How to Become a Professional Photographer 2

The Local Competition

Next job is to assess the competition in your area. Look in Golden Pages to see how many wedding and portrait photographers there are. Don’t be put off by the number of photographers around. Some are good, some are bad, some are indifferent. Don’t worry about the ones who have a shop and studio in the high street. You are not going to put them out of business. These are the big guys, they will always be there.

Get your mum, wife or girlfriend to visit 2 or 3 of the big photographers. Spin a tale about getting married, have your story well rehearsed, “wedding to be in 9 months time, what packages do they have, how much is the album, etc.  Do get the story right, we haven’t seen the vicar yet but we favour late September,” or have a wedding date in mind, they will want to know.

They are not stupid, they can spot a fake a mile away. They do not give their price list to anyone who asks for it. You can get the same person to pop into the high street portrait photographer and get the same information. How many prints do they supply, for what price, etc., etc.  When you get all the price information together, sort out what are important to you and put them on one side until we begin to talk about what you will charge for your photography.

Next find out in Golden Pages where your suppliers are – items such as mounts, folders, frames, processing, printing, etc. Get their price lists for everything you might want to buy.

Your Photographic Portfolio

Now let’s look at your portfolio! You will need to have some samples of your work to show future customers and I don’t mean shots of mountains or sunsets or your friends at work or on holiday.

The portfolio shots have to be portrait shots or wedding shots. Now since you are not in a position to have assignments of weddings right now, ask around all your friends if they know someone who is getting married soon, like within a few weeks. Ring up the bride-to-be and ask her if she would let you come to the wedding and take some pictures.

Tell her what for and also say that you will not interfere, or get in the way of or upset in any way, the official photographer. Tell her also you will not stay for the reception! Make sure that you don’t. If a professional thinks there is another pro at his wedding, there could be problems, he might just walk off. The bride would not be happy.

So, act as a guest, just one camera, no tripod, let the official photographer do all the setting up, stand close but not on top of him, shoot just after he does. Do not try to shoot at the same time as he does, do not call out for the bride and groom to “look this way”.
The odds of his flash and your flash firing at the exact same time are astronomical but I have experienced it twice, both times at a wedding. The result is that both sets of photos are over-exposed, because there has been a double flash.

When you see his flash, get your shot. Get as many shots as possible, formal and casual. While the photographer is taking shots of the group of bridesmaids, you should take some quick shots – casual ones, loving ones, funny ones of the happy couple or get some shots of the bridegroom and best man acting the fool. Now if you can come away with 8-10 good shots, that look like a progression of wedding shots, then that would be great. Going to two more weddings would be even better.

Just be careful of upsetting the hired photographer. It’s his wedding not yours, even if the bride said yes, it’s still his job on the line not yours. However, at the end of the day you should have at least a dozen good wedding pictures which you can use in the portfolio. Adding some portrait shots to your portfolio will be easier. Ask all your friends (the good looking ones) if they would sit for a free portrait. Do the same with mums and kids until, once again you have 8–10 good shots. Put all these into one album. This is what you will show potential customers.

Basic Price Lists
You change this according to what your suppliers charge you.

As all costs shown here are rough prices, you need to evaluate them against the photographic supplier prices and prices charged in the locality by other photographers so as to achieve the correct balance.

Below is the text and figures for your wedding and portrait price lists that you will need to print off to give to your potential clints.

The Wedding Photography Price List

‘Your Name’  Photography  specialises in providing a stunning visual record of your wedding capturing the energy, fun, emotion and details of the day.

Our modern approach combines mostly informal, relaxed photos of guests and the happy couple along with a few stylish formal group shots. By working closely with you from the moment you book, we are experts in unobtrusively meeting your photographic needs.