fotoman150

I haven't done weddings for awhile and I wanted to get started again. My portfolio is outdated, so I put a post on craigslist for free wedding photography so I could quickly rebuild my portfolio.

What I got was 8 brides who were not going to hire a pro because of budget issues, or had small backyard weddings with no wedding party. One was having a small wedding and a much bigger celebration in the future. So I got my foot in the door for a paid gig there.

So the next thing I wanted was a second shooter just to cover the weddings from all angles, So again I took to craigslist to see if there were any budding photographers that needed to also build a portfolio for wedding images. What I got was several people who had websites of images, some of which were quite good, others that showed they were shooting a lot in program.

So I wanted to know where they were in their knowledge so I asked them basic questions like what are the three things that effect exposure. Only one could answer correctly, yet all said they could shoot in full manual. LOL

So I have all these guys that come to weddings with me to shoot, whom I gave crash courses in shooting manual, and they shot weddings with me and did a fairly decent job, but they ask really basic questions like there is a hair in my viewfinder, how do I get it out? It's on the mirror just use the air bulb here to blow it off. Then clean your sensor. Do I photograph the shoes next to each other or jumbled up? Do I clean up the room when the bride is getting ready or show the mess in the pics? Why won't my shutter speed go any higher than 1/250? You have your flash turned on and the max sych is 1/250. I'm educating them.

So I think I have found a niche here. On one hand I have brides who can't afford a pro. Lots of them out there. And I have newbie photographers who need to learn the basics of photography and create a portfolio.

Why not find brides who have the small weddings and get the newbie photographers to pay me to teach them basic photography and allow them to come to the weddings as a second shooter. The brides have been overjoyed with the massive amounts of images (2,499 at the first wedding), that are, for the most part, in focus, properly exposed and with good expression and composition after I delete, color correct, lighten or darken, crop etc. And the second shooters are excited about learning from me and follow me from wedding to wedding.

Now I am by no means a world class photographer, but I know what a Compact flash card is. The last girl I had at a free wedding had never heard of it and never seen one until I showed her. Yet she had images online and had photographed family portraits on her own. There must be hundreds of these guys out there doing just the same. So I don't have to be an expert. Most successful photographers make money not because they have great skills, but because they are good businessmen anyway.

I figure I will sweeten the deal with a one year membership to KelbyOne at a reduced cost. They have group pricing. That would give them all the expert advice they could take in and the live shoots, like engagement, bridal and weddings they could do with me.

I'm thinking of this as a prelude to regaining a full schedule of paid weddings, but it may turn into a school for basic photography.

I'm already doing the school thing and not getting paid for it.

What am I missing here? Seems like opportunity knocking to me.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

Sounds very good to me. Go for it, I see no reason not to continue.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

That's an interesting proposal. Thing is, most anyone can pick up a D3400 or an 80D these days and go off and shoot portraits and events and the occasional wedding and call themselves professional photographers. Few new cameras today use CF cards so it's not unreasonable people don't know what they are. What's wrong with aperture priority? Scott Kelby is a good source for educating new photographers; I've always found his books informative and easy to read and follow. Good luck on your new business, it could turn into quite the operation if you do it right and don't drive off the up and comings...

fotoman150

Thanks for the input guys. Any drawbacks? Go ahead and hit me. I can take it. =-) How do you make them smiley faces?

fotoman150

Nothing wrong with aperture priority. Nothing wrong with program either if you know when to use them and when not to use them. These folks that I'm working with could not tell me how to blur the background with the aperture and how to stop action with the shutter speed. One person told me that the white balance controls the exposure.

The Watcher

Why would you give a bride 2500 images? For that matter; why shoot 2500+ times? If the wedding and reception lasted five hours, that would be 500 shots an hour or 8.3 shots a minute. This has all the markings of spray and pray or perhaps the lack of skills.

Then comes post processing, how many hours does that take?

Before you embark on this big adventure of teaching photography, you should consider building up your skills by spending some time with or at least watching professional wedding photographers in action.

