anner Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I've been very reflective over the last few days and I recently hadsomeone ask me how I got started. I never thought to ask thisquestion, but if I had considered wedding photography as a possibleprofession, I probably would have. From what I have seen, not manypeople are willing to share their beginning journeys with the generalpublic, for whatever reason. Part of me fears that sharing my fullstory instead of maintaining some sort of anonymity will destroy anycredibility that I have earned with other members of this forum, butit is my story for better or for worse. I have learned A LOT in thelast year, and perhaps that will help to illuminate a path for someonewho can't envision their own. First off, I want to congratulate everyone on making the first steptoward doing something you love. No matter how risky it may seem,life is so much more fulfilling when you are pursuing something youcan give your heart and soul to. When you do things out of passionand love, the world has a funny way of supporting you and helping yousucceed. I decided to get into this because I wanted to help people, notnecessarily because I thought I'd make a living out of it. The firstwedding I did was for cost only. At the time I had just finishedgetting married and I had a great photographer who did my wedding fortravel fees only. I thought, what a wonderful way to really helpothers out! Photography in my area starts at $2,500 for a decentphotographer - and there wasn't much for people who couldn't affordthat (now there's a lot!) At the time, I was still on a weddingplanning message board sharing ideas and wedding advice when a girlposted about how one of her family members who had promised tophotograph her wedding completely bailed out on her. I felt so badfor her, and some crazy cell in my brain decided to offer to take theplace of her family member! To this point, photography had only beena hobby for me which I had developed through self-study in my freetime. At the time, I only had an Olympus OM-10 manual focus, manualaperture camera that was a hand me down from an uncle. Now that Ilook back on this- WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING?! In preparation for this first wedding, I needed people to practice on,so I started paying more attention to how I would photograph myfriends weddings and I offered to do engagement portraits for freejust so I could practice on my friends. One of my friends showed herengagement pictures to another friend who asked if I could do picturesfor her too! I said sure and just asked if she could cover the costof film and developing- she agreed. I started giving my friendsmini-albums and photo gifts from the pictures I had taken at theirweddings because I couldn't really afford to give them something nicefrom their registry (but apparently I could afford to snap off 6 rollsof film and pay for developing!) This apparently started a little bitof a buzz about my photography. I started getting more invitations toparties and concerts and people often asked if I was going to bring mycamera. I also put everything I did online, on a simple website- notbecause I wanted to advertise, but because I wanted friends and familyto view the pictures from the events without me having to make printsfor everyone. Little did I realize, I was actually advertising myselfas a wedding photographer without even knowing it!!! In preparation for the first wedding (cost only), I bought a new (butcheap) SLR film camera that had auto focus and a few zoom lenses tocover a variety of situations. I also bought a cheap prime lens forlow light conditions (and because I loved the prime lenses that Ialready had on my OM-10). I also realized that I needed a betterflash if I was going to make any kind of decent pictures in thereception hall. I studied A LOT about flash technique, which wassomething I hadn't studied before and determined that I needed adetachable flash that could swivel and tilt so that I could bounce thelight off ceilings. I practiced a lot, but in retrospect, I shouldhave practiced much more with the flash techniques because I stillwasn't entirely comfortable with them for that first wedding. The biggest mistake I made for the first wedding was letting thecouple choose the film and processing. They chose the cheapest film(Walmart Fuji Superia- maybe expired?!) and Walmart processing. Theresults were horrible. The colors were off, there was dust on theprints, the negatives were overexposed, etc. I was devastated. Isalvaged what I could and had them redo everything possible (whichthey were not happy about and thus didn't put in any effort to makingthings better), but there were other problems which occurred in mycamera that only after the fact did I realize something went wrong andI didn't even know it. Half of the formal shots were ruined due to asyncing problem with the flash and camera (probably because the flashwas not entirely compatible with the camera). In retrospect, Ishouldn't have used the flash for fill because it was a beautifullyovercast day and there were no harsh shadows to compensate for. Other things went wrong with the wedding itself which upset the bride-like her crinoline which she picked up at the last minute didn't fit,her location was rained out and her guests weren't aware of a backupplan, so the ceremony