How did you get started as a wedding photographer?

Answer 1

Do one for free... no I am serious. Find a friend or relative that will let you use them as a guinea pig and shoot it for free. Also give them free prints and a free image CD in return for their word of mouth advertising. Start out relatively cheap, up your price as you get more experience. Remember the saying "you get what you pay for". If you are cheap and you screw up, you can say, what did you expect with what you paid (just joking). I did 2 free weddings I am now booked as much as I want to be and will be raising my prices again in 2008 to try to discourage people. You really can't expect people to book you as a wedding photographer when you have no wedding pics to show them and you can't show them wedding pics without shooting one, so it's a win win for everyone. You can also place notices in the smaller churches where you know some of the not so rich and snotty attend, that way it kind of helps out too.

Answer 2

I did it the hard way as well as backwards, and I wouldn't recommend doing it this way. I had art training and was a fairly skilled amateur photographer. I started shooting weddings 25 years ago. I was asked to shoot for family and friends, so I did. Later I did a few assists with a pro. Believe me, no matter how skilled you are, you need to assist for a few before you hang out a shingle. I don't do this for a living, but I stay as busy as I want to be with weddings. I have a real full time job and do some family portraiture and the odd job from time to time. This year I will end up shooting 20 weddings, which is a high for me. Some of these were as a second shooter, there is a local photographer that I help out from time to time. I usually do maybe 8 or 10. I have 3 inquiries for 2008. I do no advertising and have no web site, all my clients are word of mouth or they see some of my work in the lab and ask.

There are several ways to start, and again, I don't recommend jumping in unprepared. Many people do just that, because they got a digital SLR and think that will produce professional level work. The camera won't and can't by itself. A couple's wedding day is not the place to practice, but there are a lot of new, mediocre and worse shooters aiming for the CD only market. So there are lots of "photographers" out there churning our poor images, but of course, they give you 1200 of them.

Photography school is a good start, followed by an internship with an established pro. Good equipment and backup is a necessity. Wedding photography is a skill and can be learned with due effort and application, but it's not for beginners or the faint of heart.

Answer 3

The best way is to get in with a wedding photographer and start working as an assistant.

I did this by calling a number of the photographers in the area and showing them my portfolio, not nessasarily wedding images, just my best images overall. One lady said that she needed another shooter and I got to work with her. I also got to put the wedding albums together which helped me learn the flow of a wedding and what brides like to see in their albums. Now I am doing it on my own.

Be sure to have a good camera because the photographer might require you to use your own. You should also have a good eye, which will show in your portfolio.

Answer 4

Personally I would not cross with the telephone book. A lot of them in there are historical university. The great will promote it in there as good, however you'll be able to be overloaded with commercials of persons who don't seem to be any well and use a practical dslr digicam. The great photographers must have a internet site. What I could do is investigate out persons via shopping via google or yahoo and sort 'marriage ceremony photographer in town identify". Normally you are going to get a neighborhood directory for your field. Some could have studies, which I would not necesarily believe as anybody could make up stuff. I could cross via the listings and notice if there's a photographer that you simply like. If there is not one for your field develop it. By watching at web pages it saves you time with assembly persons. Some persons seem within the telephone e-book, decide upon the primary one and do not ever detect that they might of gotten whatever larger for a inexpensive cost. Photographers can suck you in as soon as you're there. I'm a marriage ceremony photographer, and I realize plenty of scammers available in the market. Make a record of ones you prefer, then mounted an appointment to fulfill with them. Most of the time you are not able to pass judgement on persons's paintings from the telephone book. Don't signal whatever until once you had time to come to a decision. Realize the larger photographers will fee extra. Compare the nice, variety, portfolio, and historical past of manufacturing fine photographs. You might use offerings like weddingwire, weddingsolutions, wedplan, however you are not able to regularly believe them. People pay to have their stuff there, however that does not lead them to any well. You are the pass judgement on of what you prefer. Good success.