Clued Up with Maria B: The Behind-The-Scenes Photography Podcast
Clued Up with Maria B: The Behind-The-Scenes Photography Podcast
10+ Essential Tips for NonWedding Photographers Shooting A Wedding
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What happens when a portrait photographer reluctantly agrees to shoot a wedding? A year-long journey of preparation, learning, and ultimately, success. After receiving an unexpected request from my friend's sister, I found myself saying "yes" to photographing a wedding despite my initial hesitation—a decision that would teach me valuable lessons about wedding photography from a portrait photographer's perspective AND ABOUT SAYING YES even when you're filled with self doubt.
The wedding photography world has its own rhythm, challenges, and rewards that differ significantly from portrait work. Through workshops, styled shoots, and extensive research, I developed a comprehensive approach to tackle my first wedding with confidence. From knowing your client's vision to mastering venue logistics, from creating bulletproof contracts to assembling the right support team—I discovered that success lies in meticulous preparation and clear communication.
My experience shooting this wedding revealed why many photographers either love or leave the wedding industry. The physical demands, time management challenges, and interpersonal dynamics create a complex environment that requires more than just technical photography skills. I found myself understanding why wedding photographers need to be assertive, organized, and prepared for anything.
For portrait photographers considering taking on a wedding, I offer 15 essential tips that cover everything from pricing structures to equipment choices, from professional conduct to handling the unexpected. Whether you're contemplating your first wedding shoot or simply curious about what happens behind the scenes, this episode provides an honest look at navigating the wedding photography landscape as an outsider stepping in.
Want to know if wedding photography might be right for you? Listen as I share the surprising moments, challenges, and ultimately rewarding experience of documenting one of life's most significant celebrations. You might discover, as I did, that with proper preparation and realistic expectations, wedding photography can become an enriching addition to your photography offerings.
The Complete Wedding Day Organizer for Photographers
Questions or Comments? Reach out at mariabphotostudio@gmail.com and I'll be in touch* directly or address your comment on the podcast.
*By submitting a question or statement, you agree that your submission can be discussed publicly on the podcast, website, or other platforms owned by or affiliated with CluedUpBTS and its parent company, HeadshotNJ, and affiliate company Maria B Photography Studio. while retaining your anonymity.
Welcome to Clued Up with Maria B
Speaker 1Welcome to Clued Up with Maria B, the behind-the-scenes photography podcast. Clued Up is your insider's view to building successful magazine-style photo shoots. We talk design and concept, fashion and style, tech, social media and, of course, business Plus so much more, including how to avoid common photography pitfalls. You'll also meet some special guests who work behind the camera and in front of the lens. Whether you're an aspiring photographer, a portrait photographer thinking about starting your own business, or you just have an interest in what it takes to plan and execute professional shoots, you've come to the right place. I'm your host, maria B. Now let's get you clued up. Hi everyone, it's Maria B, coming to you with a brand new episode after what seems like a very long time. Thank you for staying with me and thank you for listening.
Speaker 1Today's podcast is about something I never thought I would do, which is to photograph a wedding, and I wanted to share that experience with you and share what I've learned from that experience. So the title of today's episode is 10 Tips or More for Non-Wedding Photographers Shooting a Wedding. Before I get into that, I just want to share with you how this all came to be, how I found myself photographing a wedding. A woman called my studio phone, my business phone, and she left a message saying that she was getting married and she wanted me to photograph her wedding. I called her back, I got her voicemail and I said that I would try to reach her again or she could try to call me again. In her message she was very nice, very polite, had a very warm and friendly tone and I just didn't feel it was right to respond with a voicemail saying thank you for your call, but I don't do weddings. I actually wanted to speak with her. So we went back and forth for a while and we just couldn't, you know, get in touch with each other. We were playing telephone tag. Put that aside for a moment.
