Download link: Episode 15

We went MIA for a little while. Here is the first episode we’ve recorded since October!

What do we talk about?
- Picking Engagement Shoot locations…who’s job is it?
- Engagement shoots in general
- Vegas.
- New lenses we’re excited about?

Fun with photoshop:

Download link: Episode 14

• SEO tips and tricks
• Phone Vs. Email
• Be friends with other photographers
• Favorite things learned from the Zappos book
• S Club 7

Wedding Marketing Strategist
Between Two Ferns
The Power of 1 %

Sorry to videographers who don’t suck… We love you xoxo

To this guy : not so much…

Fun for the whole family:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Download link: Episode 13

• Blog first, or show clients images first?
• Do you show entire weddings?
• Is your dog eating your microphone?
• What really makes a photograph?
• Vacation photography
• Insurance for photographers

Insurance link: http://www.cgbgroup.com/business_insurance/media.html

Download link: Episode 12

Question #1: I recently watched one of Jerry Ghionis’ videos as you suggested, and I was really surprised to see how much direction *[almost all-posed candid’s of the groom prep].*  During your prep shops, I normally tend to give a little direction but just let it happen.  What are your thoughts on this?

Dave: That’s an awesome question because Jerry has influenced me a lot in my career.  It’s certainly one of those things where I take inspiration, but I’m not a clone by any means, like the technique of slowing things down and setting up the “hero” shots that you want – like, the groom looking really cool.  Jerry does this great thing where he turns the body away from the window and has the nose back over the shoulder into the window, creating a really skinny light on the short side of the face and drops the shadow, and making it look killer.  And every guy wants to look awesome.

I personally believe that wedding photographers have a responsibility to create beautiful classic images and then do whatever they want outside of that.  But I think there are certain shots that every photographer should be able to do well.

Taylor: The only issue is that clients don’t always know what to expect from that type of thing.  So whatever you provided them, outside of that, they’re not sure what else they should be expecting.

Dave: And everything wedding’s different, but that’s something I’ve had to be disciplined with and learn how to do those shots really well at every wedding: great shots of the groom, great shots of the bride especially.

Taylor: For the groom’s house at least – if I’m there – I just show up at the bride’s and go from there to the ceremony location, so I’ll spend about five minutes with the guys, and what usually fits into my timeline.  I just to come up with simple shots like that – using one window if that’s all I have – and spend about three minutes having an awesome shoot.  I don’t pose a whole lot – I put people in locations and give them vague directions, but I don’t fine tune it as much as Jerry does.  I’m kind of the opposite where I’ll put them in that location and shoot 15 frames where about two are good and the rest are throwaways – but it’s digital, so what does it matter?

Dave: It really depends what your outcome is, as well.  If client experience is your prime focus, you’ve got to do that.  But I think there’s got to be that mix – you can’t just blast away.

Taylor: Yeah, you’ve got to have a goal of what you’re blasting for.

Dave: You’ve got to do 90% of the work and 10% of the shooting – where Jerry makes it 2% of the shooting.  I’m finding that 90/10 balance – I’m trying to visualize it.

Taylor: I know I cycle on off during wedding season so I’m not doing the same stuff.  And in the groom’s case, I ask “how much is the groom involved in the photo process?”  If he’s stoked or if he doesn’t want me there, that influences the vibe.

Question #2: Primes versus zooms – what do you use and why?

Taylor: I use a lot of primes – my bag usually consists of a 20 mm F 1.8, and I usually have a 35 f2 in the car, but I don’t bring it out as much as I used to.  I have a 50 f1.4 in my bag, and 85 f1.8 and a 70 – 200 f2.8 VR or a 135 F2, and that’s usually what I have on me all the time.

It depends on the day, but I use the 50 f1.4 for a lot of “getting ready” stuff, but the 70 – 200’s awesome as soon as I get outside.  I started the season using the 1-35 a lot, but I’ve faded it out a bit.  It’s awesome to shoot an F2 with a 1-35, but it can be a challenge once you get them uploaded and have to toss a bunch out.