went from being a nice location along a river toa VFW hall in front of a fireplace with cheap paper decorations. Thebride was pissed and depressed and I had no idea how to help. Being arecent bride, I understood her devastation and I offered to restageher vows at the original location on a better day. I watched theclouds all day long and when it stopped raining for just a bit, Ifound a great place outdoors to have some pretty formals done. Iassured her that no one would be able to tell from my shallow DoF andexcellent background framing that the pretty location was actually atrailer park. Sure enough, unless you were there, no one would beable to tell from the pictures that it was anything other than apretty park. She never did take me up on the offer to restage her vows. I did the best that I could with that wedding. I did it for free. Things happened to me that could have happened to anyone who wasn't aprofessional. It was a HUGE learning experience. If I had thoughtthat I wanted to make a career out of wedding photography, I wouldhave sought out a photographer to assist before attempting to do awedding on my own. That would have been so much smarter, and so muchless pressure than trying to figure out everything without having anyprior experiences or mentors to learn from! I used the internetphotography forums to help me out as much as they could. I was alurker for a long time, absorbing every bit of information beforeasking redundant and simple questions that no one wanted to answer. Despite my utter devastation with this first experience, I found somepersonal satisfaction in being able to help someone who wasn't goingto have anyone dedicated to capturing her special wedding memories ifI hadn't stepped in. (In retrospect, I'm sure her family would havecaptured enough of the important stuff, but probably not the othercandid stuff that I love.) Remember the friend of a friend who paid the costs for her engagementpictures? Apparently she liked her engagement pictures so much thatshe cancelled her professional photographer (who she must not haveliked to begin with) and wanted to hire me for her June 2005 wedding. She had seen some of the other wedding pictures I had taken forfriends online and felt comfortable that I would do the job the wayshe wanted. She stressed that she wanted to PAY me, not just cover mycosts, so I thought $800 was a fair deal because it was half of whatthe cheapest photographer charged and would help me put money towardbetter equipment or more chances to practice. There really wasn't toomuch rationale behind and figure, and now I'm realizing the effects ofthat. In preparation for this second wedding, my first PAID wedding, I did aLOT more practicing. Now I knew what it was that I didn't know! Iknew how important good film and good processing were, so I startedpracticing with better films and I tried every developer I could findto look for the best processing for her wedding images. The filmsimpressed me, ultimately the processing did not. I found that simplemistakes like dust on the negatives happened no matter where I went! How could professional labs let this stuff slip by?! It was a pain tocorrect these simple mistakes over and over again on my images. Itwas a drain on my gas tank. I decided that I needed to have morecontrol over the quality and production, so I went into debt to buy agreat digital camera- a 20D. At the time it was the only productbetween a consumer $700 DSLR and a $5,000 ProDSLR. I also knew that Ineeded the best flash I could get, so I went into more debt and boughta 580EX. These investments eventually made me decide that I shouldprobably try to help a few more people out with their weddings for anaffordable price so that I could pay off the equipment. Going digital did a LOT to help my photography. I got instantfeedback, practiced as much as I wanted (especially with flashtechnique), and was able to have control over the processing with nowaiting for a developer or traveling back and forth between a lab. Ihad to buy an external hard drive in order to handle the huge filesthat I was adding to my computer, but it was all worth it. I alsowanted to try out one of the online professional labs who hostedpictures for guests to view, so I shopped around to everyone that Icould find. I learned that some of them just host the images for youand send you emails with orders. Some of them let you set your ownprices and give you templates to customize. Some of them are fullservice labs that handle everything for you and also let you customizeeverything you need to. After signing up and inquiring with eachservice, they started sending me specials that would entice me to signup with their service. Most of them had monthly or annual fees, but Ifigured I could cancel if I wasn't making enough money to support thecosts. I ended up signing up with PICTage on a deal I couldn'trefuse. I also liked that they sent me print samples for free andthey took care of all the online fulfillment. The prints werebeautiful, and the quality was the highest I had seen from any lab. Once I created an account with them, I was terrified that they weregoing to give me free advertising on the weddingchannel.com! I wasn'tready to go PRO! I didn't have a logo! I didn't even have a businessname! I had to make one up, and fast! Remember- this was only 8 months ago! I put together