Speaker 1A friend of mine who is a physician's assistant and she's also an educator in a physician's assistant program at a local university, invited me to speak on a panel or to attend a conference geared to bringing minority students into physician assistance programs. It was a really well-attended conference. As some of you may know, in my other life I am a nurse practitioner. At the end of the event, my friend I'll call her Karen, karen and I were speaking. You know, I was hanging around helping her a little bit, just chit-chatting, and eventually we got around to my photography and worked with Karen as a photographer. I photographed her daughter the evening of her daughter's prom, before her send-off. I also annually photograph an event that Karen manages, which is a kidney benefit for people with kidney disease, people who are on dialysis, people who are on the kidney transplant list, people who have undergone kidney transplant. So we've worked together lots of times.
Speaker 1So we're chit-chatting about the photography part of my life and I happened to mention to her that this woman called and she left a message on my phone about me photographing her wedding and that I've been trying to reach her but have not been able to. And Karen says to me well, that's my sister, pat, she's getting married next year. She wants you to do the photography. And my response was but, karen, you know I don't do weddings. Karen's like no, we know you don't do weddings, but you're going to do this one. She really likes your work. And you know, we went back and forth for a little while, first kiddingly, and then I'm like no, I'm serious, I don't do weddings. Karen, in her very kind and gentle way she's like no, you're doing my sister's wedding. Side note Karen is also a minister. She lives her life based on faith and you know, many people say that they're a child of God, but Karen actually lives her life accordingly. It's really difficult to say no to someone like that. So when I said yes, I'm not sure if I was saying yes to Karen or I was saying yes to her sister, but I did end up photographing the wedding and it was quite an experience that I enjoyed. So I want to talk to you about what I learned in doing this. I will start by telling you that in between saying yes and the date of the wedding was about a year's time, maybe a little bit more and you know, I'm not the type of person that would just be satisfied watching a couple of videos on YouTube and then saying, oh, I know how to photograph a wedding.
Speaker 1So, in addition to doing that, I also took some workshops just to get the feel of things. One thing I did that I thought was very helpful in its own way was I attended a style shoot. Style shoot is an event with models Sometimes they are real couples. There are also vendors, including florists, makeup artists, etc. It's usually held at a venue, and all this is done to give photographers the opportunity to photograph the elements of a wedding, but without the stress of the time element. That can be really helpful. Just to give you an idea of the different elements of photographing a wedding if you are not familiar with that. Again, I thought that was helpful. It's something like if you have the opportunity to do it, it's a nice way to get your feet wet in terms of seeing parts of a wedding day and what needs to be photographed, or with a style shoot. All of this is done, again, to give photographers the opportunity to photograph, but it also benefits the venue and the vendors because they get named when photographers post the photos.
How I Ended Up Shooting a Wedding
Speaker 1Anyway, what I've done for today is to prepare a list of 10 tips or more that I learned from photographing the wedding, and we'll start with number one knowing your client. And when I say knowing your client, I just don't mean knowing who they are, I mean knowing who they are as a person and learning about their style. You have to figure out what their expectations are and whether or not you're capable of meeting those expectations. You need to find out what type of wedding photography coverage they're looking for. Are they looking for documentary style, which basically means you photograph throughout the day with very little manipulation of the environment and the people in it. Do they want a documentary style shoot throughout the day with light posing. So you cover, obviously, the major portraits the bride, the groom, the bride and groom photos of the couple with their families and the bridal party. But everything else is pretty much documentary style, which is you're just photographing things as they happen. You're not asking people to pose, you're not rearranging elements of the environment. Are they looking for the more epic, traditional type of wedding photography the dress in the window, the bride on the staircase, the first look, the photo shoot of the bride and groom immediately after the ceremony without anyone else? Also, you have to get to know their personalities. Are they more upscale? Are they more boho? Are they more outdoorsy? You have to ask questions to figure out their style. You also need to find out if they have anything special planned, anything that needs to be showcased, such as the bridesmaids or the groomsmen performing a dance.
