Moonlighting as a wedding photographer realistic?

[neea]

As someone who would probably never consider doing weddings (as a girl I know how important that day is and dont feel confident enough to not screw it up for someone else), but maybe one day.
Anyways, Price is tricky.
Around here you'd get a good deal for about $1200.00.
I did some searching for a friends wedding.
Honestly, anything less than that would make customers wonder about your quality and experience.
Personally, I'd never give negatives/copies to a customer.
Definatley charge for gas/milage/vehicle wear and tear etc.

Get a list from the bride and groom of pictures they MUST HAVE.
Bride and Groom with cousin Suzie and her 2 sets of triplets.
Bride and her 10 best friends.
Groom and his ex-gf (ok maybe not).

This will definatley make the big day run alot smoother.

Good luck with your adventures and be sure to show us some goods later on.
You got alot more guts than I do.

 

[Jeremy Z]

(as a girl I know how important that day is and dont feel confident enough to not screw it up for someone else), but maybe one day.

I won't screw it up. I've done a couple already, and know the basic things to expect.

The checklist is a great ideas. Some of the pros here probably already have a form where the bride & groom can just check boxes of what they want.

Thanks for your input on the price. I will start at $1200. I will also start by letting them keep the copyright. If I get greedy and charge for making reprints, it gets to be high maintenence. I still need to concentrate on my day job, my wife, and getting her career going. I really don't want to mess around with that. Also, since most of the pros keep the copyrights, it will give me a huge advantage when I can advertise that everyone in their family can get prints for a very low cost. It is bad enough how much people have to spend on their wedding. To try to gouge them afterwards for photos... that just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe when I get a good reputation and regular business, and if/when I decide to go pro, I might consider it. If my livlihood depends on it, that is a different matter altogether.

Good luck with your adventures and be sure to show us some goods later on.
You got alot more guts than I do.

Will do. I'll also show my (basic) website when I get it up.

 

[seanberry]

And finally at the risk of offending a few people if you plan on pursuing this (professional wedding photography) much further you should seriously consider getting away from pentax and starting to build a Nikon or Canon system.

No offense taken, but can I ask why?

 

[Jeremy Z]

My wife and I just got back from Borders, where I picked up a copy of this book:

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Wedding-Photography-Capturing-Beautiful/dp/0471790176/sr=11-1/qid=1168833153/ref=sr_11_1/102-1515611-3296121[/ame]

It is really good. I spent about an hour reading it, and wasn't running out of topics or things that I didn't know. That is a good sign!

I thumbed through a couple of Digital Photography Handbooks; they're too general to be of much use to someone with experience.

As for the Canon/Nikon thing, there are some reasons, but none of them really apply to shooters at our level. The integral anti-shake more than makes up for the narrower selection of high-end optics. Mostly, there is a lack of aftermarket optics for Pentax, at the moment.

With the introduction of the K100D and K10D, I think we will see Pentax making a comeback.

 

[JIP]

I bought that book a while back and read it cover to cover I really like it I highly recommend it and as for Canon Nikon compared to pentax and other brands just pick up any book by a pro photographer and try and find mention of pentax etc. this book says Canon/Nikon/Fuji/Kodak and this is pretty much what you will get elsewhere.

 

[Jeremy Z]

just pick up any book by a pro photographer and try and find mention of pentax etc. this book says Canon/Nikon/Fuji/Kodak and this is pretty much what you will get elsewhere.

For a pro, there may be a reason to stick with Canon or Nikon. (Fuji & Kodak only because they take Nikon lenses) For an amateur, there is no reason. I can get all the lenses I need for Pentax, the optical quality is as good (better, in some cases) as Nikon or Canon, and the body itself has features that are more valuable to me.

 

[danalec99]

My wife and I just got back from Borders, where I picked up a copy of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Weddi...id=1168833153/ref=sr_11_1/102-1515611-3296121

I'd also hit the local library for Bambi Cantrell's [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Wedding-Photography-Professional-Techniques/dp/0817433252/s"]The Art of Wedding Photography: Professional Techniques with Style [/ame] - it's one of my all time favs.
She also has her '[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Digital-Wedding-Photography-Professional/dp/0817433244/sr=1-1/qid=1168879062/ref=sr_1_1/105-0119217-0586003?ie=UTF8&s=books"]digital[/ame]' book out.

 

[ksmattfish]

I shoot weddings with Canon gear, and Pentax has been behind the curve with digital, but I think their new DSLRs look pretty good for the money. I would have definately considered Pentax more seriously for my first DSLR if they'd had models like they are making now. I like that they feel like a camera that costs more than $1000 deserves $1 worth of rubber gaskets so it's somewhat weather proof. Canon can't even give us that in a $3000 camera.

 

[JIP]

For a pro, there may be a reason to stick with Canon or Nikon. (Fuji & Kodak only because they take Nikon lenses) For an amateur, there is no reason. I can get all the lenses I need for Pentax, the optical quality is as good (better, in some cases) as Nikon or Canon, and the body itself has features that are more valuable to me.

