{"id":12425,"date":"2010-07-09T14:46:48","date_gmt":"2010-07-09T18:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.5starweddingmagazine.com\/?p=12425"},"modified":"2017-11-22T22:28:43","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T22:28:43","slug":"wedding-photography-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wedding-photography-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Wedding Photography \u2013 Business Transaction or Affair of The Heart?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now here\u2019s a strange thing (or maybe not \u2013 depending on how you look at it) when thinking about what I was going to write in this post the first thing I wanted to get right was the title.\u00a0 I wanted to put across that when you \u201cbuy\u201d your wedding photographer&#8217;s services you will more than likely do so in one of two ways \u2013 either it will be a service you \u201cneed\u201d to buy in and a very calculated decision based mostly on the costs involved or it will be a \u201cWow I must have these for my wedding\u201d type love affair where you fall in love with what you see on your photographer&#8217;s website.\u00a0 If they cost a little above your planned photography budget then you will find the extra somehow because you\u2019ve just got to have them.\u00a0 So that was what I was contemplating whilst thinking of my title.\u00a0 Now here\u2019s the strange thing\u2026.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As I was writing the title I thought about how we sell our wedding photography or perhaps more accurately\u00a0how people buy from us.\u00a0 It may surprise some of you to learn that for us it\u2019s also very much an affair of the heart and not a business transaction.\u00a0 That\u2019s not to say that we don\u2019t have a minimum price below which we are unlikely to book \u2013 of course we do \u2013 we have to make a living and we have to cover the costs of the excellent products and albums we offer.\u00a0 Second best simply isn\u2019t good enough for us.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But in order for us to in many instances stand out in the rain, deal with cheeky, often worse for wear guests sometimes difficult family relationships with tact and diplomacy, look after and almost pamper not just the bride but those around her all day long and then at the end of the day still produce our best work ever (because we are only ever as good as our last wedding) there has to be something more in it for us than money alone.\u00a0 I suppose what I am referring to is job satisfaction in its broadest sense.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12426\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-12426\" title=\"FNS Photography\" src=\"http:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/fns2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"608\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12426\" title=\"FNS Photography\" src=\"http:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/fns2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"608\" \/><\/noscript> Image courtesy of FNS Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So we start off with four people \u2013 you two and us.\u00a0 The relationship between us needs to be pretty equal in order for it to work on the day \u2013 i.e. we need to want to photograph your wedding as much, if not more, as you want us to photograph it for you.\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Does the most amazing, special day of your entire life want to be just another mark on the photographer\u2019s year planner until they have their quota filled for the year?\u00a0 Of course not!\u00a0 Ideally you want your photographers to be looking forward to photographing your wedding and spending the day with you because, believe me, if they are not then it will, no matter how hard they try on the day be reflected in some way in the pictures.\u00a0 The number of times we go just that little bit further, stay just a few moments longer, watch a little more carefully because we suspect something a little special is about to happen and are rewarded with some beautiful moments and expressions is high.\u00a0 Not everything happens just when you expect it to on a wedding day or just how you are expecting it to happen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Take the signing of the register picture for example.\u00a0 One never to be missed at every wedding \u2013 with the increase in civil ceremonies and peculiar registrars it\u2019s also one of the shots which is getting more and more regimented and unemotional to shoot.\u00a0 It\u2019s a set up.\u00a0 One of the \u201cmust have\u201dpictures for the album.\u00a0 But do you know that virtually every time the couple kiss after signing the register as a set up shot as the photographer stands down and the guests are invited up to take their shots the couples nearly always 99\/100 times have another moment when they kiss?\u00a0 They can\u2019t help themselves.\u00a0 It\u2019s an intimate moment between two people who for a nana second are the only two people in a room full of people.\u00a0 It\u2019s one not to be missed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Take the confetti picture \u2013 another example.\u00a0 We get some great shots of this.\u00a0 But what happens immediately after the confetti has been thrown?\u00a0 Either one of two things \u2013 if not both \u2013 firstly some people will try to stuff the confetti down the front of the brides dress \u2013 this makes a good \u201cfun\u201d picture with great expressions.\u00a0 Secondly flower girls and little children from the wedding will start gathering up the confetti.\u00a0 They are drawn to it like a magnet.