Wedding Photographers

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Danny133

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Daniel
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At what point do you call yourself one?

I mean EVERYBODY starts somewhere. Whether you charge £500 or £5000 you start at the bottom.

So if i was to want to pursue this avenue of photography without a complete slating where would i start?

Im not asking to charge people - i dont care about the money - i just want to build experience and enjoy the day.

Ultimately would love to make money from it BUT for now would just love to learn.

At what point do i become part of the "circle" i know peoplle say wedding togs are very specific and you either are good enough or your not but surely you have to learn somwhere .. if so where?
 
It seems a very difficult arena to enter.

Most pro's don't want the hassle of an 'apprentice' second shooting alongside them - even at zero cost to the pro. They would also be potentially increasing competition on their patch - you can see why this is basically a nonstarter, but this applies to any business - wedding togs don't have exclusivity on this.

Also due to the fact that this particular event is a 'one-off' a high number of folk won't risk employing/hiring a novice to record their big day.

There is a chance that some people just can't afford a pro. They might have a family member covering it or something along those lines. This might be the only way in to wedding photography in my opinion and at your cost whatever that may be. Professional training or study can certainly reach into the thousands (in my IT field). If you offset this cost against experience gained, it may be your best hope.

I answer this in best regards but expect to get told otherwise yet will stand aside for any answer that is a positive response.

Meanwhile, dig a trench and get a hard hat on.


Andy
 
im prepared to get battered on this although not sure why ..

im young and unexperienced .. im asking where to obtain the experience and where i should look to start ..

im not saying hey ive got a booking and im charging £2000 lol .. its an interesting field and something id love to learn but as you say lots of wedding togs will tell me to **** off which is a shame because im never gonna quit the 9-5 for it just want to learn
 
1/ scan the web for as much info as possible
2/ gate crash some weddings (politely of course) and take notes what/how the photographer does things.
3/ get some decent kit and double it, things break when least expected.
4/ think about the sequence of shots you think the couple may want.
5/ if and when you start taking on work, you need to know what THEY want.

Wedding photography is a BIG step, you need to be prepared, you need to be confident in your skills and abilities, it's not for everybody.
It carries with it huge responsibilities, stress and financial outlay.

Established wedding photographers probably won't want to help you in any way shape or form, as you could well take work away from them.

All I have to say is, it is very much down to how bad you want this, if you want it that bad, you will put the work, effort and finance into making it succeed. Just don't expect it to be an easy trip, you will need a business head as well as a photographers head, to make it work.
I wish you luck, but then I'm not a wedding photographer.....
 
The main problem is if you gain just enough experience and become a 'weekend warrior' you can easily undercut professionals.

Its highly unlikely you will be offering as good a service that they do, in the beginning anyway. This could range from artist expression, public relations, support, insurances and end product etc etc.

As most people will only have this one-off experience, its difficult to gauge what is worth paying for with respect to the above.

Also as you can see on the critque subforums that the skilled photographers can spot issues in photographs most of us wouldn't see. This is a problem when trying to sell quality shots at the market price to 'clients' that may not be able to tell good from bad.

In this financial climate, cost is a very real factor is these key decisions.
 
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You need to know your camera inside & out before you even attempt to take on a part of the profession that is exceedingly stressful and requires you to make on the spot decisions. I've done a couple and would want at least 2 bodies before I attempted doing another.

To get into it as a profession you need to offer your services as an assistant probably FOC for the first fee events.

Steve

Sent from my iPad using TP Forums
 
i suggest you do a wedding photography course, i thought i had it all figured out but i was nearly forced to do a course by someone i take advice from and im so glad i did, it cost a bomb but was worth every penny. you will come away knowing what you REALLY can and cant do yet and know what you need to do in the future.
 
when you shoot weddings :lol:

Danny133 said:
At what point do you call yourself one?

I mean EVERYBODY starts somewhere. Whether you charge £500 or £5000 you start at the bottom.

So if i was to want to pursue this avenue of photography without a complete slating where would i start?

Im not asking to charge people - i dont care about the money - i just want to build experience and enjoy the day.

Ultimately would love to make money from it BUT for now would just love to learn.

At what point do i become part of the "circle" i know peoplle say wedding togs are very specific and you either are good enough or your not but surely you have to learn somwhere .. if so where?
Click to expand...
 
Get invited a s aguest to as many weddings as you can and practice. You woin't be under pressure to perform, you can take time to evaluate where you're going wrong if needs be. You'll soon get to know what you can do with ypur kit, what you need to change etc and when you're happywith what you're achievening, then would be the time to start to thing about going Pro.
 
I'm doing my first wedding in March. It's for a good friend who has literally no money so it's a win/win for both of us as I get to build up a portfolio and she gets to just pay expenses. We've been friends a long time and she knows what I can do with a camera and she's happy with that. Once I have the start of a portfolio with some decent images then I can think about pushing it forwards into paid work, although I have to say weddings isn't really what I want to do so it'll probably a slow advancement on the side.
 
Jelster said:
You need to know your camera inside & out before you even attempt to take on a part of the profession that is exceedingly stressful and requires you to make on the spot decisions. I've done a couple and would want at least 2 bodies before I attempted doing another.

To get into it as a profession you need to offer your services as an assistant probably FOC for the first fee events.

Steve

Sent from my iPad using TP Forums
Click to expand...

Excelent point. At a wedding last year (big venue with multiply weddings) another wedding photographer approached me for help, his pics were all coming out too light, no back-up gear. I checked his camera and he had +2 exposure compensation dialed in, he hadn't a clue what it was never mind use it, he must have altered it by accident. This is where knowing your gear comes in you can trouble shoot if somethings wrong and your a lot less lightly to make a simple mistake like this.
 
I would think when you have built a good porfolio, and you are getting recommendations from past customers, when you have a proffessional web site, with samples and you have sold your self
 
If you contact any wedding photographer and ask to tack along, you'll get a no. Not just because they don't want you muscling in on their game when you've got experience, but they've got a job to do. More time spent explaining things to you is less opportunity to get "that" picture.

The only way to get the experience is friends weddings. And even friends of friends. Don't get anywhere near the pro tog, just do your thing, get your shots and don't get in the way. I wouldn't even talk to the pro tog.

Get your experience, work out your style and then when your portfolio allows, get yourself out there and make some contacts.

At that point, when you have a portfolio of weddings only you have done, you can call yourself a pro (assuming your shots aren't total ****).
 
thanks for the advice guys .. very good :)

funny how the replies in this section seem a world apart to those in the business section lol

but thanks .. taken on board and ill try and find some weddings!
 
you are a wedding photographer when that is you main job and not a fun/weekend job

just in my opinion of course :)
 
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