Over the years, we’ve photographed hundreds of weddings. And when it comes to planning the wedding, there are two kinds of brides.

Cinderella – the type who takes control over every detail, planning day and night until the big event.

The Queen – She’s busy and relies on others to plan for her. She puts in her requests and lets a planner narrow down the choices. Then she makes final decisions.

Cinderella

Because Cinderella brides don’t rely on a planner, they go into their wedding day with high expectations and little direction. Because they’ve never put on a wedding before, they don’t have any idea how long an event should last, or how to structure the individual pieces of the day to make it run smoothly. In essence, they are lost the entire day, letting people control them as they move along.

With a Cinderella bride, you have to step in immediately, or risk being at the event many hours that day.

The easiest way to control a Cinderella bride is to gently make suggestions. Explain that you have photographed dozens or hundreds of brides, and know how to keep guests happy. Never put it back on her – tell her you know how to keep the party moving and exciting for each of her guests. She’ll quickly rely on you as the planner.

Then make suggestions.

“Do you want formal portraits before or after the ceremony? Portraits typically take 20 to 30 minutes, so if you want more time with your guests, before is probably better.”

“Shall we cut the cake right after dinner? Then your guests can be served while you enjoy your first dance.”

The key is good communication. Never force a situation; make the bride feel like she made the choices.

Another key way to keep control is to work with the other vendors. Talk with the caterer – when will they be ready to cut the cake for the guests? Talk with the DJ or band – what order are the songs in for important dances?

If you know the order and can work together with the other vendors, you’ll all have a smoother event, and watch out for each other along the way.

The Queen

In most cases, the Queen will rely on a wedding planner. The wedding planner does this every day, and has her own agenda planned out.

Because a wedding planner uses vendors she refers, chances are you’ll see the same vendors again and again. It’s important to build a strong relationship from the start. Chat with the planner before the event, and start building the relationship. See if she can email you a schedule so you know her timetables. Always go up to the planner at the beginning, and check in with her about switches and changes. She will be the most important person at the wedding – keep her happy and you’ll ensure a future of referrals.

Okay, from a working standpoint, the planner is the most important person. But in reality, it’s always about the bride. The Queen will be confident in the way she moves and what she does. Queens are used to big parties, nights on the town, and a great event that she can enjoy. She relies on the planner to set the order of things, but she won’t take direction. She does what she wants within the parameters set up by the planner.

While it’s easy to sneak a Cinderella out for photo shoots – she loves being the center of attention, Queens enjoy the party. They don’t want it to be all about them, and they enjoy being with their guests. They acknowledge and respect you – just don’t waste their time.

While catering to both Cinderellas and Queens can be a lucrative business model, you’ll probably be more comfortable working for one or the other. We loved the Queens, and loved photojournalism that came along with this type of clientele. We’ve also known photographers that moved up into the Queen environment, hated it, and went back to working with Cinderellas. Cinderellas need more hand holding, and need more interaction from you. If you like posing, customer contact and hand holding, Cinderellas are perfect for you.

Because photographers are the one vendor that spends the entire day with a client, we automatically fall into the role of wedding planner (if the client doesn’t hire one). Realizing this and taking on the role gracefully will help you become a great photographer – one who is referred again and again.

Have you ever had a great idea that you can’t wait to try out on a client? You want to place a child just so, with a certain background, and achieve a certain result? Then the client yells out, “Look at the camera, smile, bigger smile, come on smile…” You get the drift. Nothing is more frustrating than having your idea sour because a parent wants her two year old child to pose and smile perfectly for the camera.

For me, there’s something innocent about a child that a smile simply ruins. A two year old has huge eyes that speak volumes – who needs a smile to see that? And if you truly want a two year old to smile, why not have them giggle as loud and as hard as they can. That’s a true two year old spirit!

And of course it doesn’t stop at the age of two. What about a teenager deep in thought while reading a book? Why have her look up – why not capture her doing what she loves the best?

Sometimes a photograph is so much more if you simply don’t capture the face. If you don’t focus on the eyes. And you don’t get that big smile. Sometimes a photograph is so much more if you capture the person’s soul, doing exactly what they want to do. What they have a passion for. That’s where you start separating from a picture taker, and dive into the world of photographic artistry.

Selling the Concept

People have a preconceived notion about photography. They expect the turn, look at the camera and say cheese idea because that’s what they’ve done ever since they were children. When they come to your studio, they expect the same thing because that’s what they are primed for. You may have better backdrops, better lighting, and take better photographs, but it still should have the subjects smiling at the camera, right?

The only way to get away from this concept is to train your clients not to expect that. Take those photographs off the walls of your studio, and out of your sample albums. Pull them off your website and out of your marketing tools. You will only sell what you show – because that’s what they expect.

