cathy_and_david_bock

<p>A blog allows clients to get to know you, see constant collections of your work and see how consistent you are. They also give your client a more personal interaction with you and your business. We actually wrote an article on this for Pictage:<br>

blog.pictage.com/2009/09/30/the-importance-of-blogging-by-cathy-and-david/</p>

<p>Upgrade to a pro body, i.e. 5 series or 1 series. Get yourself a pair of 580ex2's and learn to bounce, or get two cross fired with some pocket wizards and practice like crazy before going. Getting some faster glass will help too, but the professional bodies will help a lot to reduce noise.</p>

<p>Not worth your time. Move on. If they don't care enough to hire a professional they aren't worth trying to convince to hire you, in face you don't want them to hire you because they won't appreciate your work. :)<br>

Stick to spending time with the clients who want what you do, not just people wanting a deal. :D</p>

<p>Nope. We have class. If potential clients want a business card they'll ask for one. Not only that but by having a stack sitting around you're losing the chance to talk with the potential client and be able to sell yourself. Instead you look like you're handing out leaflets, which most people pitch.<br>

Do you want to be seen as desperate or confident? That's the real question. Plus that's about as tacky as the DJ hawking their CDs at weddings.</p>

<p>Workflow--> Photo Mechanic, Lightroom2, Photoshop CS5. :)</p>

<p>That's grain/noise, not pixelation.</p>

<p>Don't give copyrights. The client doesn't need them unless they are putting the images up on a billboard (which you should get paid for) or if they are a celebrity for privacy reasons. Otherwise, personal-use printing rights and and addendum if necessary to not put the pictures on your website.</p>

<p>Personal lineup: 70-200 2.8L IS, 50 1.2L, 35 1.4L, 85 1.2L<br>

Optional starter equivalant: 70-200 2.8L IS (no other option personally), 50 1.4 USM (SOOO much better than the 50 1.8. TRUST ME.), 28 1.8 USM, 85 1.8 USM. :)</p>

<p>Hope that helps! :)</p>

<p>GREAT thought there by Art. Nice way of looking at it man! :-D</p>

<p>The 85 1.8 is a FABULOUS choice, as is the 135 2L (if you can find one! :-D).</p>

<p>Nadine: Myself.. I've never found any lenses slower than 2.8 to be at the level high enough to use professionally in the wedding industry. Sure you can shoot at F4 or even F5.6 but for someone like ourselves it's just not fast enough. I've never found a single lens that I really liked slower than 2.8? Again, you could shoot a wedding..but.. would you really want to? Professionally? I'm hoping that doesn't come across as offensive??? Just wanting to know your thoughts on it and get your side of that story!! :-D</p>

<p>Myself.. I'm a prime shooter. Judging by what you're saying I'm guessing your on a crop body unless you like shooting fisheye. Myself I think that the 24L is a GREAT choice for wide angle shooting though we find it a bit wide for our taste and use the 35L primarily on a full frame body.. :)</p>

<p>Our best references are other photographers. I find that building a network of photographers you can trust to do a good job with the brides you send to is better than any other vendor reference out there. We get a lot from planners and reception and make-up artists but the best always come from photographers. I've never seen another photographer as competition but rather as a great place for inspiration and sharing business. :)</p>

<p>Buy the mark2. It's 100% worth every penny. We love both of ours. :)</p>

<p>Give her her money back and run. It's not worth your time. You are the professional and they should be listening to you for advice and what to do. We do not accept bookings less than a month from the wedding simply because of getting brides like this. As well, if she sounded like this in the interview why agree to work with her? It's okay to say no to clients that you don't think are wanting what you offer! For your sake AND THERE'S.</p>

<p>WAY too slow, and a waste of money. Agreed with William here. Honestly, I wouldn't buy a telephoto for less than $1500. Part of the business of being a wedding photographer is buying the proper equipment to shoot it, otherwise it's just not fair to the client. Please don't take that as rude, just saying I think buying proper, professional equipment is necessary. We bought that lens and then a week later sold it and got the 70-200 2.8L IS. Eventually you'll smack yourself in the head for not buying it first. Trust me. It's just not worth it to buy any lenses that are slower than 2.8 for weddings.</p>

<p>Carlos:</p>

<p>People expect prices to go up for vendors. Don't apologize for it! If someone contacted you before your prices went up give them 30 days to take advantage of the old pricing, otherwise, them's the breaks. Don't be afraid to charge what you are worth. :)</p>

<p>We've never once used flash during a ceremony and I never intend to do so. What you need to do is get yourself a professional body and a some great fast glass. i.e. the 50 1.2L, 35 1.4L, or the 135 2L. All of those will do a great job for you. If you intend to stay in this business and continue doing it professionally you WILL eventually buy those lenses. Why not start off right from the get go?</p>

<p>Keep up the great work first and foremost! :) </p>

<p>Secondly, definitely get to work on your flash. You need to either get an external flash and start bouncing the light off walls etc, or disable your pop-up flash. Other than that you're off to a great start.</p>

<p>Secondly. You need to charge more and do a couple of things with your packages. Most importantly, get rid of prints etc from your packages as brides really could care less about those and it's hard to see value in them. I would start at $500 and perhaps range your packages up to $1500. You could really use this as a great way to save for college etc but charging $235 is really undercutting yourself as you're not even paying yourself for your own time and labor let alone the cost of materials. You're at a point where you could easily start charging for your work and making a profit. GO FOR IT. :)</p>

<p>We are a 2-shooter team as well. Both of us are pros though. Usually one of us directs while the other shoots. We work as a team and it creates a great dynamic in keeping the focus on us for formals (which only take us about 30 minutes).</p>

<p>Exactly what Tobey said. </p>

<p>Cathy and I are both full time photographers. We also run a design firm and it's a great suplemental income but our main source of income is our photography business and we make enough to live, be happy, and save for retirement.</p>

<p>I always love that look on kids faces. It's innocent to me. One of the few times I'm okay with subjects being 'camera aware' at weddings is kids because they still look photojournalistic. :)</p>

<p>Anyways, gave it our normal touch up. Make sure.. and this is the key with that hair, that you don't brighten it so much that her hair looks glossy but not too dark that you lose the details.</p><div></div>

<p>Looks like a good opportunity for some spot dodge and burn. :) Make sure you fix the white balance on that so their white dresses aren't blue as well.</p>

<p>Agreed with David on this one (for once. :-D), it's about commanding a presence. You really have to get them listening to you and be very confident and assertive. We also start by warming them up with friends and family with their point and shoots. :)</p>

<p>Randy. Drop me an email and I'll do what I can to get you hooked up down there. We know a ton of photographers around the country that have the same willingness to help others in this business that we do. We don't ever see other photographers as competition (that's just plain RUDE) but rather a source for referrals and knew ideas in the industry. :)</p>

 

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