mary_s

Good point Robbie. Don't forget to mention that Bella then pays the photographer $300-500 for photographing the wedding. Bella spends MUCH more on marketing than paying talent.

We renumber things in Lightroom so we don't have this problem.

We have an assistant at weddings whose primary job is to watch equipment and dump images onto the laptop. This is not the most cost effective way of doing business, but I like to have everything on the machine at the end of the night so I can start editing the next morning.

I ask brides/grooms to make a detailed list of all formals they want with peoples first names listed for each photo. I have one of my assistants or the wedding coordinators assistant call out the list. If we don't do a shot because we cannot find someone we make a note on the formals list. I let brides know in advance that we will do our best to get all of the requested photos, but sometimes guests wonder off before they are photographed.

You would be amazed by how LITTLE some photographers pay second shooters. One of the top wedding photographers in Texas only pays her second shooters $15/hour and she rounds down to the 1/4 of a hour. I don't think shooters tend to stay with her long.

I use strobes with large soft boxes in the church for formals. During the ceremony I use ambient light.

I like that you are using a blog! Blogging has been an incredible help in building my business. Your photos are very nice, but you should put more up!

I booked my first 3 weddings ($1000/each) with only rock music photos in my portfolio. I explained to couples that I had spent 5 years photographing bands for a popular local paper and I wanted to start photographing weddings. My brides appreciated that I was honest about how few weddings I'd photographed, and booked me despite a complete lack of wedding experence. Those brides have been my BEST referrals of new business despite that being 5 years ago and that my prices have nearly tripled.

I've been doing wedding photography for a few years and have established myself

as a medium priced photographer in my market ($2k-$5k). I'm tired of meeting

clients at coffee shops or at our house so I've rented a commercial space

(800sqft) in an artsy part of town.

 

Does anyone else have photos of how they have decorated there client meeting

areas?? I have some big wall prints and lots of albums, but I need inspiration

on what to do next.

I watched the Doug Gordon flow posing DVD. It was pretty helpful. I don't think it's worth the $125 to buy it new, but sometimes there are copies on Ebay.

Rates very depending on who you are and where you are.

 

If I were you I'd bill at least $2k a day + enough to pay someone to do all of the editing for you ($250).

blurb. www.blurb.com

 

they are great little books!

Thank you for your answer, but this isn't really the info I need. I'm a wedding photographer who process thousands of images a week. Our work flow is based on using Lightroom as our first step. I'd like to continue using Lightroom for organizing/categorizing files. I don't want to process ALL of the photos, just the ones we need. Is there a plug in I can download to make it open the Mark III raw riles?

Just got my Mark III and love it, but I'm not sure how I can open the RAW files.

I have CS2 and Lightroom. I don't want to upgrade to CS3. Is there a way to make

Lightroom open the Mark III raw files?

I purchased a Chimera speedring on ebay. The speedring was described as being

for Visatek and Bronocolor Impact. It LOOKS like a Visatek speedring, but it is

too large to be one. Does anyone know which speedring looks like a big Visatek

ring? Thanks!!!

For some people wedding photos aren't important and having one less vendor makes them happy! Wish them luck. My parents wedding was photographed by my Uncle Bob (literally) and I love the four or five photos of them I have from the day and don't care one bit that they aren't super professional. :)

Best way to get a job is to think about what the employer wants. Many employers don't want to hire/groom someone who will be a competitor in the near future? As a photographer who uses/hires second shooters and assistants on a regular basis I'm more likely to hire someone I think will be punctual, polite and good natured. Being good at photography is important for a second shooter, but as an employer there are other things I find more important.

You can buy what google calls "ad words" if you really want to be on the first page of search results. It will make you come up on the side of the site at the right. For a market like LA it would cost a fortune to be on the first page.

 

Another way of getting a higher google rank is by getting lots of people to link to your site with key terms like "wedding photographer" and your location.

 

Getting into the top pages is tricky. I live with a google optimization specialist (such a thing exists :), and hwe still haven't figured out how to get my site into the first few pages.

Problem is solved. Bride choose another photographer. The first photographer was unwilling to with her special concerns so she found someone else.

 

It has been very interesting to see/feel what it is like to be a consumer of wedding photography.

The bride wants me to shoot! We are trying to figure out a way we can make this non-threatening for the hired photographer. Guests shoot at weddings all the time. Seems silly to not want a guest to shoot just because it is what they get paid to do.

A three way call is a GREAT idea. I'm going to suggest that. (The photographer hasn't returned my call yet.) As far as equipment goes I was planning on bringing my 5d with a 50mm 1.2. Nothing too threatening or giant.

Print sales are not an issue. A full res DVD is included in the photographers package. The bride wants me to be able to take photos, but she does not want me saddled with the responsiblity of photographing the wedding. If push comes to shove there is another photographer that can do the job. I just don't want it to come to that, but I just can't imagine being with my family and not taking pictures. My camera goes every where with us. I love taking pictures. It's why I picked this profession.

I'm a professional wedding photographer who photographs 20+ weddings a year. My

future sister in law is having her wedding this summer, and the photographer she

is considering hiring has an exclusive photographer clause in her contract. It

is very important to me that I be allowed to photograph this family event. I

don't want to be in the other photographers way, but I won't be able to relax

and have fun without my camera in my hands. The photographer has requested I

contact her and I'm afraid she is going to be firm on her rules regarding other

photographers.

 

It is strange for me to be on "the other side" for once. As a wedding

photographer I have no rules in my contract about other photographs. I do ask

that people not take pictures during formals because it causes my strobes to

fire, but aside from that I'm very open to letting other people take pictures.

 

What is the most diplomatic way to handle this and still get my way? :)

Good for you! I am also a music photographer turned wedding photographer. I found the transition to be very natural. You probably already have all of the fast lenses you need and are not unnerved by being in the middle of the action. Your website photos are GREAT. I agree the talk about raw maybe a little confusing for your brides, but if you feel good about it give it a try. If it doesn't work you can always change things up. Best of luck!!!

I'm looking for some software that will let me add a shopping cart, galleries,

and thumbnail creator to my website. I've been using Printroom.com and have been

fairly happy with the service, but I would like to switch to doing our printing

in house. Does anyone know of a software that works like pictage, collage or

pirntroom, but that will let me host the galleries on my website (helps google

traffic) and that will let me do my own printing.

 

Thanks!!