So you are a photographer and not just any type of photographer you are a wedding photographer. You’ve chosen a profession that will require many different skill sets, not the least of which is your ability to take a great picture. But there is a lot more to running a successful business than just having a service to offer. Many people have had a great idea or a special talent but have not been able to capitalize on that talent. This series of articles is intended to help you achieve your dream of working on your own, providing a unique service to deserving clients, and doing it all successfully.

The Real Cost of Wedding Photography Business

First and foremost let’s get the necessities out of the way. If you’re going into business as a wedding photographer there are certain things you are going to have to have at a minimum. Some photographers have done without some of the following items but to be honest I wouldn’t suggest it. These are just the basics to get you started. You can build up your equipment later on. Each of the following items is listed within its own article:

• website (with a secure gallery for customers) and email

• marketing plan

• photography equipment and home office

• a second photographer

• insurance, taxes, business license and bank accounts

What’s Not Listed

You’ll notice that I didn’t list photographic skill. When it comes to your skill as a wedding photographer I’m assuming you’ve already looked at your ability from an objective standpoint and determined that you do have something unique that others will want to pay for. If you have done this you’ll also want to make sure you can handle the responsibility associated with wedding photography. This is an extremely special day in a couple’s life so you have to be sure you are able to take on the immense responsibility of capturing every moment of that day. If you have both of those items then it’s on to looking at the other aspects that make up a business owner’s skill set, such as attention to detail, customer centric thinking, and patience.

The Devil’s in the Details

Details can make or break a wedding photography business. This is important to realize up front. If you don’t pay attention to those details you can easily falter. As a photographer you’ll need to pay attention to the details of the wedding. Equally important you’ll need to focus on the details of the business. These details include the wording on your wedding contract, the promises you make to your clients, your ability to keep track of the different weddings you might have at any given time. This leads us to the next important part, being customer centric.

The Customer’s Always Right

There is a reason that corporations spend so much money on figuring out ways to make customers happy, because it’s easier and cheaper to keep a customer than to get a new one. The same goes with the wedding photography biz. If you learn how to make your customers happy you’ll get repeat business, referrals, and a better reputation within your community. There is no secret to making your customers happy. Here are some simple things to remember:

• Always deliver what you promise – if you say it will take 2 months to edit their photos it shouldn’t take 2 and a half months

• Be quick about your replies – Wedding Photographers are notorious about not replying to emails and calls, set yourself apart by replying to all inquiries within 24 hours at the max

• Be courteous, friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful before, during, and after the wedding.

• Always keep in your thoughts that this is someone’s special day – When you have edited your 30th wedding and you are looking at your 600th picture in that wedding remember that while this is a job to you, its someone’s wedding day

• Don’t be on time, be early – Being early to meetings, weddings, and events will allow you to prepare yourself for those events. It also has the added benefit of making you look more professional

• Dress appropriately – Black or natural colors are always a good choice for photographers. Dressing business casual for most weddings will be sufficient but always check with the couple if in doubt. ***Remember, while you should look professional, you should also be comfortable***

Patience is a Virtue

Remember that your photographic skill didn’t happen spontaneously so don’t expect that your business will boom over night. It takes work to make a business successful and even given all of the right ingredients it still might fail. Even if it fails, learn from your mistakes, try again, and try and try and try. Never give up on something as important to you as pursuing your dream. If you have to work a day job during the week while getting your business of the ground then so be it. If you have to learn how to design websites just to put up your own website, so be it. If you have to shoot weddings for free to build up a portfolio then so be it. Just don’t give up.

How do I know all of this?

I’m the owner of a Pensacola wedding photography business. I have built my business from the ground up with no help from anyone else. I started by shooting weddings for free for friends and family members. My first cameras were consumer grade digital Rebels. I’ve upgraded everything along the way as I could afford it. I trained with a local wedding photographer and have always been into photography, web design and marketing. With these talents I created a solid business that exceeds my customers’ expectations, stays profitable, and allows me to live comfortably based only my own skills. I’ve had failures along the way but have learned from them and have become one of the top Pensacola wedding photographers.

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The first thing to learn is know your digital camera equipment inside out. Doing wedding photography requires perfection. It is a unique art which requires attention to detail. Always make sure your equipment is working, your digital camera, batteries, and light sources. It is common to have a second unit or even a third digital camera unit. It will save you from embarrassment if something happens to your first digital camera unit. A good photographer captures and create dream photographs. Something all couples desire on their most magical day of their lives. One must capture the love story of the wedding couple. Good wedding photography is focused on creativity and flexibility. There are no rules except to come with stunning beautiful pictures.

