TABLE of CONTENTS

PART I 5 GETTING SMART WITH PART II 22 PROFILES

YOUR BUSINESS
22 How to Start Your Wedding Business Off Right
5 Intro Featuring Vanessa Joy

6 Building Your Brand 26 How to Establish a Great Brand for Your

Wedding Photography Business
8 Marketing Your Services Featuring Justin & Mary Marantz

11 Screening New Clients 32 How to Find and Book the Right Wedding Clients
Featuring Tim Halberg
14 How to Charge for Your Services
36 How to Master Customer Service
17 The Wedding Day Featuring Matt Kennedy

19 How to Take Natural Looking Photos 39 How to Price Your Work Competitively
by Tamron Featuring Bryan Caporicci

43 Reasons to Outsource Post Production

By Jared Bauman

PART III 45 CONCLUSION

2015 PhotoShelter, Inc

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PART I

Intro ear God, please dont let me end up a wedding

photographer. Ten years ago, this prayer was
on the lips of most fresh-faced photographers
just starting out in the business. A field long associated
with intrusive flash bulbs, men in cheap suits and awk-
ward family poses, wedding photography was generally
the Plan Z for creative types and photojournalists alike.
But these days, photographers are flocking in droves to
the Church of Wedding Photography. So what is with
all the converts?

Wedding photography has gone hipboth in the world

of photographers and with brides and grooms. A grow- Photo by Tim Halberg
ing number of clients have become noticeably savvier
about photography in general, seeking out photojour-
nalistic documentaries of their big day instead of Aunt
Mildred smiling directly into the camera. Not that they
dont still want photos of dear Mildred, they would just
prefer a spontaneous shot of her dancing. Photographers
have more than happily complied with this new demand.
Glance through some of the work on Wedding Photo-
journalist Associations site, for example, and it may be
difficult to tell the difference between a wedding photo
and a fashion shoot ripped from the pages of Vogue. Photo by Matt Kennedy

So did a few forward-thinking photographers push the

industry this way or was it their increasingly sophisti-
cated clients? It might be a chicken and egg scenario,
but either way the wedding photography industry is
expanding in wildly creative directions. Whether you
are here because you already know this, or because you
are new to the wedding world, allow this guide to be
a starting point in making the most of a career in this
exciting industry.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 5

PART I
Building Your hile the profession of wedding photography has
gained considerable respect, the industry has seen
an equally considerable jump in competition.
Brand Markets like Southern California, for example, are notori-
ously full of wedding photographers, but smaller markets
have seen an increase as well. Similarly, the proliferation of
social media has helped new ideas and businesses to grow
in all markets. You cannot control the level of competition;
but you can control the product you offer. Distinguishing
yourself as unique should be your continual goal.
If you only take away one thing from this guide, let it be
this: brand is king. It is more than just a logo or the color
scheme you choose for your website. It touches every
single aspect of your work, from the photos presented
in your portfolio, to the language you use to greet your
clients upon first meeting them, to the experience you
provide on the day of the wedding and beyond.
BRAND PHILOSOPHY
In other words, brand isnt a look, its a philosophy. Start
with defining your specific philosophy as a photographer,
before you even think about stepping foot in a reception
hall. After all, your brand will dictate your company name,
web design, portfolio, advertising plan, budget and even
your website domain. It can be very expensive and time-
consuming to have to go back and change everything.
Distinguishing yourself as unique should be your
continual goal.
This isnt meant to scare you. Figuring out your brand
is a process and should be enjoyable. The best place to
start is to think about what makes you uniquenot just
your body of work. What is unique about your person-
ality? How do you act in a professional environment?
What do you love most about taking photos? These are
all questions you should be asking yourself when com-
ing up with a brand. Soul-searching is rough, espe-
cially for creative types, but the more mental anguish
you work through at the beginning will guarantee much
less once you start shooting 40 weddings a year.
Clients are paying as much for you as they are for your
work. If you dont have a clear command of who you are,
how will prospective clients know if they want to hire you?
DETERMINING YOUR TARGET MARKET
If all the self-reflection talk has not sent you running for
the hills, let us make it a little easier for you. The best
place to start when defining your brand philosophy is
to ask yourself what kind of client you hope to attract.
Who is your target market?
Figuring out whether you want to connect with quirky
creative types in their 20s or upscale clientele in their
mid-to-late 30s willing to drop $20k on photography
alone is critical to your brand strategy. Dont limit your-
self by getting too specific, but leaving the field wide
open leaves you open to potentially unhappy clients. A
strong brand is not only a highly effective pre-screening
process, it also helps manage your client's expectations.
Once you know who you want your clients to be, then
you can show exactly what you are able to give them.
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 6
I One thing you might discover is that your target market doesnt mesh with your current
working style. This is where understanding your own philosophy helps. Is it more im-
portant to reach this type of client, or more important to maintain your shooting style?
II
This will come up regardless, so its best not to wait to figure out the answer.
III Unless you are a part of your target market, take the time to do your homework. Study
the world of these potential clients, particularly as consumers. What kind of customer
service are they accustomed to? How do they prioritize purchases? Are they the type of
people who value experiences over the material, or vice versa?
These are just a few places of many your brand philosophy will toucheverything
from your identity to your attire choice, advertising and beyond. Anything you do as a
professional wedding photographer should align with your brand, because every ele-
ment of your business that reaches the client says something about you and the service
you deliver.
While assembling your portfolio, brochures and any promotional materials to which
you plan to publicly attach your name, it is crucial to remember the following advice:
To get the kind of work you want to shoot, only show the kind of work you want to get.

EXECUTING YOUR BRAND STRATEGY

Now that you understand exactly who you are as both a person and a photographer, and
have a crystal clear idea of your targeted clients, it is time to set some long-term goals.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years? What about 10? Do you plan on staying with the
same target market, or do you envision slowly transitioning upmarket? Make sure that
your brand is not only sustainable for 20+ years, but that you allow room for whatever
growth you envision.

At this point, it is time to determine how your newly defined brand will extend to all
aspects of your work and business, even what equipment you use or the medium you
shoot on (film vs. digital). Some examples to consider:

>> PORTFOLIO. Do the photos in your portfolio exemplify the kind of photos
your target market is looking for?

>> MARKETING. Where will you engage with prospects and what does this
choice say about you? Does your target market engage with social media?
Do you plan to establish yourself as an expert in the blog world? How will Photo by Matt Kennedy
clients respond to expensive ad campaigns?

>> CUSTOMER RELATIONS. How will your clients expect to be treated? Is yes sir,
no maam too much or just right? Do you greet your clients with a box of
chocolates or a six-pack of local micro-brew?

>> VENDORS. What vendors in your market service a similar demographic?