Dave: I sold all my primes recently – I got rid of a tilt shift, the 50 1.2 and 1.4, the 85 and I just bought the 135 F2, so that’s my only prime now.  I have a 16-35, a 24-70 and a 70 – 200, and I pretty much use it for everything – it’s my third weekend using it, and I love this lens so much.  Having a monopod for a heavy lens like that is amazing.

Taylor: It’s usually the first wedding of the year that kicks my ass when carrying around the 70 – 200 – but the shots make it worth it.

But I’m pretty split now – my answer would’ve been completely different had you asked this in January, because I would’ve told you I was full primes.  But that’s part of the photo life cycle – you have to switch things up.

Question #3: How do you guys shoot speeches?

Dave: I think the speeches are all about setting yourself up for success in advance.  If you’re trying to shoot a speech on the fly, it can be a real battle: trying to balance your light, dealing funny reflections, etc.  So what we do now is get two light stands, two low-light-speed-lights –make sure they’re fully charged – and pop one faced at the bride and groom, and the other over their shoulder looking at the person making the speech.  That way, we can shoot anywhere in the room because the light is balanced and the focus is easy because they’re lit – and we’re not using flash.

Taylor: I usually like to find a little spot and hang out there.  I try to make do with the random lighting conditions given to me, but if it’s an atrocious light, I’ll usually set up an off-camera somewhere nice and pop that.  This year, I’ve noticed that most podiums have been well-lit than in the past – but I hate the light on the paper because it makes it such a hotspot.

Question #4: What iPhone aps do you use on a daily basis?

Dave: Bejewled, Angry Birds, Facebook.  Weather Eye comes in super handy because on wedding days, it’s literally in the palm of your hand.

Taylor: I’m big on TweetDeck, and I use Four Square – but I don’t know why I use it, I think it’s fun – and whenever I’m travelling, I use Ping (Light), which is free texting and uses data, so I don’t have to suffer the fee when I’m in the States.

I know! It’s Wednesday. We usually post on Tuesdays.

Download link: Episode 11

Question #1: As a vendor, what is the best way to work with photographers to get great images (or to ensure that you receive images)?

Dave: From our experience, we do our absolute best to look after other vendor – every vendor.  We try to shoot images for their use.

Taylor: It’s photography 101, and often people forget or get too busy, but grab business cards from everyone that you run into.  Take a couple cool shots, and upload them to Two Bright Lights, then send them the link and password and they can go download them.  It’s great for collaborations and networking with other vendors.

Dave: I think beyond shooting the details for the bride and groom, shoot them as if you want them to be on Style Me Pretty (or blogs like that), and pay attention to the way people shoot receptions on those type of blogs.  It’s often with very establishing distances and not just close crops on everything – it makes you feel like you’re in the room, and is usually shot with a 50 mm lens at F2.

Taylor: I think when I started paying attention to what’s being published in magazines and on wedding blogs, it really made me change the way I shot weddings when it comes to details.  The first year, I was more focused on the couple because as a photographer, the mindset is “they hired us, they want photos of themselves”.  But then I realized the value in getting great detail shots, so now I’ll spend way more time than I would’ve taking detail shots and every variation of them.

Dave: I’ll walk around the four corners of the room – because I may think I’ve already got the room shot – but I’ll walk around and the way the light’s catching on something will change, so I shoot from a regular and I shoot from a few different tables just in case.

Taylor: There’s usually at least one table that has the perfect light – in front of the window or something.

Dave: And you might shoot it backlit or broadly lit.

Taylor: And get every little detail because they put a lot of time into it, so even your clients are going to appreciate those shots.

Dave: And I don’t think we often realize just how much our clients love getting published.  Every time it happens, they love it.

Taylor: And then they’re even more an advocate of your name and brand.

