Wedding Portfolios - Selecting killer shots

So, you've shot a few weddings and have some decent looking shots that you would like to show your potential clients. How do you choose the right ones for your portfolio? Do some shots sell your work better than others?

The way I choose my portfolio shots goes like this:

1. Go through ALL of your photos and select the best 20-30 shots of all of your pictures.
2. Take those 20-30 shots and lay them out on your bed or a large table.
3. Critically examine each of these shots for technical flaws (focus issues, framing, weird eyes, lighting issues, and background "noise"). If you don't know what to look for technically, check out some of these articles here and Darren Rowse's Digital Photography School.
4. Remove any shots that are not technically great.
5. Remove any shots that are not interesting (interesting subject, beautiful, vibrant color). You want your potential clients to be blown away by your pictures, not bored.
6. You should be down to about 10-15 great shots now. Ask a non-photographer, female acquaintance which ones she likes best and which ones she likes least. (Women have a better natural eye for beauty. I always use this step when selecting photos)
   
7. Consider removing 1 or 2 that she didn't like.
8. You should now have your portfolio shots. Enlarge these to 5x7 or 8x12 and put them in order of best (top 5 first) to "not bad" in a nice black portfolio book. I use ITOYA 9x12 Art Portfolio books.
   

As far as selecting shots that sell, I try to include 10% groom shots, 10% cake and reception, 10% group and family shots, 10% couple and hands, 10% flowers, 20% bride shots, and 30% photo journalistic shots. I might revise this as time goes on but these are the shots that brides and parents want to see to decide if you are any good.

Most parents (who are paying for this) want to know that you can shoot good portraits of their daughter and some good family and wedding party shots that they can hang on their wall. In reality a monkey that has read a wedding photography book can shoot those shots, but what really draws people in and catches their eye is an interesting and artistically composed photo-journalistic shot of one of the important details of the wedding that tells a great story or a cute kid shot. That's why I include these in my portfolio. When you're done you'll have a great portfolio to show you friends, family and potential clients. And everyone knows, if you're serious enough to make a great looking portfolio, then your clients will start dishing out the serious money for your skills.


©Creative Commons 2009

Eat or starve at your wedding shoot?

So, I came across this conundrum while I was shooting the Holloway wedding Saturday (some of you may have seen some of their engagement pics below and on my Flickr site)...

Should you eat during a wedding shoot?

For the past few weddings I've done, I've just gone hungry or have eaten something before hand, because I was just to shy or embarrassed to ask if it was ok and then most of the MOBs or FOBs have volunteered to get me a to-go box or something. So, I decided to do a little research and see what other wedding photogs do. Here are some of the options I found:

• If its a short wedding, (4-6 hours) just eat before hand or bring a granola bar or energy drink with you. Some hosts will let you eat off the buffet anyways. Be sure to ask.
  
• Ask the bride or MOB during your initial meeting if the wedding will be longer than 6 hours and if so, ask or have a question on your contract about whether a meal will be provided or you can take a short break to eat something off the buffet in the back kitchen.
  
• If not, ask to have a short 15 minute break while everyone else is eating to eat yourself.
• If its really important to you, or you start feeling woozy if you don't have a regular meal, put it as a stipulation in your contract that you MUST have one of the above options.
• Explain to your hosts during the initial meeting that if they provide you a small table to eat at, you will be able to keep an eye on the wedding to make sure they aren't missing anything. If you simply leave for an hour to get something to eat, you might miss coverage of something important during your reception.

For the record, the MOB on Saturday was very generous and let me have my pick of all the buffet in a big to-go box for the road and I wasn't really starving because it was a fairly short wedding (4 hours). So, this post in no way was any fault of the Latta or Holloway family, it was just something that we forgot to discuss ahead of time.

So, that's one thing I learned this time around. What are some of you guy's experience with eating during your shoot? Did they let you? Was it discussed ahead of time? Please leave me a comment.

©Creative Commons 2009

How To Shoot Great Engagement Pictures In Less Than an Hour

Bo and Adrienne by Josh Self from Flickr
So, you've met with your bride and family and booked an engagement shoot. Where do you shoot your couple? What location is right for your couple? How do I do the shoot quickly and efficiently without wasting everyone's time trying to find the right spots?
I've found the answers to these questions in the past two or three engagement shoots that I have done.

The first engagement shoot I did took 2 or 3 hours as I wandered around the location that I had picked trying to find some "great" shots as my couple looked at me like I was an idiot. So I decided not to do that again. I wasted both my clients and my time by not being prepared. Here are some tips for shooting engagements efficiently that also look great:

1. Have 3 or 4 different style locations in your local area picked out ahead of time to tell your clients about when meeting with them initially. These could be different style locations (ie. garden, vintage, urban, farm, forest, or even more unique locations that you have found) so your client will have a few different options to choose from at the initial meeting
2. Have test shots or portfolio shots on hand during the initial meeting from each of these locations to show your bride how awesome each location is. (I guarantee you will upsell engagement sessions this way!)
3. Book the engagement session as early as possible, but at a time convenient to the couple. They need to use these for newspaper announcements, wedding programs, or Save The Date cards.
4. Scout out the location ahead of time. Either a few days / weeks before or arrive WAAAY early to the location on the date chosen to scout shot locations.
5. While scouting be sure to frame shots and find places with good depth of field and focus options. Take a few test shots to show your couple once they arrive (optional) .
6. Don't waste time once your couple get there.

• be friendly and make them feel comfortable (this is VERY important, and it will show in your pictures if the couple isn't comfortable with you!)
• get down to business and communicate what you want them to do and where to go. They want you to take charge and be professional. (Remember they trusted you enough to book with you!)
• you have your shots already scouted out right? No reason to dilly-dally (note to self: investigate the origin of that word :-). Shoot away!
• Do some posed (looking at the camera) and a lot of candid / fun ones. They couple need the posed ones for the print media that they will be doing and the candid ones for personal use and slideshows.

The client will be impressed by your efficiency and happy that they can be done with this awkward situation quickly. Just make sure your framing, focus and all the other technical photographic techniques you've learned (you learned these right?) are up to par. Oh and remember the Rule of Thirds! HUGE! (See my photo of Bo and Adrienne above...).

After you've done 3 or 4 shot locations with 3 or 4 poses each, there's really not too many more variations on a couple shot that you can do anymore. Show the couple yours shots on the preview screen on your camera and ask them if they would like to do any more? The trick is to make sure you get some great shots in each location and pose. Once you have these, and the client likes them, you're done!

My last engagement with Bo and Andrienne took a little longer than 45 minutes! I'm not saying to be so fast that you forget shots or take quick blurry shots that are sub-par but be efficient and do it right. Your client will be thankful.

© Joshua Self Creative Commons 2009

Making The Sale With Your Wedding Photography Clients

photo by blog.jmc.bz from Flickr
I guess the most critical time for a wedding photographer comes, not when you get an appointment, but at that final decision making time, when your client has to decide either to go with you or "keep looking" and how to encourage your wedding photography clients to close (with YOU) on the booking/sale.

So what are some good ways to "make the sale"? I'm going to share a few that I have learned but I'm really looking for you guys to help me with some good ideas so please leave me a comment or advice on how you would do it.

So, when you've shown your client all of your portfolios and have given your sales pitch, its down to your potential client making their final decision. I've been reading just some general sales articles and ideas that could apply to wedding photography, so try some of these:

1. "Does this sound fair to you?" / use final closing phrases. Read this great article from the Missouri Small Business Development Centers for some great tips on closing a sale.
2. Ask them which package they would be interested in. Giving them choices helps put them in the mindset of having already made the right choice of YOU!
3. Offer to beat the price of any competition... even if its by $50 or $100. (I've gotten 2 wedding bookings this way!)
4. Offer to add freebie's if the negotiation is going sour... (free or discounted engagement shoot, free 8x10, etc...)
5. "Do you think that this (option) would be something that you would be interested in?"
6. Know you client's potential "wants" as well as their needs. (ie. Brides want to look like models in a magazine, needs would be: Traditional group photos for grandma's picture window.)
7. Don't be too anxious or nervous. People can smell desperation. Be yourself. Be honest. Let them know upfront what they are getting. Write out and practice some key selling points that you will talk about ahead of time if you are the nervous type.
8. Finally, be prepared for the close. "Let's get this paperwork out of the way, so I won't waste any more of your time..." (actually have all the paperwork printed out so that its easy for the client to fill out and it answers all your questions about the "when" and "where")

In closing: Be organized, be yourself, know how to provide a solution to your client for their needs AND wants, then know and practice closing.

Please leave me a comment if you have any other good suggestions for closing a sale and I'll add them on here!

What's The Best Photography Gear For The Money

What is your annual budget for buying camera gear? Mine is about $0. I have no budget for buying new gear. What I do is buy my gear piece by piece as I get paid for gigs.
So, if you are like me (limited income, limited budget, economic downturn, penny pincher), you might be asking the question, "What kind of gear can I get that is good enough to look professional and produce professional results without maxing out 3 credit cards?"

I would love to list off all the high end camera bodies and flash systems that the unlimited budget people use, but that's not going to help you. I'm also not going to waste time telling you about Wal-Mart super sales. To get professional gigs, you need professional gear, not the cheapest you can find. Here are some suggestions and reviews from my personal experience of gear that is in my camera bag (or lack thereof).


Nikon SB-600
I just got this flash recently and its been a great help to all of my low light photography. I would definitely suggest a shoe-mount flash for your SLR or DSLR. Don't ever use the pop up flash except for emergencies. The light from pop-ups are either way too harsh and shadow forming or not powerful enough when you need them to be (plus they wear your camera battery down alot quicker). The SB-600 is a great high to middle of the road flash and its made by Nikon so you know you're getting good quality. Some key features are:

• newest i-TTL system optimized for use with Nikon's Creative Lighting System (CLS).
• Flash Value Lock (FV Lock) allows photographers to change the composition or zoom of the shot while maintaining the desired lighting of the subject.
• High Speed Sync Mode available with Nikon CLS compatible cameras with high speed sync capability.
• Flash color information (sent to your camera) for more accurate flash control.
• Lens coverage of: (Auto) 24 - 85mm, (Manual) 14mm - 85mm
• Recycling time of Approx. 3.5 seconds (manual, w/R6 (AA batteries), 4.0 seconds (Lithium Ion AA batteries), 2.9 seconds (NiCd AA batteries), 2.5 seconds (Ni-MH AA batteries)

Price is right around $175 on Adorama and B&H right now.

I'm shooting a wedding next Saturday so this arrived just in time. I always learn new stuff at weddings so I'm sure I'll blog about what I learned this time here.

In the mean time check out my other blogs and stay tuned for more sage advice from ... me.

What The Duck becomes syndicated nationally!

WTD! This is my favorite photog comic on the net! Everyone subscribe now!
From what I hear, he just got syndicated today. Congrats Aaron!

Essentials For Booking Weddings For Photographers

The other day, I got a surprise phone call for a wedding photography shoot in January. She was referred by a bride's mother from a wedding that I shot last year. Since I wasn't expecting any new business until Spring, I found myself a little rusty and unprepared on the business and sales side.

So I thought I would post a few tips for all you wedding photographers, to make sure you guys attract and KEEP your business rolling throughout the year, not just Spring and Summer.

Before meeting your potential client, be sure to have an answer for these questions (because I've been asked them hundreds of times):

How much do you charge?
This one may be tricky to determine, but it usually depends on your experience, the quality of your portfolio and if you came highly recommended. My advice start free... yes free, for your first wedding.

1. Charge only for the price to develop or print out your photos and the price of the proof book. Put the best of the best from that shoot into your portfolio.
2. Then, the next wedding start low-balling. I'm talking about ridiculous prices ($100 -$200). And explain to your client that you are "just starting out" and to give you a chance and you'll give them their money's worth and much more. Then give the client a full workup package (unlimited hours, six 8x10s, two 11x14s, etc...). Basically you won't make any money off of this shoot either... BUT now you have a GREAT looking portfolio and your client will be proclaiming your generosity to the world!
3. Make sure you have pimped your name out to your first clients with extra business cards and freebies, asking them that, in exchange for your low price, would they mind giving a testimonial that you could quote and use in your marketing and to please pass my name around to anyone they know that has a wedding coming up.
4. After 2 or 3 weddings like that, you'll have an AWESOME portfolio that will sell itself and you can slowly start charging "regular price" and putting together packages to maximize sales.

Why are you so expensive?
There should be several reasons that you can explain to your client the big WHY in wedding photography:

• Intangible Artistry. Photography is a skill and an art. A professional doesn’t simply memorize what all the camera buttons do; you are able to capture the beauty and emotion of your client's day in a unique way. Good photos are more than just technically correct, they are the culmination of the skills you have learned and your creative "eye".

• Like professionals in any other field, wedding photographers have worked out their pricing system for a reason, and it's not just to part your client from their money! Professional photographs are a wonderful way to capture memories. They are not essential, but they are priceless. A good photographer will provide the client with photos that are worthy of becoming part of their family's history.

• Equipment. High quality camera bodies can cost $5,000. Lenses can cost $1,000 each. And at 2,000 to 3,000 frames per wedding, even a good camera will need to be replaced every couple of years not to mention flashes, light meters, tripods, camera bags, etc...

• Hidden Work. Every meeting with potential clients is an investment of his time, whether you get the job or not. You will spend time with them before the wedding to go over your plan for the day, the shot list, and the design of any albums you may wish to purchase.

• Once the wedding is shot, you will spend hours editing, retouching, and color-correcting hundreds of images and then creating an album and/or online gallery of the final wedding photos.

What do I (the client) get if I go with you?
This is up to you and how much you are charging. But make sure your client knows the answer to this up front.

How long will/can you work?
Make sure there is an hour limit or hourly rate in your contract (charging for overtime after a certain amount of time), or you'll be at the reception till the cow's come home... literally.

Do I get the (digital) negatives to make copies for myself?
According to federal law, images produced by a professional photographer are copyrighted the moment they are created. Federal law prohibits copying or reproducing copyrighted material without permission from the owner of the copyright, i.e., the photographer. If a client copies or scans your photos, the photographer should be paid just as if they were buying reprints. If you or your videographer transfer the proofs to videotape, the photographer should be paid just as if you were buying reprints.

BUT, photographers are free to negotiate and sell their negative rights away to the client for free or for a fee. I suggest negotiating a minimum fee for the rights that would be the same price as a client would spend purchasing reproductions or enlargements from you. That way you both come out ahead and the photographer doesn't lose enlargement sales.

What kind of packages do you have?
Be creative with this, but there are some standards. Have "Small, Medium and Premium" type packages and make the Premium package be a better deal for the client (give a slight discount for the individual items). Then they are more likely to buy the Premium.

Next time:
How to encourage your clients to close on the wedding booking/sale...