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 7

 PART I
Marketing Your ow that you have a strong brand strategy in
place, all you have to do is get clients. If only it
were that easy.
Services Luckily, a well-defined brand is the absolute best weap-
on to have in your arsenal when planning how to attack
marketing. Understanding your target market and what
unique product you can offer should guide which mar-
keting avenues you pursue and how you approach them.
Marketing can be very expensive and time-consuming,
but it actually doesnt need to be either to have an impact.
An important thing to keep in mind as you explore your
options is that many of the techniques are symbiotic. A
strong social media presence can generate great word of
mouth, as can a good relationship with wedding planners.
SEO keywords can drive more traffic to your blog, which
in turn leads prospective clients to your website where
they will be dazzled by your easily accessible portfolio.
Recognizing the potential connectivity of different av-
enues can help you maximize the effectiveness of your
marketing planand save money. While marketing your
business through the following channels, always remem-
ber to market yourself. Brides, planners, and other ven-
dors may contact you for your skill as a photographer, but
they will hire you for your personality. Its very likely that
Clients may contact you for your skill as a photographer,
but they will hire you for your personality.
you will be the only person with the bride for her entire
wedding day, and its certain that youll be one of the few
who have contact with her afterwards. Your personality
and the level of service you can offer matter more than
any other vendor associated with the wedding.
Here are common channels to help you get started.
WORD OF MOUTH
Word of mouth is the most abstract marketing tactic in
this list, but arguably the most important. Of all the pho-
tographers and articles consulted for this guide, nearly all
agreed word of mouth is the number one source for new
clients. Best part of allits free!
Good word of mouth does not materialize out of no-
where, making it an elusive avenue for new wedding pho-
tographers. In many ways, the rest of the techniques on
this list are all building towards good word of mouth. But
if youre going to invest in any kind of marketing, make
sure you invest in relationships. Seek out professional and
client relationships that may benefit you in the future. The
wedding industry is built on relationships.
DO: Treat client relations as a marketing tool.
DO: Look for opportunities to surprise and delight your
clients in multiple ways. Its these little unexpected
moments that people tend to talk about.
DO: Ask for it. Sometimes the best way to get people talking
about you is to suggest that the happy client tell a friend.
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 8
I WEBSITE
Wedding photographers should compare their website to a resume. If clients are look-
ing to employ a photographer, a website helps them decide who they would like to call
II
for an interview.
III As a marketing tool, your website is your brand showcase. The one place where you can
say, This is me, this is what I do and this is what I can do for you. The website is also
likely the destination for all of your social media outlets, and hopefully a frequently visited
page due to your great SEO. In other words, all roads lead to here, so make it exceptional.
As we will discuss in further detail about screening clients, your website is also the best
point of contact to weed out the clients you dont want and reel in the ones you do.
When assembling your website, start with your online portfolio. Its probably not a
good idea to include every photo you have ever taken, weddings or not. Editing is key.
Only include wedding photos that:
>>You would absolutely want to shoot.
>>Will attract the kind of clients for whom you want to work.
>>Exemplify your brand.
Just because you shoot portraits, does not mean you need to include them, unless part
of your brand identity is your unique and/or stunning portraiture.
As for the rest of the site, make sure to include:
>>Imagery, bios, blogs, etc. that drive home who you are and what you offer.
>>Clear, understandable copy with SEO keywords that will help attract traffic
via search results.
>>Easily located contact information.
Weddings may be extravagant affairs, but you must always do whatever you can to keep
your role simple. This includes your website. Before you pile on too many whistles and
bells, make sure first and foremost your website is easy to navigate and the important
information is easy to find. Flash animations can hurt your SEO and do not load on
iPhones or iPads, so it is probably in your best interest to use Flash sparingly, if at all.
Once you have the basics in place, add and tweak at your discretion as long as its
on brand.
DO: Make your website a shining example of everything youre about.
DO: Use analytic tools, like Google Analytics, to better understand your visitors behavior,
where theyre coming from, and how to optimize your content to drive them to convert to
paying clients.
DO: Have a newsletter signup option and/or inquiry tool to generate leads from visitors to
your site.
DON'T: Crowd it with so much information its difficult to navigate.
DON'T: Use a website thats designed with FlashFlash doesnt play well with Google and
Apple mobile devices.
BLOGS
Personal blogs and special interest blogs are becoming a more common way for pho-
tographers to get their names out there. Many wedding photographers have integrated
blogs into their websites, as part of the business, and a part of their marketing workflow.
Blogging gives your brand a voice. Done well, it can be a highly effective marketing
tool. Whether or not it is for you may depend on your target market. Generally speak-
ing, the more up market you move, the less traction you will see from the blogosphere.
If your market is in a tech-savvy location like New York City or Silicon Valley, having
an active blog is most likely a must.
Here are some of the benefits to having a blog:
>> CUSTOMER RELATIONS. A blog allows you to expand upon your relationship
with clients, past, present and future. It can offer an insight into how you
operate on the day of the wedding. Many wedding photographers do a post
about every wedding they shoot, and also engagement shoots. Posting about
each clients wedding is a way to reconnect with them after the day is over,
and reinvigorate their excitement about the product you are providing them.
>> TRAFFIC. Whether your blog is part of your website or hosted on a separate
platform (though the latter is not recommended), it can definitely help drive
traffic back to the site. Applying relevant or topical SEO keywords to your
titles and posts will drive more unsolicited eyeballs to your post from search
engines, and in turn, direct people to your site.
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 9
I >> FAN BASE. If you take incredibly unique photos, or have a certain area of
expertise, or a really funny writing style, it might be worthwhile to blog
about it. An interesting blog can attract fans who may not be in need of
II
your services. It might not get you immediate business, but it certainly will
get your name out there. In the long run, many of those fans might one day
III require your services and they already know they want you because theyve
been following you for years.
>> CONTENT TO SHARE. Once you have content on your blog, you now have a link
you can share across your channels, including Facebook and Twitter. You can
even put a photo on Instagram as a teaser and entice people to visit your post.
If your blog includes mentions of clients of vendors, be sure to tag them in
your social shares so you can get even more juice out of it. (Note: If you want
to share images of your clients online, make sure you get their permission.)
>> ATTEND NETWORKING EVENTS where compatible vendors will also be in
attendance.
>> TAKE NOTE OF THE RELATIONSHIPS YOU BUILD AT WEDDINGS BEYOND THE
CLIENTS. Make sure to follow up with that person or people after the event.
>> PAY IT FORWARD WITH VENDORS. If you shoot a wedding and get some great
shots of the reception venue, consider sending them an album pro bono.
Chances are they will show it to clients, who will probably ask who took
those stunning photos.
>> LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED. Wedding planners might provide the most di-
rect benefit, but there are many companies and people involved in weddings.
If a business connection has potential, its at least worth exploring.

Another option is submitting your work to special interest blogs or possibly pitching >> SHARE NEWS. Your victories and achievements are a great reason to return to
a blog post idea to them. Wedding blogs like Style Me Pretty or 100 Layer Cake have potential partners and referrers, and remind them about your services. If you
become increasingly influential in the brave new wedding industry. Its a potentially have a newsletter, certainly include potential partners in your regular blast.
free way to get your name out there and highlight your expertise.

DO: Share links to all your posts on all your social media outlets, and make sure to tag the
clients.

DO: Think strategically about your SEO. Liberally infuse your posts and titles with
keywords you expect customers will use to find wedding photographers via search engines.

DON'T: Wait too long after a wedding or engagement shoot. People move on with their
lives, and you cant afford to lose their enthusiasm.

PLANNERS/VENUES/OTHER VENDORS
Wedding photography is a business of relationships. If you do not have strong inter-
personal skills, it might be worth considering finding a partner who does. Building
a strong relationship with wedding planners and other vendors in your area can be a
golden ticket to your target market. Here are some ways to kick-start your networking
with wedding planners and vendors:

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 10

PART I
Screening New n a perfect world, your business will soon de-
mand a boat to escape the flood of inquiries
for your services. But even if you find yourself
Clients in more of a modest puddle at the beginning, it is still
crucial to have a screening process for prospective cli-
ents. As highlighted in both the Brand and Marketing
sections, word of mouth is one of the most powerful
tools you can have, and its miraculously cost-effective.
Conversely, one terrible review can easily undo five fan-
tastic personal referrals. So whether you are up to your
ears in eager clients, or just ankle deep, you need to have
a system in place of how and who to respectfully decline.
Though over time you may develop an exact process,
screening clients is an art, not a science. People-reading
skills cannot really be encapsulated in an algorithm.
But here are a few elements to consider throughout the
screening process.
THE ONLINE PORTFOLIO AND WEBSITE
This has already been mentioned, but how you display your
previous work can be your best pre-screening resource.
Whether referred personally or through a search engine,
most prospective clients will look through the portfolio
before reaching out to a photographer. Most likely, they
will pour over every single detail on your website.
If your brand clearly shines through, and you have in-
cluded only the kind of work that best exemplifies you
as a photographer, these prospective clients should have
a pretty good idea of exactly what they would be getting
by hiring you. If they love what they see, chances are not
only will they reach out, but it will also probably be a
good fit. If they dont dig your style, they probably wont.
Most of the professionals with whom we spoke agreed
their websites did the majority of the legwork when it
came to screening the clients. An understandable web-
site and a strong portfolio will save you valuable time in
the screening process.
Yes, but...youre right. There will still be prospective cli-
ents who dont get your work but reach out to you be-
cause they are in some kind of a pinch, be it economic or a
time crunch or whatever else. This is why you still need to
have a plan when it comes to screening. Even the clients
who love your work might end up being a bad personality
match in person. Or, they might not be able to afford you.
DOES IT HELP TO STATE MY FEES ON
MY WEBSITE?
In this economy, it pays to be flexible. Putting all of your
fees on your site will certainly weed more clients out, but
it might also turn good clients away. Too many choices
can overwhelm people, especially people planning an
event already chock-full of too many choices. It could
also hurt your ability to customize unique packages or
up-sell later. If you design your site and portfolio well,
often clients can tell your price range.
If you are going to include pricing, ask yourself how your
target market would react to this inclusion. Usually the
best course of action is to include your base fee or first tier
pricing and state further options are available upon request.
THE INTERVIEW
How you execute the introductory interview will depend
entirely on your brand strategy and your market. If you are
primarily a destination wedding photographer, it will be
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 11
I difficult to coordinate an in-person interview. Similarly, if your market services a lot of
hometown brides who have since moved away, you may have to settle for a phone interview.
II
Whatever the means, it is important to decide what type of meeting you need to de-
termine if the relationship is a good fit. Furthermore, you need to decide for yourself
III ahead of time the kind of signals for which you are looking. For example, how involved
is the mother-of-the-bride? Are the bride and groom more concerned about their
guests or themselves? What kind of party is the reception going to be? All of these
types questions should tell you if these clients will work out.

WHAT ABOUT MY BRAND?

If you are having the screening interview over the phone, it may be difficult to envelop
the prospective clients in a brand vision. But even the language you choose to use will
indicate the kind of experience you provide. Are you casual? Are you a comedian? Are
you the epitome of politeness? A phone call does not mean you cant employ visuals as
well. Services like Skype and GoToMeeting enable video chats and screen-sharing ses-
sions. Through services like these, you can present prospective clients with image ideas
or even a prepared presentation that will help bring your pitch to life.

If you have the time and means to meet a client in person, let your brand identity
dictate how you receive them. Your brochure or client materials should reflect your
overall service. How you present your packet experientially, accompanied by a beer or
accompanied by a box of chocolates, should do the same. Are you meeting them at your
Brooklyn photographer Betsi Ewing is a laidback creatively-minded photographer whose target
home? In a coffee shop? Or in a special room in your studio? What kind of music is
demographic is twenty-something/early 30s creative types and destination weddings. She speaks
playing? Will you show a video? Planning the experience from the moment you shake
to this market by including in her portfolio her signature dreamlike/vintage photos and destina-
the clients hand, or curtsy and bow to the bride and groom (hey, its your brand) can
tion shots like the ones above.
be the difference between landing the client or losing them.

ALWAYS MANAGE EXPECTATIONS WHEN TO TALK PRICING WITH YOUR CLIENT

Regardless of how you approach the initial interview, remember:
>>Always have a positive attitude, even when saying no.
>>Be honest and clear about your services. Do not promise anything you can-
not deliver.
>>Determine ahead of time whether you will present the contract in the meet-
ing, or after. You dont want to come off pushy, but you also want to get a firm
commitment as soon as possible and protect yourself legally.
Hopefully your branding has done its job and brought you prospective clients all from
your target market, but at some point you still need to discuss prices. When it comes to
setting the budget, the sooner you reach an agreement the better. This is naturally a very
delicate situation whenever money enters the conversation, and requires a careful ap-
proach. You must decide if it is best to address pricing at first contact, in the first meet-
ing or sometime soon thereafter. Though the decision may ultimately depend on what
feels comfortable and logical for you, you must protect your own interests and time.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 12

I The PhotoShelter Blog published a helpful article on having the money talk with pho-
tography clients, entitled Talking Budget with Your Clients.
II
While the blog post is a general guide for photographers, these are some applicable
insights for those in the wedding industry:
III
>> NO FEAR.Talking about money isnt going to prevent you from getting the
jobthe client not being able to afford to pay you fairly will.