A good wedding photographer has to learn and master a few things to be able to capture good images, composition, lighting techniques, quality lenses, correct aperture, high quality memory cards, good digital camera and knowledge of a good lab to make the perfect prints. To perfect the craft of wedding photography one must learn the art of photography. If you learn the art it will help you succeed in your wedding photography business.

Create a good wedding album is the best testament that you have succeeded as a wedding photographer. It is what will make the wedding memorable to the couple and their parents. All photographs that the wedding photographer must include in the wedding album should be highly creative. As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words. Not only should a wedding photo speak 1,000 words but captures the emotion and mood of all the people involved in the wedding and capture the ambiance of this once-in-a-lifetime-event. The wedding photos should be able to bring back all the memories of the wedding day. Everything about the wedding day will fade except the wedding pictures which brings back memories of the wedding day. That is the real purpose of a photo album. A good wedding photographer must capture different expressions and moods of the groom and bride. There are several money shots worth mentioning, like the bride getting ready, being made up, walking the aisle. For a groom his arrival at the wedding place, shots with his friends and family.

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What many of us expected, upon the arrival of the digital camera (which effectively made everyone a ‘photographer’) was the wedding photographer would be rendered redundant.

And indeed, some very cash constrained couples opted not to have wedding photographers at hand; instead assigning the role of wedding photography to artistically inclined guests (friends and relatives) in attendance.

On the whole though, the professional wedding photographer has held on. In many a wedding, you will tend to see a person who runs around with a camera, clicking away at the various hallmarks of the event. The fact that the attendees to the wedding ceremony can also be seen clicking away on their phone cameras does not usually seem to bother him. He seems to be the ‘photography director’ of the event. The other people clicking away can choose to photograph some events and not others. But the wedding photojournalist (as he is also known), knows that the buck stops with him. The other people clicking away are doing that as a ‘by the way.’ He, on the other hand, is doing it as a job. Surprisingly, even some of the people who were clicking away during the ceremony will be coming to him for photographs of certain parts of the ceremony, having momentarily dozed off or otherwise gotten distracted.

The main reason why wedding photography has withstood the test of time, then, is that people want a reliable person, a professional whom they can depend on for a well-done photographic record of the event. In other words, although digital photography has made it possible for everyone to become a ‘photographer’ of sorts, many couples are not willing to entirely trust these ‘non-professional’ photographers with their wedding photography. At least not if they can afford a proper wedding photographer. So the art of wedding photography continues to thrive, in spite of the rise of digital photography.

Digital photography, which was supposed to be death-knell to wedding photography as we knew it has, if anything, made it even better. Far from pushing him out of business, the wedding photographer finds in digital photography a technology through which he can make better photographs, leading to more clients. Digital wedding photos, for instance are editable (to bring out perfection) – unlike traditional film photos, which were cast in stone and un-editable.

So as long as weddings remain highly sentimental events, and highly important events (of which people want a reliable professional person to take the ‘photographic evidence,’) the wedding photographer can always be assured of a job.

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Here are tips to help you start a successful wedding photography business.

Business Name

A good business name is a requirement to make your business become a reality. Come up with a good name that will best describe the kind of photography that you do. Remember that this name will become your brand name and the same name you will use to advertise your wedding photography business. Make it sound and look professional. Research the name thoroughly to make sure it is not being used by another business already.

Portfolio

You may think you are a very good photographer but it does not mean people know about it. In order for your wedding photography business to grow you need a portfolio of your work. The best advertisement for your business is the quality of your work. You need to print photos that will describe the kind of photography you do. Make sure that your portfolio is a complete description of your wedding photography and make sure you to add your recent work.Couples who are looking to hire a wedding photographer always want to see good quality. You can also make a mock up album of a full wedding that way a couple would know what to expect in their wedding album and give them ideas on what photos will be taken. To start your wedding photography business you will need to do your first wedding. That’s where your friends or family come in handy, ask around if someone you know is going to get married and offer your services as the wedding photographer. That will build up your reputation as a wedding photographer and build yourself a portfolio at the same time doing good favor for a family or a friend. If this is your first wedding assignment treat it as such you would plan to charge a regular client. You may still charge for supplies such as printing and framing. But do not charge for your professional fee as their wedding photographer. It is a way of thanking them for letting you take their wedding photos.

Price List

Oftentimes photographers undervalue their work. The best way to find out is research on what is available in the market. Know the prices and wedding packages by photographers who are into wedding photography business. The Internet is the best place to do a market research. Check the websites of wedding photographers. It will give you an idea what to charge your clients at the same time be able to size up the competition. Like any other business, reputation is very important. A would-be wedding couple if to choose between someone who had done more weddings at the same price you are asking would think twice about getting your wedding photography services. As you become more established, you can start charging more for your professional service. Keep competitive by giving the would-be wedding couple their money’s worth.

