like the stress of that.
i love the stress at work, having the system down for a few hours at many many $1000's an hour due to a brakedown. but some ones special day. . . that seems alot different.

-smurff

Lazlo Woodbine

19-10-2010, 12:54 AM

Shooting weddings is stressful like no other job I've done. You were definitely right to turn it down if it's not something you particularly want to do. It's becoming more and more common for people here in the UK to ask friends or family to shoot their wedding for them and expect the same results as if they'd hired a pro, though I think we're still a fair way off it becoming the norm. Once couples start to seriously think about the photography it's reasonably obvious to most people that there's some skill involved in creating great wedding photos.

People are more suprised about the length of time it takes to process photos afterwars I think. It's so easy to take a memory card to a high street developer and come back with the photos an hour later.

jackinavox

19-10-2010, 07:29 AM

i think the most important mindset is .. 'if you enjoy it'

we got into the wedding scene via a friend who ddin't want to spend any money on photos, ended up getting a bunch of us with dslr's to cover the day. we treated it as a learning experience and have never looked back.

i think the key thing for us (my wife & i) is that we enjoy being at weddings!

i think sometimes you just have to take the plunge! trial by fire aye?

Canvart

19-10-2010, 09:25 AM

Yep, I get it a lot too.

The first time I was asked a couple of years ago I said no for the very same reason as you, but this person was very persistant - after saying no about a dozen times, I gave in and decided to give it a go.

The experience can be summed up in one word - stress! I hadn't done many portraits at that stage either, and I made them fully aware of my skillset and that I would do my best. I also made sure that I wasn't too cheap - especially as I had to buy some equipment especially for the big day.

If you prepare yourself enough, and make sure you have the right equipment, even if you have to rent it, things can go alright, but it can be very stressful.

I havent done too many since, but did one for a friend a couple of months ago - that one was a nightmare.

He was in the category of 'its just point the camera and click, how hard can it be?'

They had a very tight budget, (were pretty much expecting it for free - it is just point and click right???)

I made the mistake of saying yes to this one. Should have gone with my gut and said no. The day was so disorganised and as a result due to no fault of my own, I was still setting up the camera at the church as they were walking down the aisle.... etc etc

I guess what I am trying to say is it depends on the situation and your willingness to step out of your comfort zone. With hindsight, I don't know if I would have done any of them again - but in both cases the clients were very happy with the results.

It is very hard though - nobody realises how tough it is until they actually have to do it themselves.

If your gut said no - then you made the right call ;-)

jackinavox

19-10-2010, 03:12 PM

i have to admit, when i got married, my wife wanted to spend $$$ on photographers (we hired 2).. i didn't particularly think they were worth that much.. but having covered a lot of weddings now.. i think we paid cheap!

those who charge good money are those that aren't stressed.. because they know what they are doing.. they know what to look out for.. they prepare for the day.

Rick0r

19-10-2010, 03:16 PM

In my experience, you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to wedding photographers.

jackinavox

19-10-2010, 07:16 PM

In my experience, you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to wedding photographers.

so you've gotten married a few times now then? ;):p:D:envy:

---------- Post added at 08:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:26 PM ----------

here's a good video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hpJ1iPD5RQ

smurff

19-10-2010, 07:49 PM

just from that video alone im glad i said no :D
you guys have a lot of good points and sounds like alot of good experience :)
im really glad i asked the question,
cheers all :D

-Smurff

Kazeden

20-10-2010, 10:38 AM

hi guys, i got asked today if i would shoot a wedding, for a friends friend. sounds like a small day, nothing fancy. having not done anything along these lines before, i have declined the opportunity.

I feel saying no was the right thing to do, was it? or have i turned down a good chance to learn, sounds like they just want photos, possibly not much money to spend on a photog.
i have recommend a few people to them. not sure what there budget was so gave them a good variety. ( i never asked about money when they offered me the job, i knew i was going to say no )

-smurff

This is actually a question i have asked myself again and again. I suppose it depends on where your interests are. Wedding photography is not everyone's cup of tea. I believe photography is just like any other fields, the only way to excel and become not just good but extraordinary is to focus in a subfield. Some pros out there are really good with landscape but not portrait, some can produce fantastic work with fashion shoot but suck at landscape. I haven't done a wedding myself but would like to try out soon because that's where my interests are. I think it will be challenging. As a few wedding photographers have told me before, shooting wedding is not just about technical skills but also about how you capture all the important moments that people can't see. I think that takes some practice. I reckon if you have interest in wedding photography you should just go for it when you have opportunity again. I am actually setting a time to shoot a prewedding album for my friend who got engaged recently. I am extremely excited as it will be my first attempt.