Is this the newest thing? Birdes seeking professionals that only use
an iPhone to shoot their entire wedding. Interesting!!! Might have to
sneak in on this trend! Check out the photos, they are stunning!!
iPhone Wedding
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
bad wedding photographers
When most photographers stumble upon an ad on Craigslist for a $300
wedding photographer, they get angry. Not only is this “Craigslist
photographer” claiming to to be professional when they are not, they are
also lowering the value of wedding photography in general, right? How
can us “real” professionals ask for thousands of dollars when there are
others willing to do it for almost nothing? These are fair assumptions,
but I believe bad wedding photographers have made the industry better.
Whenever I get asked what I do for work and I say, “I shoot weddings for a living,” the response is usually something like this: “Oh my gosh, I wish I would have hired you to shoot our wedding, our photographer was terrible,” or “You should have shot my friend’s wedding. Her photographer ruined her wedding.” Without even seeing my work, most people assume that I am better than their wedding photographer or their friend’s wedding photographer. How bad of a photographer do you have to be to bring out this type of emotion? The truth is that their photographer may not have been THAT bad. What’s more likely is that that their wedding day was THAT important to them and the photographer did something that didn’t live up to their high standard.
Craigslist photographers are not your competition
I don’t think shooting a wedding for $300 is a bad thing. We all have to start somewhere right? My first wedding was for a friend and I shot it for $250. I had no idea what I was doing but the pictures turned out fine, for what it was. Most brides spend about 15% of their wedding budget on a photographer and this wedding probably cost $1000 total. $250 for a wedding photographer was actually splurging in this case. Did I con this couple into hiring a nonprofessional? No, they knew I had never shot a wedding before. Did I lower the “value of wedding photography” by charging so little? I don’t think so: they didn’t have a penny more to spend. I didn’t take away a job from the local pro that would have charged at least $3000 to do the same job; this young couple simply could have never afforded them.
My point is that if you are a true full-time professional photographer, a $300 wedding photographer is not your competition. A bride with a $300 wedding photography budget isn’t going to suddenly find an extra $3000 if she can’t find any $300 photographers. She will just find anyone with a camera and offer him or her $300. That’s how I booked my first wedding.
What happens when a wedding photographer screws up
Photographers are hired for jobs and screw up all the time. I can shoot a family portrait, a commercial product shot, or the cover of a magazine and if I screw up I can easily re-shoot the job or the client can simply hire someone else to do it. That client may not ever hire me again, but if I give them their money back they will probably get over it. This is not the case for wedding photography. Chances are, the bride has been planning this day since she was a little girl and to her, this is the most important day of her life. This day will only happen once and there is no room for error because there is no opportunity for a redo. If a wedding photographer does something, anything, to mess up a wedding, their mistake will never be forgotten. Not only will the bride know, most of the guests at the wedding will also know how bad the photographer was. News of a nightmare photographer travels much faster than news of a great one. This includes some extremely small details like the way the photographer dressed or the way the photographer acted when it was time for posed pictures. I’ve actually attended a wedding where the photographer was so demanding that she made the bride cry during posed pictures. Do you think that bride will ever forget that? Do you think anyone who saw this occur will ever forget it?
I will never forget when I was a groomsmen at one of my friend’s weddings and the “incredibly talented photographer” (as he put it) showed up wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a glittery tank top. Her pictures actually turned out pretty good but I don’t remember the pictures, I remember a room full of tuxedos and gowns and a woman dressed like she was at a rodeo. I’ve told this story hundreds of time and I’ve never mentioned that her pictures were good.
Bad wedding photographers make people spend more money
If you have ever planned a wedding before, you know that all of your married friends will give you advice. They know what worked for their wedding and what didn’t. When it comes to wedding photography, most married couples say things like “don’t skimp on your wedding photographer, it’s the only thing that you will have to remember your wedding.” This statement is usually followed by a story about how their photographer or their friend’s photographer completely ruined their wedding or the memories of their wedding. These stories alone will make brides reconsider their wedding budget priorities. If she had planned to spend $1000 on a photographer but then hears a story about a bad $1000 wedding photographer, that bride will probably buy a cheaper dress, cake, and flowers, so that she can hire a quality photographer. If there weren’t any “bad” photographers and there weren’t all of these wedding photography horror stories, she would have probably just spent $1000.
