Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/10/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 12:36 PM 10/18/00 -0400, Simon Stevens wrote: >I'm wondering what experience people on the list might have marketing >candids-only wedding >photography? I'd like to do it in black and white if possible, and >hopefully take the marketing (and the pricing) a little upmarket to >distinguish myself from the high street wedding crowd. At 01:42 PM 10/18/00 -0700, Brian Reid wrote: >These days I am very cynical about photographers at weddings and I often >feel as though the weddings I attend are managed by the photograhers and >not by the people being married. At 05:02 PM 10/18/00 -0400, B. D. Colen wrote: >A lot of this depends, of course, on whether you need weddings in order to >feed yourself and your offspring. If you do, give them what they want. If >you don't, give them what you think they should want. Finally a thread that I can speak to directly with a little bit of experience....Weddings are the mainstay of my photo income. They have been for about 10 or the 15 years that I've shot for dollars. Marketing and pricing "upmarket" is one option. I tried it but found my niche at the other end. Folks who don't have lots of cash to piss away on photos appreciate being able to work with a good photographer whom they can afford and tend to defer to the photographer's judgement in most things. I do work more hours for less cash over all, but I have more fun than I did when I worked the business the other way round. In my short 10 years at it, the public's perceptions of what to expect from wedding photography has changed a lot. (And for the better I think.) I find that couples (for today the groom is most always involved in making all arrangements) are more interested in casual photography for their weddings and don't want the traditional campy crap of yore. Most folks I work with don't want the kitch "peaking around the tree at one another" photos. I am also trying to look for clients more and more who are interested in what is being called Photojournalist style without a lot of posed shots, but as weddings tend to double as family reunions of sorts also, the group shots are almost always required though so I haven't been able to eliminate them from very many. I rarely ever shoot B&W as the only time that I ever have, the shot that the couple were most in love with, they wished I had gotten in colour...as you know while it is easy to remove colour from an image shot on Portra, it is much more costly (and down right difficult) to add colour to an image shot on Neopan or Delta. (Imposible to do in fact without handcolouring and that isn't what they want anyhow.) I have a "real job" now which allows me more freedom as a photographer to choose only the job situations and couples that I want to work with. This has made the work 200% easier and 1000 fold more enjoyable. I can tell up front whether the job will be a headache and I can avoid it. As a consequence, though it IS still work, I rarely have anything but fun. (If it isn't fun why do it?) I don't have to be bossy, but I'm always available to help things run more smoothly so that the couple can enjoy their day and not have to worry about managing their own day. I've yet to run into a couple who doesn't welcome assistance when it is offered in this way. I can pin on a corsage correctly and without drawing blood in about 30 seconds flat...I can hem poorly tailored trousers or broken bustle fasteners with safety pins, can whip out a substitute for the forgotten 'tossing bouquet' from stray flower arrangements at the wedding in a matter of minutes, I keep a pair of scissors for obvious strings, a sewing kit for lost buttons and a spare pair of new black dress socks -which 3:10 grooms forget- handy at each wedding, etc...All these things help make me an ally of the couple by helping their day go very smoothly, not someone who is costing them $1000 to take some snapshots. Besides, I genuinely like being helpful. I work alone and so I make arrangements with the couple to assign me a family member or friend who they want to include in their wedding, yet has nothing else to do. I set up a 'checklist' of photographs that the couple 'must have' and that is what I'm usually actually contracted to photograph. They are usually the group shots and specific shots during the ceremony. My 'assigned assistant' knows the people at the wedding better than I and is responsible for gathering them all together in the place that I've chosen for group shots. For their assistance, I usually take a nice portrait of them and their signifigant (if any.) I also usually buy them a drink at the reception (single malt scotch...on topic!). Most folks like being able to be in charge of something, so