If you want to get away from showcasing the cheesy smiles, you have to show what you offer instead. Only then will your clients expect something new.

With your next client, take the standard shots for them. Then spend 10 minutes shooting for you. How can you tell a story? How can you show their souls? Don’t worry if they don’t buy it; the whole point is to get your samples going. Then take down the standard images, and replace them with your new images. The more you put up, the more calls you’ll get wanting your new style of photography.

When you decided to become a photographer, what process did you go through? Did you establish goals for yourself? Did you commit yourself to the business with all your heart, knowing you would find success?

  How's it going?

  If things haven't turned out quite the way you thought they would, you're not alone. I talk to photographers every day that set out to create an extraordinary business, and fall short somewhere along the way.

“I’m new at my photography business. A friend asked me to photograph her wedding. Because I didn’t know what to charge, I found a few sites online and used their packages to build mine. Then I lowballed it because they have been at it longer and have portfolios in place, plus a website and other marketing. So I have a couple of packages in place, but I’m not sure if this is the best method. What else should I do to come up with my pricing?”

I get questions like this all the time.

When you head into a store to buy a new pair of shoes, the store doesn’t guess at its price. The price is established by looking at: materials, expenses, production, marketing, and business expenses. It’s a refined process to make sure that every time a pair of shoes sells, all costs are covered AND the store makes a healthy profit as well.

Without a profit, there is no way a business can stay in business. And if you don’t plan for it upfront, you’re on the road to failure.

Guessing or using another photographers numbers won’t work because you don’t have the same variables as that photographer. You have to take into account many things, including:

• Where you are located

• What your competition is doing

• What your clients expect

• What you expect

You see, everyone has a different purpose for running a photography business.

Some people want to make a little extra cash to pay for a new lens, and bring the family out to dinner on Friday night.

Some people want to replace the income they lost when they faced a layoff from their companies.

Some people want to be incredibly successful, and be one of the best photographers in the world.

Each of these people will have different goals and structures to their business models. And they will approach their photography in many different ways.

So the only way to truly price your photography is by knowing up front what you hope to accomplish with your business.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from today?

If you’ve always struggled with how to price your photography, you’re going to be excited by my latest guide, Pricing Your Photography: How To Set Your Prices To Build  A Six Figure Business. I’ve kept this guide short and easy to read, yet powerful to walk you through an easy way to determine exactly what you should be charging for your weddings and portraits. I cover:

• How much you should truly make as a professional photographer

• Determining what the right price really is

• Creating packages that sell

• Setting up wedding packages

• Setting up portrait packages

And a whole lot more.

My goal has always been to help 1,000 photographers break into a six figure income level. Now with Pricing Your Photography to help you develop the perfect package for your business, you’ll be one step closer to achieving your goals too.

Visit Pricing Your Photography: How To Set Your Prices To Build  A Six Figure Business today.

A few months ago I wrote 5 Ways A Photographer Can Go Green and gave you some great tips for getting started on becoming more efficient in what you do.

Going green has been the big push for 2009, with no stops in the foreseeable future. So I thought I would continue on with that list, and add 7 more things you can do with your photography business to turn it into an eco-friendly studio.

1. Recycle. The easiest way to get started is by recycling everything you have. The largest waste a studio will have is paper; buy a recycling bin and put all your paper there instead of the trashcan. It requires about two thirds less energy to make a ton of paper from recycled paper instead of using wood pulp from trees. Recycle your ink cartridges from your printers, refilling when possible. Also find places that will recycle or refurbish your old electronics and photographic equipment when you move onto newer items.

2. Conserve energy. Andrew and I have a home office, and for most of the day, we’re in one small section of our home. Instead of heating the entire house, we keep it at a low 62 degrees, and use a space heater to heat the room we use. There are many things you can do like this. Replace all of your light bulbs with eco-friendly ones. Keep the thermostat down a degree or two in the winter, up a degree or two in the summer. Also keep lights, equipment, and computers off unless you’ll be using them.

3. Stay unplugged. Most of us have power strips and power cords plugged in all over our office and home. With computers, iPods, camera equipment and phones, it seems like we have to be plugged in all the time. Instead of leaving the chargers plugged in all the time, only plug them in when charging. Not only can this save you money from electrical use, but it will also help keep CO2 out of the atmosphere.

4. Stop using film. I’m always amazed at the number of photographers still using film when I do surveys and polls. If you haven’t made the switch to digital, here’s one more reason to give you a push in the digital direction. Film takes chemicals to produce, and energy to move from you to the lab and back again.

5. Watch what chemicals you use for processing. More companies are concentrating on creating chemicals less harmful to the environment. Search out these companies and use them for your processing and printing. SilverGrain produces chemicals that have low toxins, are easy to use, and are environmentally friendly. You can purchase them at a variety of places, both online and brick & mortar.

