As a wedding photographer, your job is to create amazing images of all the wedding details. However, it seems like there’s a conspiracy again shooting these images – the cake is delivered late, the centerpieces and bouquets haven’t arrived! Delays drastically shrink your time to capture the amazing details. Suddenly, sixty minutes of scheduled shooting time turns into six minutes. How do you overcome this challenge and still deliver creative images? My unique solution is to have a formula that allows me (and my team) to systematically shoot all the details quickly and efficiently, while still keeping our creativity high. These formulas keep our detail images consistent and creative. I believe creativity is not only about WHAT you’re shooting, it’s also about changing your perspective
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11 Tips to Bridging the Gap between Photographers and Wedding Coordinators
As a wedding photographer, some of the most important relationships you can build are with wedding coordinators. If you are just getting started in the wedding world, these tips are a fantastic way to make a great impression on wedding coordinators. If you have been in the wedding industry for awhile, these tips will help you strengthen your relationship with wedding coordinators. This will also help your shoots go much more smoothly! I recently sat down with two successful wedding coordinators in Austin, Texas, to discuss the relationships between coordinators and photographers. Thank you to Rosa Gibson, of Austin Wedding Planners by Rosa, and Amy Mader, of Amy’s Platinum Weddings Coordinating and Consulting Firm for their help and advice. 1. Send a Welcome Email Ask
The Value Professional Photographers Offer Boudoir Clients
I believe every woman is beautiful and should have images that showcase her beauty. It’s all about finding an artist who can pose them and photograph them in the most flattering ways. Most women have dreamed of being a glamorous movie star, or even a magazine centerfold. But what are we all waiting for? Maybe until that moment when we feel like we’ll look in the mirror and say, “I am beautiful!” Stop waiting. We are beautiful NOW. Today, we’re inundated with images of beautiful women – in magazines, on TV, and in print campaigns. Everywhere we turn, we see “sexy” photos. And these images often lead to negative body image issues, and make us believe that we cannot be as beautiful as the ads
How to Make Everyday Shoots Extraordinary
There I was with Beth and her family at Balboa Park in San Diego, their faces bursting with joy as they ran around being kids, playing games and laughing. But it wasn’t always this way; my early photos often showed people looking nervous, waiting for guidance on what pose to do next, with fake smiles. Then, I decided to make a change. By encouraging people to make every day a celebration, the “UPA” (Unique Photo Adventure) was born! By taking the time to connect with my clients as they connect with each other, I can create images as if I wasn’t even there. This is no traditional “portrait studio” appointment. Equipped with a variety of ideas, clients are inspired to make the experience all their
Why Every Photographer Should Lose “Weight”
If you do wedding photography year after year, the physical labor takes a toll on your body. Photographers often carry multiple camera bodies, along with multiple lenses, flashes/studio lights, tripod/monopods and other accessories. Wedding after wedding, we’re carrying fifity to sixty pounds of equipment – plus we’re on our feet all day long! I remember carrying all my gear and hiking half a mile to a mountain-top ceremony in Muir Beach. It was exhausting, and I knew I couldn’t carry on like this for years. So, for the past few years, I’ve focused on shedding equipment weight and improving efficiency, while delivering the same quality (or better) results. Here’s what my toolbox looked like in 2010: Bodies: Nikon D3, 2 Nikon D700, D300, D90 Lenses:
A Simple Wedding Workflow Checklist
You’ve just finished shooting an amazing ten hour wedding. Two cameras, perhaps even a second shooter. Total clicks are in the range of 3k-5k. Even though you’re on such a high, in the back of your mind you’re thinking, “ugh this is going to be such a long edit!” Monday morning comes around and you start culling, but then your inbox starts filling up, Facebook is calling your name, and the dog is barking at you. What do you do? As professional photographers, we’ve all been in this situation before. You need help. That’s exactly why I created this wedding workflow checklist. Feel free to use any or all of it to help you stay streamlined. 1. Download cards – 1 hour I personally don’t cull as
Tips for Making the Most of Rainy Day Weddings
While we all dream of gorgeous warm summer evenings and couples wrapped in golden hour light, sometimes Mother Nature has other plans. As a wedding photographer working throughout Maine and New England, I’ve seen my share of challenging weather conditions, including shooting three beautiful hurricane weddings. Some of my favorite images have come out of the dreariest and stormiest wedding days. I truly believe the limitations of rain push the edges of personal creativity. Rain can be challenging, but it can also take your photography to greater heights and bring incomparable emotional depth to your image making. When rain starts to fall, something magical happens: the typical wedding day stress melts like an exhaling of expectations. Everyone moves into a more relaxed state and into
Six Simple Tips for Creating Dynamic Ring Shots
One of my favorite parts of shooting weddings is capturing details. Couples customize their wedding to reflect their personalities, so it’s important to capture these intricacies that say so much about them. Combining those personal details with the couples’ wedding rings is crucial to creating dynamic ring shots. What you’ll need: a macro lens, rings, something from the wedding, off camera flash (with a modifier and light stand) or a video light. The number one mistake photographers make with ring shots is NOT using a macro lens. If you don’t have one, rent it! Here are six simple tips for creating dynamic ring shots: 1. Wait until all the “major stuff” is over – the first dance, cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc. It might take time
Vacation Portraits – Tap into the Multi-Billion Dollar Travel Industry
When do you have money burning a hole in your pocket? When do you save money just so you can spend it in one short period of time? Vacation! I learned how to tap into tourism and capture some of the billions of dollars that flow through the travel industry by treating my photography as a vacation activity instead of a traditional portrait session. Tourism exists in all 50 states and all over the world. Whether you’re in a tropical locale or next to a natural wonder like the Grand Canyon, there is a market for vacation portraits. When I first moved to Maui and decided to start a photography business, I did an online search to see what was out there, and I found
Make More Money with Event Cards
If you’re an event photographer, there’s no better opportunity to reach your target market than at an actual event. No matter what kind of event it is — a wedding, mitzvah or birthday party — most of your client’s guests are potential NEW clients for you! Traditionally, client communities consist of similar socioeconomic classes and aesthetic preferences. So, the guests at that event this weekend are prime examples of your target market! And if your client liked you enough to hire you, then many of their guests might too. Don’t pass up an opportunity to market directly to them. Spread the word at the event – use event cards! Not only will you give them a take-away with your contact information, but you’ll also give them