Hello my friends! Happy Weekend. So maybe you’re a guest and you are just here to read cause you’re curious, maybe you’re a photographer already, maybe you’re a client, or maybe you want to be a wedding photographer! Whoever you may be, I wanted to share some helpful things I have learned in the industry in order to help you be more professional as a self-employed wedding photographer! You are your company and how you present yourself can be the difference between your clients seeing you as an amateur or professional. passing on your name to others or not! These are things I implement in my business and find important to execute, I strongly believe these are basic ways to help you be the professional that you should be. So, here we go!
- Treat your clients like friends (to a degree) on sessions and wedding days: You won’t deeply connect with every client. That’s ok. We’re all so different, but I think it’s important when capturing people in their element, and getting them to be themselves, as much as you can, that you treat them like you would your friends. I find this really settles the dust on the formality of the jump from “Hi I just met you…to ok now let’s capture intimate moments.” Equally in the communication process your clients deserve you to communicate with them quickly and thoughtfully as you would your friends! Now, there is another side to running a business where you need to be more formal in your dealings with people you have never met before, but remember that they are still your clients.
2. Communicate clearly and punctually before, during, and after the wedding day or sessions with your clients: I strongly recommend keeping communication to email or texts so you have a record of it! As much as you should treat your clients as friends and you build your client base these are also people you have never met before and things can get lost in translation sometimes. I tend to be an over communicator, in order to give as much detail as I can. If something were to go wrong, my clients and I can go back and reference where it was communicated. Being on the same page is so important and there is a lot of information to remember from how everything works, when something is due, where to be at, when to be there, why I may do something the way I do, and so on and so forth, so having a clear point of reference will help you keep all of the information straight! I also respond, as best as I can, to emails within 24 hours. You will lose a lot of clients when you take forever to get back to them. Be respectful of their time and respond quickly.
3. Be 20 minutes early not 20 minutes late: Early on I would get there right on time, but I quickly learned the importance of giving myself enough time to get to a venue. I once got stuck in construction and another time I hit a really bad thunderstorm on the way there and had to pull over because I couldn’t see a thing. Now I always leave an extra 20 mins, when traveling that is, in case something happens so that I’m still on time (or preferably early)! It’s just more professional to show up early than late my friends. Always. I was a part of a wedding where the videographer typed in the wrong address to a city with the same name, and drove three hours to the wrong city, so he had to drive three hours back and was that late to shoot the couples wedding missing the first half of it! True story!
4. Dress professionally people: This is someone’s wedding day and you’re a part of every visible moment. A friend sent me a photo one time of the wedding photographer wearing a skull dress. Like. What? This day is the biggest day of someone’s life. They spent thousands of dollars just to have you there, and you should not be front and center for almost every moment dressed like you’re in a Tim Burton movie. Dress like it matters! T-shirt and jeans isn’t appropriate, especially if you want to be taken seriously as a pro! Blunt but true!
5. Be clear about who you are and what you value: Yes, your photos are 100% for your clients, but you also have a style story, eye, and creativity that are your own. Hopefully, that’s why they hired you! Photographers aren’t simply copy and paste. Be clear about what you value in shooting, editing, and capturing their moments so that those line up together. Not all photographers are a perfect fit for every client and vice versa. It’s not one size fits all!
6. Go above and beyond: Clients remember the things you do that are above and beyond. Responding to emails and texts quickly, helping with details the day of, getting bugs out of the lining of their wedding dress, and getting edited photos back as quickly as possible. Equally they remember, I assure you, when you don’t!
7. It’s not all about actual picture taking: So much of this job is not just photographing. Why? Because you’re interacting with real people. It’s helping communicate between bride and groom before they have seen each other on their wedding day. It’s carrying a Tide-to-Go pen and mini sowing kit in your bag to help with buttons popping or wine spills on a white dress. It’s driving the bride to the first look to see her groom or groom to see his bride. It’s helping the groom and groomsmen put on their boutonnieres cause you’re the only one that knows how. It’s being the one person that looks the bride in the eye on her wedding day, when a decision needs to be made, and instead of giving her another opinion on how she should do it, asking her how SHE wants to do it or have it done!
