Houra Bella

Yeah - too bad almost every bride I've talked to who has used them does not have nice things to say. I say 'Yay to Bob Davis! You've just about ruined the validity of wedding photography.'

If you are trying to build your business why in the world would you go shoot for someone else? Please - give me an intelligent answer cause I don't know of any.

If you are trying to build your business why in the world would you go shoot for someone else? Please - give me an intelligent answer cause I don't know of any.

Some people can't run a business. They would probably fail if they had to deal with all the other issues. It's probably a lot less hassle for those people working for someone else. Businesses fail all the time, and where do most of those people end up? Working for someone else.

"If you are trying to build your business why in the world would you go shoot for someone else? Please - give me an intelligent answer cause I don't know of any."

Hi Colleen, if you were going to open a sub and sandwich shop, why in the world would you not buy a Subway franchise? Franchises work and can/are applied to every service and retail business. The most thorough answer to your question is best given in this little gem of a book;

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/nmphotonet-20

and is my first suggested reading for anyone self-employed or with a small company.

Bella is not a franchise operation and should not be compared as such. Photographers who shoot for Bella are not franchise owners; they are contract labor.

Firms like Bella have added a new level of competition to the industry -- not in terms of quality, but because they have the financial brawn to operate as a loss-leader.

This can have very serious implications for many segments of the photography industry. It is important for independent photographers to understand what Bella is, and how boutique businesses will need to evolve, improve, and excel in order to remain lucrative.

I love owning my own business - I'm successful at it and it continues to grow. People who work for Bella are undermining themselves. If you choose to believe otherwise than go ahead and work for them. My business will be better off.

Just think of them as the Wal-Mart of wedding photography. Find a way to offer something that the big-box shop can't. There is enough for everyone to go around. I can't help but think the original poster works for Bella.

I agree with Tim. It's fun to come up with exciting things for clients and to give them a truly personal experience in regards to the service and level of photography they receive at their weddings. I love my clients. I treat them well and in return they make my business grow. I just don't see the point in spending time and effort on building someone elses business at the jeapordy of my own. Not gonna happen. Oh - and for what it's worth - I was actually signed up with Bella last year and never decided to take the leap and work for them. After reading several posts on other forums about photographers pricing, etc. being undermined by Bella representatives I'm grateful that I decided to stay away.

Olivier, my suspicion is that you were being sarcastic when you wrote that post, but it's hard to tell. Only someone connected to Bella would write such a Bella-serving post in a forum like this. Surely you realize that many of us in this business look at Bella with disdain and contempt? We're not cheering for Bella. I posted the following in another thread. I feel it's appropriate to restate...

Bella has a right to market their services just like anyone else. But I'm really not happy to see Bella plastered all over the forum we all frequent. From all the threads I've read on this and other forums, I can't go along with their practices, or what they appear to be doing to our profession. I feel that mass merchandising our craft and our artistry to create a nationwide powerhouse is watering down the exclusivity of what we as individuals do. Brides have no idea WHO their photographer will be until their wedding day. A Bella shooter doesn't get to know them at all beforehand, they're just an assignment for a few hours. Show up, shoot, leave. You're just a commodity, not an individual. The unsuspecting bride may never realize what she's missing out on by working with the right individual, or knowing her photographer beforehand. She may never understand that she could pay the same money to the right individual and come away with a richer experience, and less uncertainty of WHO would shoot the event or what their photos would look like (they don't show YOUR portfolio to brides).

Any good wedding photographer doesn't need Bella. We can get enough work on our own.

I realize some very good shooters on this forum do work for Bella, but I think many of them would not recommend it for everyone.

And, I know Photo.net has to be paid for, but for many of us, Bella is kind of like another "Bella" from the horror movies. The one who did all that blood-sucking!

I only know 1 photographer that shoots for Bella. He's happy. Makes about $600 for a wedding. If you are just starting out in business and you are a talented photographer $600 is a heck of a lot better then staying home doing nothing. May sound a bit harsh, but if this is your full-time job you may need to add some extra income to pay the bills. I haven't freelanced for anyone in a long time but when I first started in this business I often took freelance jobs. Anyway, I don't think it is a bad thing at all to work for someone.

I've met with several brides in the Atlanta area that had consulted with Bella photographers prior to meeting with me. I booked most of them, and lost a few. One that went with Bella called me a few months after her wedding to say that she wished she had hired me instead. I think it just depends on which shooter you get for your wedding...I don't know their process of linking clients with photographers. On another note: I met with a bride yesterday, and her mother asked if all the work I showed her was mine; of course I told her yes. She said a photographer she recently met with (an associate) told her the albums she had were a 'compilation' of several of their associate shooters...hard to believe, but that's what she told me. (I booked that one!) Have a great weekend, everyone.

You gotta love three bella ads on each page!

Here's to you, D.J.! I hope we all can keep Bella-Schmella at bay. Hey, that sorta rhymed.