Website

It is important for any business to have an online presence much more for a wedding photography business. The cost of getting a domain name is minimal and there are sorts of deals you can get from website hosting services that will make it very easy to make your website even without the help of a professional web developer. It is a good place to display your work and couples will have the chance to view your portfolio without the need to set up an appointment.

Business cards

Create a good business card which clearly defines your wedding photography business. Make yourself an uber business card, something that looks professional and shows some of your best photos as a wedding photographer. Include all important information such as your contact information, website and social network credentials such as your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Make it easy for clients to find you.

Advertise

Always remember to advertise your wedding photography services. If no one knows about you regardless how good you are, your business will suffer. To get known, you’ll have to do some advertising. For a wedding photographer the best way is to attend local bridal fairs or bridal shows. It usually cost some money to pay for a booth but you will have the exposure to a potential market looking for wedding photographers. Be prepared with your portfolio; bring a calendar to know your yearlong schedule and availability. Depends how serious you are about your wedding photography business, you may advertise in bridal magazines too. The more people see and hear about your work as a wedding photographer the better for your wedding photography business.

If your wedding photography business becomes successful it can earn your extra money to help bring your photography skills to a higher level. You can use the extra cash to buy more sophisticated photography equipment.

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A lot of wedding photographers who are now into wedding photography business started by taking pictures of family and friends. Until someone actually asked if he or she can take their wedding pictures and as they always say, the rest is history after doing their first wedding they simply liked doing it and kept on doing it which started their being a professional wedding photographer.

You simply have to do one wedding of a friend or a family member, see how you felt during the whole experience and if the wedding couple actually liked the photos. If they do you can ask them to tell their friends or if they know someone who is looking for a wedding photographer that you can do their weddings too. A satisfied wedding couple is your best advertisement. Tell everyone you know that you are officially doing wedding photography and if they can help your wedding photography business by telling their friends about your work as a photographer.

By starting to work with people that you know already  make it both easy for you as a  wedding photographer and to the would-be wedding couple as they would be very at ease working with you since they have come to know not only as their wedding  photographer but as their  friend as well.

Wedding photography is a serious business and if you consider it as such you need tools to market your services and by that it means you must have your own website. You can even make a social network profile on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and that will surely spread the word about your wedding photography business online.

Would-be wedding couples will have the convenience of looking at your work as a wedding photographer online or on your website rather than have a meeting with you right away.  The more people see your work the bigger the chances of having would-be wedding couples asking about your wedding photography business. On your website you should only focus on one area of the kind of photography that you do and emphasize on your wedding photography photo collections. Create a specialized package for your wedding photography services and include your contact details.

A wedding photography business could be highly profitable if would-be wedding couples start to line up for your wedding photography services.  It is very important to capture the moment during the wedding and you can start building a good rapport with the would-be wedding couple if you make them very at ease with your presence. Talk to them and make sure that they are welcome to any suggestions or ideas about their wedding pictures. Communication is the key especially during the wedding. Make money shot list and make these known to the would-be wedding couple. This will give them an idea when you are capturing that special moment.

But also remember to take those special moments that you have not discussed with your wedding couple that way when they see their wedding pictures they would be happily surprised with shots that highlights some memorable wedding moments.

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1- The Right Equipment

First, let’s check a list of equipment that you need for the job;

- Digital SLR Camera
- Zoom Lens
- Memory Card
- Shoe Mount Flash
- Battery for the Camera
- Battery for the Flash
- Tripod
- Computer
- Photoshop

All these equipment are very basic and you should consider having a backup for each one of them. It is very common, in digital photography, when something goes wrong with the equipment. You could also invest in some little more advanced equipment like; Top of the line cameras, lenses, strobes, Radio Slave Transmitters, Radio Slave Receivers and etc.

2- The Right Start

You probably want to go out and start shooting weddings and make a lot of money as soon as possible. Most of the beginners want to do that, but first you will need to learn the basics of this specific business.

Wedding Photography could be a good way to make some money, but as everything else, you should be a Wedding Photographer because you love to help people to preserve the memory of the most important day of their lives, and not just because you want their money.

As I mentioned before in one of my other articles, Wedding Photography is not just to have your camera and start shooting the wedding. Wedding Photography is an art and you should learn this art from someone that can teach and inspire you to be a better photographer.

