Wedding Photography-My Process Part6

wow. Last post May14, 2010. Today August 10, 2010. So much for keeping up a consistent post every week or so! I just looked at my favorite fashion photography blog by photographer Melissa Rodwell and she too is slow to post on her blog. Her take is this: " do you want a frequent post by a photographer who is not busy or an infrequent post by a very busy photographer who has something to actually share?' not her exact words but you get the point. I have been busy planning and executing my very first on site event photo printing project which I plan to write about when my wedding series is done. Soon I hope.
OK. We left off with me shooting my first wedding and I talked about the equipment used and what I took away from that first experience. I don't care who you are or think you are, you are human therefore infallible and you must embrace your mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow. If your ego won't allow this basic acceptance than you are destined to be miserable, difficult to work with or both and people don't hire or recommend  miserable and difficult  people.
For my first wedding there were not many expectations but it was a great opportunity to focus on my shooting skills outside and to start to hone some all important business skills. Running a photography business is 10% pressing the shutter and 90% business. By business I mean: creating a logo, creating marketing materials from that logo, creating a business plan, creating a web presence, creating contracts specific to each facet of your business, accounting, and the constant monitoring and upgrading of the aforementioned. Oh and finding new clients is important too. Just because you print out business cards, even hand some out or take out an ad in the yellow pages you will die of starvation waiting for the phone to ring. It rarely will in the beginning so you need to be networking!!!
Regardless of the size of my first wedding and the low expectations I needed to have a contract signed by both myself and the client which outlined the event date, location(s) and time(s), the exact nature of my responsibilities, and any liabilities or limitations that might affect my ability to deliver on my responsibilities.
There are several contract templates and ideas available online for free or a nominal fee or you can get the
book Business and Legal Forms for Photographers which contains a variety of contracts and negotiation checklists for many of the situations you will find yourself in. I am not a lawyer and the materials available in this book and online should be used as a starting point only. It is wise to confer with an attorney who specializes in contracts in the specific state in which you reside and do business as each state differs on its laws and regulations.
As you can see going from shooting landscapes to taking on your first wedding involves much planning both in terms of equipment and exposure, to some business knowledge. Next installment I will discuss my second wedding in terms of the adjustments i needed to make in equipment, contract, and now commercial liability insurance and a price list for my services and prints. until then...