8. Work as well as you can with other wedding venders (Within reason): I have met some amazing other venders through this job. I have also met some that are very challenging to work with. The hope and assumption is that all are trying to make it the best day they can for the couple. When you work well and communicate well with wedding planners, DJ’s, caterers, florists, and so on you help create the best environment and day for your clients, everyone wins. I have also had some unreasonable situations that I have had to address as professionally as I could the day of. A DJ that keeps starting the next thing at the reception before you’re there or even ready to photograph it, a wedding planner that doesn’t know how photography works in mind when planning their day. My most common and challenging situation has been videographers that are only thinking of themselves and getting in your photos left and right during the day and really ruining what you’re able to capture for your couple. You have to find a way to communicate and work well with other venders as it is your name and business you build in the process with others.
9. You never get a sick day. EVER: My contract states that outside of a life-threatening emergency for myself or an immediate family member or any other dangerous situation such as pregnancy safety (Someday! You have to cover that stuff in your contract. If you’re a woman and that’s a possibility for you, of course.) I will be at your wedding. You don’t get to miss a wedding day. Pneumonia- you got to show up. The flu. You got to show up. It’s a scary requirement, and one you need to be aware of in this biz it is just the reality of this job as a professional. Sessions can be rescheduled of course, but I only try to do it if need be or weather won’t let you have a win.
10. Have contracts: I have contracts for weddings and my second shooters. I try to cover everything I possibly can in my wedding contracts. I also have second shooter contracts that must be signed, for and by my clients as well as by my second shooter after I had a couple of unfortunate situations with second shooters not coming to shoot the weddings they agreed to with me. Second shooting is as much of a commitment as your own wedding folks. Your primary photographer is very much counting on your reliability! Which is a huge sign of professionalism. Are you reliable? People will most assuredly remember that about you! Often the clients hire a specific wedding photographer because they had a second shooter. For me it’s an “add on” so my clients agree to pay an additional fee to have a second shooter with me for their day. Having everyone under contract give peace of mind to your clients and yourself as well as they protect you from a number of situations that could come up.
11. It’s not always as glamorous as the glamorous photos you post: I think this profession is often misunderstood. It’s not something I want sympathy for at all…but like all jobs it can be really hard. It’s not all amazing travel and photographing happy moments. Don’t be fooled by insta. It’s also really draining. A lot of loneliness on the back end and you’re on your feet nearly all 10- 15 hours. There are long drives and or flights. You get super hot or stay very cold if you’re shooting in seasons like I am. I have sat in Charlie’s booth, my tax guy, almost every year and cried at how much we owe. Be prepared to WORK hard, but don’t over do it. I shot 3 weddings in 3 days last year, and while it couldn’t have gone smoother, it was too much. The third wedding, I feel, didn’t get me at my best. I was so tired you guys. So. Tired. I had locked myself out of my house that morning. I was crampy..if you know what I mean. 😉 They just didn’t get my best Lauren and I won’t do it again because of that. It’s not all glitz and glam. You’ve got to give your absolute ALL, to every single client, at every single wedding you shoot, always. Don’t get jaded or burnt out. Don’t lose your creative edge. Fight to stay in your best creative space (by caring for yourself too). Each client deserves the BEST you have to give—without exception!
12. Plan, as best as you can, for different situations that could happen: I have had so many different things come up on wedding days. I swear weddings are breeding grounds for the unexpected. I carry a clear umbrella to every wedding in case of rain for my couples to photograph under. I bring a rain cover for my camera. I bring my own food, snacks, and water to eat and drink the day of so that I am not relying on my clients to feed me lunch or snacks. (If there is a dinner reception though I do ask that the couple provide a meal for me.) If you know you will get hungry through the day bring your own food so you’re not getting distracted trying to figure out what to do. I bring two pairs of shoes! Yup! I had one wedding the ceremony was outdoors and VERY muddy. I tracked through the mud but didn’t have anything to change in to so had to wear muddy shoes the rest of the day. If you’re headed to a bigger city downtown location or portrait spot look up locally if there are any big events in town that day. It can greatly affect where or if you’re able to find parking or have to pay for it. You may end up walking 30 min which can rob your photo taking time. I have actually run into this several times. A local art fair downtown or the Indy marathon that closed all main roads. Man, it messes up the day and travel. I also bring band-aids and a first aid kit in my car because anything could happen. Just be as prepared as you can!