>> BE DIRECT. Clients expect you to bring up the question of cost. Remember its
not personal, its business.

>> AVOID EMAIL. Key elements to this critical conversation can get lost in trans-
lation via email. In-person is best and a phone call is still better than elec-
tronic communication.

>> PUSH, WITH A PURPOSE. Its okay to push back on the client a little, but ex-
plain why you are pushing and how your proposed budget adjustment will
benefit the client. Photo by Matt Kennedy

The Wedding Photojournalist Associations online magazine, WEDPIX, published an

article on crafting a wedding contract that covers both your clients expectations and
well, your behind. The Good Contract Checklist in the article is a great resource for
any wedding photographer new to the paperwork process.

DO: Show the best examples of your unique work. Its the best and cheapest way to weed
out the wrong clients.

DON'T: Say yes to everyone, even if you are just starting out.

DO: Be polite and respectful with any potential clients, even if you plan on turning them
down. Word of mouth starts at the first point of contact.

DON'T: Go into an interview without a plan.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 13

PART I
How to Charge s the saying goes, the devil is in the details
and wedding photography is no exception.
Unfortunately, most artists have a devil of a
for Your Services time focusing on anything non-creative. But unless you
have enough start-up capital to hire a business team, you
will need to start thinking like an accountant in order to
survive. And hire one too while youre at it.
Every story begins with a wedding photographer doing
it for the money, or letting the money dictate everything
else. If we havent beaten the importance of brand to
death at this point, then hopefully the long-term plan-
ning aspect of it still remains fresh in your minds. Wed-
ding photography is not the get-rich-quick scheme
many people mistake it to be. Building your business
around the bigger picture might not mean cash right
now, but its a much better guarantee you will still be
working 5 years from now.
BEGIN WITH A BUSINESS PLAN
Much like a clear brand strategy will guide the nature
of your services and customer relations, a sound business
plan gives you a foundation upon which to grow your
business. When you are determining your prices for the
first time, map out your larger goals. This will help you
determine where to start initial prices and how to realis-
tically grow them.
Whether or not you hire an accountant in the begin-
ning, you ought to invest some time and research in
learning simple accounting principles for yourself. An
understanding of your finances is essential before de-
ciding how to price your services, and having an ac-
countant to help is worth the investment. (Check out
PhotoShelters 2015 Business Plan Workbook, anoth-
er free guide, to help structure your business plan if you
dont already have one.)
CONSIDER YOUR COSTS
$5,000 for a day of shooting sounds pretty great, right?
Except you arent earning $5,000 for one day of shoot-
ing. There are the costs of pre-production, equipment
purchase or rental, and materials (film, memory cards,
hard drives). You also agreed to have a photo booth
and need to hire an assistant to run it. Then theres
post-production, and the album you will need to print
as part of the price. This is just the beginning of what
$5,000 covers.
$5,000 is still a reasonable price, but you need to
consider what each wedding will cost you and then
crunch the numbers to see if your proposed pricing
leaves you with a profit. This is why hiring an accoun-
tant is really worth the money. They can cross-refer-
ence and compare, while you focus on developing and
improving the services.
CONSIDER THE MARKET
Spend time researching your overall market, and what
your competitors are charging. Just because you are
starting out, does not mean you should undersell your-
self. At the same time, overcharging can be equally
damaging. Figuring out what your peers are able to
charge will help you determine what is realistic for
you, and how you might price in a way to give you a
competitive edge.
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 14
I When it comes to your target market, it is important to remember that you are not
charging what you think your services are worth. You want to charge according to
how your target market values the product. Researching competitors pricing will help
II
inform this. Still, approach competitive research carefully. Do not assume that all of the
other photographers in your market have made the best business decisions. You may be
III able to offer more value, charge more, or be more profitable than they are.
CONSIDER WORKFLOW SOFTWARE
Aside from an accountant, many new wedding photographers are a one-man show.
If this is the case, consider turning to software to help manage your workflow, pric-
ing and products. There are plenty of programs tailored to photographers that provide
customizable templates for contracts, product management, pricing, etc. It allows you
to organize all of your clients in one centralized place.
Photographers we spoke with recommended programs like Fundy Software and ShootQ.
TIERED PRICING
It might seem like a great idea to offer your clients the option to customize their own
package. But too many options can stress out the client, and compromise your resourc-
es and finances. It is best to offer separate pricing tiers, with the option to customize.
If youve done your research and considered your costs, you should have most of the
information you need to define your tiers. You might want to consider what variable
will affect the price jump. These are some factors you may want to consider using, either
alone or some combination thereof:
>>Hours: 6 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, whole weekend
>>Additional services
>>Additional photographer
>>Additional deliverables
The best place to start is the base package. What is the minimum you need to charge
based on your costs? Depending on which pricing variable or variables you settled on,
you can build up your tiers based on where you set the base price.
MORE TIPS ON PRICING:
>>Four tiers are standard, but consider what makes the most sense based on
your business plan.
>>Be careful to create tiers that leave you open to add-ons later.
>>Consider throwing in perks and freebies to higher tiers to entice clients.
>>Simplicity is key. Padding your packages with too many little things can get con-
fusing. Make sure each package is clear and concise in terms of services offered.
MARKET GROWTH
In order to grow as a business, you will need to increase your pricing at some point. The
beauty of the wedding industry is that for the most part each client is a one-time affair.
You will likely not have a client asking why you are charging them more this year than
you did last year.
Many photographers go the annual route, increasing their pricing once a year. Should you
go this route, how much you choose to increase depends on a lot of factors. This is why
having a business plan is so helpful. If this year you are charging a base rate of $1,500
and 5 years from now you want to be charging $3,000, it would not make sense for you
to raise your prices by $1,000 for next year. You will price yourself out too quickly. At the
same time, you may need to raise your price more than 10% to reach your goal.
However, if you find yourself fortunate enough to start getting booked regularly, it
might be time to raise your prices. If you book yourself totally solid at the start of the
year, not only does it mean your services are in high demand, but it also means you are
leaving money on the table. Dont lock yourself in.
Especially in tough economic times, you always have to consider what the market
can bear. When you first set out to create a price structure, you presumably did all the
research you were advised to do about market competition. If you are considering rais-
ing your prices, you should consider also doing some more homework. How is your
markets economy faring? How much are your competitors and peers increasing their
prices? Consider speaking with vendors and wedding planners to see how any market
fluctuations are affecting them.
Remember, though, that you can always change your prices back. Trial and error is not the
best route, but if you find you have out-priced yourself, you can always change it up again.
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 15
I Truly, though, the best way to flourish in any market is to continue making yourself and
your services as unique as possible. Add value wherever possible. If your product cannot
be found anywhere else, then the market will figure out how to pay for it.
II
DO: Your research. Familiarizing yourself with the competition and your target market will
III help you choose the best prices for your services.

DON'T: Let quick money motivate how you price your services. Developing a long-term
business strategy based will pay off in the long run.

DO: Leave room for growth. You may need to evolve to continue distinguishing yourself,
make sure your business plan is flexible to that.

DON'T: Book yourself solid. If youre booked for the entire year by January, you may be
leaving money on the table.

Vancouver-based wedding photographer Matt Kennedy chose to list his packages and prices
directly on his website, drawing attention to which package is the most popular.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 16

PART I
The Wedding Day hile it may not be your big day, you have a big
day ahead of you. Embrace the stress, and then
let it go. Your ability to go with the flow is what
will make you a great wedding photographer, because
everything rarely goes as planned. Remain alert, stay
calm and grab your camerasits time to tell a story.
DELIVER THE EXPERIENCE YOU
PROMISED
Remember how you sold your clients on that great sto-
ry? Well, today you deliver it. If you pitched yourself as a
fly-on-the-wall presence, be that. If you sold yourself as
part of the party, be ready to party. This is why knowing
yourself and knowing your brand is key, because it is for
those two things your clients picked you. In addition to
playing the role you cast yourself in for the day, keep a
vigilant eye out for the shots and set-ups that support
the portfolio you presented.
BE A HERO
A lot goes into ensuring that a wedding goes as smoothly
as possible; still things inevitably go awry. It wont take
long to notice that the same issues arise event after event,
so be ready to demonstrate your expertise. Learn how to tie
a bowtie and pin a boutonnire; carry extra tissues, breath
mints, collar stays, and both colors of bobby pin. Your cli-
ents and their friends will remember you for it.
MANAGING YOURSELF AND YOUR STAFF
Be your personality, but also be flexible to the needs of
your clients. After all, you were hired to do a job. Dress
appropriately and act appropriatelythis may include
taking shots with the groomsmen, when appropriate.
No matter your brand, it is important to act with a high
level of professionalism whether youre with the bride or
taking five with the wedding planner. It sets an example
for your staff and will nurture that trust you have been
building with clients and other vendors.
Whenever possible, work with your clients to plan the
schedule for the day. Make sure it allows ample time for
you to deliver the work you promised. Once youre com-
fortable with the timeline, memorize it, plan accord-
ingly, and keep a printed copy on hand for reference. If
you have additional photographers or assistants, make
sure everyone knows the schedule, where they need to
be and what they should be shooting.
If you do hire staff, only work with people you like and
trust. Do not choose the wedding day to vet a new assistant.
Have a network of friends and staff who understand your
brand and workflow, and can jump into the mix with ease.
THE SECOND PHOTOGRAPHER
Some wedding photographers always bring a second
photographer, and almost all prefer to have one on hand.
If you choose to bring one, or the package calls for one,
make sure to hire a photographer you trust who fits with
your brand and style. The big day is not the day to do a
trial run, if you can avoid it.
Its always a good idea to have back-up support. A second
photographer might be a great person to have cover the
family portraits, to ensure they get done while you can fo-
cus on the more photojournalistic shots. Second photog-
raphers can be your insurance policy for double coverage
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 17
I of the most important shots of the day and, because they are always covering a different
angle at any given moment, they photographically allow you to be in two places at once.
II
Be sure to have an agreement in place with second photographers that clearly states
who owns the images and what they can and cannot do with the photos they take. This
III will help you avoid both any ambiguity as to which photographer was hired by the cli-
ent and potentially devastating arguments with the friends you hire.
If you can, give credit where credit is due. Some studios lump all wedding photos
together as their product. This is standard practice, so if you choose to do this it is not
necessarily the wrong choice. But, if you use a second photographer it is a good idea
to credit their work. It will not take away from your brand that you hire other quality
photographers. Good karma fits into almost any brand.
MANAGING YOUR EQUIPMENT
Part of the experience you promised and the story you plan on telling may involve dif-
ferent mediums, for example film and digital. In addition to a detailed schedule, make
sure you have a prepped back-up for every essential piece of equipment: hard drives,
additional film, extra memory cards, batteries, camera bodies and whatever lenses you
will need. If you or your second photographer could not complete the job without a
specific piece of equipment, you must have a back-up. Have a process in place, and if
you have an assistant, make sure they have a detailed understanding of the process as
well. This process should include syncing the date and time for every camera used at
the event; this simple task will greatly speed up post-production.
SHOT LIST
Figure out what shots you absolutely must get that day. Sometimes the client will tell
you, sometimes they wont. But know that there are general shots that almost every cli-
ent will implicitly expectand you need to deliver them. Over time you will develop
a sense of what these are, and not need to ask. But as you get started, it may be a good
idea to have a conversation with clients, ask them to create a list or even provide them
with a list of options for them to pick and choose.
A tool like ShootQ is great for helping to create a questionnaire for clients to custom-
ize a list of photos they wantthe program automatically saves their customized list
into the master client file. When prepping for the wedding you simply need to pull up
their file to go over their specific needs.
Many photojournalistic wedding photographers do not necessarily have a definitive
shot list, but rather a deep understanding of the stories they need to tell. In fact, staring
at a shot list all night might cause you to miss some of the spontaneous moments. It
will serve you better to do the legwork in pre-production, memorize as much as you
can and keep a cheat sheet if you think you will need it. When in doubt, think like your
clients. Referring to the same wedding magazines, blogs and websites your clients used
to plan their day will give you an excellent idea of the kinds of shots they expect.
In addition to preparing a shot list ahead of time, do research on the day itself. Here
are some elements to consider that may help you brainstorm possible shots and set-ups:
>>Schedule of events.
>>Wedding color scheme.
>>Wedding party clothes.
>>Venuethe reception hall itself, decorations, and set-up.
All of these elements can present you with great visual opportunities; preparing for
them might actually help you grab spontaneous shots.
Accomplished wedding photographer Missy McLamb advises aspiring wedding pho-
tographers to Plan. Focus. Execute. And then forget it all. It might be a good idea to
make that your mantra.
DO: Prepare. No matter how in-the-moment your photography may be, knowing the
details of the day will help you be in the right place at the right time.
DON'T: Freak out. You should always make the clients feel totally at ease. Things will go
wrong, but if you have a plan and people you trustyou will be fine.
DO: Hire people you trust.
DON'T: Use your shot list as a crutch. Be prepared to be in the moment.
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 18
PART I
How to Take
Natural Looking
Photos
By R
or New York City photographer Erik Valind,
wedding photography is both the ultimate
professional challenge and the ultimate
thrill. The beauty is that you're able to take formal
portraits, detail shots, and fun party candids all in
one day, he explains. What unifies these different
styles is being able to capture all those wonderful
moments naturally.
Photo by Erik Valind
Here are Erik's favorite tips for capturing each unique
element of this special day.
SELECT THE RIGHT LENS.
In my arsenal: the Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 VC, SP
70-200mm F/2.8 VC, and SP 90mm F/2.8 VC Macro.
The 24-70 is my workhorse. I can pull back to get wide-
angle shots like guests in front of the church, then go to
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 19
I the telephoto end for more intimate moments with the bride and groom or an up-close
image of the flower girl.
II
The 70-200 is terrific for portraits and when I need to get back, like when I don't want
to be distracting during the ceremony. Plus, when I'm using a telephoto at slow shutter
III speeds in low-light venues, I can get a lot of camera shake, so the Vibration Compensa-
tion (VC) feature is a lifesaver.

As for detail shots (e.g., tabletop settings, flowers, rings), I use the 90mm Macro to get
in tight. The bride and groom are your main focus, but it's nice to document all those
other parts of the wedding that the couple might not be able to take in because they're
so caught up with their guests.

CREATE A RELAXING ATMOSPHERE.

I'm always extra-prepared with shot lists and venue details. By exuding that profes-
sionalism, it's one less thing for your clients to worry about. I'm on a first-name basis
with the bride, groom, and wedding party. And they definitely don't see me rushing
around saying, Come on, we only have a few more minutes to get this shot! I keep
things low-key, which translates to my images. Photo by Erik Valind

PLACE EVERYONE IN THE RIGHT LIGHT.

I'll do a walkthrough of the venue beforehand to see what natural light will be available. I
also use an app that allows me to plug in a location and date and get exactly where the sun
will be at different times there, while I use Google Earth to get an overhead view of the
location if it's an outdoor ceremony. I'll set up strobes ahead of time in the reception area
(which is often lit with candles and other dim lighting) so I can freeze the action if I need to.

I want natural lighting, not dark backgrounds with all of the light on the wedding
party. I'll put my camera in Aperture Priority mode so I can get the right exposure
using available light, then put my on-camera flash in TTL mode and use an exposure
compensation of -1 or -2. This directs the light to fill in some of the shadows and
makes the image more subtle.

LOOK FOR CLEAN BACKGROUNDS.

If you're taking pictures outdoors, you don't want power lines over the wedding party's
heads in your image. Compose your image so there's blue sky above them or a more con-
trolled background so it's not distracting. All three of my Tamron lenses allow me to go
to that fast maximum aperture of F/2.8 so I can achieve a very shallow depth-of-field. My
subjects stay in focus while any extraneous elements in the background fall out of focus. Photo by Erik Valind

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 20

I KNOW THE MOST FLATTERING ANGLES.
If you shoot up at the happy couple, the focus might be on their noses or on their chins,
which exaggerates those features in an unflattering way. Instead I'll shoot down on
II
them using a longer lens like the 70-200. That eliminates distortion that might occur
to their eyes or forehead and compresses the scene for a flattering portrait. For detail
III shots, it's the opposite. If there are beautiful flowers in Mason jars on a table, I'll use
the 90mm Macro to render them at a 1:1 ratio. The picture will show these gorgeous
flowers that are larger than life hanging over the table.

To see more of Erik Valind's work, go to www.erikvalind.com.

Photo by Erik Valind Photo by Erik Valind

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 21

PART II: PROFILES

How to Start Your ith a background in both photography and Spanish, Vanessa Joy worked as an elementary Spanish teacher
while she learned the photo business ropes working for another photographer. Wanting to do things her
way, she built up enough business to strike out on her own as a full-time photographer six years ago and has

Wedding Business never looked back. Based in East Freehold, N.J., she and her husband, videographer Rob Adams, offer education and
resources for photographers and videographers at Learn Photo Video.

Off Right If somebody wants to start their own wedding photog-

raphy business, what are some things that they need to
think about or put in place?
free, or consider renting or buying used equipment if
you cant buy the best equipment.

Featuring Vanessa Joy

vanessajoy.com
vanessajoyphotographyblog.com
facebook.com/VJoyPhoto
twitter.com/Vanessa__Joy
instagram.com/vanessajoy
pinterest.com/vanessa__joy
I think the worst way to start a photography business is
jumping in blindly. You dont have to start your own busi-
ness right away. I recommend finding two or three dif-
ferent photographers that you love and shoot with them,
even if you're shooting with them for free. Gain that kind
of experience, knowledge and know-how, learn from
their mistakes, and then go and start your own business.
Once someone has some experience and is ready to go
out on their own, what do they need to think about?
When you're starting a business, understanding where
you are financially is one of the first steps because it's
going to drastically affect how you run your business
and price yourself to make it work. Everybody has a
different life scenario. Some people might have a safety
net job and are weekend warriors until they build their
business up to where they can quit their day job. Some
people have extra income from a spouse for a safety net.
Some people really have to work very hard to make ends
meet. Whatever it is, get a picture of what your finan-
cial situation is realistically, then you can decide how to
build your business. If you don't have a ton of money,
you might need to figure out ways to market yourself
How did you go about figuring out the finances when
you started?
I started as a weekend warrior with a safety net day job
as a Spanish teacher. I started modeling and adjusting
what I had seen some of my photography mentors do.
They were kind enough to share printing and marketing
advice. I took what I had seen the photographer I used
to work for do and then melded it together to create
something. For the first year or two I constantly changed
it if it wasn't quite right. Either the pricing wasn't right
or the things I was offering. I was realizing that I didn't
want to offer canvases in every size or I wanted to make
sure all my clients had a wedding album, so I made it
easier for them to get an album. It was a lot of adjusting
and discovering what I wanted for my business, but it
was also modeling from the people I trusted.
What are some ways that new photographers can mar-
ket their work if they're just starting out?
Marketing is probably my favorite part of owning a
business and being a photographer. When you're first
starting out, the best thing that you can do is to create

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 22

I connections. It's what general marketing is all aboutcreating a network of people
around you. Of the first two jobs that I got as a wedding photographer, one was from
a DJ and one was from another wedding photographer. Creating connections with
II
other budding professionals in my area helped me get off on the right foot and get
clients in the door.
III

How did you make those connections?