Speaker 1For me, having met the bride and knowing her family, I knew what was important to them, this couple. They were an older couple, I would say 50s. They both had grown children and what was important to them was merging two very large families and creating an event for everyone to remember. It was important to the bride that she be photographed with her four adult sons, who were actually the ones who were giving her away. There were younger children and grandchildren at the wedding. They were actually in the wedding and they attended the reception. And, just as a side note, this made me think about how much people miss out when they insist that children not attend a wedding, because there's something so special about a child or children at a wedding, and this was important to this couple.
Speaker 1The next thing, number two, is to know the venue. Go to the venue before the wedding, and I don't mean go early on the day of the wedding, I mean go to the venue days, weeks, even months before, check out the lighting, the grounds, the entire environment. Meet with the person who has been working with the couple and have a heart-to-heart conversation with that person and learn what other couples have done or other photographers have done. Try to figure out where is the best position in the venue to capture certain types of shots of the couple as they enter the reception or during any particular part of the reception. You also need to find out things like is there going to be smoke, fog sparkles and this is something that maybe someone at the venue will know about or the DJ may know about Is there some part of the venue that the couple can be photographed alone after the ceremony that others will not know about or see until they actually see the photos? Just to add that special element of something that's unique to the couple?
Speaker 1Fortunately, I knew this venue very well. I had photographed events there previously, like maybe three or four times, and this family. They had actually used the venue for other events as well. I also knew the rep that had been working with them and I met with her and she took me around and showed me the room for the wedding reception, which was a room I had not been in before, although I had photographed other events at the venue. I also had never photographed the grounds. The wedding ceremony was actually going to be held outside in a gazebo, and that was an area I was not familiar with. So I had the opportunity to survey the grounds and learn and see more of the venue and more of the venue that would be involved during the wedding.
Speaker 1Next, number three how many hours of coverage does the couple want? Are we talking about a ceremony at the courthouse and photos on the steps at City Hall. Are we talking about four, six, eight hours, 12 hours? Maybe Do they want all-day coverage, from prep to last dance, all-day coverage from prep to last dance? This couple wanted full-day coverage that began with prepping around 11.30 in the morning and ended after the final dance, I'm going to say around midnight or so. So we were talking about a well, almost a 12-hour day.
Preparing for My First Wedding Shoot
Speaker 1If you don't want to shoot all day, or if you don't want to shoot for 12 hours, don't have it in your pricing. Or if you include 12 hours all day coverage, offer it at some outrageous price. If it's something that you really do not want to do. Let the couple know that if they select a particular number of hours but request more time on the day of coverage, there will be an additional charge. Let them know up front what that charge will be. So if someone wants you to stay like an additional 15 or 20 minutes, that really shouldn't incur an additional charge. That's just courtesy. But I would say that once you're past the 30-minute mark, the hourly rate that you discussed with them previously and that should be in your contract should kick in that hourly rate that you discussed with them previously and that should be in your contract should kick in. That hourly rate should actually be more than had they chosen a higher tier when they signed the contract. In other words, there's a bit of a premium for on-site addition of additional time, if you know what I mean. And all this should be covered in the contract, and we're going to talk about the contract momentarily.
Speaker 1Once you start speaking to someone about photographing their wedding, start doing your research and put together a price list. Most photographers work from a three-tier pricing package or a three-tier collection that contains one, two or three of the following elements the number of hours of coverage, purchase of digitals and albums. Alternatively, some photographers have a list that covers only the number of hours they price digitals and they price albums separately, or what they do is they provide the digitals for all photos that are included in an album. It's pretty much up to you to determine what works best for you, what you're comfortable charging and if you'd like to offer digitals and or albums separately from your hourly or from your hours coverage of the wedding. It's imperative that you make a list after you've compared industry and local pricing, and the reason why I emphasize making a list is that when people ask you a question off the cuff and you answer right off the top of your head, often you give an answer that kind of placates or satisfies the person asking the question. Versus giving an answer. That's the more appropriate response. That's why, when someone asks you how much would coverage for six hours cost, what you should really do is provide them with your pricing. Also, don't sell yourself short. In general, we tend to offer lower prices for shooting outside of our comfort zone, our genre. So I'm a portrait and headshot photographer.
