Aspiring Wedding Photographer
Some would say it’s a luxury being self employed, and it probably is to a point. You have full control of the decisions you make, you are more passionate about your job, you can adapt your business and have creative control to steer it anyway you wish. Having said that you also bear the load if things go awry. There’s no manager to fall back on and no team to share the decision making. You question yourself at every junction and every direction you choose has consequences.
Can I afford to turn down that wedding enquiry because the fit with the couple didn’t feel right,(the answer to that is always yes). Should I increase my prices because the cost of living has gone up and I have a family to support? At the same time the cost of living has gone up for couples too and I don’t want to price myself out of the market. Do I stick with my album supplier or source a new one ? The questions are constant and you’ll make the wrong decisions a few times but eventually experience will help you figure these things out. So read on for 10 steps to becoming a wedding photographer.
You’ve bought a camera so does that make you a photographer?
Well actually, yes it does. To be classed as a professional it used to be said that the majority of your earnings must come from your “profession” so you may not be a professional photographer yet but you’re heading in the right direction.
My first piece of advice would be to buy a professional (that word again) camera body, 1 lens and a flash. The make of camera is pretty much irrelevant, I firmly believe a good photographer will take better photos on a crap camera then a poor photographer with a good one. I won’t get into the Nikon/Canon/Sony debate for me it’s who’s holding it that matters, so go to a shop, hold lots of different pro bodies and you’ll soon find the one that fits your hand the best.
Ideally you need a camera that has 2 card slots. I’ve heard horror stories of cards corrupting and couples’ wedding photos being lost. As a wedding photographer that, for me, would be the absolute worst thing ever. These are peoples memories you’re dicing with, you can recreate the photos of the couple but you can never recreate the day itself. So for me, 2 card slots is a must. You only need one lens to begin with so the best you can afford in the 24-70, 24-105mm range. I could shoot a whole wedding on my 24-70, you don’t need long ranges, or macro’s or primes to begin with you just need a workhorse lens.
How do I use said camera?
Spending money on education is so much more important than spending money on kit. You can go a long way down the wrong road and literally everyone has an opinion when it comes to what does and doesn’t make a good photographer. So go learn. Read books, watch YouTube videos, book on photography courses and inhale it all. Learn about the exposure triangle, composition rules (so that further on down the road you can break them), on and off camera flash and how to pose people and make them comfortable while you’re doing so.
Then book on a business course because there’s no point taking amazing photos if you want to make a business out of it but can’t. I have spent a vast amount of money on my education and it has stood me in good stead for running a sustainable and successful business. If you choose the right teacher (I can help with that) your investment will pay you back tenfold.
How often should I practise?
There’s rarely a day when I don’t get my cameras out, I’ve hung white sheets on a tripod in the garden to practice my night time off camera flash, I’ve made my husband, my kids, my dogs even my guinea pigs pose for photos. So go out and photograph anything and everything. A wedding photographer, for the most part, documents an event. So go out onto the street and document what you see, you will learn about shutter speeds, how to predict when someone is going to laugh, or cry.
The best documentary photos come from learning human behaviour. Believe me, you can never practice enough and even now, 9 years in, I will still book onto courses and have a refresh or take my cameras with me on a day out. You should never stop learning.
What to do if you’re not quite ready
There are events happening everywhere, all of the time. Christenings, birthday parties, engagements to name a few. I can guarantee if you put a post on social media that you are looking to gain experience and will shoot for free you will get requests. Start off by saying you will do an hour, if you’re still feeling comfortable after that hour, stay for 2, but leave on a high point or after a great photo as this will do wonders for your confidence.
You will probably hash up a few photos but look at your exif data and try to work out why, make notes and learn from your mistakes. Every time you go out try to bring back a lesson and endeavour to get that bit right next time.
Am I ready to shoot my first wedding?
The age old advice for any aspiring wedding photographer is to tag along to weddings with another more seasoned photographer. Whilst in theory this is a great idea it’s not always that easy. The hustle and bustle of a wedding day isn’t the right situation to teach anybody and the photographers clients will have paid for a second additional photographer to provide additional photos and will expect them to be on a parr with the first shooters.
You could offer to be an assistant, help with lugging bags around, carrying and holding flashes and rounding up people for photos is always appreciated. When I started I just threw myself straight in at the deep end. I saw an advert on facebook for a couple wanting someone who was cheap at their wedding for a couple of hours to take some family photos, I messaged them and got the job. From there I started a page on social media and went in cheap, really cheap. If I had to go back and do it all again I would do exactly the same.
People will have (and did have) a lot to say about that, but for me, the best place to learn is on the job and as long as you make couples aware that you are a “student” and charge according to your experience then this is a great way into the profession. When I got married I didn’t have the budget for a photographer and lots of couples don’t so you will be doing each other a favour. I did my first few weddings for a nominal fee and then slowly began to charge more as my experience grew. You’ll find yourself playing around with all sorts of editing styles but eventually your style will develop.