Dave: Also, as you’re marking your images in Photo Mechanic as you edit them – one star, two star, three star, etc. – give a star rating to your vendor images, process them first and get them out to the vendors two or three days after the wedding.  They just need a resolution high enough for the web, and if they want to print images, they’ll contact you.

Taylor: And vendors get stoked if you send them photos the day after the wedding, or even that week.

Dave: And they’ll blog them, and you’ll get links and you’ll get love.

Taylor: And they’re used to not getting photos, so you can be that one photographer that sends them out, and they’ll push your name even more.

Question #2: In terms of giving clients images of CDs – high res. files – do you provide watermarks for Facebook photos?

Taylor: I definitely think it’s great to have that folder of Facebook-friendly photos that have already been resized and knocked down to 72 DPI.  I don’t do it, I only really watermark anything that ends up on my blog, so I trust that they’re their files, so they’ll give me credit where it’s due.  I just let them know in a casual email that if they’re going to use those photos, that it’d be great if they said who it’s by.  I think the more people spend on wedding photography, the more you become that designer label where they’re proud to put your name on it.

Dave: We don’t actually put our domain name on, we just put our trademark symbol which is a little green circle so it’s very subtle.  Then clients can see it and it gives the image recognition, but it doesn’t damage or ruin the photo because people want to use those for profile pictures or whatever.

Taylor: I’m the complete opposite – I put the website because that’s where I want them to go.

Download link: Episode 10

Potluck Photo: Episode 10

Question #1: What are some of the best practises when the subject is backlit? (I had a ceremony, and it was at a dock over a lake, and it was tough to get any textures behind the subjects – no flash because they were 50 feet away.)

Dave: I shot yesterday that way at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, and it was a little challenging.  So the best practise I think is expose the skin tones and let happens what happens.

Taylor: I always step back for the wide shot to get everything –  expose for the entire scene when you’re shooting wide.  But if you’re shooting at 200 mm, just go for the skin tones and sacrifice the background.

Another thing – if it’s possible, always try to have the background in shade for seperation (if that makes any sense at all).

Dave: The thing about the long lens is that you can line up – like, if the bride has light hair, you want to find something dark to put against it, and with the long lens you can do that.  Like, you can pick your angle and use a dark building or if you’re at a lake, an island in the distance and line it up with her hair so you get that clarity.

And also, I try to avoid shooting really low like at 2.8, so I try to go up to 5.6 or F8 for that setting because it gives you more clarity, and if it’s really backlit, you can stop that glow.

Taylor: And I always try to put myself in that backlit situation – more controlled with photos of just them.  And at that point, I’ll open it wide and let whatever happens happen because I like a little bit of light leaking in from the sun or something.

“Art is knowing which mistakes to keep” is a quote I picked up somewhere.

Question #2: Adobe RGB or sRGB in camera?

Dave: Taylor and I were chatting about that, and we don’t even know which one we use.

Taylor: Whatever default is in-camera, I just shoot whatever colour space my camera originally told me to shoot and I haven’t changed it.

Dave: I think I use Adobe, but I’m not even sure about that.  I think sRGB gives you a more vibrant and dynamic spectrum, but if that’s not printable it’s no good to us, right?

Taylor: At the end of the day, whoever you’re printing through, a lot of companies will just convert it to whatever colour space they use – so at that point it doesn’t matter what you’ve shot it at.

Dave: sRGB’s good for web – I think it gives you better saturated colours and whatnot.

Question #3: Which batteries do you recommend for flashes?

Dave: In terms of rechargables, I use Ansamnn batteries – it’s a German battery, it’s a 2850 and holds a decent charge.  You can charge it up and it’ll go all day.  Just get a really decent charger – something that does triple charging and all that.

