Re: How to get started in a photography busniess

smb wrote:


The reason so many people with "nice" cameras are asked to shoot
weddings is that many people don't want to spend the kind of money it
takes to get a good wedding photographer. So they ask Cousin Bob or
whoever to do it for free or for a nominal amount.

Yes. Note the term "good photographer".

I saw a survey recently that listed wedding photographers among the
top of the most overpaid professions, right up there with lawyers. If
you have the organizational and people skills, it can be very
lucrative. Being a technically competent photographer is a given, as
anyone with the right gear and a halfway good knowledge of the craft
can handle that aspect of it. The skill is in getting the people to
do what you want them to do and to have a straight face when you tell
them what you charge for the job.


Overpaid? Maybe, but just consider the fallout if Cynthia and Ralph's wedding is "ruined" by a failure of the photographer to deliver.

The people management and reliability are the two main aspects and these are expensive. The best wedding photographer is your friend and can assert their will to get well composed formal and informal shots under any conditions coping with disasters, equipment failure, sickness, act of god, whatever without any stress on the wedding party.

It requires improvisational skill, project management and organizational skills, lots of contingency planning and very good insurance.

Being able to operate a camera is a minor part and as much a given as being able to drive a car is to being a taxi driver.

Having the resources to still provide the level of service expected even in the event of the death of the photographer is an expensive business.
.

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