How much will I make?
Working out your cost of doing business is one of the MOST important things when you work for yourself. I do this twice a year and it’s something you should have learned on your business course. The cost of running a business is phenomenally high so you probably won’t make much for the first couple of years. Most photographers, myself included, work their full time job and become a “weekend warrior” for a number of years before being established enough to go full time.
I also personally feel that photographers should charge based on their experience. I’ve seen many photographers come and go very quickly and this is mainly due to the fact they see taking pictures as a job and not as running a business.
They photograph a friends wedding, set up a page, look at what other photographers are charging and go in at the same price. (then start teaching a week later). Not only is this irresponsible on their part it’s not sustainable and they quickly discover they can’t pay their tax bill, can’t afford their insurance and close it all down. Couples get caught up in the excitement of wedding shopping and possible don’t do as much research as they should, or are hoodwinked by stock images on websites.
You have a responsibility to yourself, your profession and most importantly your clients to be able to deliver what you say you can deliver. When I first started I turned down winter weddings because I wasn’t confident using flash and knew I would be messing up peoples photos if I took on their weddings. Know your limits and price according to them and when you start to make money reinvest it back into your business, be that kit or your education.
Who will I be?
You will develop a style as time goes on. You will work out your strong points and build your portfolio around them. Take inspiration from others but don’t be a pale copy. You have joined a creative industry so be creative and have pride in your work. There’s nothing worse than seeing the same, or even your own, ideas popping up on other photographers pages so be individual, be you, learn from your courses then adapt to make it suit your style.
Once you have a style you can then market yourself as such. Are you a documentary photographer who does little to no posing, are you editorial and want to produce the type of photos you see in a magazine with a high end, luxury feel. Or maybe classy and traditional, with posed, shot at eye level photos that stand the test of time.
What else do I need?
You’ll find you will build up your kit as you go along and discover the type of photographer you’re going to be. It will become apparent to you as you are shooting that there are certain things you needed at a wedding and didn’t have and then your never ending list will begin. Backups, and backups to your backups are the first thing. I wouldn’t feel comfortable now going to a wedding without 3 camera bodies and backups to my 2 main lenses but this takes time. You’ll waste a bit on gimmicks but try to stay focused on what’s important.
Don’t forget you need to be able to edit your photos once your home from the wedding and store them too for at least a year (usually longer). You will need samples of wedding albums if you’re going to provide them within your wedding packages, business cards are useful, as is a flask. Every photographers list of must haves is different and you’ll soon find out what you are missing and can live without or what you absolutely must have. My must haves are a warm coat because night time photos in winter are cold, my spider pro belt, easy open softboxes, walking boots which are always in the car and a stanley flask.
Do I need friends in the industry?
In a word, yes. You will hear lots of gimmicky quotes along your journey and the one that you should absolutely listen to is “community over competition”. One day, you’ll book a wedding and at the last minute you may be ill, your car may break down, you might be stuck in a traffic jam, they may want a second photographer or you may have forgotten your SD cards or battery charger. There are so many things that can, and do go wrong that you need a back up team in times of trouble.
I’ve never understood the need to be competitive, there are around 275,000 weddings per year in the UK, thats more than anough to go around so you don’t need to be “that photographer”. I don’t think there’s a more competitive or bitchy world than the photography one but my advice is keep your eyes on your own lane and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. If you’ve got your style, done your cost of doing business and know where you’re heading then keep making your own footprints. There will be opinions at every turn, (I mean this blog is full of them) but make some friends and don’t compete because you’ll send yourself crazy.
Can you summarise?
The photography industry is more accessible now than it has ever been. Photography gear is relatively cheap compared to how it used to be and there is access to social media for everyone so setting up a business page takes minutes.
So to summarise, education not gear, pride in your work and individuality. Be original, don’t copy other peoples work, websites, blogs and pricing lists. Do write a business plan with short, mid and long term goals, and do this every year it really does help you keep on track.
Be personable, friendly and helpful. Most couples who are getting married haven’t done this before and will be looking to you for advice. So be calm in a storm, be that a figurative or literal storm, be flexible, weddings don’t always run on time so don’t be the photographer who kicks up a storm when they’re meant to finish at 8pm and the first dance hasn’t happened yet, it’s more than likely not the couples fault. Be honest about your experience, being a student is nothing to be ashamed of, we all started somewhere.
Most importantly love every moment of this very special talent you’ve been given. There is nothing that fills your heart more than a heartfelt thankyou from a couple who you have provided a life time of memories to. The wedding photography community is a wonderful place to be and I would encourage anyone to take the leap. There aren’t many people who can turn their much loved hobby into a career and working 15 hours a day for yourself is so much better than working 8 hours a day for some else.
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