6. Seek out environmentally friendly products. When you visit your favorite lab, art store or paper company, ask for earth friendly options. The more companies sell eco-friendly materials, the more they will stock.

7. Let people know. While many of us turn “green” because we have the desire, it’s okay as a company to let others know what you are doing. If you are out looking for green companies to do business with, share the same idea with your prospects and customers. Advertise that you are a green photographer. Teach potential clients what it means to be green. The more they learn; the more they’ll ask about it at your competitors. Which will only help the cause even more.

image source

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Can a professional photographer really use an iPhone to help them improve their photography? While the Apple App Store has dozens of pages of apps directly related to photography, here’s a look at some of the top apps that can actually be of benefit to the true professional.

DSLR Camera Remote
If you’re going to try out one app, this should be the one. The DSLR Camera Remote app put out by onOne Software is designed to let you wirelessly trigger a digital SLR from your iPhone.

The DSLR Camera Remote app isn’t cheap – $2 for the lite version, $20 for the professional version – but it does come with a ton of features to help you with your photography. Not only can you control the shutter remotely, you can also control camera setting remotely, including your shutter speed, aperture, white balance and ISO. You can also view the images you’ve just taken right on your iPhone without having to run back to your camera. (And yes, it works with the iPod Touch as well.)

Best Camera
If you head to TheBestCamera website, a quote near the top by Wired says it all: “The best camera is the one you have with you. And – possibly – the best camera software designer is a photographer.”

Developed by photographer Chase Jarvis, Best Camera allows you to edit and share your photos in a simple way. With over two dozen filters to choose from, find the one that fits your situation, or stack several together to capture the best image possible. Choose from the standard filters you might expect, such as contrast or vignette, or try something new with the jewel or candy filters.

Then once you have your images, sharing them is a snap. Share your image instantly with sites like Facebook or Twitter. Or share them with the BestCamera community. Either way, this is one app perfect for today’s photographer.

Ifolio
What good is your online portfolio if you can’t share it with anyone, any time? That’s the concept behind Ifolio. Design and display your portfolio using Ifolio’s application. Include your contact information (such as name, email, website link, etc) and start adding photographs. Ifolio makes it easy to view on the iPhone, and makes it easy to get your contact information with a click of a button.

Ifolio also gives the viewer the option of tagging an artist for their favorites list. As a portfolio increases in popularity, you’ll move up the list – meaning more views for your portfolio.

And best of all – this is a free application.

PhotoBuddy
The PhotoBuddy application is an all around photo assistant. It has a variety of features, including:

• Calculate sunrise/sunset and moon phases
• Measure distances with the built in camera
• Calculate exposure changes
• Calculate depth of field
• Find the maximum distance a flash can light using a given aperture/ISO
• A bulb timer allowing you to take long exposures shots (up to 13 hours) with your iPhone camera

And PhotoBuddy will also save all of your settings, making it easy to take out and use again and again.

I know there are dozens more out there. Which are your favorites?

You have to have a great idea.

You have to put in a little bit of work.

Add a little bit of magic and luck, and you can go viral and have the whole world talking about it.

That’s why YouTube is such a success. Anyone with a little bit of creativity can get noticed. It’s not just the stars with the big bucks.

Need an example? I heard this story on one of my local radio shows here in Denver. A group of college students put this together – no pay, just a lot of time – at a college in Montreal. The requirement to be in the video: you had to be able to lip sync to the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling”.

With almost 1.8 million views in just over a month, I would say that’s pretty successful.

Think creatively. Think outside the box. Even if you are doing it for a business, you can find some creative way to showcase what you do.

We attended a family wedding over the weekend. One of the hardest things as 20+ year professional photographers is watching a struggling, brand new photographer try and capture a wedding.

While we did cheer him on and offer

just a bit of advice here and there, when it’s your wedding, you have to handle it on your own, no matter what. You’re the photographer. You’re in charge. And all the results (good or bad) are yours alone.

While we watched him struggle through family portraits, we came up with a list of tips to help any struggling wedding photographer make the formals run just a little smoother.

1. Start with the largest groups and work down. Work the bridal party first, then family groupings.

2. Dismiss people if they won’t be in any additional images. Having several dozen people in the formal portrait area can easily become chaotic. If you dismiss them, they will leave and move on to the reception site.

3. Position the bride and groom first. The bride is the hardest to move, especially if she has a long train. Get her set up, and move others around her.

4. Move people by groups instead of individuals. The wedding party can pair up, and you can pose them by twos. Families can pair up based on family groups (husband, wife and kids together).