I made those connections by putting myself out there. I was second shooting for a pho-
tographer, and he brought along a third shooter so I got to know him and just struck
up a relationship as friends. I also went to photography meetings and conventions and
found people to network with.

How can a new photographer convince clients they will do a good job if they dont have
a lot of experience yet to back it up?

A new photographer with little experience or a small portfolio could do some jobs Photo by Vanessa Joy
that are free or less expensive. Some people are willing to trust an inexperienced pho-
tographer because that's all they can afford. One of the things I would focus on is not
talking so much about your inexperience but talking more about your enthusiasm. As
a new photographer you tend to have a certain passion for what you do, and it's a lot
easier to see than a photographer that's been doing it for 10 years. Really engage with
your potential clients and be there all the time for them in ways that an established
photographer might not be able to.

How can a new photographer determine how to set prices?

First of all, do your research. You should already be networking with other photogra-
phers. Find ones that will let you see their pricing. Ideally most photographers let other
photographers see their pricing to help bring up the pricing in their area. Step two is
doing the math. I have a 10-minute video on my website about how to create pricing
and packages. To sum it up, you want your costs to photograph the job to be one-third
of what you're charging, at a minimum.

Photo by Vanessa Joy

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 23

I
When you're first starting out, the
II
best thing that you can do is to create
III
connections.

What resources would a new wedding photographer need?

The first would be equipment. You're limited in the beginning if you don't have a ton of
money saved up or you didn't get a business loan, but you obviously want a professional
camera that can yield results that your clients are expecting.

The second resource you need is continuing education so that you can constantly have
a resource to improve your skills, whether it's going to conferences or just making sure
that you're reading photography magazines and articles that will help you.

How do you suggest selling prints and images after the shoot or wedding?

Definitely put the images online so you can share them, but also, if you're doing wed-
ding or portraits, have in-person sales. Meet with your clients after you've photo-
graphed them and show them their pictures in person and the things they can do with
their photos, whether it's canvases or metal prints or image boxes. In the last two years,
I've made substantially more money by meeting with clients in person.

Any tips on how to get clients to help you with referrals?

I always try to exceed my clients' expectations and find ways to wow them so that I'm
giving them something to talk about. I do same-day slide shows and same-day albums
of the weddings I shoot. It's been one of the biggest and most successful marketing
pushes that I've ever completed.

Photo by Vanessa Joy

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 24

I When should a photographer consider outsourcing?

I will definitely say that outsourcing should be one of your top priorities. Think about
II
your workflow and what you ultimately want to achieve in your photography business.
You can't do it all. You're a photographer. You're not necessarily a bookkeeper, a design-
III er, a photo editor, a Photoshop expert, everything else that comes with a photography
business. Outsource things that slow you down or things that you hate doing or things
that you're just not as good at, like maybe album design. Start looking at what it costs
to outsource those things and raise your prices by that amount, or double that amount
so that you can start incorporating it slowly, one thing at a time.

What are some examples of things that you outsource?

One of the biggest things that I outsource is my post-production. I use a website called
evolveedits.com that does all of my post-production, color correction, raw conversions
and then uploads into my online gallery. That would take me hours per job in Light-
room and Photoshop. Even if it only takes you two hours per job, that's two hours you
could have been having lunch with a wedding planner in your area or spending with Photo by Vanessa Joy
your family instead.
or their customer service needs to be better so that they have repeat clients. If you're
experiencing some sort of a slump, look everywhere except your pricing first because
Have you made any mistakes along the way other photographers could learn from? there's a client out there for every photographer. Pricing really just determines the type
of clients who are walking to your door, not whether clients are walking to your door
I've made every mistake in the book. If you don't make mistakes, you're probably or not. You need to figure out what else it is that you can improve, whether it's finding
not daring enough. Probably the biggest mistakes that I have made were certain more ways to exceed your clients' expectations so they talk about you more or getting
ways I reacted to clients or handled situations. When it comes to an angry client, some creative cross promotion with other vendors in your area.
for instance. Does she deserve a brand new album that's going to cost me $200? No.
But in me giving that album to her for $200, is she now going to be more likely to
refer her friends to me? Yes, and that's worth a lot more to me. The biggest mistakes
are the littlest ones that you have to just sort through every day and figure out what
works and what doesn't.

If your business seems to be stalling out, what are some things that you could look at?

I think the biggest mistake photographers make in that type of situation is they au-
tomatically think, It must be my pricing, and then they lower their pricing. Most of
the time it's not their pricing. It's their work needs to get on par with their pricing

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 25

PROFILE

How to Establish s a young, newly married couple with fresh degrees in photography and law respectively, Justin and Mary Marantz
had to decide whether Mary would pursue a high-intensity law career or whether they could create a different
kind of life. Making their own hours and working together was too tempting: I turned down law firm offers

a Great Brand for and took this crazy leap in September of 2006, and we have been working full time together ever since, said Mary. Based
in New Haven, Conn., they travel around the world shooting couplesengagements, weddings and anniversariesand
teaching workshops, and they operate two wedding blogs: The Black Tie Bride and The Well-Groomed Groom.

Your Wedding Why is having a brand important for a wedding pho-

tographer?
doing, will fight for your business with you, then things can
start to grow a lot faster. I think that's the ultimate impor-

Photography At its base level, I think the brand is important for the
trust factor. If your logo looks dated or like its been done
tance of that brand, is just giving people a reason to fight.

Business by an amateur, then the potential client is going to doubt

that the business is established or has the taste level that
they're looking for. And then a certain polished brand
How has your brand evolved over the years?

We launched our first brand in 2008, and it was very per-

Featuring Justin & Mary Marantz
will support the kind of prices you might want to charge.
If you're charging $10,000 for a wedding and you have a
hack job of a website or a logo or colors, then they don't
line up and something doesn't make sense.
In the book Lovemarks theres this idea to think beyond
your brand in terms of what your colors, logo, and Web-
site look like, and start to think of it more as people ex-
periencing you as a brand. People don't just love Apple
for MacBook Pros and iPhones, they love them because
they're the crazy ones, the round pegs in the square holes.
sonal, very quirky, very fun. It was teal and bright blue with
ribbons and tags. The Stuff We Love page has all these
random things that we love, like Mario Kart Wii, and
scary movies and the Giants, and West Virginia football.
It was very personal, very down to earth, very relatable.
Over the past six years as our work has grown, there
was this big mismatch, where we were showing very el-
egant, sophisticated work paired with this very quirky
brand. So we just launched a new brand that fits much
more with that.

Once people start to feel like theyre part of something
by being one of your customers, that's what's going to
make them loyal beyond reason. Those are the people
who become part of your tribe, who will fight for you
justinandmaryweddings.com and will try to make sure everybody knows about you.
justinandmaryblog.com
facebook.com/justinandmary If you can start to bring people on board who, for no other
reason than they love you and they believe in what you're
It's been a good learning experience. You can come up
with a brand that's so you when you launch it, but you
have to constantly make sure that brand is growing with
you. But in both cases our strategy has been connection.
In 2008, it was connecting to who we are as people, who
we are as a couple, how we do the dishes, what our love
story is, what TV shows we watch, what Starbucks drink
is my favorite. That will still be the case with the new

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 26

I

II

III

Photo by Justin & Mary

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 27

I site, but we're also going to get at the deeper core value of what we stand for. If poten-
tial clients believe in what we believe, then theyre probably our people. We're looking
for couples that really share our values, because we know they're going to fight for our
II
business harder than just a couple that's looking for any photographer.

III
How does getting your brand right help attract the right clients?

How you make people feel is more important than what you make people think.
For some couples, hiring a photographer is a rational decision; they're just running
the numbers. But that's the last couple that we want. When the site first got started,
we did things like bridal shows and print ads, and we were booking clients, so we
thought that was working, but we were booking what we called transactional cli-
ents. They wanted to pay a certain amount, they wanted to get their DVD of the
images, and they walked away and never talked about us again.

The reason that they thought about us that way is they found us that way. They found
us as one of many; 25 photographers at a bridal show, or 30 in a print magazine. So
they were trained to think that a photographer is a photographer is a photographer.

For the same reason, we don't spend a lot of time on SEO. If somebody inquires with
us, and says, Oh, I found you on Google, then all they've said is, I need a wedding
photographer. We want people whose best friend used us, their venue loves us, their
planner just did a style shoot with us, they've followed us on Facebook for the last year,
and we, in particular, are the photographers they have to have.

How do you turn these clients into ambassadors for your brand?

Everybody talks about word of mouth so much that it has kind of lost its meaning. For
us, it's not that people are talking, it's what they're saying. If somebody says, Oh, my
photographer's amazing, that's okay. Whereas, if somebody says, Oh, my photogra-
pher's incredible! At the wedding, right before they left, they printed off a picture from
the day and put it in a silver frame, and gave it to us before they left. Here it is, check it
out, it's incredible, that's the remarkable word of mouth that, when people hear it, they
actually take action. And so we have this strategy within our brand of doing a series
of gifts and surprises that make people not only want to talk, but when they're saying
things, it's exactly what we want them saying.
Photo by Justin & Mary

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 28

I
II
III
How do you work your brand identity into your sales process?
When a couple comes in to meet with us, we put out this whole spread of food. We
spend about two hours hanging out with them, drinking wine and bonding with
them, refusing to really talk too much about the wedding, but instead, about every-
thing else we have in common. And then, when they're sort of ready for the bad news
of the pricing sheet, we have this goal that the only surprises we want them to get
are good ones. And so instead, they get what we call our info box. It's a big, brown
linen box tied with a ribbon sealed with a custom label with their names on it. Inside,
we have a Martha Stewart Weddings, a sample contract, a sample pricing page, cards
from vendors with discounts, like 10 percent off at a local bridal boutique.
Photos by Justin & Mary
We also include a card that says Stuff We Love, and it says, MaryStarbucks junkie
with an arrow to a Starbucks card, and JustinApple fanatic with an arrow to an iTunes
card. That's $20, just as a gift for them meeting with us, before they've even booked.
We have them open that box in the meeting, and when they take that ribbon off and lift
the lid, it's their name staring back at them. It's that extra wow factor of the custom tai-
lored experience. When they do book with us, we drop-ship chocolate-covered caramels
to them for booking. We also do a date night gift and the silver frame at the wedding
and a holiday gift. We have all these different reasons to remind them to not only talk
about us, but to say cool things.
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 29
I What tips do you have for someone who's trying to figure out their brand personality?

It's tough. Allow yourself permission to feel like it's tough. But then a good place to
II
start is to grab a box and just start putting stuff in there that you love. Or you can also
do a virtual version with Pinterest. Try not to think about it at all, and then walk away
III from it for a couple of days.

When you come back, try to figure out what the things have in common. Is it a color, is it
a texture? Is it a classic style versus a rustic style or a vintage style? Is it a lot of black and
white photography? Is it really quirky, fun stuff ? Maybe you want to go much more in
the direction of just letting the work speak for itself, and not have a ton about you. There
are personality marketers right now and there are fine art marketers. Decide which one
of those speaks more to you.

It's like taking a step back and saying, if I were going to hang out on my ideal day, what
would it look like? Our friend went through that process, and her brand became cable
knit blankets, and mugs of tea, and really natural colors. Beiges and oatmeal, a fine arts
but cozy feeling.
Photo by Justin & Mary
I would also suggest when you're new and you don't know yourself that well yet, start
with a platform that can change with you easily. When we were getting started, we
went through two or three websites, where each time, we had to hire a designer and go
through the whole design process. The second it went live, it was essentially out of date,
Ask yourself if every single picture that
because if I shot a beautiful picture the next day, I would have to go back to that designer
and rehire her to update it. So we've been using a platform that we can control for a while you're showing is something you would
now. I can decide tonight that my main picture isn't attracting the clients that I want to
attract, so I change it and it's live in a second. want to shoot again and again.

What are some common branding mistakes to avoid?

Don't just rip off somebody else's website. We see that happen a lot. And one of the big-
gest mistakes we see over and over again, is people showing on their site what they don't
want to shoot. People will say, I really want to specialize in weddings, but I keep getting
all these family inquiries. I don't know how to make it stop. Then you pull up the website,
and the very first picture is a family photo.
Whatever you put out there, there's a market for it. I could literally put out a
1980s-style ring shot of the hands laid on top of each other, overlaid with their
heads in a brandy snifter, and somebody in the world would think that was exactly
what they wanted.
Ask yourself if every single picture that you're showing is something you would want to
shoot again and again. And does it stand for the words you would want people to feel
about your work if it only had 30 seconds to make an impression? I feel like that's all
we have, somewhere between 10 and 45 seconds before a bride either decides she wants
to follow up with you, or wants to move on.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 30

I What branding mistakes have you made along the way?

When we first got started, our name was Imagine Imaging. We thought it was cool,
II
because it was just one letter differencethe g versus the e. We got a lot of people
thinking it was Images Imaging or Imaging Imaging or, our personal favorite, Imagine
III Imagining, which is really deep if you think about it. I think we were just trying to be
something we weren't. We were trying to be more corporate, and make it sound more
like Imagine Entertainment, and it became a barrier between our potential brides and
us. People weren't connecting with the people behind it, because we were hiding be-
hind it. We got rid of that and said we're just Justin & Mary, we want to be friends
with our clients, we want to hang out with you after the engagement shoot, and when
we go to our friends' weddings, we bring gifts. When we come to your wedding, we're
going to bring a gift. And as soon as we took that wall down, that's when people got a
lot more invested in us, because the brand was us.

And so, if you make mistakes early in your brand, don't be afraid to trim the fat, cut off
what's not working, and move forward, and not let that mistake feel like a failure. You
can be defined by mistakes if you refuse to say, well, let's fix it.

Can you tell us more about how you market your brand to get the type of client that
you want?

In our first full year of business, we spent $10,000 on print ads and bridal shows
and had nothing to really show for it. So we take that same kind of budget, and
redirected it into having a whole gift experience for our clients, the vendors and
venues we work with, and other photographers who we refer other weddings. We
budget about $600 per wedding for gifts that we do, but when we first started, it
was just one gift.

So just start with something that's 25 dollars, and when we choose gifts to send out,
we also try to think of things that people will naturally want to put on Instagram or
Facebook. So one of our favorite gifts is an our first Christmas holiday ornament, that
we got for like seven dollars at Crate and Barrel. But once they're gone that year, people
can't find them. So we're taking care of something for them, and it's something they'll
put up year after year.

Photo by Justin & Mary

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 31

PROFILE

How to Find and

Book the Right
Wedding Clients
Featuring Tim Halberg

Photo by Tim Halberg

fter a stint as a newspaper photographer and reporter, Tim Halberg went back to school to focus on com-
mercial photography. Hed shot weddings before, but didnt think about focusing on them until photogra-
pher Mike Coln spoke at his school. You could see the passion in the photos versus just some guy showing
up and snapping photos of the wedding, he says.

timhalberg.com
facebook.com/timhalberg
instagram.com/timhalbergphoto
plus.google.com
pinterest.com/timhalberg
Halberg, who is based in the Napa and Sonoma, California area, has been shooting nuptials full-time since 2005. But
a few years ago, he started to get a little burned out on the business. The problem? He was working for anyone and
everyone who would hire him. Since then, he learned how to attract and book only the clients that he enjoys working
for and found a new passion for his business. Heres how he did it.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 32

I What kinds of clients do you try to attract?

The couples Im looking for are adventurous, they like to travel, they've gone on vacations to
II
Italy or to South Africa, or Antarctica, wherever. The other portion is the mischievous cou-
ples that are down for getting in a little bit more trouble and having fun with their images.
III

This seems like a narrow focus. Why did you decide to seek out these types of clients?

I've learned in specializing in who I am, people are willing to spend more because
they want to hire somebody like them. For me, adventure is a huge piece of my life.
The same with mischief; I love causing mischief and being part of mischief, so I look
for that in couples. I'm a little bit more excited to show up to their wedding and shoot
their wedding, and it's not as hard. I don't have to fake it. A lot of times you show up
at a wedding and you're trying to act like you fit in to the couples group of friends, and
you don't really. You're playing the part for the day. Now I don't have to do that. I can
show up at the wedding, I can be fully myself, and people love it.

The minute I realized that, it freed me up to be myself. If people don't like who I am,
they're not the right fit for me. I don't need to work for those people. That realization
totally altered my business.

How does finding these perfect f it clients pay off ?

Photographically, the ultimate goal is to create images that reflect my style. So instead of
having a couple who isn't really down for being adventurous, I've got couples who call me
and say, Oh my gosh, we saw a picture of the couple that climbed the tree, and we thought
that was the coolest thing ever, and we want you to do something similar for us. So, image-
wise, it frees you up to shoot more images that are your style, and it allows you to market
yourself to clients who have to have what you're doing. They're going to tell their friends
more about you, they're more excited about it. They actually are tied to the idea of the photos.

It also frees them up to be themselves. For example, the indulgent side might be the
lesser of the three words that I use to brand myself, but last year I had one woman who
emailed me and said, Oh my gosh, you gotta see the wedding shoes I bought. You
freed me up and you allowed me to go buy these shoes without feeling guilty. And she
had bought probably a $1,000 pair of heels for her wedding. That's perfect, because I
Photo by Tim Halberg
align with that, and I love that.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 33

I How can a photographer figure out what kind of client is right for them?

You need to be able examine yourself, look at yourself, and figure out what are the driv-
II
ing forces that make you happy as a human being. That's the process I went through. It
took six months because I don't self-reflect very well.
III
It's a process of discovery. Talk to your close friends, talk to past clients, ask what
they like about you. Boil them down and create lists. You might make a list of 50
things that are important to you in life, and see what bubbles to the top. Those
things that surface are the things that you can't really live without. Those are the
kinds of things that you can start building words around to create a plan that is
100 percent you. The nice thing about that is, it's authentic. You don't have to fake
it. Somebody else can't copy it because they're not going to be able to copy you,
unless they're faking it.

How do you go about finding your clients?

Photo by Tim Halberg Two years ago, I moved from Santa Barbara to northern California so I had to almost
start at zero in marketing to Napa and Sonoma. The first thing I did was one thing that
some photographers aren't big fans of, and that's taking out ads online.

From there, it really was about building relationships, letting people know that I was
in the area, and letting them know what my brand message was. I will meet with
a coordinator and tell her I am a photographer for adventurous and mischievous
couples. If you have couples that would align with that, I'd love to meet them. A
clear message like that allows the coordinators not to just send you random stuff.
They get excited when they have a couple who is a perfect fit for you. Before I did
the branding, coordinators would say, Tim Halberg, he's great, we love him, he has
great pictures. But now it's like, Oh, dude, you are an adventurous couple, you need
to meet Tim.

I also scout new wedding venues that I haven't seen before and blog about them on my
site. It can help with SEO, and it can help locations get to know you. I don't go to a
location and ask them to send me work. I go to them and say, Can I feature you? Can
I learn more about you to tell my brides about you? It's never a Please do something
for me; it's always a Hey, what can I do for you?