Speaker 1Putting together a price list for a wedding required really doing some research. Remember, you're probably bringing lights, you're bringing other equipment, you're dedicating your time both at the wedding and for culling and editing photos, independent of whether you edit yourself or you send them out to an outside company. You need to find out the size of the wedding, the wedding party and the number of guests, and this all helps to determine your pricing and the number of hours of coverage. If someone is having a relatively large wedding, four hours of coverage probably not going to be enough. The couple is either going to get shortchanged in terms of full coverage of the wedding and you're probably going to feel rushed trying to get everything in in that short amount of time. This wedding was really not that large. I think there were three to four bridesmaids and obviously then three to four groomsmen. There were a lot of guests, but it was not a huge amount, so it was quite manageable.
Speaker 1You want to be clear on your pricing and on what that pricing covers. For example, some photographers bundle wedding coverage, digital and albums. Others are straightforward that the cost and coverage is just that Coverage. Also and you know I've kind of stated this before be clear on the pricing and on what that pricing covers. For example, some photographers, as I said previously, bundle wedding coverage, digitals and albums all together. Others are straightforward that the cost of coverage photography coverage is just that, the coverage, with a separate pricing list for wedding albums. In some cases, digitals are separate purchase or some photographers offer digitals with the purchase of an album. Again, no matter what you decide, be very clear about what the client is getting for their payment and what they're not getting.
Speaker 1And while we're on the topic, if there's one place, one event, one photo shoot that requires a contract, it's a wedding. I know you've got to have heard the horror stories and the consequences that can be disastrous for a photographer, especially if the couple badmouths them on social media or attempts legal action. These things often happen because of a misunderstanding that need not have happened had a contract or an agreement been in place and covered the issue. So it doesn't matter who the client is or your relationship with them, whether it's a friend, whether it's a family member, whether it's a sibling. Please, please, please, don't do anything without a contract in place. Several companies offer wedding contracts online at reasonable prices, but no matter what the cost is for purchasing a contract, for customizing it to your needs and for having an attorney or at least another pro wedding photographer review it, it will never cost you as much as one wedding that did not go the way the couple expected.
Speaker 1The two most important things in a contract are what does the service cover, what does your service cover and what does it not cover? Don't leave anything to chance or to assumption. I sent my price list with the selected coverage time to the client. I sent it along with choices for albums and wall art. Everything went at the same time as my contract. So what they received was the contract for the wedding, which detailed my coverage and their choice of the hours they wanted covered. I also sent the bride a listing so that she can give to me all of the vendors and businesses involved with her wedding and I would be able to credit them on social media. The bride returned both the contract the contract and her choice of the hours of coverage and that's how I knew they wanted all day coverage in less than 24 hours. If you use a client relation management tool or CRM, you can easily email the contract and pricing to your client all in one shot. So a few CRMs are Studio Ninja, honeybook, tave and, I believe, sprout as well. I use Studio Ninja.
Speaker 1Okay, next, be professional. And when I say be professional, talk the talk, walk the walk and dress accordingly. Remember, you're attending a wedding. You want to dress for comfort, but you also want to dress professionally. That all depends on where you are and you know the level of sophistication of the event. Obviously, you don't wear a tie if you're on the beach, but by the same token, at least wear a jacket or just dress accordingly. Ladies dress, wear a dress, wear slacks, keep it professional and dress not to stand out to gain the attention of attendees. Remember comfortable shoes always. So for an event like this, I wore black pants kind that don't wrinkle, a black silk shirt or silk-looking shirt and a black jacket. For shoes, black loafers.