Even if you haven’t heard wedding photography horror stories, you’ve probably seen terrible wedding photography posted all over Facebook. Each of these images is a constant reminder of the mistakes that your friends have made. When it comes time for you to plan your own wedding, you will remember all of the awful, spot color, HDR, direct flash, snapshot-looking pictures you’ve seen and you will probably be tempted to spend a bit more to pay for something you will be proud to share.
Why good wedding photographers charge a lot
Compared to other types of photography, good wedding photography costs a lot. I’m not going to every detail about running a business because that has been done to death, but I would like to point out the wedding photography has gotten so good BECAUSE the prices are so high. My rates allow me to show up to each wedding with over $20k in gear. In most cases I shoot with 2 assistants and 5 cameras. Because I get paid what I do, I can purchase the newest gear and I can bring equipment that helps me create images that would be impossible with a single camera and flash. Because I get paid so well I can afford to buy the top of the line software and I can afford to take classes that will teach me to use it. Instead of this just being a hobby for me, I can spend all of my time focusing on wedding photography because it is my full time job.
Obviously my wedding photography product may be seen as extravagant to some, but you must remember that other clients may view my work and think that my prices are cheap. My point is that there is a wedding photographer for every budget and that includes the $300 wedding photographers. As professionals we must remember that every client is different and we can’t get angry with a bride to is looking for a $300 wedding photographer nor can we get angry with the photographer who is charging $300. If our product is really worth what we are charging for it then brides will find us. The fear of a bad photographer ruining their wedding will only help.
Whenever I get asked what I do for work and I say, “I shoot weddings for a living,” the response is usually something like this: “Oh my gosh, I wish I would have hired you to shoot our wedding, our photographer was terrible,” or “You should have shot my friend’s wedding. Her photographer ruined her wedding.” Without even seeing my work, most people assume that I am better than their wedding photographer or their friend’s wedding photographer. How bad of a photographer do you have to be to bring out this type of emotion? The truth is that their photographer may not have been THAT bad. What’s more likely is that that their wedding day was THAT important to them and the photographer did something that didn’t live up to their high standard.
Craigslist photographers are not your competition
I don’t think shooting a wedding for $300 is a bad thing. We all have to start somewhere right? My first wedding was for a friend and I shot it for $250. I had no idea what I was doing but the pictures turned out fine, for what it was. Most brides spend about 15% of their wedding budget on a photographer and this wedding probably cost $1000 total. $250 for a wedding photographer was actually splurging in this case. Did I con this couple into hiring a nonprofessional? No, they knew I had never shot a wedding before. Did I lower the “value of wedding photography” by charging so little? I don’t think so: they didn’t have a penny more to spend. I didn’t take away a job from the local pro that would have charged at least $3000 to do the same job; this young couple simply could have never afforded them.
My point is that if you are a true full-time professional photographer, a $300 wedding photographer is not your competition. A bride with a $300 wedding photography budget isn’t going to suddenly find an extra $3000 if she can’t find any $300 photographers. She will just find anyone with a camera and offer him or her $300. That’s how I booked my first wedding.
What happens when a wedding photographer screws up
Photographers are hired for jobs and screw up all the time. I can shoot a family portrait, a commercial product shot, or the cover of a magazine and if I screw up I can easily re-shoot the job or the client can simply hire someone else to do it. That client may not ever hire me again, but if I give them their money back they will probably get over it. This is not the case for wedding photography. Chances are, the bride has been planning this day since she was a little girl and to her, this is the most important day of her life. This day will only happen once and there is no room for error because there is no opportunity for a redo. If a wedding photographer does something, anything, to mess up a wedding, their mistake will never be forgotten. Not only will the bride know, most of the guests at the wedding will also know how bad the photographer was. News of a nightmare photographer travels much faster than news of a great one. This includes some extremely small details like the way the photographer dressed or the way the photographer acted when it was time for posed pictures. I’ve actually attended a wedding where the photographer was so demanding that she made the bride cry during posed pictures. Do you think that bride will ever forget that? Do you think anyone who saw this occur will ever forget it?