a contract fromdifferent contracts that photographers had given me when I was weddingplanning, and the rest is history. Since then, I have beenoverwhelmed with inquiries, and while I really love weddingphotography, I never had a chance to sit down and make a business planfor myself. Things just kind of spiraled out of control and I felttrapped into offering these really low prices because I just viewed itas a hobby and desire to help people. People have since dragged me upand down the wall about raising my prices, so I finally did this year,but still not enough to make other photographers happy- just enough tohelp out brides in need and book last minute weddings when otherphotographers cancel on brides. Some of the best weddings have comefrom people who had someone cancel on them! Oddly enough. :-) After June of 2005, I had 9 more brides book my services for that sameyear. Before I had even photographed their weddings, they werereferring me all over the place. This year I have 16 weddings booked(just about every Saturday during prime season), and I would have aLOT more if I were taking weddings after mid-August (fall is sopopular here). I'm still picking up last minute gigs and helpingpeople out when they are in a bind. Most people are pleasantlysuprised when they see their pictures. They never expected a back upplan would produce such nice results. I recently had a bride plan herwhole wedding around my availability, and my sister is having herwedding on a Sunday so I can attend. This is just crazy to me, I'veonly been doing this for 8 months! I'm not famous! My husband is now looking for jobs out of state. He works ineducation, so I knew that if he got a job, we'd have to move at theend of August. Luckily I knew far enough in advance that I was ableto avoid taking any work for the fall and my last wedding job will befinished with enough time for me to collect my senses and move to anew location. This move has been a blessing in disguise. Even if wedo not move out of the area, I will now have time to re-think myphotography as a business, and not just something that helps otherpeople out. I will be able to put better boundaries on myself andwhat I can handle, and I will be able to take a better look at my workand its true worth. I got into this to help people out, but eventually I just became takenadvantage of because I was so inexpensive. Some of my brides value meand some just booked me for the price. I want to have personalconnections with all of my brides and I want all of them to choose mebecause of ME, not because of my price. I still want to help peopleout who can't afford much, but that will be something I'm going tohave to negotiate within my overall plan. In a few days we will know about my husbands job and what the futureholds. It may not give us a definite answer about moving, but it willdefinitely give us a better sense of what direction our lives will betaking us in the year ahead. My degree is in Music Education and Iplan on looking for a full time public school teaching position in thefall. Wherever I end up, wedding photography will remain somethingthat I do out of passion when I'm not teaching. I do not take thecraft lightly, and I highly respect people who make their living frompursuing their passion. I will never stop learning about photographyand how to better my technical savvy and creative eye because there isstill so much that I can learn. I will be submitting my first set ofphotos for contest in a few days. Whether or not I win, I'm puttingmyself and my art out there for all to judge as a learning experienceand an opportunity to grow. I am grateful that I can have theseopportunities in my life, and the freedom to pursue them. So.... that may be sooo much more than you wanted to know, but I hopethat it gives you a picture of my journey and how I got from point Ato where I am now. If I were to start all over from a professionalangle.. I would definitely find someone to be my mentor. Photo.net,Craigslist.com, other photography forums, or just local pros - theseare all places to start and to put yourself out there. You may startby simply assisting and just observing instead of shooting yourself-but there is so much to be learned from that. I wish I had thatopportunity- I almost had it and turned down a paying job for thechance, but the photographer cancelled on me. I learned on my own inspite of not getting the help I would have benefitted from. Joiningprofessional organizations like the PPA, WPPI, and others will helpyou find the resources and make the connections you need to helpyourself professionally. First and foremost- don't let anyone breakyour spirit, no matter how hard they try. All the best,Anne PS. If you actually read all of this... you MUST be passionate aboutphotography!! Now get out there and do something with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin cook - stratford upo Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Nah, I'll wait for the paperback version :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 LOL!!! I don't blame you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.W. Wall Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Thanks for taking the time to write and post that information, it is very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovcom_photo Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Anne, thanks for sharing your story! It means a lot to me. Please do continue to share your photographic adventures. I'll be shooting my first wedding February 25th, and I have to say your story is an inspiration to me....if you only knew. Best, Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarolinael Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Wow!!! Anne I am impressed!!! And I did read all of it cause I to am very passionate about photography. I had a very great mentor, her name is Dar short for Darlene she was a Pro for over 20 years and took me under her wing many years ago, when the time came she pushed me out of the nest so to speak to go out on my solo flight. I have never looked back and I keep flying. I do miss Dar, this all took place in PA and I now live in SC for almost 3 years now. Here's to Passion and Mentors may we always do you proud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonj Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Anne, Thanks for the post... as I have started doing weddings for free it's nice to know pros have to grow,learn and use less than professional equipment just like the rookies on photo.net. I have seen some photographers that are just getting into weddings get chewed up and spit out on this forum never to post again. I think your post should stay on this forum so all newcomers can read it... Thanks again Jonathan Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 It's so funny to hear someone else call me a "pro"... I still don't view myself that way and I question whether any other photographers in my market view me that way. In fact, I feel like they all still think I'm a "hack". What a horrible word to describe someone doing what they love! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meghan h nova Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Anne - Thank you so much for your words of wisdom - truly an inspiring tale for those of us starting out. I wish you were in the DC area - I'd try to pick your brain even further! Best of luck with your upcoming move - hope that it is a great one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loralee Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Thanks for posting that Anne. I've shot 2 weddings at cost for friends and another for a friend for $500 bucks. All were with the understanding that I had never done this before and that they were going to get what they get. I too researched and researched everything I could get my hands on prior to doing the weddings, but even so, the more I learn the more I understand how completely unprepared I was and lucky I was that things turned out well. I do have another friends wedding that I will be shooting in May which I feel better prepared for thanks in large part to this forum. Still though ... I've so far to go. You so often read from pro's who have spent so much time and money on formal education and mentoring under somebody that it can seem daunting to start from nowhere and hope to someday be able to make a career of this. It's nice to know that there are others out there starting in similar ways. For those that have all of the education, I respect you and the knowledge you bring both to your work and to this forum. For those that don't, I respect you as well for your guts (naivety? lol) in sticking it out and learning this craft. Anne, I hope things continue to go well for you and whether you move or not that your photography will continue to be a passionate part of your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colleendonovan Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Go Anne go!! It was meant to be, and I mean that in the best way!! Now you have me all fired up for this Saturday's wedding. I'm going to get an award winning image out of it, I can feel it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 I think you are too Colleen!! Now that you're in the WPJA, you've gotta cash in those free submissions for contests! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron_lee___minneapolis__m Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Thank you, Anne. This is a great inspiration for me. I am about 1 year behind you. I just hope I can turn out to be as good of a photographer as you are! Sincerely, ~Aaron Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovcom_photo Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Gosh Colleen, you got some really fine goodies in your gallery! Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marv_stasak___southfield__ Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Anne, You certainly have come a long way in a year. I suspect that it is as much personality as it is pricing and photo technique. I looked at one of your engagement slide shows and I could almost feel the rapport you had with the couple. You don't learn that in a book. You live near Rochester, do you not? I'm near Birmingham. I'd love to get together with you sometime and trade war stories over a coffee. Maybe we could lure some other forum lurkers, also. Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenm Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Anne, Love the title! I printed it to add to my nightly reading, can't wait! Thanks for sharing! I'm sure you will inspire many especially newbies like myself! Colleen, since Dan mentioned it, I peaked at your gallery and have to say how much I adore the boy and dog picture! Soooo sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 Marv, I'd love to get together with other photo.netters. I was actually looking forward to a meeting with other PICTage members tomorrow, but a family obligation came up at the last minute. I was really looking forward to meeting some of those people too!!!! I know there are quite a few in Michigan who lurk more than they post. Maybe a photographer get together would bring them out of the woodwork. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicola inglis Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 he he, I'll come if someone pays my air fare :-) Thanks for sharing your story Anne, you are certainly an inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s. roche Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Thank you for sharing this with us Anne! I'm pretty much a newbie here, I lurk much more than I post. As a beginner I frequently feel frustrated and overwhelmed by all there is to learn and by the changes in the industry--and wonder if I'm crazy to consider possibly entering this field as anything other than a hobbyist. Thank you for being so encouraging to those of us starting out. Your post is so inspirational---thank you! And yes, I read the whole post! LOL! Stacy:) Newbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colleendonovan Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Thanks Lauren and Dan! I try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenm Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Thanks Anne! I LOVED IT! - TWO THUMBS UP! - A MUST READ! - INSPIRATIONAL! Really, I never would have known when I met you on here last summer it was your first summer! This is a definite re-read to save in my printed files. Thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agaimages Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Wow! What an inspiration! Congratulations! We should have success party for you! This is in such short time, it's actually amazing! You not only have talent you must be great with people (well I've been reading your posts here and know you are). All left to say is that I wish you GREAT pictures for this season and lots of fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marv_stasak___southfield__ Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Anne, Ok. Let's plan a meet. I'm flexible right now, so pick a time and place that might be convenient. How about someplace along Rochester Rd. and not far from M59? That might be central enough for other forum lurkers, also. -Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 Thank you so much for your comments, really, it means so much to me. If I can help just one other person release their fear of pursuing something they are passionate about, than revealing myself was entirely worth it. I fear that some people may read this and negate my technical understanding because I never studied in a classroom with a directed curriculum. I want to assure the skeptics that I have done a lot of reading and a lot of applying that reading to real life situations. Perhaps even more-so because I wasn't required to, and because I did it out of pure interest. I started studying the optics of the eye in 5th grade, which morphed into an interest of how light behaves, which morphed into an interest in understanding photography. All of this was coupled with years of artistic training in different art school programs and museums. One thing I don't take for granted is that my education is "complete". Because of that, I'm constantly seeking new information. I don't feel like I "know it all" because someone gave me a paper with a seal on it. When someone brings up a topic that I haven't heard of or don't understand... I do my research. One of the easiest things I think we do naturally (for efficiency's sake) is dismiss topics and words which we don't understand instead of taking the time to research and understand them. Many of the answers are at our fingertips with the invention of the internet, but often times the REALLY good stuff is still sealed away in printed paper versions only available through a library. Some people in my generation have never even stepped into their community library! Did you know you can borrow (not rent) movies from the library? Like Academy Award winning movies? And cheesy romantic comdies too? :-) (My mom's a librarian, I guess you could say I'm a bit of an advocate.) In the next five years I would like to pursue a Masters Degree in Fine Art. This is not to make me more credible (though that may be a side-effect), but rather to introduce me to things which I may not come into contact with in my self-study and need-to-know way of learning. I want to learn the obscure things which only certain people know about. ;-) Life is one big adventure for me and I'm always looking forward to the next journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipm Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Anne, Thanks you SO much for this post. I'm finding myself starting on a ride that might resemble yours - I'd give details, but this is YOUR story, not mine - and the inspiration is invaluable. ~Skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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