JT Spunk | Photography

Starting wedding photography, please help with my questions.?

I am getting ready to start wedding photography, can someone honestly tell me how much I can expect to make on average per month living between Los Angeles and San Diego? I would think being between 2 major cities, advertising on craigslist, and in the local papers, being part of a church group, I would do fairly well and should be able to pull between 3 and 7 weddings each month. Does this sound realistic? I have an SLR with a hot box and flash, other lighting equipment. I believe as far as equipment Im ready and will probably do the 3 weddings for almost free. I am and buisness minded I have ran my own buisness before so I know how to market myself, I also sold cars before, so I am good at building customer relations. I think I take great pictures and have heard the same from other people. Ill let you be the Judge www.yountphotographyonline.com. I can handle constructive critisicsm. I just started this website. Comments/Suggestions plz email me @ j_yount_3@yahoo.com Thanks Josh

Here is my two cents worth:

First of all, your website has grammatical and spelling errors that would stop me from hiring you without even having to see a single photo.

So you have a camera and flash. You need a backup camera and flash at least equal to your main setup. You need duplicates of everything. You need brackets, sync cords, diffusers. Lots of memory. A fast, powerful computer with backup hard drive. Adobe Photoshop. The skill to use PS.

You also need people skill. Maybe you have it. You need management skill, Business savvy.

Now we get to photographic skill. I don’t mean to be harsh, Certainly I’m sure the original pictures are higher resolution than the web posts show, but that doesn’t hide the fact that your subjects were poorly lit and exposed, and the posing was awkward and utterly lacking in knowledge and style. These are things you need to study before presenting yourself as a wedding professional. In weddings, you usually have to use available lighting, sometimes in impossibly dark churches. Then you have to corral and arrange individuals and small and large groups into pleasing compositions. And this has to be done quickly with impatient people who are anxious to begin the party. The best way to get into wedding photography is to find an established professional willing to let you assist for a season or two while you hone your photography skills without someone’s “special day” being on the line.

Some photographers in resort or high volume areas do manage 4 -7 weddings a month. I don’t think a newbie, particularly one with questionable skill and no portfolio, should expect to book that many, at least not at an income level enough to sustain you. Don’t forget the post processing time that a wedding takes. I have a full time day job in the industry, and shoot weddings on the side. Even if you nail exposure and WB every shot, the post work is time consuming, and I shudder to think of doing that many albums and coordinating that many print orders by myself.

Good luck to you if you decide to go for it.

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