any thoughts on the wpja

[THORHAMMER]

anyone have any thoughts on the wpja ? Good or bad ?

just curious... thinking about them. I think during the next 3-4 wedding I

do my style might be leaning more that direction, but I like to remain

flexible..

The rules on their website seem very restrictive for a organization that is trying to un-restrict the way a wedding photographer thinks, just gives me a bad feeling in my stomach.

maybye im reading it wrong... any thoughts?

http://www.wpja.com/for_the_photographer/wpja-membership-requirements/index.htm

I agree with some of them, but some seem very extreme, am i just taking it wrong ? or does it seem orwellian ?

 

[jemmy]

mmmmm, i have just spent the past hour reading through all those neat articles. i too am leaning more towards the pj style of wedding photography but still a fan of posed bridals etc. i think people looking for a photographer would see the WPJA 'stamp' as being pretty special. maybe i will look into joining something like this one day... after a few more weddings obviously! x jem x sorry, that babble was probably no help to you at all, but thanks for the link!

 

[dewey]

Being that my weddings and my education are both of the photojournalistic nature I considered this association, but I couldn't help but laugh when I read the page you linked to. I busted my butt to make my business what it is, and I have no desire to pay $240 for some group of people I'll never meet tell me what my website has to be just so I can use their seal.

I think that they are just like any other membership where the main requirement is to pay your fee. It's like a chamber of commerce - people say they are a member like it means their business is more reliable than a non-member business, when in reality it just means you bought their seal to use.

I was a member of a local chamber of commerce for years before it dawned on me what I was getting for my money... I was surrounded by other desperate small business owners trying to get me to buy their crap.

I guess the point of this whole rant is that I have never made a sale based on being a member of anything, and I have never lost a sale because I wasn't a member of a club, so I'll keep on trucking solo.

As for you I would buy into it if you already own every piece of equipment you'll ever need... save your precious money - running out of it is why so many businesses fail.

 

[THORHAMMER]

thanks dewey.

I think you are correct. I would rather join something where they give you real benefits like resources, insurance etc.... I dont see I would get anything from the wpja , also the more I read the more I feel like they are just too restrictive in their approach to what you can and cannot do.

thanks for your input I appreciate it...