This might mean crashing some weddings to get near the pros since your business plan won't be popular with them.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Craigslist? There are better ways to find assistants who know what they are doing. In professional wedding photographer online communities there plenty of seasoned photographers looking for assignments. But on Craigslist you will get a lot of inexperienced wanna-be photographers who think simply owning a DSLR is all one really needs to shoot a wedding properly.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

If you are willing to give it a try, go for it. Have you thought about a contract and how you will handle complaints about the pictures. Even though the pictures are free, the couple will still want nice ones. I see a lot of work and very little income. Making the transition to a high paid photographer will be tough.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Many attorneys work pro bono and/or legal aid. But it is not their main business model. Also, once word gets out that you are doing weddings "on the cheap" the professional community will get angry because there will be downward pressure on the pricing and quality they can offer to their clientele due to the public perception that photographic work does not have as much value as the flower guy, the caterer, the guy doing the music, etc. And you may have a hard time making enough money charging for lessons.

I think creating an army of "el cheapo" photographers a bad idea, and you'd be imparting to them the notion that their time has no value as well.

I do agree with you when you stated, "Most successful photographers make money not because they have great skills, but because they are good businessmen anyway."

I do like the idea that you are educating photographers to have better photographic skills, but you are not teaching them how to be better photographers because, as you have written, to be successful they need to be good at business matters.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Yeah, that does sound pretty pathetic. By the way, you may want to give quote reply a try so we know who's response you are responding to.
One of my daughters got interested in photography so I lent her a Canon EOS 70D and and a Nikon D7200 to try out. After a couple weeks of playing with both cameras, she decided she liked the 70D. I got her a Canon refurbished 80D just after this past Christmas. She set up a website site and now does family portraits, pregnant mother and baby pictures at bargain basement prices to build her portfolio and reputation. Problem is, she doesn't really understand the basics of exposure and uses program AE most of the time. She is pretty good with composition and post processing though. Virtually all her gear I own and now she's borrowed my 6D, EF 85 f/1.2L and EF 24-105 f/4L, over 3 grand worth of gear. I gave her a complete set of Scott Kelby' digital photography books but being a mother of 2, one is only a year old, she doesn't have the time to read them. I told her if she really wants to be a real photographer, make the time and read those books. Younger people today...?!

fotoman150

Thanks that's the kind of honesty I need.

That's between 3 photographers. So that's less than 800 each. The brides seem to love it.

As far as PP it takes me I'd say three hours per wedding by using LR and sycnching groups of images shot with the same exposure. Mine are easier since I crop and expose in camera. I have to throw away a lot of the others shots but they shoot more than I do.

I am building my skills constantly using every means available. I'm on KelbyOne and I read everyday for hours. Every bride I get I try to do an engagement shoot and Bridal shoot mostly with my students/second shooters and I learn and they learn. It's really just one big learning environment.

I would never attempt this if the brides were paying customers, but since they are small weddings where the bride and groom are not paying, it gives me latitude that I wouldn't have otherwise.

How do you feel about that?

fotoman150

You're right. I found that out. I found one guy who is serious and I feel deserves all the help I can give him. I rather enjoy teaching the guys what I know, which isn't that much, compared to the guys I see in KelbyOne, but I've done a few weddings in my day so like I said, I'm not a newbie.

fotoman150

Yeah I have thought about the contract. One problem I'm having is that the bridal party never wants to take pictures after the wedding , which is messing up my opportunity to build my portfolio. I'm going to add a clause about having to pose after or before the wedding ceremony.

Yeah I know it's tough, but I have a day job. And with the help of all the training I'm doing, it's not impossible. I learn so much just off UHH. Since I have been at this, so much has changed and the learning process, as you know, never ends.

But I haven't thought how to handle complaints. What If I get error and omissions insurance like PPA has?

fotoman150

That's great! Get her a KelbyOne subscription. She can watch videos on her phone. That's what I do. I started the same way she did, shooting on program. I started out doing weddings with one camera body, one flash, a handful of film and a prayer. I would never attempt that now. I was young and stupid. Now I'm old and stupid, but I have more gear. LOL

fotoman150

OK I'm really going out on a limb here and posting my first pics on UHH.

This is the first wedding of the season. I already know they suck but tell me again any way so I can learn. I have band-aids ready. LOL

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