EPISODE #97: WHY I CREATED A WEDDING PLANNING PODCAST FOR BRIDES AND GROOMS

Summary:

A short while back I started a wedding planning podcast for brides and grooms to help them execute their dream wedding. It features interviews with some of the vendors that I’ve worked with throughout the years and have a great respect for, as well as tips and inspiration for getting the most out of photography on your special day. While it might sound like this is solely for the benefit of couples, it was also inspired by a desire to raise the level of wedding photography and help the wider community value what we do.

In this episode, we’ll chat about some of the reasons why I started this wedding planning podcast and how it offers an alternative means for engaged couples to start thinking about their wedding. There are so many great resources out there, from magazine articles to blogs and video tutorials. But I wanted to offer a more passive means of information consumption that couples could listen to while working out or driving to and from work.

In the industry, you hear a lot about photographers dropping their prices to get couples in and sometimes this comes at the expense of quality photography. So through this wedding planning podcast, I also wanted to educate engaged couples about what it takes to have a really great photographer capture your special day and exactly what they are getting for their money. It’s not only a platform for my colleagues to shine, but also a means for sharing some of the messages and ideas that I want my potential couples to know to create a win-win situation. 

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!

EPISODE #96: TOO BUSY TO WORK ON YOUR BUSINESS BUT NOT BUSINESS ENOUGH TO SHOOT WEDDINGS

Summary:

It’s too often I hear wedding photographers complaining that they’re not shooting enough weddings or getting enough inquiries. But when you ask those same photographers how much time they spend working behind-the-scenes on their businesses, they answer is more often than not that they’re “too busy”.

One of the keys to a successful wedding photography business is working diligently on days you’re not shooting weddings to practice your craft, hone your post-processing skills, and market your business. So in this episode we’re going to chat about some of the things you should be doing, ESPECIALLY if you're not busy shooting weddings.

Have you updated your portfolio recently or been regularly posting on social media? When was the last time you reached out to other wedding vendors to connect and see how you can be of help to them? Do you actually go out and practice different shooting techniques and skills when you’re not being paid to do it? Photographing at weddings is just the tip of the iceberg, but there are so many other areas that you need to give attention to if you want to build a successful business.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!

EPISODE #95: GETTING THE MOST EXPERIENCE OUT OF EVERY WEDDING YOU PHOTOGRAPH

Summary:

While you can use the images you capture at each and every wedding to help market your business, you can also use the experiences to improve your wedding photography in the long term. Many of us are just keen to share the photos with our clients and on our social media channels and move on, but it’s important to reflect on what you did well (and what you could have improved on) after every wedding you shoot.

Perhaps you could have managed your time better or communicated more effectively with family members during the family formals. Maybe you had issues using flash in the reception venue or balancing the ambient light. As photographers, there’s usually some technical aspect or issues that we can work on. While as humans, there are always opportunities to improve on our communication with others.

But make sure you also reflect on what you did well. Perhaps there was something you did during the day that you feel really proud of or an image you captured and particularly love. Acknowledging these things will help you apply them in other wedding situations, while addressing your faults will only make you a better wedding photographer in the future.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!

EPISODE #94: ARE YOU TRULY GETTING THE ABSOLUTE MOST OUT OF EVERY WEDDING YOU PHOTOGRAPH?

Summary:

The main focus of being a wedding photographer is capturing beautiful images for your clients, but that’s not where their exposure should end. In this wedding photography podcast episode, we’re going to chat about how to get the most mileage out of your images from each and every wedding you shoot.

First and foremost, you should be sharing photos from your weddings for your clients, their family and friends through online galleries and print albums. But you should also be using these photos to showcase your business and market your wedding photography to potential clients for the long-term future.

Are you uploading photos regularly to Facebook and Instagram or other social media sites? Or do you create blog articles to help tell the story of the wedding and highlight your favorite images? Perhaps you create wedding albums for the vendors you worked with to help market your business through their channels.

All of these are simple ways you can make the photographs you capture during each and every wedding work for your business in the long-term.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!

EPISODE #93: WHAT IS YOUR UNFAIR ADVANTAGE AS A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER?

Summary:

In many ways, wedding photographers share a lot in common. We are all dedicated to capturing the love and emotion of a couple’s special day and probably have a website that showcases our images and style. We might use similar equipment and run our businesses according to a standard model, and we might even charge very similar prices.

But what sets you apart from others and is crucial to finding your wedding photography niche is what is referred to as your “unfair advantage”. It might be your personality that draws couples in or the services you offer that are exceptional when compared to other wedding photographers. Finding your “unfair advantage” is important in helping you stand out form the crowd and establishing your unique brand.