5. Capture images that are meaningful and people will buy. Yes, the bride may buy a portrait of her entire side of the family. But her side is split up into her mom and dad’s families. One large group is meaningless to anyone else in the family.

6. Think of sales before you shoot. Large groups are great. But a bride will love portraits with those that mean the most to her. Set up the bride, than move in her bridesmaids one at a time. Move in her sisters and brothers one at a time. Move in her mom, dad, and grandparents. Instead of two groups – you’ve now created a dozen or more images that are guaranteed sellers.

7. Shoot fast. Yes, this does come with experience. But the faster you can get everyone to the reception, the happier they will be.

8. Make sure you can see everyone’s faces. Sounds like a statement that shouldn’t even be mentioned, right? Yet we consistently see images taken where the one or more people are lost behind a tall family member. It may take an additional 30 seconds to move everyone, but the results will definitely be worth it.

9. Take control. Never ask advice from a family member, or try and get someone to help out. Assign duties. If a few family members are outside, find another family member to quickly round them up.

10. Look for great backgrounds. Have you ever noticed the most boring family shots are on the front alter of a church? Mix up the dynamics. Look around the church for better locations. Maybe stairs on the side of the church. Or a park across the street. Or a beautiful patio at the reception site. Find the perfect location, and sell your bride on it before the event.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

One of the things that hit me today was his talk on abundance. One of his ending questions was, “What would abundance look like for you today if you were to have everything you want?” and “What makes me wealthy today?”

Wealth isn’t something associated with money, although that may be a part of it. Wealth is how happy you are with every aspect of your life. It’s more than just financial; its also about your relationships, your physical well being, and your overall happiness with life and career. You can have a ton of money, but if you have no relationships and no one to share it with, is it really worth it?

As a photographer, you’re probably passionate about your photography. But even if you love doing what you currently are, what would make you even happier?

If you are currently photographing a variety of things – weddings, portraits, commercial, models, etc – what would make you happy if you could do nothing but that all day long every day?

Surfing around today I found an upcoming photo festival – Maui Photo Festival. Where else can you go to a seminar, use it as a business expense, and learn about what you love in an incredibly beautiful area?

I also began looking at some of the speakers. The creator of Maui Photo Festival, Randy Jay Braun, has an amazing business in Hawaii. He sells his artwork out of his own gallery, and off his website. He runs photo safaris and workshops throughout the year. And he does a select amount of portraits when he has the time. His portraits are anything but unique – instead they are an experience. He works with hula dancers, and provides them with the experience of creating a unique hula lei and skirt, and providing a complete photo session built around the dance. At $1650 per session, it’s not your average portrait.

 

Randy Jay Braun has found a way to do what he loves and build a life around that love. I know plenty of photographers that have followed in his footsteps. And I know plenty that have not.

If you are jumping into photography because you love taking pictures, and are letting the idea of a general photographer dictate what you offer, you haven’t found your true happiness. Ask yourself these questions.

• If I could spend every day photographing, what would it be of?
• Who would see my photographs?
• Who would buy my photographs?
• Where would I live?
• How would I live?
• How much money do I need to sustain the type of lifestyle I’m dreaming of?

Once you have answers to your questions, how can you build a business around it? Remember anything is possible. Being able to do what you love and get paid for it too is an amazing thing to have in your life.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Are you starting your own photography business? Then you know the value of learning how to make your own light reflector. Not only can it save you money to invest somewhere else, but it can also give you a quick way to instantly improve your photography.

When shooting portraits outside, it’s easy to tuck people next to trees and near buildings to avoid the harsh sunlight. But sometimes you find a scene that would be perfect for your client – yet the direct sunlight is streaming in. That’s when a lift reflector comes in handy.
When people talk about light reflectors, they are usually talking about one of two things.  A light reflector that bounces the light.

A light diffuser that softens the light.

A light reflector generally comes in two colors, silver and gold. Silver provides a bright reflection; gold provides a warmer, softer glow. Both are designed to be used close to the subject, using the light as a directional source to bounce back into the subjects face. Play with the reflector until you get the lighting you are looking for – its easy to see results just by tilting the reflector.
A light diffuser is made of white material, and is designed to absorb the light, soften it, and spread it evenly over the subject. The larger the diffuser, the more area you can block from the sunlight. We always carry at least to 3 foot by 6 foot panels with us to make sure we can have soft lighting no matter where we are.
While many different types of reflectors are available from stores and through various Internet sites, there is an advantage to learning how to make your own light reflector.
1. You can make as many as you choose. Save even more by buying in bulk or by watching for sales.
2. Build a frame and change out materials. Less to carry in your equipment pack.
3. Create the sizes you need most.
Want to learn how to make your own light reflector? We’ve used this blueprint for years in our own studio. I know you’re going to love it.