Business of Wedding Photography

a guide by photo.net wedding photographers

The Business of Wedding Photography is an extensive subject, best answered by a team of professional wedding photographers, who also happen to be star photo.net members. In this article, these professional photographers have contributed advice and personal experience gained from running wedding businesses. Whether you are just entering the field of wedding photography, or are a seasoned pro, the tips and insights shared here should be helpful with your own business.

The Photo.net wedding photography discussion forum is a great place to get answers on any further questions.

Contents

Marc Williams - Franklin/Mich.

1. Determining your personal style and breaking into the field
2. Self-promotion and public relations
3. Web sites for the professional wedding photographer
4. Portfolios and making the sale
5. Pricing structure
6. Contracts
7. Organization on the job - before, during and after the wedding
8. Working with assistants and second shooters
9. Wedding digital workflow
10. Wedding albums, shopping carts, and other products
11. Further tips and advice

Meet our contributors:

• Jeff Ascough; United Kingdom. American Photo voted him as one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world, Jeff is a professional wedding photographer in the United Kingdom and captures weddings with a documentary style. Interview with Jeff Ascough on photo.net.
• Mary Pearson Ball; Washington D.C. Long-standing moderator of the Photo.net wedding discussion forum.
• Bob Bernardo; Los Angeles, California. Bob has been a wedding photographer for about twenty years, has worked for Disney and Warner Brothers, and offers teaching critiques for beginning, advanced and emerging pro photographers.
• Conrad Erb; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Freelance photographer based in Philadelphia, Conrad started photography with his grandfather's Pentax K1000. He started with his first wedding for a friend, and moved from part-time to full-time freelance wedding photographer by accident.
• Michael Mowery; New York City, New York. Michael has been a wedding, commercial and portrait photographer for ten years and works for a number of studios, including Fred Marcus Photography.
• Nadine Ohara; San Francisco Bay Area, California. Nadine started out with her foot in the door of two businesses: a wedding photography business and a marketing communications business. She is now a full-time photographer and is constantly trying new styles and techniques.
• Josh Root; Bellingham, Washington. Director of Community and Contributing Editor for photo.net, Josh has had hands-on experience being a wedding photographer for ten years, as well as a sports photographer.
• David Wegwart; Denver, Colorado. David started with portrait photography, which branched into wedding photography in 1988. His style can be described as fresh and a bit edgy.
• Marc Williams; Franklin, Michigan. Owner of Fotografz photo studio doing commercial, portrait and wedding photography. Marc is also the Creative Director and an owner of an ad agency doing national TV and print campaigns. His style of wedding photography is documentary, which he calls "Romantic Photojournalism."

More

• Photo.net wedding photography discussion forum
• More articles on wedding photography