Taylor: I just use whatever Energizer batteries I bought from Best Buy.  I think they’re re-chargable at 2300, so it’s enough – I typically always use more controlled with flash, so my batteries don’t tend to burn out.  I don’t think I’ve ever punched through an entire set of batteries at a wedding, but every now and then it’s good to switch them out after important points, but honestly the only time I’m using flash is at reception; usually for a couple shots, and that’s about it.

Dave: I think it’s a pretty low cost thing to have.  Every six months or at the start of every season, I’ll always buy six or seven packs of the same ones because you want to use the same ones at the same charge.  So I’ll get a ton of them, and I’ll change them at the start of the day and change them for the reception – so I have them for the entrance walk and all that.

Taylor: Random tangent question: do you cycle out your cards every few months or do you let them ride until they look worn?

Dave: I like big cards, and I know some photographers use 4 gigs, but I use 32 gig which isn’t expensive – and I can shoot a whole wedding with them.

Taylor: And they’re always on sale – even if the sticker says $350, they’re always about $220 or $200.

Dave: I carry about 150 gigabytes a card just in case I have to shoot two weddings in a row and didn’t get a chance to download.

Taylor: Absolutely.  I have four cards I cycle between now.  Until the wedding’s edited and out the door, I like to have that physical copy of it, so I’ll shoot one copy per card and keep it at my house until I have to shoot over it.  And usually if I have four cards, in theory I’m usually shooting about four or five weddings a month and it’s been working out well.

Dave: I back up that night to about two or three places and keep the cards as long as possible.

Taylor: Yeah, as soon as I get home I ditch everything to SmugMug so within about two hours I have my jpegs uploaded to as many places Smug Mug backs up – which is spread to about two or three continents, so I feel kind of safe about that.  It’s in jpeg form, but most stuff’s in jpeg so that’s fine.

Question #3: What’s your favourite techniques to relax the subject?

Dave: This is an excellent question because when I was first learning, I just pretended to shoot through the first roll because the first 30 frames are a bit dicey with the comfort level of the client – and my comfort level, too.  And I didn’t have the money to be wasting on rolls of film.

Taylor: I find that the more I shoot the more I’ve been getting usable images from the first few minutes.  I start off walking around, talking and stop them at about two locations which are usually the farthest locations I can stretch out – and that way they get a bit more in the mindset.  Then I like to blast out a bunch of frames when they’re getting into the “photography pose” they think I want them to be in, and I’ll blast about three frames of that actual pose just in case they blink (these are usually the “parent” photos).  Then I’ll take another 10 frames when they get out of that pose and start playing around again.

Dave: The other thing I love – for group shots – is to get everyone posed up, then I’ll shoot a couple of frames, tell them they look amazing and show them so they begin to relax.  As soon as they’ve seen we’ve got the shot, I’ll shoot more for safety, and because they think these are only the back-up shots, they’re always better.

Taylor: I also like to make a personal connection with everyone during the “getting ready” stage – even if it’s just the bridesmaids since the groomsmen are usually pretty chilled out.  Just some lines here and there, make some comments and make them feel at ease.

Dave: The more we let people know we’re easy going, relaxed and comfortable, the more they enjoy the day.  And I tell them that.  I tell them it’s just a wedding day, to have as much fun as you can, and that we’re just going to take some photos.

Taylor: And everyone that walks away from the day with that mindset will refer your name along – even if they haven’t seen your photos yet because they’re just going by the way you acted on the day.  I find that a lot of my brides will refer me after I meet with them – even if we haven’t done the engagement shoot and the wedding because we’ve connected right away and they feel comfortable.

Dave: Our role really is to be friends – to calm anxieties, to keep the energy and to have fun.  We’re kind of like the gel on the wedding day: bringing two families together who don’t really know each other, and because of that, it’s really important to be a people person.

Download link: Episode 9

This is not episode 11!

Don’t forget to follow our lovely iTunes feed on the sidebar!

Question #1: What TV shows do you recommend? *(Likely the best question we’ve ever received.)