Ten Essential Tips for Non-Wedding Photographers
Speaker 1Okay, next, get a helper. There are different type of helpers on a wedding day and what I suggest is, long before the wedding, ask the couple to nominate someone in the family to assist during family portraits. So your first helper is someone to assist with the family portraits. It works out well if it's a younger person who'll be excited to help the photographer out, and that person is just gonna get a copy of your shot list for family photos and they're responsible for rounding up people as their time approaches for being photographed with the bride, with the groom and with the bride and groom together. Your second helper is someone who you're going to hire to assist you.
Speaker 1I'm not talking about a second shooter here. I mean just having someone who's going to carry your gear, handy your lens. If you need to switch out lenses, it's just helpful to have someone with you who's going to help you set up lights, move things around, hand you things, especially if this is new to you. I had an assistant to help me carry and move my equipment and exchange lenses when needed. It may not sound like much, but on a hectic wedding day, every little bit of help makes things a lot easier. Helper number three if you're covering a small wedding, you're probably able to get away with doing all the photography by yourself and with the assistant for support. But if it's a medium-sized wedding, if it's a large party, you will need a second shooter. Here are some tips for working with a second shooter Use the same camera system.
Speaker 1It's not an absolute and it's not a deal breaker, but it makes post-processing a lot easier. Similarly, if you're working with a second shooter, you should shoot with relatively the same settings to eliminate the amount of manipulation and editing required in post-processing. This is not the time for you or your second shooter to try to shoot with an artistic flare. You can't be shooting with your temperature set to 3200, but your second shooter is shooting at 6000. Obviously, you are going to have differences, since you will not be in the same place at the same time and the lighting will be different, but you need to start out with a basic foundation of shooting with at least similar settings on your camera. Obviously, both you and the second shooter need to shoot in RAW on at least one of the cards in your camera and here's something that people don't talk about, and I don't know why All of the cameras involved in shooting the wedding need to be set to the same time, and this is so that when your photos are uploaded, everything will fall into chronological order.
Speaker 1Even if you're working by yourself, but you're working with two camera bodies, please make sure they carry the same time. This was an issue for me because at this wedding, I used two camera bodies and what I didn't realize is that I had not changed to daylight savings time on one of them, so my timing seemed a little bit off. When I uploaded the photos and I looked at them, some of them seemed out of order. It's easy in Lightroom to just change this using the batch feature and correcting for time, but it's just one more thing that you don't want to have to do. If you correct the problem in the beginning, any camera, be it for photo or for video or what have you any camera you're using on the day of the wedding, make sure the timing is exactly the same on all the cameras.
Speaker 1Next, continuing on with the second shooter, develop a plan of attack. You have to know up front what you will cover and what the second shooter will cover. Write it down. Print it and of course, things are going to happen and the plan's going to change. It never fails. Nothing ever runs that smoothly at a wedding. But at least give yourselves a firm foundation to start and be in communication with each other, which is actually my next point. Communicate and communicate. Clearly. Too much goes on at a wedding to be ambiguous. You need to take charge and be the pro that the couple hired.
Speaker 1Make a shot list. Go on Etsy and buy one for $10 or less. Usually, you not only get the shot list but you get a couple of other helpful tools. So, for example, I purchased a shot list from Sweet Little Muse on Etsy, called the Complete Wedding Day Organizer for photographers. It cost me $8.50. The shot list covers from bridal and groom prep, through photos with family members, through the reception. It also groups family members together for you and it includes places to write in their names. It also has a timeline attached to it. So, whether it's from Sweet Little Muse or another company, don't reinvent the wheel. The work's already been done. You just have to download it.
Speaker 1Next, arrive early. I know here's another thing that sounds pretty obvious, but even if you know the venue arrive early. Something's always going to happen at a wedding, as I keep saying always. So you want to give yourself the best opportunity to manage whatever tribulations are going to come up If you arrive early and the couple or the parties are not ready to be photographed. Here's your perfect time to photograph the lay flats or photograph the venue before the wedding begins. Next, make friends with the DJ and the videographer if there is one, three of you are what make the wedding and make the reception. By the way, when you're first getting to know the couple, make sure you ask them if there will be a videographer and, along the same lines lines be clear with the client that you are doing photography only.
Speaker 1If you're providing video services, that needs to be written into the contract and there needs to be absolute clarity about the depth of your video coverage. A photographer photographing a wedding and also doing video clips is significantly different from a videographer providing video recording services, be it weddings or other events. Clients tend to say on a whim, can you do some video clips too? You can do that right. Just a few First, video clips are potentially an add-on service and should incur an additional fee. Two, unless you're really good at video. Don't say yes. You'll be opening yourself up to problems you don't need Remember. Video was not in the initial contract and saying yes to video means more work. No agreed upon fee between you and the couple and no discussion of their video recording expectations. You were hired as a photographer In the planning or discovery phase with the couple.
Speaker 1Be clear about what services you will provide and not provide on the wedding day. If they want you to do video clips, that's the time for them to request that service. Next, if you're going to do a long day of coverage six hours or more, I would say include a meal in your contract. There are few things worse than photographing a long event, including a wedding. When you're hungry or thirsty, make friends with the bartender at the reception and get some water or carry your own. If it's going to be a long day and you're getting a meal, eat when everyone else eats. Then get back to work. Be professional. When your time is up, it's up. If the couple asks you to stay longer, it's up to you. But if it's going to be more than an hour, let them know. You will send an invoice for the additional time based upon the agreement in the contract. Otherwise, make the rounds and say goodnight to the couple and to their families.
Speaker 1Lenses Use what you have. If a couple is coming to you because they've seen your work, you don't need any new equipment. If, however, you intend to use a specific type of lens that you do not already own, then rent it. Remember, you're a portrait photographer shooting a wedding, you're not a wedding photographer. So a new lens for a wedding isn't going to be worth the expense. So a new lens for a wedding isn't going to be worth the expense.
Building Your Photography Team
Speaker 1Cameras One camera does the job most of the time. You don't need to, but I strongly advise to always have a capable backup camera If you have the stamina and strength to work with two camera bodies at the same time. Make sure the lenses you use are worth it, meaning they have different types of focus. In other words, use a zoom lens on one body and a wide-angled prime lens on the other. For this wedding, I carried a 70-200mm f2.8 lens on my Nikon Z8 and on my Z6 II, a 35mm 1.8 lens. Once the ceremony was over, I just lived off of my 24-70 lens for the reception and until the end of the night. So those are my 15 tips for non-wedding photographers who are taking on photographing a wedding.
Speaker 1Before summarizing, there's one last thing I want to discuss. Remember I mentioned that I had attended a wedding-style shoot and when I was there there was a photography couple or a wedding photography couple. They were also in attendance. Obviously, they worked together and I'm not going to say they were rude, but I'll describe them as being aggressive, especially in directing the couples, the models, and I found it a bit disconcerting that they could be that assertive at a style shoot and I kind of wondered what are they like at a real wedding, under, you know, the pressure of time? And, much as I hate to say this, having now photographed a wedding, I understand why this couple was as assertive as they were.
Speaker 1You really have to take control of a wedding from the beginning to the end of the ceremony and until the start of the reception. It's really hard to manage the number of people in a wedding or wedding party, and to do so requires extremely good planning, outstanding communication with the couple, your assistant and, if you have one, your second shooter, and it does require you to take the lead and guide people assertively. So you may find that not only do you have to take control, but you do indeed have to be assertive. All right, so here's a summary of my 10, I keep saying 10, but it's really 15 tips for photographing a wedding.