Here are some places to start;

- Wedding Photography Conventions
- Wedding Photography Seminars
- Wedding Photography Workshops
- Wedding Photography Coaches
- Photography Associations

One of the best places to start with your Wedding Photography Business is offering yourself to help some experienced Wedding Photographer as his/her assistant. This would give you the experience that you need, and you wouldn’t have the responsibility or the stress of shooting the wedding by yourself. This is so important that I would recommend you to go out and find a Photographer that you like his/her style and offer yourself to be his/her assistant, even if there is no money involved.

After a while helping few different photographers, you would be shooting few weddings as the photographer’s “Second Shooter”. When you get confidence and experience enough you would be ready to start your own Wedding Photography Business, and who knows, somebody else would be asking you to be your assistant.

Article Source:  http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paulo_Jordao

1- The Right Equipment

First, let’s check a list of equipment that you need for the job;

- Digital SLR Camera
- Zoom Lens
- Memory Card
- Shoe Mount Flash
- Battery for the Camera
- Battery for the Flash
- Tripod
- Computer
- Photoshop

All these equipment are very basic and you should consider having a backup for each one of them. It is very common, in digital photography, when something goes wrong with the equipment. You could also invest in some little more advanced equipment like; Top of the line cameras, lenses, strobes, Radio Slave Transmitters, Radio Slave Receivers and etc.

2- The Right Start

You probably want to go out and start shooting weddings and make a lot of money as soon as possible. Most of the beginners want to do that, but first you will need to learn the basics of this specific business.

Wedding Photography could be a good way to make some money, but as everything else, you should be a Wedding Photographer because you love to help people to preserve the memory of the most important day of their lives, and not just because you want their money.

As I mentioned before in one of my other articles, Wedding Photography is not just to have your camera and start shooting the wedding. Wedding Photography is an art and you should learn this art from someone that can teach and inspire you to be a better photographer.

Here are some places to start;

- Wedding Photography Conventions
- Wedding Photography Seminars
- Wedding Photography Workshops
- Wedding Photography Coaches
- Photography Associations

One of the best places to start with your Wedding Photography Business is offering yourself to help some experienced Wedding Photographer as his/her assistant. This would give you the experience that you need, and you wouldn’t have the responsibility or the stress of shooting the wedding by yourself. This is so important that I would recommend you to go out and find a Photographer that you like his/her style and offer yourself to be his/her assistant, even if there is no money involved.

After a while helping few different photographers, you would be shooting few weddings as the photographer’s “Second Shooter”. When you get confidence and experience enough you would be ready to start your own Wedding Photography Business, and who knows, somebody else would be asking you to be your assistant.

Article Source:  http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paulo_Jordao

Your foundation objectives will cover what it takes to produce the same outstanding quality results time after time, and what it will take to become recognized as a top wedding photographer. You mission should describe what you want to achieve and how you are going to do that. Your keys to success should include how you will fulfill your client’s expectations and how you will accomplish this. How will you be competitive with your services offered? What kind of profits do you need to become successful competition?

Before you start you’re first step is to find your identity. Have you figured it out? Be true to yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses as a photographer. Are you ready to start this financially and technically? Do you know your style and identity, and do you do it well? You should know how to describe your photography and vision. Are you more of a photo journalistic photographer who relies on natural available light and candid moments? Do you preplan and pose portraits and incorporate technical lighting skills giving a classic look. Or, do you mix it up with both, showing a full range of capabilities that give you your own modern contemporary style?

If you know what you want your photography and identity to look like but haven’t achieved the look yet, maybe you need more work on your photography before you can establish your business.

Take a look at your photography and decide what level of talent you have and what potential you possess. Be critical of your work, but also have others critique your work for you. Learn how to use constructive criticism to improve your photography. If your identity isn’t where you want it, ask yourself, what needs to be improved? Do you know your equipment (camera, lighting, etc) well enough? Do you know how to read and meter your exposures? Do you have the right equipment, i.e.: hi resolution digital camera and Photoshop? You need a digital camera to stay up with your competition. It is also of great importance to be proficient in Photoshop and your digital workflow. It is up to you to overcome any weakness with proper education and practice before you take on photographing a wedding.

Photographing a wedding is a big responsibility. Someone has paid a large amount of money and trust in you to document this special and personal day. This is why it is so important to be confident enough to step into any wedding that comes your way and do a solid job photographing it. Having your skills fine-tuned are just part of what it takes to build that foundation of confidence. The other huge part to building confidence is experience.