they are usually make my life much easier. If they do get out of line and pushy, it is them that everyone gets mad at not me. From there it is a relatively small matter to line everyone up and to shoot. I make a point of not 'breaking the group up' until all who want to photograph them, as I've posed them, have had the chance to do so. I give the other 'shooters' helpful hints to make their photos better (shoot the head & shoulders of the couple in vertical format not horizontal, move right in closer for a better shot, etc..) This is usually something which is UNIVERSALLY appreciated. Not surprisingly, most of my favourite and best loved images come from not over posing..they are usually done well before or after the ceremony when the bride and groom aren't focused on the event at hand...getting ready or after a drink at the reception (single malt scotch...on topic!) ...I almost never POSE men together...it never works and they know it. I simply place them next to one another near a tree, steps or arch and get them to laugh and relax. Once they are assured that I am not going to make them look stupid and stiff, I can usually get some genuine photos. Women are happy to be tender toward one another so having them come in close arms around one another for H&S shots and almost touching heads with soft expressions works fine. Some Brides really get into posing all "Vogue" and they are fun while others just have to be photographed after they relax a bit. Sad as it was, a year shooting for "Glamour Shots" (tm)...(no it's not something I'm overly proud of, but we had to eat) helped me work on my close posing that actually looks natural and helped my "banter" that relaxes folks who are nervous at being photographed. Most women are used to the idea of not feeling comfortable for a short time in order to look sexy/beautiful. I also point out that this will be the case when we are previewing my work before I've been hired or taken a job. She says: "Oh that is beautifull!" and I say yeah but this is how you have to pose you to get that shot...and I pose her right there in the interview...sans camera....this helps them realise that is what those shots take. (And sometimes helps put them in the frame of mind to just let me shoot candids without any poses.) Since buying the M5, I've shot almost all of the 'portraits' 'groups' and 'candid shots' with the Lieca (usually with the 40/2 Summicron-C and with the 85/2 Jupiter available light) I shoot the actual ceremony with my XE7 or SRT102 and a 35-70 2.8 zoom with and without a 285 illumination. I'm faster with the minolta and a zoom for the variety and unobtrusiveness that I need during the ceremony. Always Portra 800 or Supra 800. Backup with Yashica 124G if 2X2 is demanded. I will obtain a Fujifilm GA645Zi before next season just for this reason. I shoot for $150/hr plus $30/roll for costs with a 3 hr minimum. (I average a 5 hr wedding with 5-8 rolls of film.) I give the couple all of the proofs and negatives that I shoot that won't give me a bad name with current or prospective clients. (About 3 shots every 36 are destroyed before the couple gets the film. They only ever see my 'standard' work.) I have the 4X6 "proofs" processed by my local pro lab and put them into a $20 album with the sleeved negs in the back. (Pioneer makes a great 208 print 'wedding' album just for this.) I show the couple a 4X6 from Rite Aid and a 4X6 of the same neg from my local pro lab and this usually dissuades them from wanting to go it on the cheap with their enlargements. (They almost never want larger than 8X10s anyhow or I would shoot exclusively 220.) For the income that I sacrifice up front in giving the couple their 'standard' negatives, I don't have to deal with enlargements or worry about archiving (possibly loosing) someone's once in a life memories. I gain probably twice what I give up in happy clients and referrals. This method gives me a good enough PT income for having fun with my Leicas and minoltas on a Saturday, keeps me busy most every weekend in the spring, summer and early fall and allows couples who I enjoy working with an affordable professional for good photos of their wedding day. The couple doesn't have to pay extra to print a copy of every shot for Aunt Sally as she took a great photo right over my shoulder and they don't have to come back to me for the rest of their lives to bother me for an 8X10 of the cake cutting or first dance. I can also sleep well knowing that if the lab eats my film (has never happened yet...knock on oak) they couple will still have professionally posed images that are passable of their wedding. It isn't for every photographer, but with the right attitude it can be a good situation for those interested. Carpe Luminem, Michael E. Berube http://www.goodphotos.com