You are contemplating charging people $1200 for shooting their wedding even though you consider that bargain basement pricing I think the people that are paying you that kind of money are hoping you are a pro. See what happens if you screw up one of those "bargain basement" weddings (not saying you will or that a Pentax will cause you to) you will be sued like a pro. And I also was very inspired by the Cantrell book it is another one of my faves.

 

[Jeremy Z]

See what happens if you screw up one of those "bargain basement" weddings (not saying you will or that a Pentax will cause you to) you will be sued like a pro.

Well, if I do screw it up with my Pentax, I doubt that a Nikon or Canon would magically save my hide. Just to be safe, I will carry my two Olympi as backups. Oh! and I have my Canon SD600 Elph. That should ensure that I don't screw up. Lighten up a little please.

As for the pricing, I have to do something to make up for the fact that I only have a couple weddings worth of photos in my portfolio! I have to start somewhere. It damn sure isn't going to be backing up some pro, for free, who probably isn't any better than I am.

But that is a good point. What do I do to protect myself against being sued? Do I have to make them sign a waiver? Do I have to buy insurance? :meh:

The scary thing is that I could do exactly what I set out to do, and if someone decided that I screwed up and decided to sue me frivilously... That would not be cool.

About the book, I will take it one book at a time. I'll come back to those others.

 

[markc]

Stuff like that should be covered in your contract, and you might want to get some business insurance.

 

[steve817]

As for the pricing, I have to do something to make up for the fact that I only have a couple weddings worth of photos in my portfolio! I have to start somewhere. It damn sure isn't going to be backing up some pro, for free, who probably isn't any better than I am.

Who said you had to do it for free? A lot of them around here will pay a second shooter up to $200.00, sometimes more. In some ways that is a better deal.

It gets all the liability off of your back, you hand the files over at the end of the day and you are done with it, You don't have to worry about the cost that go with marketing, you don't have to haggle with potential clients over the price (and trust me, no matter how little you charge you will have to) I could go on and on.

 

[JIP]

Well, if I do screw it up with my Pentax, I doubt that a Nikon or Canon would magically save my hide. Just to be safe, I will carry my two Olympi as backups. Oh! and I have my Canon SD600 Elph. That should ensure that I don't screw up. Lighten up a little please.

As for the pricing, I have to do something to make up for the fact that I only have a couple weddings worth of photos in my portfolio! I have to start somewhere. It damn sure isn't going to be backing up some pro, for free, who probably isn't any better than I am.

But that is a good point. What do I do to protect myself against being sued? Do I have to make them sign a waiver? Do I have to buy insurance? :meh:

The scary thing is that I could do exactly what I set out to do, and if someone decided that I screwed up and decided to sue me frivilously... That would not be cool.

About the book, I will take it one book at a time. I'll come back to those others.

I did not say anything about Nikon or Canon "saving your hide" I was just responding to you saying "for a pro there may be a reason to stick with Nikon or Canon" when you charging someone $1200 or more to shoot a wedding actually makes you a pro of sorts. Also, having backups will not ensure you will not screw up a wedding your memory cards could fail your computer could explode right in the middle of downloading your images or the bride's mom could decide when she sees your images that you mis-represented yourself as a wedding photographer and she does npt like your images all far fetched scenarios I know but it can happen. And as far as lightening up goes, I spent 3 years getting paid crap as a wedding photographer after investing $3500 in pro gear to learn how to shoot weddings to get to a point now 5 years later where I feel I can justify charcing someone $1000-$2000 for shooting a wedding and I see this all the time "I bought a DSLR and now I want to become a wedding photograper how hard can it be" when I spent $4000 on my digital gear to shoot weddings with.

 

[Big Mike]

I took a course from a long time pro photographer...one of the most important points that he repeatedly made to us...was that experience shouldn't have much (or any) influence on your price. Of course it's important that you are competent (and confident).

Getting a client to pay a good amount...may require a good portfolio. One way to build your portfolio is to assist as a 2nd shooter for someone...but there are other ways. Another way, for example, would be to rent (or even borrow) a wedding dress from a store and find a good looking female friend or relative. Or even hire a model for the day. If you are a smooth talker, you can pay for the dress and model with prints.

 

[markc]

And as far as lightening up goes, I spent 3 years getting paid crap as a wedding photographer after investing $3500 in pro gear to learn how to shoot weddings to get to a point now 5 years later where I feel I can justify charcing someone $1000-$2000 for shooting a wedding and I see this all the time "I bought a DSLR and now I want to become a wedding photograper how hard can it be" when I spent $4000 on my digital gear to shoot weddings with.

I can understand where it might be grating, but just because you shelled out the cash on equipment doesn't mean everyone feels the need to. I think it's important to have backups, but it's not gobs of equipment that makes you a wedding photographer. And people have to get started sometime. They don't just become a great wedding photographer without actually shooting weddings. I think the scenarios you mentioned could happen to anyone, so they come across a bit as straw men arguments.

I'm usually one that cautions people about jumping into wedding work, but your post does come across as sour grapes. Having said that, I haven't seen much of Jeremy's work yet. It may be that I would strongly suggest to him that he spends some more time with his photography before he jumps into weddings. I personally think you should have made sales elsewhere, like a local gallery, before you go into weddings.