We all start out somewhere. So once you have your photography skills and workflow down, it is now time to test yourself and your identity. The first step is to know your value. Do you think you’re up to shooting a wedding solo for $2000.00? Wait, you don’t have any wedding pictures for a portfolio. How are you going to sell yourself as a wedding photographer? Well either you get lucky with someone who trusts and likes your photography regardless that you have never photographed a wedding. Or you decide to build your portfolio through being a second or third shooter for a more established wedding photographer. This is a great way to get exposure and experience in the wedding photography scene.

A great way to approach this route is to call all of the local wedding photographers in your area and ask if anyone is in need of a second or third shooter. Once you find some work ask questions and pay close attention to how they run their business and how they photograph weddings. Everyone has a system. How they shoot the wedding ceremony, portraits, reception, etc. Use this position to your advantage and build relationships within the wedding industry. The more you learn, the faster you will be on your way to becoming competition. Remember to save money for when you make your transition out on your own.

Once you have some weddings under your belt your confidence will lead you at the right time to separate and become that competition that you have been working for. When you do choose, it should be all or nothing. Either stay on as a second shooter or take the risk and become competition.

After you have taken the jump into the unknown and exciting world of being your own boss. Your confidence as a photographer has grown and you now possess an identity as a wedding photographer. You can now start your wedding photography business wherever and whenever.

Hopefully you have invested in your own digital camera, backup camera, lenses, computer, Photoshop, etc. Your investment needs to have insurance. You cannot afford to have it stolen or broken; otherwise all your hard work will be for nothing. Also you should have liability insurance to C.Y.A. You can get photographers insurance through PPA.

Before you place yourself as competition in the wedding photography market you should know your competition. They are your best models to help get started. Take notice of what they charge for packages and what they include with their services. Where and how do they advertise? What niche do they fill and where can you fit in as a new business.

To establish your business you need an address. You can choose a PO Box or another mailbox service such as Mail Boxes ETC. I prefer MBE because you can choose a mailbox with a real street address. Not to mention they have many other services. Next get a separate phone number for your business. To legitimately create your business you should either have a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or a sole proprietorship. You can learn about this through an accountant or through websites like legalzoom.com

With the rest of the money you saved you will have to determine how much is to be used for marketing and other expenses. Marketing is going to be the most essential thing for your business to get off the ground. Without marketing you don’t have a business. Your marketing essentials are: to have your identity, your portfolio, and your line of communication.

Through the image library that you have created, pick your best images to use for your portfolio, website and all promotional and marketing materials. Your portfolio can be made w/ inkjet prints that you put in an album of choice such as albums provided by Topflight, photoalbumshop.com, or you can choose to have one printed by Asuka albums, or other online print labs such as Snapfish or Shutterfly. Your image identity is now established, and will grow over time. However you now need your business identity. What will your promotional materials look like? What font will you use? What colors will be incorporated? Will you use a logo? It may be a good idea to find a graphic designer to help you out with this.

Once you figure out your business identity and incorporate it with your promotional materials you should create and print them all at once to distribute them all year. Make sure you have the basics like your business cards, postcards, brochure, contract, 8×10’s and any other promotional materials you can think of. These materials can be ordered through gotprint.com and vistaprint.
After your promotional materials are finished and the portfolio is printed, you are ready to create your website. View other sites to get an idea of what style of site you want and how it will look.

Search for someone else to create a website for you if you aren’t educated in web development but having a professional do this can get a bit pricy. Some great alternatives are to use Craig’s List or look into finding a student at a local college to do it. Make sure you work with your web developer in creating your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for the site. This is most important and is the best way to insure that you can create a web presence that is optimized for search engines. The template DIY websites don’t work well for SEO. SEO will concentrate on key wording, alt tags, one-way links, and proper site submissions.

You now have a business ready to start seeing some return. People are ready to see your business and it’s your job to reach out and find them. It is your job to know your market and tap it with your presence. I suggest that it is priority to get a creative ad on Craig’s List. Why not it’s free? Now that you have all of your promotional materials printed out, where are you going to distribute them? Research all local, state, or nationwide wedding industry businesses, and create a directory of them for your advertising.

Create your promotional packets with cover letter, brochure, postcards, and a mini portfolio or something that shows your style in more depth. This is a lot of work and may take a while. Get help from friends, family or again posting an ad on Craig’s List for some temporary help. After you have mailed everything, follow up with phone calls to let them know who you are. This will help provide a personal connection to your materials and help start future relationships. Building relationships is very important and will help bring work your way through word of mouth. Another great way to build relationships and get your work out is to participate in any bridal shows that come to your area.

Knowing your business and what you offer to your clients and the industry is the most important thing. Just as it is important to know your self-identity as a person, so is it important to know your business identity. When the phone starts ringing people want to see confidence in you and your images. Just remember that images speak louder than words and that the cream always rises to the top.

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