Wedding Togs - Where Did You Start?

danny_bhoy

danny_bhoy

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Hi,

It's something that, as someone who would like to eventually work my way up to and into wedding photography, really interests me.

I've done a few family shoots and got a friends wedding coming up that I'm doing as a favour (after suitably managing her expectations) - but I'd love to really throw myself into Wedding Photography and give it everything.

So to that end, could any of the pro's out there let me know what your 'route in' was?

As I see it, starting as second shooter would be the ideal route but I can totally understand the reluctancy of any pro to have a rookie under their feet all day.

Any steer would be great.

Thanks.

Danny.
 
I think wedding protography is so popular because it brings together so many of the nomal genres of photography which gives you a lot to think about on the day but the variation is it's own reward.



For example, typical genres of photography could be used throughout the day such as....



Portraiture - The most obvious one, you are going to be spending the day taking photos of people. Both with natural light and with additional lighting of some description.

Wildlife or sports - Ok you're not going to expect an owl as ring bearer or the bride turning up to the venue sideways in a touring car, at least not at every wedding. But kids running about playing outside or dancing around, then you may want to be comfortable with capturing moving targets.



Street - If you want to get some good candids, then you need to know when not to hit the shutter button as much as when to hit it if you are to capture the quick moments that show emotion.



Still life/product - Ok, might be scraping the barrel a bit here, but when you want some detail shots of the boquet, or favours on the tables, it's all going to help.



You can see what I am getting at, I'm sure you could think of others if you wanted to.



You don't need to be top of the game for everything to be good at weddings, I don't think anyone expects a wedding tog to be better at wildlife photography than David Attenborough's go to guy, but a healthy understanding of all types of photography is going to be very useful. Add to that people skill, organisation etc.





Personally when photography was purely a hobby for me, I didn't have any one interest. I have always been happiest when I can go out and give anything a go. I know I won't ever be a patch on any of the guys here who specialise, but I would like to think that I could have a stab at most things and get half decent results at least.

I would say once you feel confident being thrown into any situation, you are well on your way.



Once I felt I was at that point, that's when I started assisting and second shooting for other wedding photographers. To be honest for me that was only a short period, I only did a couple of weddings before launching myself into it myself. But I think I had enough confidence to do so by then.



Another big thing for me personally was the few years I spent working in nightclubs as a photographer. That taught me a lot about ballancing exposure from different light sources. Not good just for the first dance, but throughout the whole day.

I'm still all rather new at it. There are plenty here with much more experience that will likely have something much more useful to say. :lol:
 
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That's great, thanks Dave.

I don't think for one moment I'm good enough to go it alone just yet although I'm improving all the time. However, I've definitely got the customer service side of things nailed as that's what my day job revolves around and, as I understand it, that's a good 50% of what shooting weddings is all about.

Second shooting and assisting would be ideal but from what I've read opportunities are understandably hard to come by.

Don't think I could do nightclub work.....all those drunk people while you're sober sounds like a nightmare!!! :lol:
 
danny_bhoy said:
That's great, thanks Dave.

I don't think for one moment I'm good enough to go it alone just yet although I'm improving all the time. However, I've definitely got the customer service side of things nailed as that's what my day job revolves around and, as I understand it, that's a good 50% of what shooting weddings is all about.

Second shooting and assisting would be ideal but from what I've read opportunities are understandably hard to come by.

Don't think I could do nightclub work.....all those drunk people while you're sober sounds like a nightmare!!! :lol:
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And what do you think happens at weddings? :p

2nd shooting is great for experience... not sure how many will allow you to use any pics in your portfolio but in terms of finding out how ****in crazy a wedding is and how fast paced it is then it's an excellent learning experience.

I couldn't find anyone willing to let me 2nd shoot so skipped that and just shot a bunch of cheap or free weddings to build up a portfolio and went from there.

There isn't a right or wrong way of doing it providing you have all the right kit, back up kit, ability, insurance etc etc. For me 2nd shooting in hindsight would have been frustrating and taken too long to get where I wanted to be... others would have a heart attack jumping in at the deep end and not 2nd shooting for a while 1st.

I guess best advice is dip your toe in it one way or another and see what happens. Have a strategy for moving forward though at all times, a plan of what you want to learn, how to then get to the next level and always be planning ahead or you'll end up stuck in the beginning part forever. I know a few togs who never progressed because they didn't have the foreword planning aspect to their thinking
 
ajax_andy said:
And what do you think happens at weddings? :p

2nd shooting is great for experience... not sure how many will allow you to use any pics in your portfolio but in terms of finding out how ****in crazy a wedding is and how fast paced it is then it's an excellent learning experience.

I couldn't find anyone willing to let me 2nd shoot so skipped that and just shot a bunch of cheap or free weddings to build up a portfolio and went from there.

There isn't a right or wrong way of doing it providing you have all the right kit, back up kit, ability, insurance etc etc. For me 2nd shooting in hindsight would have been frustrating and taken too long to get where I wanted to be... others would have a heart attack jumping in at the deep end and not 2nd shooting for a while 1st.

I guess best advice is dip your toe in it one way or another and see what happens. Have a strategy for moving forward though at all times, a plan of what you want to learn, how to then get to the next level and always be planning ahead or you'll end up stuck in the beginning part forever. I know a few togs who never progressed because they didn't have the foreword planning aspect to their thinking
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Cheers Andy, all really helpful stuff.

My first thought was to start off relatively cheap and progressively increase my fee with experience and growing portfolio. However I've heard that a) it's really hard to increase you're prices once you've set low ones and b) low fees attract clients and venues that are maybe not the market you're looking to attract (that was as diplomatic as I could be there btw).

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for starting small and paying my dues but I'm also afraid of underselling myself.

Thanks again Andy.

Ps - re the drunkenness I'd have it in my contract that I'm allowed to leave as soon as the first person stars slurring :lol:
 
danny_bhoy said:
Cheers Andy, all really helpful stuff.

My first thought was to start off relatively cheap and progressively increase my fee with experience and growing portfolio. However I've heard that a) it's really hard to increase you're prices once you've set low ones and b) low fees attract clients and venues that are maybe not the market you're looking to attract (that was as diplomatic as I could be there btw).

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for starting small and paying my dues but I'm also afraid of underselling myself.

Thanks again Andy.

Ps - re the drunkenness I'd have it in my contract that I'm allowed to leave as soon as the first person stars slurring :lol:
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a) yes - so everytime your portfolio looks a little better increase immediately. I went from £150 to £850 in 12 months. I'm only in my 2nd year now but will increase again at some point in the next 12 months although not too much as need those referrals to come in. I didn't care about losing the referrals from £150 weddings as I didn't want to stay at that level.

b) yes - time to get your polish out and make that turd shine :lol: Seriously though if you have the skill you can make cheap weddings look half decent, but if you don't they'll look crap
 
Really good to see that pricing strategy has actually worked in practice for you Andy as that seems to be the only way to go for someone with little experience.

The thought of shooting receptions in working men's clubs with no natural light is a bit daunting but I guess that's what they mean when they talk about serving your time & paying your dues :)
 
I think that despite the old adage 'start by 2nd shooting' most people that answered a similar thread started by shooting a mate's for free, loved it and it went from there.

I do believe that's close to a natural progression though. Don't get too excited, there've also been many posts like 'Shooting wedding's? no way - I did it once and it was a complete nightmare'.

The bottom line - Don't pre-judge, you'll either have a ball or a nightmare. It's partly down to photographic skill and being prepared, and partly to personality.
 
Phil V said:
I think that despite the old adage 'start by 2nd shooting' most people that answered a similar thread started by shooting a mate's for free, loved it and it went from there.

I do believe that's close to a natural progression though. Don't get too excited, there've also been many posts like 'Shooting wedding's? no way - I did it once and it was a complete nightmare'.

The bottom line - Don't pre-judge, you'll either have a ball or a nightmare. It's partly down to photographic skill and being prepared, and partly to personality.
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Thanks for the reply Phil.

Think my biggest problem is going to be summoning up the bottle, or at least judging when the time has come, to charge a competitive rate for my work.

My FT job has taught me how to read people and situations to a T so I'm confident that side of things won't be a problem.

I'm lucky enough to have a few no pressure/no fee weddings coming up for friends so I'll take your advice and just see how they go with no pre-conceived notions :thumbs:
 
I've just finished my second wedding! I'm absolutely loving it and can't wait for the 3rd which I've got booked! The feedback from my first two has been very positive and that has given me the confidence in myself to progress.

You seem like you are from a similar customer facing background as myself and this has been a huge benefit. Talking to people on the day and striking up that all important rapport isn't a difficult job and makes everyone so much more comfortable.

By doing two cheaper first weddings and making sure that their expectations were fully set and agreed to completely took off all the pressure.

I agree though I don't want to hang around at this end of the scale, I've been lucky with so lovely venues but shooting in a working men's club isn't my idea of fun;)

Good luck!
 
spending a long time learning and honing how to actually shoot a decent photograph

(long time = many many years)
 
dazz150 said:
I've just finished my second wedding! I'm absolutely loving it and can't wait for the 3rd which I've got booked! The feedback from my first two has been very positive and that has given me the confidence in myself to progress.

You seem like you are from a similar customer facing background as myself and this has been a huge benefit. Talking to people on the day and striking up that all important rapport isn't a difficult job and makes everyone so much more comfortable.

By doing two cheaper first weddings and making sure that their expectations were fully set and agreed to completely took off all the pressure.

I agree though I don't want to hang around at this end of the scale, I've been lucky with so lovely venues but shooting in a working men's club isn't my idea of fun;)

Good luck!
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Thanks Dazz.

I think that really is the key when starting out: managing expectations.

I'm not kidding myself either through, I know it's going to be hard, mentally-taxing graft.

The customer service bit is second nature now, I've been to more than a few weddings where the photographer has crossed the line from assertive to rude and every time I've thought I could have handled that better.....I'll revisit that last statement when I've experienced the unique pressure though :)
 
danny_bhoy said:
Really good to see that pricing strategy has actually worked in practice for you Andy as that seems to be the only way to go for someone with little experience.

The thought of shooting receptions in working men's clubs with no natural light is a bit daunting but I guess that's what they mean when they talk about serving your time & paying your dues :)
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Danny mate seeing as your living in Sunderland you will probably know South Shields which is where I did my 2nd wedding... Shot in the small registry office next to the town hall and the reception was in a horrible pub near the sea front. Oh and it was December so no chance of doing any shots on the beach etc as the wedding wasn't until 3pm so was dark just after.

As you said you serve your time and pay your dues :thumbs:

Oh and now I realise you're semi in my area and therefore future competition may I suggest lots of colour popping, leaving your lens cap on for the ceremony and making sure you don't use memory cards EVER ;)
 
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