13. Have a checklist of your equipment & gear that you go through every wedding day: No exceptions! One of my first weddings I forgot backup memory cards at home and ran out of space on my card during the ceremony. One more time. During. The. Ceremony. True story! Terrible. Don’t worry I have a way worse story next. Thankfully the Brides brother was also really into photography and brought his camera, so I had to frantically ask them for it mid-ceremony to photograph the rest of the ceremony. That was humiliating, humbling, and definitely unprofessional. You guys. You only get that lucky once I promise. MAKE SURE! You go through your gear list every wedding day! So that you have set eyes on the equipment in your bag the morning of! It’s not worth the panic attack if you forget.
14. Backup, backup, backup your photos and some gear: I bring two Mark III cameras with me to every wedding. In case my camera quits or fails me. I have a horror story for you. Let’s just get to it. I deleted someone’s wedding photos, early on that is. Yup. It was one of the worst days in my photography journey thus far. Accidentally of course, but straight up deleted a beautiful wedding day that a couple trusted me with, I worked hard on, and was really proud of. I had my first ever actual panic attack in life. Couldn’t breathe. Went to Best Buy to see about recovery. It was going to cost a minimum of $1,500 dollars to send in my cards to not even assuredly just (hopefully) recover the files. Thankfully I didn’t format the cards. I just (haha-just) deleted. So, an amazing friend of ours had some data recovery software at his home and we spent the evening at their place running it on my cards. I cried a lot of tears that night. Praise the Lord all but like 50 photos were recovered, and equally learned a HARD lesson that day. So, I now record to two cards in my camera, when I get home I backup EVERYTHING the second I walk in the door, and before even thinking about bringing it into Lightroom I copy and save to two different hard drives then bring them in to edit! It’s not worth it my friends this is someone’s wedding day they NEVER get to do again, and you are the one who holds those memories in your hands. Honestly, it’s a lot of pressure. I have been doing this now for 7 years and I still get very nervous on wedding days and I’m super cautious when getting them home and backed up! A fellow photographer I follow said this: “Photographers fall into two camps. There are those who have lost photos and those who will. It’s all about how prepared you are to handle it.” Get hard drives and back up everything!
15. Don’t ever leave your equipment in your car: Note- I’m definitely over cautious in this area for sure, but I have had several photographer friends leave it in their car and it got stolen. It’s just not worth it. Especially during wedding season. It comes in with me no matter what. Gotta stop at a gas station to use the restroom? It goes in with you! You are getting lunch? It goes in with you! I had one person who left their laptop with unedited client photos on it, in their car in their driveway, and it got stolen and boom just like that you’re in a world of hurt and stress. It’s just not worth the risk! Bring it in with you, always! Why in the world would it be more inconvenient for you to bring it in with you than to deal with losing everything?
16. Create helpful guides and tips for your clients: So much of this job is client education. The reality is 90% of your clients don’t have an understanding of how photography/lighting/editing and so on really works behind, and in the camera, so you need to help educate them. Don’t expect them to know. I have packets for “How to get the most out of me on your wedding day,” a “What to Wear Guide” for Engagement sessions. An “Engagement/Couple session guide” and a “Last Reminders” page for the week of people’s weddings so we are all on the same page! It helps you so much to not have to type all this info out in emails over and over, but to have a guide typed up full of helpful info to your couples! It sets you apart helping your clients be informed and prepared!
17. Insurance. Get it: A professional photographer must have business liability insurance. Anything can happen. There are a lot of moving parts on a wedding day. You should be dealing with contracts, not handshakes, so insurance is essential.
18. Have confidence: Clients aren’t seeing behind the lens what you have shot. Don’t be afraid to try something a couple times to get it right! Seriously, this took me a long time. I was scared I wasn’t coming off professionally cause a pose wouldn’t work or we had to try something a couple times to get it right! Who cares?! You want to get it right? Do it a couple times, readjust a pose, something just isn’t working, location spot just not what you want, have the confidence to change it! It’s better for your session or couple on their wedding day for you not to waste time on something that’s not working because you’re too shy or embarrassed to change it! You are seeing what they aren’t so have confidence!
Well my friends! That’s all I got! I hope this was helpful to some of you out there. I have learned so much in the last seven years and have plenty more to learn. We never stop being learners. Have the best week and let me know if you have any questions below! Happy to help! Community over competition, always! Lots of love! (Photos of me taken by: Kayla Bacon)
Lauren
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