wedding photography

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Pete, stop accusing people of trolling please. Rich has already said it was the wrong link
 
Ah, thanks for the clarification. :)
 
Watersedge said:
**** a wekkend warrior wedding
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assuming thats 'whats' a weekend warrior , as the name suggests it refers to a part timer who predominantly shoots at weekends because them have a day job during the week.
 
kelack said:
Pete, stop accusing people of trolling please. Rich has already said it was the wrong link
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sorry kelly - I hadnt seen riches edit when i posted, you'll note that i've editted my post to match his

I've gone out of my way to be helpful to ian, so i was just understabaly annoyed at the idea that this time seemed to have been wasted... as rich's original link seemed to imply.
 
No worries, but there's been a lot of jumping to conclusions lately and if you had clicked on the link, you would have realised that it's not the same person. Different numbers, area of country etc

I think everyone needs to just take a breath and remember we are the friendly forum :)


oh and I've edited my name in your post as normally I would have stropped off at that but I'm rather enjoying my vanilla latte;)
 
kelack said:
oh and I've edited my name in your post as normally I would have stropped off at that but I'm rather enjoying my vanilla latte;)
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so why isnt your screen name "kellyack" then ? :p :LOL:
 
long story :p
 
snorton said:
Ian, taking a look at your website and taking into account the level you're at currently I think the best advice you can take, which has been offered by various people so far, is to take the site down completely.

You obviously have the domain name secured so no need to rush a website together, which is how it currently looks. Even offering services for free, people are still going to want to see your work, and there's absolutely nothing on there whatsoever, apart from the portrait on the front page. The products page again suspiciously looks like it's been copied and pasted from another site.

Spend a good few months just getting out with your camera, using it as often as you can, and speaking to friends, family members etc., using them to do shoots for your portfolio. Then as you do each shoot, post shots up on here for critique so you can gain much valuable advice on where to improve. Eventually you will gather a collection of shots, hopefully suitable to put onto a website and at least make it look a little busy, rather than a desolate set of white pages.

Granted you're wanting to set up as a togger, ww or otherwise, don't we all, but it takes time to build up and get the experience before you can get anywhere near the point of charging for services.
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(y) This

And yes that's a good point with the product shots - your still claiming copyright over images that are patently pulled from the manufacturers brochures/website - I know you said that they sent you the images to use , but you really need to check this as usually although they'll send images out for you to see what they do , most manufactures take a dim view of people using their images on websites and especially in a way that suggests that the shots are the togs own.
 
they sent the images for my web site....they where happy for me to use
 
What the OP is falling foul of is over eagerness way in-front of competence.

To get to the point where you can take money and be marginally successful at it, you need at least:

- To be a very competent photographer, able to stretch with ease and tackle things from first principles, and experience with confidence
- Have a business attitude
- Have the right gear
- A sound business model and plan, and know when to invest, and what to invest in
- Be really good at marketing, or employ the services of someone who is

Sorry to rain on your parade, but there are many very competent professional minded photographers with superb portfolio's and great websites etc... who are struggling like hell out there to get jobs, let alone break even. I know this isn't what you want to hear, to even stand a chance of bookings, you at least have to raise the standard of everything you do (photography, communications, marketing, websites) up to at least a basic professional level
 
thats *** im going to do

see if i can tag along with my mate pro photographer
get more photographic experince in challenging circumstances
get to grpps with lightroom and photoshop

thats for starters
 
Watersedge said:
they sent the images for my web site....they where happy for me to use
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were they happy for you to claim copyright over the images though ? or to imply that the pictures were yours ?
 
Richard King said:
Sorry to rain on your parade, but there are many very competent professional minded photographers with superb portfolio's and great websites etc... who are struggling like hell out there to get jobs, let alone break even. I know this isn't what you want to hear, to even stand a chance of bookings, you at least have to raise the standard of everything you do (photography, communications, marketing, websites) up to at least a basic professional level
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(y)
 
they didnt say i needed to put a disclaimer saying they wernt my images. to keep everyone happy ill do that today
 
Watersedge said:
they didnt say i needed to put a disclaimer saying they wernt my images. to keep everyone happy ill do that today
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You are missing the point

at the foot of the page you've got a line that says 'copyright digital art photography'

these images are not copyright to your business so that shouldn't be there.

I also really have to question whether you are ready to offer album design anyway, plus the people who are your target market aren't going to have the cash for expensive albums. I'd bin the products page entirely until you are at a stage to be able to realistically offer it, and just say images on a CD as part of your basic package.
 
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Watersedge said:
thats *** im going to do

see if i can tag along with my mate pro photographer
get more photographic experince in challenging circumstances
get to grpps with lightroom and photoshop

thats for starters
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There is so much practicable you need to learn that happens way before photo shop & lightroom, I mean basic text book stuff, factual stuff...

Like would you use a polariser to remove the reflection from metal or water? what white balance actually means, how to skilfully use lighting and reflectors, what F1.4 actually means, how to determine what will be in focus, composition, colour profiling, how when and what to sharpen, how to balance flash with ambient and get control. And more heady stuff like dynamic range, histograms Vs real life, basic optics i.e refraction, reflection diffraction, resolution etc. etc.
 
Watersedge said:
mind u these companies eould do the album design
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Not really - some album services provide you with templated software to upload shots to but you still need a degree of competency with PP software to select and prep the images, plus you have to decide what goes with what - its not just a case of sticking a random selection of shots into each page.

