zofia

I say go for it. I like Anne's way. Add the logo if you want. I feel like you're the author of their

book. The author of any other book has his name on the spine, cover and inside. One page

on the back isn't very distracting or obscene in my opinion. Stickers come off and defeat the

purpose. It's good advertising for you. Years down the road, if the couple can't remember

your contact info and has a friend getting married, there it is, right in the album. Z

I attended PPE in 2000 and wish I could go every year. I'd sign up for the Reggie seminar in a

heartbeat. Even if he just shows some recent work, (which I'd doubt), I'm sure there'd be time

to do Q&A after....? Bambi Cantrell's seminar in '00 concentrated a ton on her recent work,

but even so, I still got a lot out of it. Let us know how it goes. Zofia.

Oh yeah, and if you go off the backside of Mammoth Mountain, you find the Ansel Adams

and John Muir wildernesses. Beautiful areas with burnt forest next to bright yellow aspens.

The bakery is called Schats, and is awesome but you want to go early before they run out of

everything. But no photography allowed inside, bummer.

On top of getting a scam email at least once a month I also have had MULTIPLE phone calls

last spring from a "Nigerian" man with a seriously thick accent saying, "You will take pictures,

I will send you check, yes?" Seriously? The thing that gets me is someone IS falling for these

ploys. Sad and pathetic really. They called so often and the number showed up as

000-000-0000. Lovely. People are awful sometimes, huh? I changed my phone number....

Hi Melissa. The color temperature/white balance looks different in nearly every shot. Maybe a

little PS would help make them look more consistent. Also "PROOF" is only over one of the

pics? Actually, I looked through some of your other portfolio shots and I wonder why you'd

put "PROOF" over them when you're trying to show your work? You can barely see any image

at all, especially in the flowers section. Maybe you could just upload them smaller, if you

don't want anyone to copy them...? Just my thoughts. Z

I like the creative control of building my own site. It's super simple, but I can change it

whenever I want. I used Dreamweaver 8, bought the "for Dummies" book, and a couple

months later, Tah Dah! I have no formal computer training, so if I could do, you can too.

(Holy Cow, I sound like a cheesy commercial, oops.)

I use MySpace to keep track of my friends all across the country. I just posted a profile for my

photography too. I think you need to be careful. You could be successful with it, like Sarah.

You just need to make sure your crazy friends don't post inappropriate comments on your

page, to make you look less professional. I've searched through the photographers on

MySpace, and was surprised at all the very professional profiles. MySpace gets a bad rap on

Tv, (there was a "MySpace rape" in my old hometown involving a kid I went to school with.

Scary stuff, but like previously mentioned, many artists, musicians, and actors use the site to

promote themselves. Why shouldn't we? Z

Todd, I definitely don't mind linking other vendors sites to mine, but how do you know that

they're referring you? Should you just offer to do so on goodwill? Or do you tell them that if

the couple says you recommended them, that you'll link them? I'm all for taking free photos

for other vendors too. Nothing wrong with that.

Rich, you're right. My BIGGEST hang up has always been the selling aspect. I can shoot and

edit all day long, but selling myself is harder for me! I don't know why I never thought to

bring an album.

I was also thinking of leaving a "calling card", not sure what it would be called in this

situation. A 5x7 with a few different images, plus my info, plus the business cards.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Even better, something worth keeping that might even be

useful for them.", Maury. I'd love to hear some examples. Maybe my creativity is low today!

Hi everyone! I live on Nantucket Island. I've only been shooting weddings by word of mouth so far. This is

mainly because I've always had a full-time job and didn't want to get in over my head. I've also only lived

here summers until this past year when we decided to stay year round for the long haul. We had a baby

last year, so I didn't advertise heavily, so I could focus on her. I'm now ready to get going, head first, and

sell sell sell for next year.

The B&Gs here are some local, but also from all over New England, and many from Boston. I've searched

"nantucket wedding photographer" to see where people are advertising their services online, and not much

has popped up. Only a few of the photogs here advertise with The Knot or any other national wedding

service registry. It's really mostly word of mouth here, plus local wedding planning magazines.

Getting to my point... I think the best thing I could do is go to the hotels/florists/caterers/wedding

planners on the island and hand out cards. I've never liked doing this because I feel like such a door to

door salesman, er woman. I'm wondering if anyone has good advice on how to best do this. What time of

the year is best? I'm sure they're all too busy right now with September being the busiest wedding month

here. Many people get engaged around the holidays, so maybe Oct/Nov? What's a good way to approach a

business? Obviously dress nice, etc... I just want something more to say than "Hi, here's my card, please.

please, please refer me.". What's the incentive for a business to refer you? I suppose I could take some of

their cards too so I could say, "I'll refer you, too."?