I will never forget when I was a groomsmen at one of my friend’s weddings and the “incredibly talented photographer” (as he put it) showed up wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a glittery tank top. Her pictures actually turned out pretty good but I don’t remember the pictures, I remember a room full of tuxedos and gowns and a woman dressed like she was at a rodeo. I’ve told this story hundreds of time and I’ve never mentioned that her pictures were good.
Bad wedding photographers make people spend more money
If you have ever planned a wedding before, you know that all of your married friends will give you advice. They know what worked for their wedding and what didn’t. When it comes to wedding photography, most married couples say things like “don’t skimp on your wedding photographer, it’s the only thing that you will have to remember your wedding.” This statement is usually followed by a story about how their photographer or their friend’s photographer completely ruined their wedding or the memories of their wedding. These stories alone will make brides reconsider their wedding budget priorities. If she had planned to spend $1000 on a photographer but then hears a story about a bad $1000 wedding photographer, that bride will probably buy a cheaper dress, cake, and flowers, so that she can hire a quality photographer. If there weren’t any “bad” photographers and there weren’t all of these wedding photography horror stories, she would have probably just spent $1000.
Even if you haven’t heard wedding photography horror stories, you’ve probably seen terrible wedding photography posted all over Facebook. Each of these images is a constant reminder of the mistakes that your friends have made. When it comes time for you to plan your own wedding, you will remember all of the awful, spot color, HDR, direct flash, snapshot-looking pictures you’ve seen and you will probably be tempted to spend a bit more to pay for something you will be proud to share.
Why good wedding photographers charge a lot
Compared to other types of photography, good wedding photography costs a lot. I’m not going to every detail about running a business because that has been done to death, but I would like to point out the wedding photography has gotten so good BECAUSE the prices are so high. My rates allow me to show up to each wedding with over $20k in gear. In most cases I shoot with 2 assistants and 5 cameras. Because I get paid what I do, I can purchase the newest gear and I can bring equipment that helps me create images that would be impossible with a single camera and flash. Because I get paid so well I can afford to buy the top of the line software and I can afford to take classes that will teach me to use it. Instead of this just being a hobby for me, I can spend all of my time focusing on wedding photography because it is my full time job.
Obviously my wedding photography product may be seen as extravagant to some, but you must remember that other clients may view my work and think that my prices are cheap. My point is that there is a wedding photographer for every budget and that includes the $300 wedding photographers. As professionals we must remember that every client is different and we can’t get angry with a bride to is looking for a $300 wedding photographer nor can we get angry with the photographer who is charging $300. If our product is really worth what we are charging for it then brides will find us. The fear of a bad photographer ruining their wedding will only help.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
mamarazzi
So as many of you have witnessed or have fallen prey to, there is an
overwhelming surge in what I have come to know as Mamarazzi. What??
Mamarazzi??? Y’all heard me right. Now, historically, the mamarazzi
didn’t affect anyone but their family but with the constant improvements
to digital photography enhancement the mamarazzi has staked a rather
large claim in the realm of professional photography.
Mamarazzi as defined by the Urban Dictionary:
1. Mothers who constantly follow their children around with several cameras and video taking equipment, snapping photos at each turn and documenting each milestone or event with at least two dozen photos and a video.
2. Groups of aforementioned mothers
3. When referring to yourself as described above
1. You can’t even get close to the swings because of all the mamarazzi.
2. I can’t believe how many photos I took of baby Madison on the slide! I’m such a mamarazzi!
3. What’s with all the mamarazzi? It’s just a bloody hair cut.
Much like how the famous dread the paparazzi, the professional photographer dreads the growing population of the mamarazzi. I know, some will say that its a phase and that there shouldn’t be much emphasis placed on their growing popularity… I say to not care is irresponsible and here is why.
