How did you get to where you are now?

What is DOP?

"When I hear professional photographers talking about their trade, their advice is always the same: Don't do it!"
I do not believe I have ever given that advice.

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"I always wondered how you all got to where you are now"
Several contributing factors, some key ones are:
Hard work. Learning Business. Not making the same mistake twice. Honesty.

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"But how do you get to do it when you have a day job and that second shooting is so hard to find for someone starting out?"
A frank answer:
Most people can't do 14 hours work per day, seven days a week for six months straight. I still can, if need be. When it boils down to the bottom line - it is a simple as that.

WW

Not really sure what you're asking, but I started shooting weddings to make some money while I started up another business. I went to photo school and apprenticed for a couple of years during high school, but otherwise, just jumped in by photographing friends' weddings.

While there are generalized, safe routes, you need to assess yourself, your skill and ability to learn, work hard, and stick to a plan. Then figure out how to get from A to B. Your way may not be the norm, and may not work for anyone else. Only you know.

I was a wedding videographer for 7 years (but still kept my day job). I got tired of the "business end" of it and sold everything though. The editing backlog was killing me as well. It was a nice ride though... I put 2 kids through college with the money.

I always dabbled in photography as a hobby and decided to get back into weddings as a 2nd shooter. I assisted a couple of photographers for free to get my feet wet and to prove myself. Now I just fill in for a dozen or so folks whenever called. I won't get rich but the dough pays for my gear at least.

As of this time I doubt I'll ever be anything more than a 2nd. I have no desire to get back into the business grind again. Plus, there's just too many photographers cropping up these days. I like turning over my memory cards at the end of the day and going home knowing I'll have nothing to do in post.

Two years of photography school. 6 months as an assistant. Moved on 2 my dream job of news photographer. After 10 years of telling people no I don't do weddings I caved in.

I took a few college classes in basic photography, then advanced photography, and finally a class in portraiture. This was in the mid 1980's. The last class I took was at different college and it was directly related to weddings. The instructor was looking for talented shooters to train; because his company was shooting over 300 weddings a year. Long story short I carried his gear all over the place for a few months, went to the studio weekly, viewed all of the weddings, an average of 10 weddings a week or so, then after a year I started shooting receptions and at the 2 year mark I finally shot my first wedding for that studio. This took about 2 years of time before I was trusted to be left alone.

Then I pretty much did what everyone else does and started shooting friends weddings, ran an ad in the phone book and the business picked up from there. In 1994 I left my full-time music job and started doing weddings full-time. Around 2003 or so I was too busy, actually turning down weddings, so I went into a partnership with a friend that also was trained from that same busy studio. We are still partners.

The Yellow Pages still works for us, but networking groups and word of mouth keeps us busy pretty much every weekend. It's interesting turn of events right now in the photo business. Most pro's that had there own studios are now working out of their homes and are hurting for business, so we hire these pro's when we are over booked. This brings me to the point you made about shooting as a second shooter. Second shooting jobs are really hard to find now because most photographic studios are really suffering. Because of this I would suggest for you to trade writing wedding contracts at a discounted fee in exchange for assisting a pro for free at first and then as a second shooter.

"I would suggest for you to trade writing wedding contracts at a discounted fee in exchange for assisting a pro for free at first and then as a second shooter."
That is an example of 'knowing business' - I love that, Bob.
WW

Thank you William for your kind words.

Is it my turn now? Since you been following us, I think it’s only fair that we share our story with you.

It’s actually a bit more interesting than your post. I never actually got a new camera, i borrowed from a friend :) I couldn’t justify spending money before i would actually make some.

Shot my first two weddings like that, used the money to buy myself a new camera. I assisted only few times, but pro's wouldn’t teach me anything, so i decided that it wasn’t for me. Just like the other post, i needed money, so took a risk. No risk no glory, right? :)

Guess what happened next? well, I found a real solid Corp. job with benefits, nice cubical chair and free coffee in the pantry. While basking in the florescent light all day and breathing in about 6 different lunch meals from adjacent cubical, I had my photography business on the side shooting about 15weddings a year + other small events for about 7 years. Every time i would show it to someone at work, they would say, "why are you here? you should be doing this full time". So finally one day I walk up and said "enough, if i don’t go for it, i will never do it". Never regretted ever since.

I think the key was honesty and hard work. I always told my client what they should expect and what i can deliver. Even though i had no "classical" training, they liked my work and wanted to hire me. I always charged $$$ because if you do it for free, they will never appreciate it. I tried different marketing strategies, but the only one that real work is word of mouth, at least where i work and live.

How do you like them apples? :)

Like WW above, I have never told anyone not to enter the field. Honestly I don't think there has ever been a more exciting time than now, and with digital the learning curve has dramatically decreased. Good photography is a craft first and art second. Like any other craft, an apprenticeship is critical. Nadine in her post above very casually mentions apprenticing for two years and attending photo school prior to "jumping in". I learned photography which included all the dark room work when I was a teenager. Years later I completed two training programs, one for shooting HS Reunions and another program that was specifically geared to training wedding photographers for the largest and oldest photography studio in Chicago. I second shot while the studios checked me out before they turned me loose to shoot weddings on my own and served as a freelance candid man for five established studios in the Chicagoland area. I joined PPA and WPPI, attended conferences, tradeshows, and several smaller workshops by people like Norm Phillips and Art Ketchum. I also shot school portraits for a pro company for a view months (using the same long roll cameras that I did the HS Reunion portraits with). I joined a glamour photography club and shot lots of model's comps. Later I joined NAPP and attended several workshops in addition to obtaining several training DVDs from Scott Kelby and others. I also subscribe to Photovision and have several friends that are also photographers for networking. Since the early 90s I've shot more than 500 weddings. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it :-)