Dave: I just finished watching the first two seasons of Fringe, and it’s so good.  If you’re an X-Files fan, you’re going to love Fringe.

Taylor: How I Met Your Mother – it’s a great show.  Neil Patrick Harris is pretty much a hero and his character on that show is both ironic and amazing.

Dave: And then all the obvious ones – like Dexter.

Question #2: Do you turn down a bride if she’s not a fit for you or your company?  And how do you go about doing such things?

Taylor: I typically pre-qualify really well.  If we’re not a right fit, usually the bride’s not even going to attempt to book me.  Usually we’ll meet and realize there’s no connection there, and then there’s no follow up email on my part, so the problem usually goes away.

Dave: As simple as this sounds, turn off the charm.  If you’re halfway through the meeting and you’re not feeling the vibe and you think she may be a bridezilla, just turn off your charm, hand over your prices and ask if there’s anything else you can tell them about.  If you don’t want to do it, don’t hustle for it.

Taylor: I’ve been a believer of the 80/20 rule – where 20% of your clients take up 80% of your time, so I’ve been doing my best to try and avoid booking those 20%.  And I know maybe it’s a financial loss, but it gives me so much more time to live my life.

Dave: And you want to shoot a job you love, anyway.  We put so much heart and soul into our work that it doesn’t make sense to make that investment if you’re not happy.

Taylor: I found that when I was first starting out I attracted more of “those” brides – and I think that comes with the price tag.  They’re the people that don’t really appreciate wedding photography and they consider you the “button-pusher” like that’s all you’re there for.  The more you move up in price range, the more the people that book you appreciate what you do.  And if they’re not the right fit, you can tell them you don’t think it’s working out and send them to other photographers: “I think you’d really connect with so-and-so”.

Or the other more lucrative method is to call and say someone already booked that date – unless they’re willing to re-arrange their wedding, and in that case I think you’re destined to shoot them.

Question #3:  What books/audio books do you suggest listening to?

Dave: I put this out on Facebook a couple weeks ago myself because I was looking for marketing inspiration, and I got some awesome tips.  I like Seth Godin and I listen to his audio books when I’m driving around.

Taylor: I really like everything by Malcolm Gladwell as well as Seth and Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris – it’s actually a life-changing book.

Dave: If you’re ready to put it into effect and

challenge yourself this book will blow your mind.

Taylor: It’s probably the reason I started outsourcing everything, too.

Dave: It puts forth the idea that if you’re not critical in the process you shouldn’t be doing it.  You should be on your business, not in it – if you don’t want to play an employee, pay a subcontractor for the work you need done so you can free up your time and shoot more – because that’s where the money is.

Taylor: You’re essentially buying back your freedom from your business, and it’s revolutionized everything.

Dave: And that’s where the 80/20 principle comes in – though he calls it the 95/5 principle because the ratio’s even higher.  He had 20 good clients and 80 bad ones, so with the 80, he told them the minimum they needed to order and the way they had to go about it – and he fired his clients, basically.  So that way, he could service the 20 twice as well.

Taylor: Another good one I just finished was Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh which is the Zappo story, and it’s one I’m willing to put Four Hour Workweek.  It’s his story, and it starts back from age 3 and moves onward, and it’s ridiculous to see where he started and where he ended up.

Question #4: Should I shoot an entire wedding with a ring light?

Taylor: Yes.  The answer is definitely yes.

Dave: If you want something different and unique, yes – but you’ll need long extension cables.

Taylor: But you can get portable ones.  But seriously I try to avoid that.  I like the Better Bounce Card which is a little sock thing, and if you head to http://www.betterbouncecard.com there’s a how-to on how to make it.  I’ve never used it, but it’s a sock that goes into the flash and it stops the light from going into the guests’ eyes, so any light just hits the wall instead.  But I’m sure you can buy the actual product if you’d rather.

But the answer is yes.  Yes, definitely do it.

Question #5:  Are there any online communities you suggest checking out?