Photo by Tim Halberg

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 34

I How do you determine if a potential client is a good fit?
Typically a potential client will email me from my Website, and so I developed a good
II
contact form as an important starting point. Some people just ask for the basics
name, wedding date, phone number, email address. I go a little bit further and ask
III people straight up what their budget is to pre-qualify people. Then I ask what their
favorite drink is. I can tell by what somebody says about their favorite drink if we're
going to have a conversation that's going to be interesting or not. So it's just finding
goofy little questions that might tell you some insight about them.
Then I ask them, What's your favorite adventure you've ever done? Or, How are
you mischievous? So right from the contact form, before I've even spoken to them,
I've got pretty good insight into whether I think the person is worth talking to and
spending time on.
When I'm talking to a couple, I'm actually They need to be excited about you as
interviewing them, whether they know it or
not. I ask them questions to find out about a human being to want to refer you to
their adventurous side or about their mis-
chievous side and see if that's something
that aligns with me. One of the best ques-
their friends.
tions I ask is, What do you do if you have a
week off from work? Some couples say, We're going to travel, we're going to the theater,
we're going to go backpacking. And I have other couples who say, We'll probably just
stay at home and sit on the couch and catch up on TV. There's nothing wrong with that,
but right away I'm like, OK, you might not be the right fit for me.
Beyond that, I like to show interest in them as human beings, not just their wedding.
Trying to get to know them as people is important to me.
Once you determine that you want to move forward with a client, how do you make
sure they book you?
It's funny, but I'm not a hard pusher. I don't try to close as much as some other people
will. I used to do a lot more trying to get people to close, and that got me those weddings
where I just wasn't as happy as a photographer. For me, it's talking to them, sharing the
passion for adventure, sharing the passion for mischief, and I kind of leave it at that.
I obviously talk to people about what they want in the package, what they are looking
to spend; I send them a proposal. I give them the ability to close and lock down their
date. But I leave it a little bit open-ended. I probably could book more weddings if I
pushed harder, but I'd rather get the couples that are excited about me versus the ones
that were torn between me and somebody else and just happened to book me because
it was a better price or because I talked them into it.
What do you do to encourage referrals from your clients?
Because of the relationships I build with clients, I think a lot of them then comfortably
refer their friends. Obviously you have to have good enough pictures that they're go-
ing to want to refer you for the quality of your work. But then, they need to be excited
about you as a human being to want to refer
you to their friends. And so, really building
on that, and really creating an experience.
On the wedding day, it's funny because
people will come up to me and say, Oh
my gosh, you're an amazing photographer,
you're doing so great. They haven't seen a
single photo. It's just 100 percent based on
the performance you give on the wedding day and that relationship you've built with
the couple. Often, they're telling their friends before the wedding how excited they are
about their photographer, and when they show up on the wedding day, their friends
are excited.
One thing I do to keep people reminded about me is a newsletter to all my past couples,
wedding venues I've worked with, coordinators, friends and family. I send it maybe
once every three to four months, and just kind of keep people update on, here's some
blog posts you can read, here's what I've been up to, and I don't even, I don't ask for
referrals. I just keep myself in front of them.
HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 35
PROFILE

How to Master ased near Vancouver, in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, husband and wife photography team Matt and Ca-
rissa Kennedy have been shooting weddings for eight years, full time for four. They attract local and interna-
tional clients who put a priority on great photography, which is awesomeand full of pressure! says Matt.

Customer Service Matt, a former high school teacher, and Carissa, a former financial advisor, came their business with very different
skill sets that completely complement each other. That makes it hard at times to see eye-to-eye, but we love working
together as a team, says Matt. The duo offers online workshops on both the business and craft of photography and
Featuring Matt Kennedy have presented at major photography conferences.

www.mattkennedy.ca
blog.mattkennedy.ca
facebook.com/mattkennedyphoto
pinterest.com/mattkennedy
When and how did you realize great customer service
needed to be an essential aspect of your business? Why is
it important?
From the beginning we strived to have great customer
service, but it wasnt until our first year at WPPI Expo in
Las Vegas about five years ago that we heard the idea of
under promising and over delivering. It makes so much
sense. Be a hero to your clients, in every way possible, and
theyll help you find more clients just like them. Thats
why its important. Our clients are our marketing strategy!
What tips do you have for delighting clients and going
that extra mile to make the wedding experience memo-
rable from start to finish?
We love to give gifts to our clients, and the most im-
portant thing to keep in mind with this is that they
should be big picture gifts. Big picture gifts to us mean
anything that you would give a friend if they were get-
ting married. Not something photography related, and
especially not credit to your products or services. This
is your chance to show them that you care about them
as people, friends, not just clients. Some examples that
we've done are a date jar, a honeymoon package (suntan
lotion, candles, packing checklist, etc.), a blanket with a
movie and popcorn. Make it personal. Also, when pos-
sible, make it reusable. That way every time they use it,
they will think of you who gave it to them. This is top of
mind awareness at its best!
How does social media come into play to make the experi-
ence even better?
We use social media as a connection tool, and a promo-
tion tool. We love to interact with our clients and poten-
tial clients on social media in order to show them that
we are people too, and not just photographers. We are
very open about our lives on Facebook and Instagram,
and I think people appreciate that and are more open to
booking with us even though our rates may be higher
than others they are looking at.
Social media is built for photography, so be the first
to share images, and share them in a way that allows
your clients to show how proud they are of them. Al-
lowing your clients to share images will bring you back
way more business than watermarks and proofing sites
ever will!

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 36

I

II

III

Photo by Matt Kennedy Photo by Matt Kennedy

How do you handle particularly difficult clients without ruining the customer service
experience?
I'm not sure what clients would have to do to be deemed difficult, but in cases where
people are overly demanding, or skeptical, or disappointed, you need to always go above
and beyond in order to make their experience the best it possibly can be. Sometimes
people jump to criticism or demands because of a break in trust. Build the trust back up
and show them that you care about them and their happiness, not their money. In fact,
the phrase the squeaky wheel always gets the grease is sometimes more true than we
would like. Those clients who are more difficult end up getting even better (or at least
more) service than the easygoing clients, so let's not forget the easy ones. Go above and
beyond for everyone by default, and you'll have way fewer difficult clients to deal with.
How do you showcase your great service to clients on your website?
What mistakes do wedding photographers often make when working with clients?
I think the biggest mistake wedding photographers make when working with cli-
ents is acting out their sense of entitlement. Often this happens because the pho-
tographer thinks that they are worth more than what the client is paying, so the
client shouldnt have any reason to be concerned about anything. Ive run into this
a few times in my life, and when I catch myself doing this, I quickly realize that
I need to raise my prices. I like to keep my prices at a point where I am a little
uncomfortable with the amount that Im charging so that I am driven to go above
and beyond for my clients.
So in general, be the nicest contact point of your clients day every time they are in
touch with you, and always go above and beyond. Even if you think they dont deserve
it. They may be the ones that refer you to your best client of the year next year!

We keep most of our extra client service as a bit of a secret bonus, but we do post about
certain things on social media. For instance, we do a spa day for our brides every year,
and around that time we post about it, and our brides post about it as well. We show-
case our service mostly by explaining how we work and run our business, and through
our promo videos.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 37

I

II

III

Photo by Matt Kennedy

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 38

PROFILE

How to Price ost photographers learn how to shoot first, and figure out how to make money doing it later. Bryan Caporicci
didnt get that memo. Now an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer based out of Fonthill,
Canada, he had no photography experience when he started doing computer work for another photographer

Your Work more than nine years ago. He saw a business opportunity, and took itbut then he had to learn how to shoot. Now he
excels at both and is the author of the ebook Pricing for Profit and founder of Sprouting Photographer, an educational
website and podcast that educates photographers about the business side of being creative.

Competitively As a new wedding photographer, how do you begin to de-

velop a pricing system?
Featuring Bryan Caporicci
There are a bunch of factors that will contribute to
where your price should be as photographer. There are
subjective considerations and objective considerations.
The subjective ones are items like confidence and the
quality of work that you're producing, your perceived
value in the marketplace, what your competition charges
and what your local market will bear.
There's no subjective way to price your photography.
Those are good things to consider, but none of those
give any kind of starting point. So I suggest starting
with an objective measurement of your cost of goods.
From there you can influence that price with those other
factors. It's a matter of adding up what goes into a par-
bcapphoto.com ticular product or service then marking it up to allow
bcapphoto.com/blog room for your overhead and your ongoing expenses and
facebook.com/bcapphoto some profit in your business.
twitter.com/bcapphoto
A lot of photographers will say, My 8x10 cost, $2 for
my lab and I put some on packaging, so maybe it's a $5
cost. I'll multiply that by 3, and therefore my print price
is $15. The problem is that they don't factor for their
time. If you're pricing an 8x10, you should calculate ev-
ery single minute that goes into that 8x10 print.
The practice that I teach is literally to record what goes
into every single product and service that you do on a
piece of paper. If it's an 8x10 print, you say, Okay, I
spent 5 minutes re-touching. I spent 2 minutes ordering
it from my lab. I spend 3 minutes getting it back from
my lab and packaging it up. I spend 10 minutes with my
client when they pick it up. Let's say that adds up to be
30 minutes. Then you have to put a price on your time.
That's challenging for a lot of photographers because
we're close to our art. It's a creative pursuit and so we
don't really like to charge for our time, but, unfortu-
nately, if you want to be sustainable and if you want to
run a career and a photography business that's profitable
and able to allow you to make a living, you have to be
paid for your time.
The best way to do that is to look at the bigger picture
and say, How much do I want to make per year? What
would I pay myself if I were an employee of my own
company? Let's say you come up with $60,000 as an
annual salary. Then you have to then extrapolate that
$60,000 to a per-hour wage. Divide it by 52 weeks, and
divide that by 40 hours in a week, and youll get your
per-hour wage. This example translates to just under
$30 an hour.
If we go back to the 8x10 example, that means that your
cost for your time is about $15. From there you add

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 39

I what the actual material goods cost you. How much is the print? What is the shipping
from your lab? How much packaging do you use? In this 8x10 example, let's say it adds
up to be $25. Now, you have to consider marking up the product because we have other
II
expenses. We need a profit margin to actually pay for those things.

III
How do you figure the profit margin?