Any suggestions on making this a more pleasant experience would be appreciated! Thanks! Z.;

Sam, definitely post back and let us know what happens with the insurance. We could all

use the heads up if it happens to one of us!

Reminds me though... About 6 years ago, I was assisting on a wedding in Vermont... in the

middle of nowhere. The photographer's car's gas tank basically fell apart on the way to the

reception. The photographer starts sweating. Luckily he had a cell phone, which was still

kind of a rarity up in those parts. Luckily, too, that he had cell phone reception up there!

But of course the B&G don't have phones. They were actually barely 18, if I remember

correctly. So, we try to call the old house where the reception is, no answer. Oh, he's really

sweating now. We know we're going to miss the B&G's entrance at this point. The

photographer's drenched in sweat at this point... so nervous that the B&G are going to kill

us! Now, I need to add, there are no taxis within at least 20 miles of this location. Then,

tah dah!, some nice person from the wedding drives by and picks us up! We hurry to the

location... do our job... no one knows the difference... and we get a $200 tip! Phew!

Moral of the story? Don't know if I really have one. Certainly it's something like "Keep your

cool, things will work out in the end."

I believe it's our job to make brides, and grooms for that matter, look as good as possible on

their wedding day. The bride shouldn't look the same in shots from from their friend's P&S

camera as with shots from your creative eye! I don't go nuts Photoshopping, but if the bride

has spillage, or the groom has razor burn, I help them out a bit. Here's an example. It's

subtle, I think....

By the way, I'm considered underweight and I had the same problem in my wedding dress.

Strapless dresses seem to do that to everyone, unless they really trust double sided tape! Z.<div></div>

Here's what I do. If a bride's gown isn't super flattering, say under her arms creating weird

underarm cleavage, I use the clone stamp in PS to fade it! Believe me, a bride will never

complain that you're making her look better! Now tattoos are different because the bride did

that to herself on purpose, silly bride.

Erik, I scrolled through and tried to find a favorite. I don't have one, because they're all pretty

great! I agree that #41 is not a flattering pose, and #17's light is a little harsh for my taste.

Overall you did a great job, well done! Z

Jennie, if there's little or no cost coming out of your own pocket, I say "Why not?."

It gives you the opportunity to meet the wedding party and some family, making them bit

more comfortable around you once it's time to shoot. It also allows you to meet with the JOP,

minister, etc, who officiating the ceremony so that they can tell you their guidelines (where

you're allowed to stand, flash, etc.). Plus, if you haven't yet scoped out the location, it's a

great time to do so.

I do it as often as I can. Z

Absolutely Jalbum! I've read other posts here where Aaron Lee recommended it and I just

used it for my own site this week! Aaron, if you're listening, thank you. It's super easy to

get Jalbum onto your site in Dreamweaver, I know nothing about FrontPage.

In DW I just saved the photos I wanted in my gallery on my site directory, as in Sites-

Zofiaphoto-Gallery.... and then after I had the album made, I just opened the album in DW

and fiddled with it. My way was super simple. There are many ways to integrate it into your

site. Check out the jalbum forums for more help.

I agree that .com is more easily remembered. Maggiemoments.com is my favorite. (Instead of

maggiesmoments, which to me sound like your own personal album. Kudos on the portfolio

too. I really like the baby portraits. Zofia.

Al, thanks for passing that image along. Waldemar, that's my dad's name! And Brad, I don't

mind the long exposure if it's just a couple shots and only with the B/G, using a tripod.

Thanks everyone for the examples too! I'll post some images after I find the filter that I want.

Z

Sorry, I didn't read everyone's responses. Personally, I don't think you should sweat it. In

the future get a list from everyone you can, B/G, any parents you're in contact with, and

get a list of the groups they want. That way your bases are covered.

Your equipment and how much you spent on it, plus how little you charged them has

nothing to do with it. You did a lot, you went above and beyond, but in the end the most

important thing for the B/G is that they get the memories that they wanted on film (digital

film, whatever).

I always ask for a list, plus I always ask if they want table shots. I do them before people

start eating. Usually during cocktail hour. If I miss someone because they got up from the

table, then I make sure to get them with their group later. For the money you spent, you

could also hire an assistant to cover those types of shots for you.

I believe many photographers concentrate too much on the shots they think are

important/artsy, etc, and miss out on the important candid moments of the friends and

family. These events are like big family/class reunions. They should be treated as both an

artistic event and a personal one.

...In my opinion... Z