Open Discussion: When are you "ready" to become a Wedding Photographer?

[Nkechi45]

I am just curious (okay nosey) on how everyone in this forum got into the business and when they felt they were ready to be a wedding photographer. If you do not mind, please answer the following questions:

1) How long were you a photographer before you became a wedding photographer
2) What do you think it takes to become a competent wedding photographer
3) How long did it take you to establish your business?
4) How long did it take for you to become "satisfied" with your wedding photography
5) Did you start out as a second shooter? if so, how long did you second shoot before venturing off on your own?
6) Any beginner wedding photographer horror stories? please tell!

I would really like to hear everyones opinion. I will say that I never have been a second shooter (opps). I know that is the right way to become for a wed photog, but i just kinda fell into it. I have just started out (only 4 weddings under my belt) and I am so ready to get down to business (aka shoot more weddings!).

I only have 3 more weddings this year, and I am really growing restless. I guess hearing different stories about how peoples businesses grew will help me be a little less impatient!

thanks in advance!

[Peacefield]

There are no short answers to questions like these. For one thing, "ready" is not a distinctly definable achievement. You're ready when you have sufficient skills, both technical and creative, to meet the expectations of the client. That said, client expectations and budgets vary wildly. It doesn't take much to be ready to shoot for a couple who has no photography budget and is happy to have anything half decent. There are couples who will drop tens of thousands of $'s on photography and you can only imagine their expectations. So the closest thing to a short answer is, once you're able to express your skill level to prospective clients in the form of some kind of portfolio, you have a high degree of confidence in your ability to produce this grade of work cosistently, and it meets their expectations, you're ready!

I discovered 35mm photography in the late 1970's; started with the venerable Pentax k1000 and a few consumer grade lenses and learned to love the hobby first. To me, it was art for art's sake. I decided to try my hand at weddings mostly because I felt I had an eye for it and that too many wedding photographers in my area (including the one that shot my own) were grossly uninspired so I decided to give it a go in the early 1980's. No such thing as second shooting back then, or it was at least very uncomon, so I just put together a portfolio of some of my other images: portraits, nature, sports, etc., and tried to sell on price, marketing through direct mail (no internet or CraigsList back then, either). I did maybe six weddings over two years or so. I enjoyed it, but there was already too much pressure on my time so I fell away from it.

I was late to the digital party and picked up my first DSLR only maybe two years ago. I love having the control over processing and being able to create the image I see in my head from eye piece to print. I'm also in a very different place from a family and career perspective. Sooooo, I got excited to get back in again, but this time I wanted to do it right: professional grade gear, web sites, organize as an LLC, get insurance, etc.

Weddings have a long sell cycle, of course, so I've actually shot only one since coming back in(just two weeks ago), but I have 13 signed between now and next spring. Once again, I'm selling on price in the interest of regaining my sea legs and reestablishing my portfolio, though I'm not too cheap. By September, I'll assess my performance and consider where I really belong in my local market from a price perspective and make adjustments.

I think everyone will tell you that we're never "satisfied". There are shots that delight us, we can be happy with our work, but like any art, you never stop learning.

I think second shooting is an excellent way to learn the business and I wish that was an avenue more open to me back in the day.

And I understand the impatience. Me, too. It all comes back to that very long, slow sale cycle.

[DAVE PROUTY]

1) Depends on whether you mean from first camera (5 or 6 yrs. old) or when I started taking photogrpahy seriously (15 yrs. old/ 9th grade) 10years/ 3 months respectively.

2) First and foremost, and continually... EFFORT!

3) Didn't. Shot as an associate photographer for multiple studios in the area. One used me more than the rest and I eventually was exclusive to them from that point forward. One photographer to a wedding. The norm "back in the day" as Peacefield said. Occasionally, we were in close proximity to each other and would show up and help finish as a second photographer to each other, but not very often. I did eventually leave that studio to go out on my own, but didn't get very far due to personal reasons I won't go into here.

4) Again, as Peacefield said, NEVER! Has to do with answer in #2 question.

5) Refer to answer #3. Shot for that one studio exclusively, with the occasional wedding on my own, for 8 years. This was while working full time in a small local Pro lab with these studios being cuctomers of that lab. That was my "in" for each studio I shot for.