In this episode, we'll talk about what I feel is my “unfair advantage” and how I’ve used it to create a successful niche wedding photography business. We’ll also talk about how you can find yours and showcase it to potential clients while marketing your business and branding your website.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes

EPISODE #92: THERE'S ONLY ONE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER YOU SHOULD COMPARE YOURSELF TO

Summary:

No matter what industry you work in, chances are at one point or another you’ve compared yourself with your colleagues and the work they do. While this can be healthy and a great way to find inspiration and guidance for setting your own goals, it can also lead to unhappiness and feelings that “I’m not good enough” if you take it too far.

As a wedding photographer, you’ve probably scrawled through the websites of other photographers in your area to see their images and undoubtedly you’ve probably made comparisons to yours. If you’ve met them at networking functions or heard about them through friends or clients, you’ve probably tried to find out what they are charging and if they are booking more or less weddings than yourself.

In this episode, we’ll chat about why comparing other wedding photographers to yourself can be useful when you’re just starting out to see what you should be striving for. But it’s really important that the only wedding photographer you compare yourself to on a daily basis is you.

Look back at your past work to see how you have improved and make goals for where you want to be in one or five years time. Tracking the improvements that you have made as a photographer will have far more profound effects on your business in the long-run (as well as your happiness) than constantly comparing yourself to others.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!

EPISODE #91: SOME OF THE LOWEST POINTS OF MY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS 

Summary:

July 15 this year marks exactly ten years since I shot my first wedding, so I thought I’d record an episode to celebrate! But rather than focus on my successes and what I’ve done well to get to where I am today, I thought I’d share some of the lowest points of my wedding photography career. I truly believe we can learn a lot from our mistakes, failures and most challenging moments in life, and sharing them can go a long way to helping others.

We’ll chat about how I dealt with having my camera equipment stolen and anxiety about not booking enough weddings or being able to find people to work with. There were times I felt like my wedding photography brand wasn’t attracting the right clientele and doubted whether future clients would get in contact if I raised my fees. I’ll also speak about perhaps what was the lowest point of my career when I had what I can only describe as an identity crisis and considered throwing wedding photography in all together.

I’m honored to be in the profession I am today and here to share my experiences with you, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. In this episode I hope to reach out to other wedding photographers who are experiencing low points in their careers and help them overcome the challenges being faced.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!

EPISODE #90: IT'S NOT TOO EARLY TO START THINKING ABOUT SAVINGS AND RETIREMENT

Summary:

We can’t work forever and like most professions, it’s important as wedding photographers that we plan for our financial security in retirement. If you’re in your later years, then this might be something you’re thinking about already. While for those of us who are still quite young, retirement savings can often seem like a distant priority and something we can deal with at a later date.

But it’s never too early to start thinking about your savings and retirement so that you can live comfortably and be able to do the things you want to do. In this episode, we’ll chat about how to approach this as wedding photographers and small business owners, and how much of our monthly earnings we should be putting away.

From having a dedicated retirement savings account to investing money intelligently, I’ll share with you some of my personal experiences and lessons learned in the last few years. Even if you’re not financially savvy, there are steps you can take in the right direction for a secure future.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!

EPISODE #89: NOT ALL WEDDINGS ARE THE SAME; STOP TREATING THEM AS IF THEY WERE.

Summary:

Most weddings follow a certain flow - a getting ready session followed by the ceremony, then portraits and a reception. But that’s where the similarities end. No two weddings are the same and we shouldn’t treat them as such for our own convenience or the simplicity of photographing them. It’s really important that we acknowledge this to create a successful wedding photography business and our own career satisfaction.

From the location/setting of the wedding (and its different components) to the preferred style of the couple and the cultural/spiritual elements they have incorporated into their special day, each and every piece of the puzzle creates a unique event. If we don’t recognize these as wedding photographers and fail to distinguish what is important to our clients, we’re limiting our own potential and our appeal to a diversity of couples in the future.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of just turning up and treating it like another wedding. But not only will this reflect in the images you come away with, but it won’t lead to career satisfaction. Being curious and pushing your creative boundaries will help you to capture the unique elements and personalities of your couples which make each wedding so special.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!

EPISODE #88: WE ALL HAVE TO START WITH ZERO WEDDINGS FOR THE NEXT YEAR

Summary:

No matter how your wedding photography business has performed in the past 12 months (lots of inquiries and bookings or less than you had hoped), it’s important to remember that we are all starting out on a level playing field in the coming year. This episode is a reminder not to get disheartened if you haven’t achieved the success you had hoped for, but also to not get complacent or too confident if you had a great year.

We are all hitting reset on our wedding photography business as we head into the new financial year and there are no guarantees about what lies ahead. It’s really important to continue striving to improve your photographic, social and management skills to ensure your future success and not let past mistakes or disappointments define you.

So however you rank your success during the past twelve months, it’s time to get into the mindset for the coming year as you hit reset on your wedding photography business.

Subscribe and leave a rating and review on iTunes!