Dave: In terms of photo discussions, online learning and interaction, I definitely recommend potluckphoto.com.   And if not that, I’m a huge advocate for Jerry Ghionis ICE Society.  Every month he puts out a new chapter and it’s got how-tos and videos, and when you sign up for it, you can watch every video going backwards.

Taylor: And it’s cheap and easy to sit at your computer and stream them.  I really found it helpful to see his approach to everything – but just to see him working on an actual wedding day was really beneficial to me.  I know that posing everything so specifically isn’t for me, but I know that now because of watching the videos.

Dave: And DWF.

Taylor: Yeah.  I was a member, but my membership just lapsed.  It’s a great place to get started, but my issue is that it cycles mid-year and the same questions start coming back in.  And it’s almost too big of a community to feel like it’s yours

Dave: I think the key to using a site like that is not read everything from everyone, but to find a few people that put out good advice.  The thing that frustrates me is that when someone raises a good question, about 50 people say “great question” – where I’d prefer it to remain succinct.

Tayor: And it’s overwhelming the amount of information you get sometimes.  Personally if the topic’s more than two pages and I haven’t started at the beginning  there’s about a zero per cent chance I’ll read it.

The other one I use is Open Source Photo. It’s an overwhelming amount of categories for me, where I’d much rather have five good forums with interactive forums than something that gets updated every three or four days.  DWF is a great site, though, for someone just getting started – there’s a lot of information on there.

Download link: Episode 8

Fun and exciting point:

• How much do we want an iPhone 4?
  
• Going from Av to shooting manual.
  
• Raw or Jpeg?
  
• How do you handle finances in the off-season?
  
• How do you market yourself to higher end weddings without having shot them previously.

Question #1 (a question we asked ourselves): How much do you want the new iPhone?

Dave: I want one badly – I’m obsessed with amazing technology, and when I saw video calling I thought it was awesome.  And the hi-def video, in-phone editing – amazing.

Taylor: I saw the Cannon 7D vs. video iPhone comparison video – and the 7D won in my opinion.  Actually, that’s debatable.  The iPhone is different, but at the same time, with some good editing you could make some great stuff.

Question #2: As a DSLR beginner, how do I go from Av to shooting manual (especially indoor shots and portrait shots since I’m having difficulty)?

Dave: Easiest solution – get a faster lens, even if it’s a cheap ($400 – 50 mm, 1.4) prime.  It does a beautiful job, it’s fast and you can use it in those situations.

Taylor: One thing I remember doing when in that position was snapping a few random frames on AV mode, and usually one in five would be the exposure I was looking for, and then I would go to the setting that shot was at and shoot with that.  If you’re shooting the same conditions, it works.

Dave: The way I approach it is that you want to minimize your ISO and you want to pick up your ambient exposure – like if you’re shooting portraits, you want your background to be exposed and not just black and then you’re not relying on flash so much.

Taylor: Exactly, it looks more natural.

Dave: So get a low-ish aperture, minimize your ISO (1600 or 800 ISO), lock in your manual settings (say 60 F2 or 1.8 or whatever), then let your flash do the metering itself.  So bounce your flash into a wall next to you or behind you – not the ceiling, go for a wall because you’re getting horizontal light – and if you can do that, you can control the exposure.

Question #3: Raw or Jpeg?

Taylor: I shot Jpeg for the longest time, and the only reason I recently switched to raw is because I have someone else processing my photos for me, and I’ve found that colours and stuff when you’re shooting jpeg doesn’t come back as nice.  So I’ve switched to raw and everything’s been fine, and I haven’t had any issues.

Dave: As I mentioned last week, I just finished a Jerry Ghionis workshop, and he’s all about getting it in-camera and not doing any posts – so Photoshopping in-camera and being really peticular about your lighting, getting posing and everything just right.  Then whatever you shoot it’s already done and you can upload it straight to your preview gallery, and you don’t need to edit it.  So ideally, we should be shooting in high-colour jpeg I would say because that’s what matters to clients at the end of the day.