I'm sorry to say this, but Bella is not your competition. Most of competition actually comes from inexperienced new beginners, not from pros that shot one wedding for a friend and now think of themselves as pro's now! They run an ad in Craigslist and bam they get booked for a few low cost $300 wedding. They've now done 2 pro weddings because they got paid. Are they really pros? Sometime major problems will happen and a wedding will be lost due to camera failure, computer craps out, card issue, the car won't start, sick, forgot the extra battery, whatever. Then the photographer may run scared and stop working. This is sad. This is where our poor reputations come from. Pissed off brides asking us here in photo.net what she can do.

This is our competition for the elete pros. Not Bella. Funny as it seems Bella pays the photographer more then from a craigslist wedding.

Bella is professional regardless if they score an A from the bride. They try to hire only the top photographers and they have to go through a training program for a while before they are cut free. If I were a bride I'd choose Bella over a scary craigslist ad.

Now back to the point. It is us that need to go after the brides before Bella books them. So we need to do whatever is needed to get the brides to our studios first. How do you do this? A website is really weak. The key are referrals. How do you get referred? You have to advertise creatively, just like Bella does.

So to politely end this opinion of mine try to book at least 1 bride a week. If this isn't happening change your advertising styles. If needed hire and advertising agency and learn this business. Good luck everyone. Remember Bella are advertising experts. Learn from them.

why do brides choose bella over individual photographers?

how did bella get so big?

is it just great marketing or something else?

Bob - I hope beyond hope that craigslist wedding photographers charging $300 per wedding are not my competition.

By the way - to get referred doesn't require creative advertising. It requires no advertising at all. If you exceed the bride's expectations, impress her and her friends then you will get referrals.

LE, I agree with you to a point, but you still need to get the bride on the phone and in the studio. Only way I know to do this is by referrals and advertising. You could be the best photographer in the world, but if people don't know who you are how do they find you? If you have some advertising advice please share with us. I'll be the first on your list to learn.

It's sad, but when you are bored and have a chance take a look at photographers on craigslist. In the LA area a lot of them will actually shoot for free just for the experience.

Susanne- good question. There is also another huge company is Washington State called Team Photogenic that processes over 20,000 images everyday. The owners name is Duell Fisher. A very nice man that treats his photographers well. I've met him and cannot say a bad thing about him. He donates a lot of his money and free time to handicapped kids. I have no idea how he gets so much business, but he's doing something right. He's only about 35 years old.

I'm getting side tracked a bit here. I'm defending large companies for the simple reason that they hire professional photographers. As stated before if you can make $600 or more working for someone else it beats staying home doing nothing.

Added to this, working for large companies cannot hurt. It looks good on a resume' saying you worked for these large companies and the more jobs you get the more people hear about you and your fine work - as LE said.

I've never heard of Team Photogenic. DO they have a website?? Are they doing post processing work or shooting weddings?

http://www.teamphotogenic.com/ph/ Here it is Colleen

Here's a better site. http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbcompany_2r8d5

OMG!! Is this the same company as Bella???

I'm confused - thats not the same company. I just looked up his age, he's 42, not 35. Anyway, do a search of Team Photogenic. Lots of write-ups.

Hahaha!! Thank you Bob - I actually googled him and found it the other day. I have honestly never heard of them and I like to think that I know most of what's going on in the wedding photography industry. :) It just goes to show that even if you are a little business you can make as much money as you want as long as you treat your clients right. :)

Colleen, wonderful response! Couldn't agree with you more!

bob - photogenic seem to be primarily non-wedding event photographers?

I could imagine that these guys could be a great place for newer photogs to improve their low-light skills:

- lots of dark, yucky venues

- no once-in-a-lifetime pressure

- weekday gigs

- shoot and upload the images, done

- and they even pay reasonable money :-)

The problem is, for someone that is just starting out, with no advertising money, there has to be that first wedding. Why would someone hire you if you have no wedding pictures you can show and no referrals? How do you get hired as a second shooter with no experience and have not gone to an art school to network? That is why people will shoot your wedding for free or very little money. You need to start somewhere. I am in this position and had considered Bella until I read the opinions on this page. Although with Bella, you still won't be able to have your own pictures to show anyone.

Something that I've come to understand that may or may not be widely known is that most of the star credit that Bella claims like Oprah and Tony Parker, even the pictures in the Chicago CS Wedding magazine are not taken by Bella photographers. Those 3 I know for a fact were taken by Bob Davis, co-founder of Bella pictures. He does his own photography and makes a killing through La Storia Foto. He is still technically a Bella photographer though and its in his best interest to promote his company Bella so all pictures can be credited to Bella. I'm just saying this so you all are aware when Bella advertises award winning journalists and so forth, it may be true, but a stretched truth.

Bella may be evil and I personally wouldn't work for them (and yes I am just starting out and could use the money) but I've found assisting photographers and getting my feet wet that way is a far better use of my time. Bob Davis was one of the photographers I've had the pleasure of assisting and the man is a genius. I don't like what he's done with Bella, and what Bella does to photographers, but he is in the business of making money and making money by marketing. If you learn anything from Bella its how they market. As his wife once told me, we don't market Bob's pictures, we market Bob.