Speaker 1One know your client, their needs, their desires and their expectations and the type of photography they favor for their wedding. Two know your venue. Know the lighting so you can determine the lighting that you need to provide. Know the layout and learn the special places for special photos for the couple. Three have a printed, predetermined and priced number of hours for your work for example, 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours and all-day coverage, meaning from prep to last dance and be precise about what is included in each tier of your coverage and what is not included. Number four determine the size of the wedding party, bridesmaids and groomsmen, and also determine or learn about the number of guests in attendance to properly gauge how much work is involved. Number five be clear on your pricing and on what your pricing covers. Number six you need a contract. Enough said. Number seven conduct yourself professionally in every encounter with your client and your client's guests. Number eight get a helper One a member of the family to get groups of people together for their photos. Helper number two an assistant. Helper number three a second shooter, depending on the size of the wedding.
Speaker 1Tip number nine use a shot list, such as the Complete Wedding Day Organizer for Photographers by Sweet Little Muse on Etsy. Obviously, there are tons of others. I'll include the link to the shot list that I used in the show notes. Ten arrive early. Enough said. Eleven work amicably with the videographer and the DJ.
Speaker 112. Include a meal in the contract. If you're going to be working for six hours or more, carry energy bars and carry your own water, just in case. 13. Be professional. When your time is up, leave. If you're asked to stay 15, 20, 30 minutes longer, that's fine, but beyond that, a fee should be incurred for your additional time. Make your goodbyes otherwise to all the major players and leave.
Why Many Photographers Burn Out
Speaker 1Number 14, lenses. What you have is good enough. What you have is good enough. Incurring an additional expense by buying a new lens to cover a wedding equals a loss of your profit gained from photographing the wedding. 15. One camera is all you need, but I strongly recommend carrying a second camera for backup. That camera can be a rental if you don't already have a second camera. That's my list of 10, really 15, tips for non-wedding shooters who will be shooting a wedding.
Speaker 1So in closing, let me just say this For most of my photography career I've heard these horror stories about shooting weddings from portrait and headshot photographers who converted to portraits and headshots from weddings because they were burnt out. It was too much work after they started in wedding photography and I know this sounds a bit odd to say, but I really don't understand how someone begins their career as a wedding photographer. For me it sounds a little bit like learning to walk before you can crawl. I can see why anyone who starts out in weddings can quickly fall out of love with it. It's a tremendous amount of work and I'm not implying that anyone's afraid of the work, but a lot of it has to do with some other things. So I think that many new wedding photographers bite off more than they can chew. For example, even now I would not cover a large wedding unless I had a support team of capable photographers and assistants. As a single shooter with the ability to hire a second shooter and or an assistant, I wouldn't take on covering a large wedding.
Speaker 1Planning is key. You have to be organized, you have to be hyper-organized. It's a requirement for any wedding, but especially a large wedding. Many people choose to go into wedding photography because it's financially lucrative and it is but if you're stressed doing weddings, the money is worthless. It's hard to say no to good money, but many wedding photographers end up booking themselves like crazy to make money and it's just not worth it in the end.
Speaker 1I happen to follow someone on Instagram who keeps his followers updated with his bookings and his consultations and his meetings and it's crazy. I get exhausted just listening to the guy. Also just listening to the guy. People like this tinker with burnout because they're working to make a lot of money and not taking time to recover from one wedding before going on to the next. Many photographers, particularly newer ones, don't charge enough for their services, so all that effort that they put into photographing a wedding outweighs what they're being paid. And all of this adds up over time and it makes it easy to see why so many people leave wedding photography and just end up hating the genre.
Speaker 1If you're a photographer, a portrait photographer or a headshot photographer, or you specialize in some other genre, and someone asks you to photograph their wedding, don't dismiss the opportunity If it's a small wedding and you get a good vibe from the client. Do it Plan well, you may find you actually like it. Maria B, if you've enjoyed this podcast, please be sure to rate, subscribe and review on your preferred podcast listening platform. I really appreciate your support. When you rate, subscribe and review, you're also helping other listeners find and enjoy this podcast. Until next time.