Taylor: The raw’s just kind of a safety net if you blow out the exposure.

Dave: That said, we shoot in raw because we want that extra 2% margin – to save a shot that would’ve been lost otherwise, and if you shoot raw you can save them.

Taylor: If you’re shooting in-studio and have complete control over the lighting it’s definitely a jpeg situation, but if you’re shooting a wedding, it’s just nice to have that background unit – just in case.  I’ve also found that whenever I shoot photos for anything other than an outsource project, I like the colours off the jpeg better.  So whenever I import it in and it gives me that jpeg preview, I like that and it’s pretty much exactly how I’m going to edit that photo.  So if it kicks it in raw, and I have to edit back to jpeg, it’s kind of a redundant step.

Dave: I’ve noticed that, too.  I think light rim automatically tries to correct lens separations and do a bunch of other stuff, while I think jpeg creates the best Nikon or Cannon can do.

Taylor: I just have a really good understanding of white balance [looks good when] during the day – actually I pretty much stay in the shade all day – and usually that gives me exact perfect colours that I’m looking for.

Question #4: How do you handle finances in the off-season?

Dave: This is a good question – I think we’re all notoriously bad at this as photographers.  I think the first thing is getting studio management software so you can forecast “when” in terms of payments and stuff.  You just plug them in, it gives you a graph, and you can see it coming months away if you have an off-month and you can plan for it.

Taylor: Through the winter is usually the time when I have the most money because I’m booking weddings, and last January I booked about 16 weddings in 30 days.  I kind of fly by the seat of my pants, I guess – so you probably shouldn’t listen to me about financial advice.

Dave: No, but you put money away for savings and you plan for your future.

Taylor: Oh yeah.

Dave: And I think that’s just one of the important things about running a business or running a household.  When payments come in, you get excited about how much money you’re getting in, but you want to make sure you’re putting aside 10 or 15%.

Taylor: I started when I was 15, and I just started paying myself first – like investments and whatnot.  And I’ve just kept putting $150 into it every month since I was 15 or 16 up until whenever I retire, so that’s kind of my retirement plan as long as I keep upping that value every now and then.

Question #5: How do you market yourself to higher-end weddings without having shot them previously?

Taylor: I think that everyone should be – if you’re trying to push your brand – showing elegant, luxury images if possible.  You can shoot them at “regular” weddings – it’s just about selecting your shots carefully for your website.

Dave: I’d say as your shooting, be conscious of what shots your taking.  For Charlotte and I, from the very start we set out thinking if the bride has a designer gown and had to go cheaper for the other things, then shoot the gown, shoot the label, make it obvious, light it beautifully and post those images.  It’s really about showing the most beautiful outlets of each wedding.

Taylor: It’s also kind of a building process.  I feel like every wedding that I get booked for is a little better than the last one that comes in detail – so the ones I’m shooting now will help me to book more elegant and expensive stuff in the future.

Dave: And what we do with our workshops, we tell people to bring nice cases, bring nice dresses, bring nice shows, bring beautiful models and shoot that sort of stuff during workshops.  And I know that’s a grey area because some photographers may think that’s a grey area because those aren’t real shoots, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s self-marketing and any other company in the world would do that, too.

Taylor: It’s definitely a grey area.  The way I view it is that if you’re setting up the shots, those are your images.  But if it’s a massive shoot-out, and someone’s posing a model in front of 300 photographers, that’s probably something you don’t want on your website.  As for details, I have no issues with that.

Download link: Episode 6

Talking points!

• Workshops in Canada,
• Favorite Album Supliers,
  
• How often do we adjust our pricing,
  
• Print Advertising

Download link: Episode 6

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Topics this week!

• Workshops and WPPI
• Skips Summer School
  
• Best Lenses Under $500
• Getting Uncle Bobs off your back
• Monitor Calibration