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Hire a Photographer!

November 29, 2011 By 3 Comments

I hear it and see it all the time: wedding vendors that do fabulous work but have lame photos to show for it. They spent hours sweating over the perfect food display or those gorgeous tissue paper pom-poms hung perfectly from a tree or the centerpieces on top of the perfect linen. Then after the fact, often months after the fact, the wedding photographer, after much arm twisting and begging sends them a file of stunning prints of the B&G, the wedding bands and a picture of shoes! Wow, score!

Now whose fault is this? Well it damn sure isn’t the photographers. They were hired to shoot the B&G and the list they sent them, not your details. (unless they were on the brides list, that is)

Here is a tip: 

Hire your own photographer!

Then they are working off of your list. You should get the images in a timely fashion and have just the shots you want.

OK, here it comes…

I am about to get hit by photographers that forbid other shooters at their weddings. In this instance, get over it. These vendors are hiring their own professional so they get the marketing materials that they need and have every right to own. Besides, you obviously aren’t shooting what they need in a way that helps them. Your client is the bride. You need to find a way to work this out. I mean come on, 9 times out of 10 this outside shooter will be done before the guests arrive and you won’t ever see them.

But WAIT! There’s more!

Hey you photographers just starting out…

I am always asked how you can break-in with the top designers and planners. How about you start hitting them up to shoot their details? Do a good job over a period of time and they may just add you to their roster.

In my outsider, twisted opinion that is a win for everybody.

  • The vendors get exactly what they need.
  • The wedding photographer doesn’t have to worry about shooting for the vendors.
  • The new photographer gets some real world experience and some new contacts.
What’s not to love?
Oh, and I get great images to work with when marketing my clients.

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Filed Under: Ask Christine, Back to Basics, Building Your Business, Marketing, Outrageous Marketing, Website Design Tagged With: , , , ,
  • http://www.ashleysbrideguide.com ashley

    Amen!  I agree with everything you’ve said.  You are right.  The B+G prepared their list for the photog and thats his/her client and wed pros arent their client.  But the pros still rely on the photos which is why more and more are have no choice but to hire their own photog.  because 1) they usually dont get the shots they want (as you mentioned above) 2) they sometimes must wait 6 months to get the photos or NEVER get the photos and even worse 3) sometimes the bride has hired a sub-par photog and the the pros cant even use the photos.    

    I do hope that wed pros and quality photogs can start to work better together and realize it is a win win for all involved. 

  • http://celladoraweddingphotography.com John Yates

    As a wedding photographer my biggest piece of advice to other vendors for getting shots of their work is to simply ask.  If there is detail that has special significance or a lot of work went into I want to make sure I get a great photo of it.  Also make sure that you have a business card on hand if you don’t know the photographer so they can have your contact information and let you know when the photos are up (or better yet include you in their blog post about the wedding). 

    Refer and network with photographers who you know can capture great details so you don’t have to spend money hiring your own photographer.  As a wedding photographer its a no brainer for me to get great shots that other vendors can use because that gets my work in front of that many more brides. 

    • Anonymous

      In theory you’re right, but in the real world it rarely works out that way.