Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Want to start charging for wedding photography

By Sally Wong

You are creating something that people will keep for years to come. You are capturing a very special moment in people's lives. Guaranteeing quality and highly skilled photography is something every bride and groom wants. You can make a lot of money if you decide to be a wedding photographer. As well as the money though there is the risk that you must manage well.

If this is going to be your first wedding shoot you will want to make sure your contract is written up properly and a disclaimer included in it. A disclaimer is something that can prevent you from being sued later on. There are a few reason you should not be held accountable for and they are failure of equipment, miss placed pictures after they were sent away, and photos that do not develop properly. Otherwise you could get sued for breach of contract.

Now with that said you should also include how many pictures are to be taken and how long you will be photographing for and what hourly rate will be. Include how much the cost of development is and the cost of the album. Your client's requirements are important so make sure you talk it over with them. They might want a certain person or family they would like pictures of since they don't get to see them often, so that should be discussed as well if it is an issue.

Your clients will probably request certain photographs so make sure you make a list. Generally your clients will want pictures of the pre-ceremony, wedding ceremony, post-ceremony and of course the reception. Discuss with the clients about which shots they want and who's going to be in the pictures. Not every client will be the same so pay attention to what they are saying.

When you schedule your clients in make sure they pay you a deposit. Most people will pay you 50% prior to the wedding and the remaining afterwards. So you don't end up bothering the bride and groom during the reception, arrangements should be made for when the remainder will be paid. It would look very unprofessional if you did.

If you are developing your client's pictures yourself, Photoshop is an excellent photo editing program. You can enhance the photos with all sorts of techniques such as flaw removal, montage, changing the color to black and which or sepia, as well as other unique features.

Always look to see how you can add more value than what you said you would give. A special surprise will keep everyone talking and generating more business for you in the future. Think different. Imagine for example if you uplaoded all their pictures onto a password protected part of your website so that they and their friends can login and view.

In the end doing wedding photography can be lucrative and fun as long as you build on your people skills.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment