The Art of Wedding Photography – Ignore the Competition
Today’s post is part of a series I have been working on that will come out piece by piece over the next month about wedding photography. Wedding photography just like any other type of photography, is an art form first and foremost. It’s one thing you will always hear me repeat and will beat on my drum over and over about the true art of photography. The artistic side can sometimes get lost with all the technology that surrounds us but vision and creativity is always at the heart of every great shot.
Wedding photography though is a very interesting business. When I started my photography studio about 13 years ago I didn’t know one ounce of what it takes to run a successful business. I had to learn very quickly that there is a fine art in business and marketing that is very important in such a saturated market as wedding photography is. You not only have to use your creativity to take awesome photos but also in how you market your business. Today I want to talk a little bit about the art of marketing in wedding photography and why it’s actually a great idea to not even pay attention to what everyone else is doing.
Let me first start with a story that popped the idea for this article into my head. The other day I was meeting with a new potential bride for a wedding next year. We started chatting about the details for the day and just really getting to know each other at the star. Then once the conversation turned into photography and what she loved about my work. The interesting thing is that she absolutely loved a fusion photo/video shoot that I recently posted on my blog and couldn’t stop talking about how cool and different the video was. She commented multiple times that she didn’t see any other photographers that did this type of shoot for the wedding. In the end what I did that was different compared to many others was a huge factor in booking the wedding.
Doing Fusion videos are nothing new but it still got me thinking about the value of doing things different. I actually toyed around with the idea of a fusion style multimedia presentation about a year before video was even available on DSLR’s. I thought it would be so cool to have some nice video footage mixed into a slideshow and experimented with shooting video on a simple point and shoot camera to mix that into a shoot. I did some test shoots and created a few small samples I could show my new clients. Although it really wasn’t the best looking video and compared to what I have been able to do today with DSLR cameras doesn’t match up at all it was still something different. When I was meeting with new clients they would always remember this (or a few other things that I do different) and it was a great way to stand apart from the rest of the crowd.
Today’s photography market is super saturated. Its crazy the amount of people setting up website and trying to book business that don’t quite yet have the artistry of photography down yet. To the unqualified eye of many consumers these photographers are a great value, the work looks decent and the price is right. What our goal should always be is on creating the absolute best work out there and also showing people things that are different. My advice to many of you today would be to spend some time thinking about what you really love about photography. Make sure that your pricing and package represent that, think of new type of products you can offer your clients that would be unique to you and your business. And don’t look at the person down the street from you, while it can be beneficial sometimes to compare what the competition offers and charges I think it can also hurt you a lot. People tend to want to simply copy someone who is successful rather than carve their own path and the only true way to stick out and succeed in this business is to be yourself and be unique.
Be yourself and let your personality and taste shine in every aspect of your photography business. Ignore what others are doing and have some fun!
To succeed in the business of photography my main advice is to follow your heart. Do what you are passionate about and create things that follow your vision. Don’t pay attention to what others are creating or offering. Do what feel right in your heart and your business will stick out compared to the rest of the people who are all following someone else. Create your own path!
I would love to know what you think about this, leave a comment below and lets chat 🙂
— Mark
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