Archive for Wedding Photography – Page 4

Tying The Knot: TripAdvisor And Testimonials

By Milton Gan
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Today’s post came from a pool-side sun lounger at the gorgeous Outrigger Resort in Koh Samui, Thailand. I’m here to recharge my own batteries as the Australian wedding season winds down for winter, which means I shouldn’t really be blogging but I was inspired by this wonderful place and so just had to put fingers to iPad!

If I was to list the criteria for identifying paradise, this place would tick a lot of those boxes. It’s a beautiful island with fantastic weather, but the clincher is the food! I LOVE Thai food and arrived with tastebuds deliriously salivating in anticipation of sampling the real deal!

This being my first time on the island I wanted to make sure I used my time visiting the best places to eat and so I turned to my second most favourite travel companion: TripAdvisor (my number one favourite obviously being The Lady!).

I’ve been in love with TripAdvisor for some time now. Its ability to identify the best hotels and restaurants in any area is incredible and it certainly puts your mind at rest, which is exactly what you want when you’re spending a lot of money on a relaxing holiday.

If you’re familiar with TripAdvisor you’ll know what makes it so reliable: the user generated reviews. In this time of social networking the consumer is king and wields the power to make or break companies in the time it takes to type out their customer experience in 140 characters. And due to the increased take up of user generated location based networks like Foursquare, Instagram and Foodspotting, customers are also getting into the habit of acting as brand advocates – leaving helpful tips and advice for others, such as their favourite dish or that free room upgrades are possible if you ask. It’s what I call social love.

And social love is exactly what you need your clients to show you after you have completed their work. In other words: testimonials. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
Tags : , , ,

Shooting A Wedding Is Like Shooting On The Move

By Robert Hillis
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Shooting a wedding is like shooting while you are walking. As a wedding photographer, you are constantly moving, your lighting is constantly changing, your models are not professionals and getting their attention is next to impossible. So with all these obstacles, how do you go about getting those one-of-a-kind beautiful wedding photos? Well in short, you do it quickly.

As a wedding photographer your skills as a professional are never in more need than they are during a wedding. A wedding is a moving photoshoot. From the time that the bride and groom walk down the aisle to the time they are together on the altar the lighting is different. You as a photographer have to be able to adjust for this. You have to know that in the 30 minutes or so after the wedding you have to put together 10 to 30 small portrait sessions when you do the formal portraits of the wedding party. You have to anticipate what your lighting is going to be like when you get to the reception. You have to be ready for anything.

Your first priority is planning. If you have never been to the ceremony location and it is located in the same city you are in I suggest you make a visit prior to the event date. Check the lighting; check out the surroundings and the backgrounds. Scout for the best location to take the formal portraits after the ceremony. Talk with the location event coordinator if possible and ask about rules for photographers during the event. Every location has their own rules and they are all different. If you want to be respected and asked to return I advise that you follow those rules to the best of your ability. I also suggest that you make your client aware of any rules that may impair their perception of how the wedding photography should happen. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
Tags : , , ,

Tying The Knot: Location Scouting

By Milton Gan
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

Like a good boy scout you should always be well prepared when shooting weddings. Packing the right kit, making sure the batteries are charged and the memory cards formatted are essential tasks on your checklist, but these become second nature and can be done the night before if necessary.

However, what can’t be done the night before are the location checks. These are crucial, especially when you’re starting out and unfamiliar with wedding and reception venues. Why are checks so important? Well a wedding is an event and once it starts there’s no stopping it! So for each of the big moments during the day you need to know exactly where you’re going to be, which lens you’re going to use and what the camera settings need to be. All under the pressure of missing moments that last a split second.

Think of F1 drivers and professional golfers. Can you imagine any of them turning up for a major competition without having studied the track or course in the most minute detail? Or not knowing exactly what gear or club they’re going to use at any given point? Of course not. They’re professionals and so are you.

Even if you’ve been to some of the more popular venues as a guest, it’s highly unlikely you’ll remember what they were like from a photographer’s point of view with regards to light, space and shooting positions. If you do then well done, but as a guest you really should have been focusing on the wine!

