Wedding help...

[rpcrowe]

Tyler, I am not going to get into the "this lens is better than that lens" for weddings debate. But, here are some of my thoughts about getting some business once you have the equipment you need!

Do you have a wife or a girlfriend? Often it is possible to get a starter gig through the female chain of word-of-mouth advertising.

Another thing to do would be to join several social organizations such as the American Legion, VFW (if elgible), Knights of Columbus or any ethnic Guamanian group you can join (churches are great!). Volunteer to shoot all of their activities gratis and provide free images.

Have professionally done business cards to hand out. By all means, DO NOT have "Professional Photographer" or "Freelance Photographer" on these cards and don't try to print these on an inkjet printer. It is expected that you are a "professional" if you hand out cards and inkjet printed cards are really rinky-dink. "Freelance" just tells everyone that you are an amatuer.

You need a local phone number...

Advertise in Craigslist or in a local Navy newspaper (I assume that you are in the Navy) that you will shoot engagement photos free of charge with no obligation to shoot the wedding.

By all means, if you do get a chance to shoot a wedding; only use the photos for a portfolio if the bride and groom (especially the bride) is attractive (beautiful is even nicer). No pictures of a buffarilla (cross between a gorilla and a buffalo) marrying Dracular (but, Dracular would still be O.K. if the bride is lovely!) Prospective brides want pictures that make them look good. They don't want to see images of ugly or fat brides...

Invest in a program like Portait Professional (unless you are good at facial retouching in Photoshop).
http://www.portraitprofessional.com/

The saying that "all brides are beautiful" has the same validity as, "A black cat crossing your path will bring bad luck!" However, the idea that all brides "want to look beautiful", especially on their wedding day is totally true.

See if there are any photo groups in your area that have model shoots... Get a portfolio of attractive female portraits (You DO NEED A PORTFOLIO!). Getting together with an attractive model and renting a wedding dress as well as touching base with aspiring make-up-artists and hair stylists would also help you with your portfolio. You can phoney up the wedding pictures, especially portraits..

Finally, you can often make yourself known if you volunteer to shoot portraits for new hair stylists and make up artists. They often need photos for THEIR portfolios.

All of the above is predicated on the assumption that you have the skills to shoot a wedding. I would also advise you to get duplicates of your gear. Shooting a wedding without back-up gear is asking Mr. Murphy (of Murphy's law fame) to bite you on your you-know-where.

Good luck in your endeavors...

[jcuknz]

But a black cat crossing your path is 'Good Luck" And that is not just antipodean up-side-down logic as originally I walked upright in the northern hemisphere where I learnt such folk-lore rather than walking up-side-down down-under as I do now ....

Surely AB26 the fact is that WW does share his knowledge in answering numerous questions but doesn't want to help create a specific page on the subject .... seems a reasonable position to me.
Ignoring my historical contributions I think this thread is worth bookmarking as an answer to the question when asked in the future.

[William W]

Andre:

You seem to be giving advice and opinion as to how I should run my businesses.
That seems to be way of the topic of this thread.

However in an attempt to put an end to this tangential conversation:

The salient facts you seem to either not understand or choose to muddle are:
A) The majority of my PHOTOGRAPHY is now pro bono
B) TEACHING and LECTURING and OTHER related PHOTOGRAPHIC ACTIVITIES I do mainly as an income source.

The first activity is a business about (ultimately) selling images – and yes I do a lot of that for free and some for money.

The second activity is about selling Knowledge, Experience and Expertise – and that I do some for free and much of that activity is to put bread on our table and a roof over our head - so NO I do not give a lot of that away for free.

Regarding Categorizing and comments such as "reluctant teacher" one who "only paints the dark side of the moon” -
The first occurs to me as rude.
The second occurs to me as though you have never really read nor digested any of my posts here at CiC.

I'd appreciate no further discussion or comment from you: neither on the topic of my business activities, nor any further personal categorizations of me.

WW

[William W]

jc:
Your comment in post #42, is appreciated, thank you.

WW

[Colin Southern]

Surely AB26 the fact is that WW does share his knowledge in answering numerous questions but doesn't want to help create a specific page on the subject .... seems a reasonable position to me.

One would not need to look far at all to find many contributions from Bill - all of them extremely detailed - meticulously formatted - and just permeated with years of real-world experience. And for those, I'm sure we ALL thank you Bill!

As a fellow profession photographer (by virtue of a significant part of my yearly income coming from photography, printing, and related services), I feel the need to mention that what we care to contribute here - big or small - is really up to the individual(s) concerned; nobody gets paid for what we contribute, but I can assure you, it costs many of us dearly -- both in financial terms (ie whilst we're here we're not off doing something that pays) and in social terms ("daddy, will you PLEASE get off that computer so we can go [into town / grocery shopping / around to my friends place / to school]" (delete as applicable).

There are no obligations nor expectations of anyone regarding what they "should be" doing.

[AB26]

I feel the need to mention that what we care to contribute here - big or small - is really up to the individual(s) concerned; nobody gets paid for what we contribute, but I can assure you, it costs many of us dearly -- both in financial terms (ie whilst we're here we're not off doing something that pays) and in social terms ("daddy, will you PLEASE get off that computer so we can go [into town / grocery shopping / around to my friends place / to school]" (delete as applicable).

And therefore you deserve the medal of honor and I salute you, Mr. Southern.

You carry the mark of a true Professional. Your unselfish dedication and devotion to this forum in assisting those with a passion for Photography, in sharing knowledge, gained over many years, without fear that it might jeopardize your own position in the Photography fraternity.

We, the members of CiC (I believe all will agree with me on this point) are grateful to the likes of yourself, Sir. A truly great Professional realizes that those whom gain knowledge from him/her have to be knowledgeable in the application of that knowledge before reaching the same level of achievement.

I rest my case.

[rpcrowe]

But a black cat crossing your path is 'Good Luck" And that is not just antipodean up-side-down logic as originally I walked upright in the northern hemisphere where I learnt such folk-lore rather than walking up-side-down down-under as I do now ....

Something I have always wondered... Does the change fall out of your pocket as you walk along on that side of the world