In an already competitive business filled with talent, the growing populous of the kit camera cartel offering sessions for $20 which includes 1,345 images on CD significantly decreases the the true professionals ability to compete. An average customer, with little to no understanding of true portrait art, will, 99% of the time, choose the lesser priced “business” unknowingly ruining their families memories. I know, y’all professionals say “That’s not the clientele I want anyways” … bull.. I want those clients, I want every client I can book but I will not compromise my ability to pay my bills so my session fees and print packages, competitively priced, will not be lowered.
I think that, in the long run, the true professional will emerge over this fad… quality over quantity, professional over “friend”…. these will one day, again, reign supreme in the photography world. It is by educating potential clients that we, the photographers, will come out on top of the Picmonkey patrons… to re-take what is rightfully ours, the business of stopping time and preserving that time in a manner that will be looked at for years to come as a precious memory without selective color, without holga or whatever else Picmonkey offers…
I guess the bottom line is that I will not succumb nor will I fold to the pricing offered by the popup flash professional. The mamarazzi will either learn the incredible (sometimes difficult) craft of photography or fade away. Some will get sued out of ‘business’ because they provided 800 blurry photographs of the wedding they did for $20. The potential clients will either become educated or risk loosing their most precious moments to the green box brigade… either way y’all… I am in this for the long haul.
Mamarazzi as defined by the Urban Dictionary:
1. Mothers who constantly follow their children around with several cameras and video taking equipment, snapping photos at each turn and documenting each milestone or event with at least two dozen photos and a video.
2. Groups of aforementioned mothers
3. When referring to yourself as described above
1. You can’t even get close to the swings because of all the mamarazzi.
2. I can’t believe how many photos I took of baby Madison on the slide! I’m such a mamarazzi!
3. What’s with all the mamarazzi? It’s just a bloody hair cut.
Much like how the famous dread the paparazzi, the professional photographer dreads the growing population of the mamarazzi. I know, some will say that its a phase and that there shouldn’t be much emphasis placed on their growing popularity… I say to not care is irresponsible and here is why.
In an already competitive business filled with talent, the growing populous of the kit camera cartel offering sessions for $20 which includes 1,345 images on CD significantly decreases the the true professionals ability to compete. An average customer, with little to no understanding of true portrait art, will, 99% of the time, choose the lesser priced “business” unknowingly ruining their families memories. I know, y’all professionals say “That’s not the clientele I want anyways” … bull.. I want those clients, I want every client I can book but I will not compromise my ability to pay my bills so my session fees and print packages, competitively priced, will not be lowered.
I think that, in the long run, the true professional will emerge over this fad… quality over quantity, professional over “friend”…. these will one day, again, reign supreme in the photography world. It is by educating potential clients that we, the photographers, will come out on top of the Picmonkey patrons… to re-take what is rightfully ours, the business of stopping time and preserving that time in a manner that will be looked at for years to come as a precious memory without selective color, without holga or whatever else Picmonkey offers…
I guess the bottom line is that I will not succumb nor will I fold to the pricing offered by the popup flash professional. The mamarazzi will either learn the incredible (sometimes difficult) craft of photography or fade away. Some will get sued out of ‘business’ because they provided 800 blurry photographs of the wedding they did for $20. The potential clients will either become educated or risk loosing their most precious moments to the green box brigade… either way y’all… I am in this for the long haul.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
quick thanks
thanks everyone for all the recent likes on our facebook page! the more
likes we get the more people know about our services, and the more
people we can help. if you have not liked us yet, feel free to like us.
our link is on the left side of the page for facebook and twitter. we
will start running contests for like goals, so tell your friends. again,
the more that know about us the better! thank you all!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
new pricing
you might have noticed we have taken all our pricing in reference to
weddings permanently off the website. why? no two weddings are alike, no
two people are alike, and no two photographers are alike! instead of
one or two packages, let us customize a package and program to you, and
your unique wedding and financial needs you might have. our clients
spend on average from $750 for a basic wedding on up to $3000+ for more
sophisticated styles and locations. we feel this suits our business
model better, and more importantly, YOU!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)