Careers in Photography
Q's and A's in wedding photography:
Brad Wilkins - American Wedding and Lifestyle photographer.
How did you come up with your packages and the prices?
I started low when I first started up to build up my clients, portfolio, and word of mouth campaign.
Do your prices change with different photographers? and how do you decide on a price?
My
prices fluctuate a little bit but only upon my client’s budgets, day of
the session, and time of year. I’m willing to give my clients a little
break on the price if their wedding falls on a Friday or during the
winter months.
How many weddings/portrait/events sessions do you do a year?
I
try not to take on any more than 15 weddings. I do some sessions
depending upon my wedding workload but my concentration is on wedding
photography. With that said I maybe do around 15 individual sessions a
year. Senior, Family, Infant, etc…
What is your most popular package?
Wedding: Full day coverage, engagement session, digital images, copyright release, personalized wedding website.
How did you get into wedding photography?
A
friend (mate) of mine noticed a lot of my photos that I took traveling
and just around messing around. (Taken with my point and shoot camera
‘Pentax wp’ -best camera ever). She asked me if I would be interested
in photographing her wedding and I said I would love to. She covered
the rental equipment and gave me a couple hundred bucks for my time and
it snowballed from there. The following year I shot 2 more weddings
then around 8-10 the next and then I found myself having to limit myself
to around 15 each year since.
Did you do any courses in or study photography?
Have
not taken any classes, should have taken a class on learning to use my
camera better, and would have saved a lot of time in post processing.
How did you make it into a successful business?
I
bust my ass during a wedding. Every shoot I try to capture the best
images and moments that I can. I spend a considerable amount of time in
post process making sure my clients look the best that they can. I’m
pretty laid back as well and don’t take up a lot of the wedding party’s
time during the day posing them. I capture most of the photos on the
fly and don’t intrude on the couple’s day by taking them out of it for
photos. my clients friends and family notice this during the day and I
believe that’s how I get the referrals that I do.
How would you describe your job?
I
would say fun but stressful. I get nervous before every wedding and I
think it’s mainly because of the pressure that I put on myself to not
miss the great moments that fall within the day.
How do you advertise?
Website
and online media. Up until this past year I would say 85%-90% of my
work came through direct word of mouth referrals. This past year I was
asked to join “The Knot” and I have been getting a lot of traffic
through them.
What equipment do you use?
Started
out with a Canon 40d 16-35 lens and finally purchased a 7D last year
and can’t believe I was shooting with anything else. I also have a
35-180ish lens that rarely use. I have a canon flash (exII I believe)
and a couple other off camera flashes, triggers, etc.
How much time do you spend in post-production?
Typical wedding I spend around 12-16hrs photographing the event, and it takes about another 12hrs to do the post processing.
What software do you use?
Photoshop
How do you produce your prints/albums?
I really don’t produce too many of them but when I do, I farm out the printing.
How many photographers do you employ?
Just myself and the occasional second shooter if requested by the couple.
Do people request specific photographers?
Just myself
Do you use a shop front/ have you found it helps?
I
don’t have a shop front. I believe I have lost a job or two because of
it and it would be nice to have a studio but it just doesn’t fit within
my overhead at this time.
How long have you been working as a photographer?
I believe I started in 2009.
How old is your business?
4-5 years
Brent Foster Photography
How did you come up with your packages and the prices?
A lot of trial and error on top of calculating what we need as a business to be successful.
How many weddings/portrait/events sessions do you do a year?
About 40 weddings/25-50 portrait sessions, and 20-40 events (photojournalism)
What is your most popular package?
10 hours, 2 photographers
How did you get into wedding photography?
I started as a photojournalist (12 years) and then kind of fell into weddings three years ago.
Did you do any courses in or study photography?
I studied photojournalism in college.
How did you make it into a successful business?
We strive to provide an amazing client experience, and use word of mouth as a a large source of marketing.
How would you describe your job?
I am a storyteller with a camera.
How do you advertise?
Online
What equipment do you use?
Canon 5d Mark IIIs and a ton of lenses.
How much time do you spend in post production?
We have a full time editor in the studio, so I cull and crop the images, and he does the colour correction.
I spend about 2-3 hours and he spends about 6-8
What software do you use?
Photomechanic, photoshop, lightroom, final cut pro
How do you produce your prints/albums?
We outsource prints, and design albums in the studio and print them through vision art.
How many photographers do you employ?
2 plus our editor.
Do you use a shop front/ have you found it helps?
yes. We have a beautiful studio in an old bank building and live above it. It helps, but is definitely not necessary
to get started.