Of course there are design services arround that will do the whole thing, for a fee , but that's going to be beyond the reach of the sort of person who hires a begginer to take their wedding shots for expenses because they can't afford a more experienced tog
 
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Watersedge said:
mind u these companies eould do the album design
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Just scrap that page completely, at this moment you're not experienced enough to provide a photography service anywhere near a professional level, let alone albums.

Stop being so eager to have a web presence as not only are you not doing yourself and your image any favours, you're also not really doing the industry you're wanting to go in any favours either.
 
Watersedge said:
mind u these companies eould do the album design
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You are missing the point of being a creative professional, and you clearly haven't thought out the whole customer experience

- the shoot (you may do the shoot differently if you know the customer is using the images for a certain end product)
- presenting the images (first proof)
- customer / you choosing images for an album
- the design (they don't design themselves)
- customer accepting the design (proofing - and yes clients will not generally bow over and accept design 1)
- reworks (the bane of your life)
- delivering the design to the lab (correct output reqd)
- QC
- delivering to the customer
 
Hi, Ian :wave:

I don't do paid work and I'm not a pro...I'd say I'm moving towards competent amateur.

Firstly, I would take time and type in the forum correctly. Capitals, no text speak, improved grammar. Don't take it the wrong way, there may be people on this forum that might consider using you but you don't come across as professional.

I've looked at your 'About' page and it needs a lot of work on the basics:

* Should it be 'Parties, christenings....' ?
* This is not a sentence, 'If you would like to help me get a portfolio together, have the patience to work with me, understand that I would take a longer to complete the assignment.'
* I might consider putting your phone number first at the bottom
* fêtes instead of fetes
* : instead of ;
* competitive instead of 'competitively'

Now, I'm sure someone will want to correct my grammer....but :bat:

Cheers.
 
Watersedge said:
as you can see im not good at grammer
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so use a grammar checker , or get someone who is to proof read your copy - I'm borderline dyslexic but that's not an excuse for poorly constructed marketing copy
 
The issue we are discussing here sums it up beautifully

YOU need to realise and notice your weaknesses and deal with them before a customer does
 
Also you are committing the cardinal sin of marketing in that your page is about what they can do for you, not what you can do for them.

They are planning a wedding or similar - they don't care about helping you get a portfolio together , they want to know what you can do for them

Maybe something like this

"My name is Ian and I am based at Stoke Gifford, Bristol.

Do you need to hire a photographer to cover an event? As I am still building my portfolio I will cover weddings, parties, or christenings, within 50 miles of Bristol, for free while still providing you with excellent images of your day.

Why should you hire me?

Get great shots FREE of charge
I am fully CRB Checked
I will provide you with a rights released CD of high res images of your special day.

to find out more without obligation, please email me on info@digital-art-photography.co.uk or call 0789 072 7137 " [put a landline - you can get a skype number and set it to redirect to your mobile]
 
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so how would you put it what can i do for them besides a free shoot. how can i upload photos into a forum
 
:bang: I've just written how I'd put it

big soft moose said:
"My name is Ian and I am based at Stoke Gifford, Bristol.

Do you need to hire a photographer to cover an event? As I am still building my portfolio I will cover weddings, parties, or christenings, within 50 miles of Bristol, for free while still providing you with excellent images of your day.

Why should you hire me?

Get great shots FREE of charge
I am fully CRB Checked
I will provide you with a rights released CD of high res images of your special day.

to find out more without obligation, please email me on info@digital-art-photography.co.uk or call 0789 072 7137 " [put a landline - you can get a skype number and set it to redirect to your mobile]
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Also note that what i've written may not actually be true for your capabilities - particularly the bit about "whilst still getting excellent shots of your day" , and " get great shots free"

However there is no point in writing 'get mediocre shots' and ' I probably won't **** up your special day' because no one in their right mind would give you anyway work

which is the core point I was making above - if you can't guarantee to get decent pictures, then you aren't ready to be offering this service even for free
 
snorton said:
:LOL: shall I load the gun?
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I'm going to take a break from this thread before i say something really bad and kellywelly :)whistling:) splatterates me with the hammer of doom
 
big soft moose said:
I'm going to take a break from this thread before i say something really bad and kellywelly :)whistling:) splatterates me with the hammer of doom
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I don't blame you :). You don't want to face the wrath of kellywelly :LOL:
 
ill get some pics that i thing are good and c what u think. ill let u know then see if im totally rubish or ok ish...
 
Ian can I suggest you take all the advice that's been given here onboard and for the time being forget the website.

I too would like to be able to make the leap into setting up on my own, either full time or as a ww, and knowing I'm nowhere near that yet, am spending time taking shots for friends, family members and any other opportunity possible, to get experience under my belt, way before contemplating any kind of web presence.

Putting it bluntly Ian, at the moment you're about as near making any kind of money out of this as Stevie Wonder winning the world snooker championship.

Forget the website, it's embarrassing not only to you but to the industry. Take 6-12 months of taking pictures at every opportunity, from time to time post them up here for critique, get a Flickr account to host them on (that should be your only web presence at the moment), even do something like a 52 project, that gets you thinking about photography, shot taking, exposure, light set up etc, etc.

Then return this time next year, armed with what should be a fairly decent portfolio of shots, and then start looking at creating a website.

If all that comes across a bit blunt then I apologise, but it's meant to come across as realistic about where you're at, at this moment in time.

Trust me if you take the advice given by all on here, it will eventually make you a better photographer to the point where hopefully you can start to make some money from it.
 
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