A wedding is the kind of occasion that people want to display pictures of for years to come. Every bride and groom wants someone who is well trained and who will guarantee quality. 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.
A disclaimer should be included in a well written up first time contract. If you don’t have a disclaimer you could be sued afterwards. 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.
The hourly rate and how many pictures are to be taken should also be included in the contract. Something else you should include would be the fees for developing and the fee of the album. Make sure you discuss with your clients what their requirements are. There could be a particular family member that they want photographed separately, or a certain group of people they do not get to see very often.
Make a list of all the pictures that your client’s requested. Here are a few common ones, pre-ceremony, wedding ceremony, post-ceremony and reception. Who will be in certain photographs should be discussed with the client as well. Pay attention to what your clients are saying because each one will be different.
A deposit should be made after you book your clients in. At least 50% deposit should be paid prior to the wedding. You should set a date when the remaining amount will be paid because you do not want to be bothering the bride and groom during the reception for payment! It would look very unprofessional if you did.
Photoshop is a good program to use if you are going to be processing the pictures yourself. 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 uploaded 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 bridal photography can be lucrative and fun as long as you build on your people skills.