\u00a0 Now there\u2019s two ways to capture this second photo opportunity if you are going to \u2013 the first (rather boring if you are not careful) is to simply take the shot, the second however is to get down to the kiddies level and take the shot from their angle \u2013 it makes a great shot and well worth the effort.\u00a0 That same principle can be applied to photographing kids anytime at a wedding.\u00a0 Get down on their level \u2013 see the world as they see it \u2013 you will be rewarded with some interesting pictures.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These are just two examples from the many moments that go to make a wedding day.\u00a0 I\u2019m a romantic at heart and I very much shoot for expression \u2013 specifically the expressions of love and affection between two people.\u00a0 Now that isn\u2019t just limited to the bride and groom.\u00a0 I love the moment when the Father of the bride sees his daughter for the first time on the wedding day for example.\u00a0 Nearly always tough men soften and you can see the love in their eyes.\u00a0 Nearly always the bride looks expectantly at her father as if almost seeking approval for one last time but the shot that many photographers miss is the mother of the bride watching all this going on.\u00a0 She loves them both dearly.\u00a0 She\u2019s probably been a party to the bride choosing the dress and helping her to get dressed on the wedding morning.\u00a0 She\u2019s as excited about her husband\u2019s reaction to his daughter as the bride is.\u00a0 This is mums\u2019 moment too.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12427\" style=\"width: 801px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-12427\" title=\"FNS Photography\" src=\"http:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/fns1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"801\" height=\"609\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12427\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12427\" title=\"FNS Photography\" src=\"http:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/fns1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"801\" height=\"609\" \/><\/noscript> Image courtesy of FNS Weddings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So now I\u2019ve talked a little about why wedding photography is an affair of the heart for us what about you?\u00a0 What makes you consider a particular photographer over another?\u00a0 Is it a cost thing or is it a passion for what they do and offer?\u00a0 Without knowing the photographer can you envisage them at your wedding and imagine the pictures they may take of you and your family for you?\u00a0 Or do you picture and album made by a particular manufacturer filled with faceless pictures?\u00a0 They remain faceless until after the day because it\u2019s simply another box ticked on the long list of things you have \u201cto do\u201d before the day.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a reality even in your imagination.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Do you think that you might be able to \u201cbarter down\u201d your photographer in price to photograph your day for you, sometimes to the point that, as in other wedding services you have bought in, it becomes a game of wills to see who will give the most before walking away?\u00a0 If you love the work of the photographer you are trying to negotiate with let me tell you this is a very risky game to play.\u00a0 You might end up with a real bargain but there\u2019s also a great chance that you will end up with all of nothing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Conversely do you simply love what they offer and if your budget will allow you\u2019re going to have them?\u00a0 If you do this will come across to your photographer and there is a chance that even if they are slightly above your budget if they have any room to maneuver on what is included \u2013 say by decreasing the album size or number of pictures initially included then your photographer may be willing to try to compromise to an affordable price for you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">John Ruskin \u2013 a much more intelligent person than I once famously said:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><strong>It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little.<\/strong><\/em><strong><em><br \/>\n<\/em><em>When you pay too much you lose a little money.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>That is all.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing that you bought was incapable of doing the thing that you bought it to do!<\/em><br \/>\n<em>The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>It cannot be done\u2026.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And if you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk that you run.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And the people, who consider price alone, are this man\u2019s lawful prey.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I know I\u2019m biased but he could have been talking about <a title=\"Wedding Photography\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fnsweddings.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wedding photography<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a9 Sharon Malone <a title=\"Luxury Wedding Photography\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fnsweddings.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.fnsweddings.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now here\u2019s a strange thing (or maybe not \u2013 depending on how you look at it) when thinking about what I was going to write in this post the first thing I wanted to get right was the title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wedding-photography"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}