A good industry standard that is something that the Professional Photographers of

America came up with in their benchmark surveya 2.85 markup factor. Figure out
what that cost of goods is, multiply by 2.85 and that gives you a good, profitable and
measurable number that will allow you to pay yourself, pay for your cost and cover all
your overhead and expenses and have enough room for profit in your company.

That's the short version of pricing for profit. This is where, whenever I'm teaching
this or if I'm in a podcast or whatever, someone would say, Okay, so looking at these
calculations based on a $25.00 8x10 cost, that means that my price should be $71.25.
Many photographers would balk at the idea of charging close to $75.00 for an 8x10
print, although I don't think that should be the case. I think that's a reasonable price Photo by Bryan Caporicci
for it. For newer photographers that's very scary.

This gives you a starting point. I'm not saying this is where you have to end up. From
there you can use the other factorsquality, perceived value, confidence, what the mar-
The best way to [stay sustainable
ket will bear, competitionand you can fudge that number up or down depending on
where you are in those different categories.
and profitable] is to look at the bigger
picture and say, How much do I want
How do you suggest structuring wedding packages?
to make per year?
I suggest having a couple of different packages. It always makes sense to have a bare
minimum package, but you need to price that and present it in a way that you under-
stand that you may have people booking and buying that package. For most photographers, the base package should be something like 7 to 8 hours of
coverage, digital files delivered, either on a CD or USB key or via download, and an
I think this is where a lot of photographers will fall apart because they'll have their low- engagement session. That's what every couple's going to want.
ball package, and then they'll get upset when somebody actually books that package.
There are strategies that we can use to steer people away from it, but there will still be That's sort of a bare minimum. Figure out whatever you're comfortable with. What's the
some people that will buy that package. least amount of coverage you want to do on a wedding day? What's the least amount of

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 40

I other items that you want to include for a package? Walk through the process of pricing
for profit to calculate your cost on that, and then associate a price with that.
II
As you go up in the packages, you can start to include things like extra time, products
from the engagement session, print credits or canvases or albums or books.
III

How many packages or tiers of packages do you find works for clients to choose from?

You should ultimately have three or four packages with varying amounts of items and
times and additions. There's a reason that we have good, better, best in terms of psy-
chology for packages. The only time that I would say not to have three would be if you
wanted to have a fourth whopper package. Basically it's everything and the moon. The
whole point of that is not necessarily to have a package that people would book, but
to have a package that anchors the price at a high price point so it makes your other
packages look much more affordable.

When you're walking a couple through prices, if you were to say, I've got a $2,000 op-
tion, a $3,500 option and a $6,000 option, they know your spread is from $2,000 to Photo by Bryan Caporicci
$6,000. If you instead present the whopper package first, and you include everything
that they might ever possibly want and the price is $12,000, you've anchored the price
in their mind at $12,000. They're not going to book at $12,000, but now your $6,000
looks very, very reasonable.

Should photographers incorporate freebies into these packages or how do you get your
customer to feel like they're getting something extra?

Anything that discounts your value or that could look like you're trying to make a price
exception does not do well for photographers, because photography is a luxury pur-
chase. No matter how much we want to justify to ourselves that a client needs wedding
photography from us, they could just have their uncle bring a camera to the wedding
and that would be it.

We can't be making the reason they book us be price, because there's always going to
be somebody who will beat you with that. Instead of offering freebies or discounts, I
love the idea of having value-added services, or value-added products. The things that
you can add into it to increase the value of a package or a product or a service, not to
decrease the price of it, though. Photo by Bryan Caporicci

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 41

I You could say something like, if you purchase our main package at 8 hours of coverage,
you could actually present that as 7 hours of coverage. Then, in the negotiations with
the client, say, I'll tell you what, I'm going to add in an extra hour of coverage for you
II
guys. You've budgeted for it, so you're not losing money, and the client feels like they
have a little bit of a win.
III
You could also find little things that don't cost you a lot to sweeten the pot. A little $10
gift card from Starbucks with your booking package would deliver a really nice feeling
to the client and show them that you care. You could do little things like that here and
there to sweeten the pot and give better service if you wanted to. I'd rather encourage
photographers to consider value-added things as opposed to price lowering things.

How do you know when you've got your pricing right?

Like everything, there's going to be a balance. If you book every client that contacts
you, that either means that you're making a really solid value proposition and you're
doing a great job, or it means that your prices are too low. I would say more often than
not it's the latter. If you're not booking any clients that call you, that's a sure sign that Photo by Bryan Caporicci
you're too expensive. I've heard many stories of photographers that completely price
themselves out of the market. You go through this process where you kind of get a little
bit overly confident about things and you just jump your prices up like crazy, and all the
sudden it's crickets. That's a dangerous place to be.

If you're booking 25 to 35 percent of your inquiries, that's a pretty good conversion

rate, and an indication that you're pretty much in line with where you should be in the
market. That's not to say that you don't have room to increase your price, but when you
increase your price, you have to then also increase you're value proposition. You need to
raise the quality of photography that you make by doing a better job with communicat-
ing, by improving your timelines, by marketing better, whatever that is.

Photo by Bryan Caporicci

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 42

PART II

Reasons to s a photographer, I know that editing is an im-

portant step to producing beautiful images. I also
know that it is considered the most laborious
Outsource Post and arduous of tasks for photographers. Photographers
are artists and love delivering amazing images to their cli-
ents, and there can be a sense that outsourcing their post
Production production is giving up on their personal style. I under-
stand that concernI wondered about the same thing.
And yet, I still remember the feeling of getting my first
By Jared Bauman, President/Co-Founder, ShootDotEdit wedding back, fully color corrected. There was this feeling
of joy and relief that the work was done, and I could just
focus on those final tweaks that made my images unique.
That is why Garrett and I started ShootDotEditto re-
move the pain of post production for the Wedding Pro,
and provide photographers that same feeling of relief and
satisfaction. The point isyou dont have to do it yourself.
Outsourcing your color correction is the best way to grow
your photography business and simultaneously delight
your clients. There are a ton of benefits that partnering
with a color correction specialist can offer you.
Think about your photography business as a whole. You
are getting paid to shoot, not to edit. There are many
tasks that only you can do in your business: tasks like
getting new clients and nurturing the relationship you
have with your existing clients. Making sure that all of
your images are consistently color corrected is not one of
the tasks. In fact, you are not growing your business when
you are editing and your time is better spent elsewhere.
For us, the main part of editing in-house took
at least 8 hours. At first glance, that doesnt seem
like a lot of time. But as business people, we knew
shootdotedit.com better. Our time is too valuable for us to do our
facebook.com/shootdotedit editing in-house.
- Jason & Gina Grubb
twitter.com/shootdotedit
Outsourcing your
color correction is the
best way to grow your
photography business
and simultaneously
delight your clients.
Photography is an art, and thats where your talent
shines. Color correction is a science, one that a specialist
spends time perfecting. As you understand the art of
the image, they can help with the science. Choosing to
outsource your post production leads to a more stream-
lined workflow with a faster turnaround time. The im-
ages are edited quicker, which means you can deliver to
your clients faster.
Providing a quick turnaround time for my cli-
ents has allowed me to not only provide an in-
credibly happy client experience, but they also are
able to share their wedding images with friends
and family right away! The buzz is great for my
business and future referrals!
- Leeann Marie
Remember, choosing to partner with a post production
specialist does not mean you are giving up your artistic
vision. For most Signature Studios, it actually eliminates

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 43

I the boring and laborious part of the editingthe color correction process of ensuring
your images are consistent for exposure, color balance, and contrast. This allows you to
focus on the funadding your Signature Style. A trusted partner like ShootDotEdit
II
will get you 90% of the way there, leaving you with only 10% of the work to dothe
part that only you can do! We call that 90/10.
III
90% of the editing work that we need to do can be done by someone else. We only
really need to be involved in the 10%the icing on the cake. Thats what 90/10 is.
- Jared Platt

We call it the 90/10 method of outsourcing and believe that as a creative entrepre-
neur, it allows you to retain your signature style and spend your time on things that
benefit your business.

How could someone who was not at the wedding ever understand the emotions
and feel of the day? I thought it was impossible until I found ShootDotEdit.
- Corrado Amenta

There are a lot of misconceptions photographers have about what outsourcing to a spe- Photo by Jason and Gina Grubb
cialist really means. Photographers come to me and say, My clients hired me because
of how my images look. I cant outsource the editing. But the truth is, you can abso-
lutely still retain that Signature Style your clients love. If you are a photographer that
has developed a Signature Style, spend your time on just that. Let a specialist handle
your color correction, and you spend your time growing your business.

Occasionally, smaller studios and part time photographers think that they arent big
enough to outsource, or think it will be too expensive. Partnering with a specialist can
help businesses of any size. Think about how many hours you spend on color correction.
What else could you be doing with that time? You can re-invest that time into other
profit-increasing areas of your business. Its a win/win situation.

Outsourcing your post processing does not mean giving up control or letting go of who
you are as an artist and as a photographer. It means trusting specialists who are experts
in their field, enabling you to maximize your time. It frees resources for booking ad-
ditional clients, allowing you to share your unique vision with more people.

So many successful photographers have shared their stories of how ShootDotEdit has
changed their business. Photographers such as Corrado Amenta, Jason Grubb, Leeann
Marie, and Jared Platt. I hope that one day you can share your story on how choosing Photo by Jason and Gina Grubb
to outsource your post production changed your businessfor the better!

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 44

PART III

Conclusion edding photography has come a long way

since the antiquated, posed pictures of the en-
tire bridal brigade and family. Nowadays, more
than ever, clients are looking for that authentic feeling
captured, and the entire process to be documented in
a glamorous, but real, light. As the demand for higher
quality photography goes up and the competition gets
fiercer, we hope this guide has given you the tips and
tools to help boost your business, stay one step ahead of
the game, and make that next wedding client fall head
over heels for your service.

HOW TO GROW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 45

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