Welcome to the second, and final, installment of my tips for the New Wedding Photographer. Herein are 12 more tips for those just getting into the business. As always I encourage everyone to leave comments or other tips I missed in the comments! If you want to look over the original 12 tip just click HERE Have a great day.
1. Grow a 3rd leg: A must have for a wedding shoot is a Monopod. While it might be cumbersome, especially in indoor weddings, they will afford you that extra amount of stability to get those extra sharp images. Also, something most people don’t think about is that the use of a monopod helps to take some of the stress off your shoulders. Stress that will build during a full day of having a several pound camera setup stuck to your face.
2. A shot in the dark … reception hall: While many photographers will scout the location as I discussed in the previous installment, few will grab a “loaner couple” to check the lighting in the room. I highly recommend you do this and usually there are plenty of couples not involved in the wedding willing to help you out. However it turns out, the old rules still stand. Diffuse the light as much as possible.
3. Spin it round, like a DVD: In today’s tech centered society it is important to be well versed on creating the very basic of photography delivery systems. In this case it is the DVD. DVDs can be very quick to put out, especially on the Mac side of things. Typically, when I do a DVD for someone I create a basic slide show disc with the “snap shot” style event images, and then I create a heavily styled disc with the posed/formal shots. The former have well designed menus and aren’t heavily nested. If you’re looking for a way to separate yourself from the crowd getting into the DVD creation side of things is definitely a way to get it down.
4. Make a List, then throw it away: Formal shot lists are a pretty common thing, so much in fact that couples who are getting married these days abhor them. I’ve spoken to several couple in the recent past who said all they wanted from their photographer was something creative. What they usually got was a series of pictures starting with the bride alone, then adding people till everyone had a picture taken. To make the most of a bride’s special day, make your list, go over it with the bride, then allow her to rip it up make a new one. If she like yours then great, if not then what you have just done is shown the bride that you actually care about what she thinks. This will go very far with her, especially later when she mentions your name and hands over your card to her friends who are getting married.
5. Go off list: While formal shots before the wedding are normal be sure to ask the bride/groom if there are any candids that they would like with special people. Perhaps the bride wants a picture of her hugging her great great grandmother after the wedding is over. Or the groom bumping chests with his frat brothers at the reception. Yes, wedding photography is a job, and it can be a boring one at that. But never forget you are being hired to capture split second moments in what is hopefully two people’s special day. Making an effort to capture the moments they hold most dear can make the job rewarding financially, artistically, and most important … emotionally.
6. A little appetizer before the buffet: Try to have 10 images processed and up on a proofing site within 48 hours of the wedding. This whets the appetite of the bride and groom for the whole shebang, and gives them something to show the loved ones who couldn’t make it to the wedding.
7. The party train just doesn’t stop: If you can’t get the artistic shots you want to get, offer to do shoots at a later date in exchange for the rights to use the images in your portfolio or even in a commercial stock capacity.
8. Betcha shouldn’t give just one: For all DVD or Disc based image delivery take the extra 10-20 minutes to burn 2-3 extra copies.
9. She might Flickr you a new one: Flickr is a great sharing method, as is Deviant Art. However, make sure you have the happy couple’s blessing prior to uploading. I know you hold the rights to the images, but asking is just good manners.
10. Proving Yourself … Safely: A big tip is to use a Flash based proofing site. This way it is less likely that your clients can take images off the website for their own use. This is especially useful if you employ a “half down, half later” business policy.
11. Dress Down!: While this might without saying you should go the extra mile to ensure that the bride’s dress isn’t damaged in any way. In the wedding this past friday I used lit candles for one photo. The bride was willing to alllow this just as long as I was very careful to not to get wax on it. The picture turned out wonderful.
12. Uniqueness … does this REALLY need explanation? Set yourself apart from the crowd, period.
