Wedding photography is a very popular genre for photographers to specialize in. At some point for those who do not specialize in the genre we all end up trying it out anyways. However regardless of what genre a photographer practices in primarily we all field questions on if we are available for weddings, pricing, and what it would look like to for us to take on a wedding photography contract.
I as a professional equine photographer I do far less weddings than those who specialize in them but will on occasion take on a wedding for a chance to photograph something different. It is a chance for me to be a little bit more creative and really hone in my eye on catching those great candid moments.
Wedding photography for Exposure One Studios starts with asking potential couples to view some of my previous wedding galleries to determine if my style of photography meets their needs. This is usually because my requests come from potential clients seeing me working at an equine event and approach me or others are within my social network but have never been clients before.
The reason I ask this is because my end goal is the same no matter what type of session I am photographing and that is to ensure my clients get the best possible imagines that fulfill their wants and desires. By viewing my work they can determine if they like the work I produce, and if not that is fine, not every photographers style works for every clients needs.
If my potential client decides they like my style and want to proceed with working with me we enter a stage of fact finding, No two weddings are the same and therefore finding out more details of the wedding are important, this helps photographers especially myself determine which package best suits my clients needs. Some weddings, I can be a solo photographer and others I sometimes require a second shooter which is an additional expense that as to be factored into pricing.
After determining all this information, I develop a quote to send to my potential clients along with a contract. This contract not only gets them on the books but it is a legal document that lays out what can be expected from me as their photographer from attending rehearsals, to photo delivery but it also lays out expectations for clients and protections for me as a photographer.
Contracts exist to protect both parties and lay out clear terms. When I started as a photographer I made the huge mistake while young and dumb choosing to trust that I would be paid for my services without a contract in play. I was wrong, I was taken advantage of and now it is a standard practice for my business.
Once the contract is signed, clients are usually on the books. Most photographers book months to years in advanced so there may not be as many check ins as one would think until closer to the wedding date. However wants the wedding date nears my process is sending a questionaire to determine a couples must haves for the day, their highest priority shots. Then I begin check ins, make sure I have all the correct venue information, times, locations, and set up any meetings the couple may need with me as the big day nears. Once it is here with the questionnaires, chats, contracts, and preparation shooting the big day almost always goes to plan.
As an equine photographer I work a lot of events that prepares me to handle weddings and that stress that comes from capturing the day for the wedding couple. However the gear I use and how I operate is different from shooting equine photography which I will explore in a later blog post…