6) No beginner horror stories, but a couple so so things that happened. None of which I couldn't handle, or was lucky enough to have had a solution available close by. From the get go, I had at least 2 like bodies, multiple flashes, cords, backs, extra film (in those days we used that stuff!), and some misc tools in the car for emergencies, like needing to sotter battery terminals back on to cells in a Quantum Battery 2, or resotter the connector for the module to said battery, ( I did have more than one with me though). If there was one time I would call a horror, it was the time I had my Quantum battery slung on my shoulder connected to my flash on the Stroboframe with my brand new first time being used on a wedding Bronica SQ-a mounted on a tripod in church. I walked away with the strap still on my shoulder, pulled the tripod over, slamming my brand new camera to the stone floor of the church. I calmly picked it up, straightened out the slightly mangled waist level finder to usability, and continued to shoot the wedding. It wasn't harmed in the least! It continued to work flawlessly for me til the day I sold it 20 or so years later (which was in the last year or so). I was endeared to Bronica from then on with no regrets. best cameras I ever owned. I had 2 SQ-A's, an old ETR body, a newer ETRs body, with multiple backs and inserts for each over the course of my career. None of the bodies ever failed to meet my expectations, and the optics never failed to produce tack sharp images for me on a regular basis. My eyes... they failed more than the equipment, but that's another story!

As for being a second shooter first, if I had that method of learning when I started, I would have been unhappy. But I think that's me. For starting out today it is probably the best way to get started on the right track. There is so much to learn now, the experience of seeing how it's done makes short work of learning the method of the teaching photographer. It is very hard to find a photographer these days doing inexpensive seminars on technique, as opposed to when I was coming up in the business. Now it's all about digital post processing. Technique workshops are expensive and time consuming, not to mention require you to travel to some distant location for it. BUT, that is the beauty of technique classes. Small classes, on location, and close personal hands on lessons with the teacher. Better than getting an impersonal video tape or DVD with no feedback to your own work. so if you can be a second shooter for a while, do it. You won't regret it.

Cheap Chuck always said, "Learn to do the things you don't want to do, and you can be successful." So keep learning.

[Nkechi45]

Wow thanks for your answers! It is so funny that a few years back second shooters were rare now it is considered a necessity! As for the camera falling and still working, all I can say is sweet Jesus that's a STRong Camera! lol.

Also, i am trying desperately to get second shooter jobs, but it seems no one wants me (and I am free!). I have advertised on craigslist and asked every photographer I know in the area if they needed help, but no one ever takes me up on the offer. I am friendly and sociable and professional and I take pretty deceit pictures, what gives?

[DAVE PROUTY]

They say your prices determine how much work you get. Those with low prices are thought to be unprofessional. So $0 is probably too low! Show some work to these people and quote a fee. They may take you more seriously when not free.

[Nkechi45]

Originally Posted by DAVE PROUTY

They say your prices determine how much work you get. Those with low prices are thought to be unprofessional. So $0 is probably too low! Show some work to these people and quote a fee. They may take you more seriously when not free.

Good point....thank you!

[littlegal]

I'll answer in bold, so it's easier to follow:

1) How long were you a photographer before you became a wedding photographer
About two years as a wire service photojournalist

2) What do you think it takes to become a competent wedding photographer
Lots of study, and lots of caring. If you don't bring your A game, this isn't the job for you

3) How long did it take you to establish your business?
Less than a year

4) How long did it take for you to become "satisfied" with your wedding photography
I don't know if we are ever satisfied......

5) Did you start out as a second shooter? if so, how long did you second shoot before venturing off on your own?
I worked for some really great people for about 4 months. I was an APPRENTICE though. Big diffence. I worked for free and was not allowed to use my images. Sometimes I was not even allowed to shoot. I was there to study and learn. I got the best part of the bargain.

6) Any beginner wedding photographer horror stories? please tell!
The first wedding I shot was ok until the reception. The reception photos were a disaster. My one camera broke down, and I had to steal my husband's. I wasn't used to working in low light, and photos, or at least some of them, were a damn mess compared to what I do now. The couple were informed that this was my first wedding, and they got it for a steal. Overall not horrible, but not nearly the work we do now. As with anything, it takes a bit of fine tuning.