I provide location checks to all my clients as standard and I advise you to do the same. The number of checks will vary depending on the plans for the day, but they typically include the locations for: Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
Tags : , , , , ,

Why Your Client Needs A Professional Wedding Photographer

By Robert Hillis
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

We all love photography. It is what we do. We are artists and sometimes the business end of the business doesn’t really seem like our cup of tea. We would all be happy if all we had to do was shoot and edit and not have to worry about marketing and selling our services. Convincing potential clients of why they need to choose you can seem daunting but I am here to give you some advice. I am here to help you understand why you need to make them understand they need you.

Weddings can be such inspirational events. The grace, the charm, the elegance, the beauty, all things that make for great photographs. As a photographer I love to photograph weddings for exactly these reasons. They inspire me. They truly bring forth the meaning of a fairytale. Everything seems possible on a wedding day. As a photographer it would be ideal for us to be able to control all aspects of a shoot from lighting to setting to color to positioning. Unfortunately during a wedding this is just not possible. Some of the hardest shots we take are on the move with less than ideal lighting with very limited timeframes in order to achieve beautiful timeless photos that will capture client’s memories forever. It is because of this reason that wedding photographers are both in high dollar demand and can leave a bad taste in people’s mouths. It’s also because of this that your client needs your professional abilities.

Wedding photographers get a bad rap and unjustly so. Everyone with a digital camera calls themselves a professional these days. They print up a few business cards online, make a website, put up some cheap prices and start selling to everyone out there who wants to save a little bit of money on their day. They charge $300 bucks, shoot the entire wedding with their camera on automatic using an on-camera flash and give the client a CD with badly edited images and they call that professional and it makes us look bad. We’ve all seen it, we’ve all experienced it. I admit, my wife and I were no different and have experienced it ourselves. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
Tags : , , , ,

Tying The Knot: Raiders Of The Lost CD

By Milton Gan
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

1981. I was 9 years old and already developing a thing for leather and whips.

Not like that obviously. I had no idea what puberty was let alone a fetish! No, it was the year that Raiders Of The Lost Ark opened and in doing so created a generation of wannabe whip-cracking, gun-toting, adventure-seeking archaeology professors!

One of the most powerful scenes for me was the final one. You know it – the one where the old man wheels the crated Ark on a trolley through a warehouse the size of Texas to be buried down a non-descript aisle amongst thousands of other similar generic crates, presumably never to be seen again.

Sound familiar? Well it’s pretty much what happens every time I need to store a CD somewhere in my apartment!

But CDs are still popular amongst brides and near the top of a typical want list from a package.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with issuing a disc of images if it’s part of the package or an added extra. I do believe in promoting albums and books as the best way to showcase the best images of the day, but neither will hold the number of decent photos you should be taking. So a CD has become standard issue whether you like it or not.

In addition to being a storage medium, CDs are also wanted for security. It’s nice to know the disc is near you if you need it, right? Unless you live in my place of course!

But times have changed and there’s an education job to be done. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
Tags : , , , , , , , ,

Tying The Knot: How A Promo Turned Sushi Into Big Fish

By Milton Gan
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Imagine a world where one wedding just isn’t enough for a bride. She loves them so much that she just wants to get married every weekend! Who cares who the groom is?! She just wants to relive that amazing day over and over again, and of course have you photograph each and every one!

Ok, time to wake up! Unfortunately we don’t live in that world and instead we face the reality that wedding photography is a hard business. Not just because of the scale of the event, or the long hours of shooting and editing, or the knowledge and skill required, but because you always need a constant flow of new customers.

Unlike other genres of photography, wedding photographers can’t rely on regular customers or repeat business as brides only get married once. Ideally!

Of course weddings inevitably yield baby and family portraits which you’ll be only too happy to shoot. But if weddings are what you want to focus on then how do you keep the momentum going and keep the portfolio building? And where exactly is that new business going to come from?

If you’re like me your first experience as a wedding photographer was second shooting at a friend’s wedding. That was a great start, but you only have so many friends and, inconveniently for you, they’re not all about to get married!

The solution is to grow your potential client base but that’s not an easy task either. With little wedding experience why would brides come running to you? Time to think smart. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
Tags : , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »