12-24-08

The title of this blog is a shout out to all my Canadian readers. You know who you are :)

Disclaimer: if you are not a photographer, I would hate for you to waste your time reading this post. Maybe read This instead. Or, if videos are more your thing…try this.

Thanks.

So I get emails every day from people asking how I do what I do - in regards to the photography sector of my life. Lighting…post pro…business questions…blah blah blah. I never return these emails. Simply because I really do not consider myself qualified to offer such advise on anything. In all things, I generally consult Wikipedia. However, last weekend I did my once-a-month wedding (I generally only agree to do one a month). While I was there I realized that considering most the people that ask me for such tips do shoot weddings, I may be able to offer a small tip for such occasion to help better your business…this is one of the best ideas I have ever implemented into my on location *event coverage-ish type* work flow…

On the drive back to the venue the wedding was being held at, I quickly edited 10 shots from the afternoon and made them immediately available for the entire bridal party and family to see when we got there. And while I did not implement part 2 into last weekend’s wedding: It is also nice to put a slide show of say 15 edits of the bride and groom on your laptop by the cake or guest book. This is a very very good *marketing* idea in my opinion….simply because you can easily book your next client right there at the wedding. Works almost every time. Talk about killing two birds with one stone, eh? Additionally, I find it a fantastic way to show your client that you are actually pulling off what they are hiring you to do, and even exceeding such expectations (because if you are like me, every photo shoot is better than the last). I find that revealing your work while still on location also lets them relax a bit and they no longer feel the need to stress and or micro-manage you as you are shooting. Of course the big time fancy photographers can simply shoot straight to a laptop and the client can actually watch the results in real time. BUT…none of us have the cash and the assistants to do that (at least most of us don’t). But next time you do a wedding or an event of some sort - or next time you have a short trip between locations. take 10 min and pull some photos out of the bunch and give ‘em something to look at gosh darnit why dont’cha! It really sets a good tone for the rest of the day. And if you REALLY want to over deliver: burn them a quick CD of a few edits before you leave. It takes 5 min, and they will love having legit photos on their blog/facebook the next morning….you know…to supplement the point and shoot photos the maid of honor took.

I have NEVER solicited comments on this blog because that sort of stuff is silly to initiate. But for the sake of trying something new: Was this helpful? Or does everyone already do this and I am just redundant and silly?
Comment accordingly.

peace.
-daley