As photographers, we’re all aware of the variety of styles and styles within wedding photography, some of which will be great to capture images in and some of which you may want to avoid if you’re serious about building an image business. If you want to avoid a wedding photography mistakes disaster, whether that’s bad lighting, incorrect focus, poor post-production work, or just a bad photographer, it’s important that you pay attention to details, ask questions, and keep taking pictures until you find someone who does them right.
Below is a list of mistakes I’ve seen photographers make at weddings, how to avoid them, and examples of what to watch out for:
Camera Phone Vs. Professional Camera
Most photographers start a photography business making beautiful portraits for weddings, but once you get a little business going, you realize that it’s a lot more fun to capture those special moments with a camera you’ve owned for years. But many photographers will have clients who want to book a wedding photographer with a great camera but don’t want to pay a good camera price for the wedding photography.
You don’t want to be spending money to try to make more money when it’s likely not going to pay off in the end. It’s best to start shooting weddings with the camera you have, which may be your smartphone camera. Then, you can use it to capture images for your client who needs a professional camera, and you can make a small payment for that specific wedding. You can always switch to your professional camera after the wedding if it pays off.
Take Photos Too Much In The Same Place
I see photographers shooting the same areas of the wedding nearly every time. It can be very tempting to always shoot in the same areas because you want to get the shot you’ve been working for. But it can be very dangerous when photographers don’t think about the next spot you need to shoot. You may think you’re going to get that same great shot again, but you may not. If you don’t work your photography business like a business, you might make some of your clients cry, and it will be very difficult to keep working in the same places repeatedly.
Make Mistakes With The Camera
Again, the best thing to do in any photography business is to do things the right way, and that’s why you need to ask questions, be conscious of your mistakes, and learn from them so you can make your business a success. But if you make mistakes, make sure you take the photos for your clients so they don’t end up regretting hiring you.
Don’t Forget To Take Photos During The Wedding Ceremony
One of the most frustrating things to do as a photographer is not to take any photos during the wedding ceremony. If you’re shooting a wedding, you may want to get some shots of the bride getting ready with her family in the church. But you might end up missing some of the most important moments, and some of your clients will think you’re trying to make a deal to get the best photos. I understand the pressure to get the best photos, but sometimes you have to ignore the pressure of trying to get photos and just make sure you get some great photos for your clients.
The camera Doesn’t Work
To make sure your camera works, make sure you turn the camera off before the wedding starts. Then make sure you do everything right in post-production. When things don’t work the way you want them to, ask a photographer who does wedding photography if he knows what to do.
Make Mistakes With Making The Bookings
Even if you do everything right with the booking, it can be very easy for photographers to make mistakes with making the bookings. If you’re sending the pictures to a client’s email address, make sure the email address is attached to your email marketing program. If it’s not attached, you’ll spend lots of time trying to figure out where the email is sent.
Make sure you’re submitting the bookings properly and that they look good on your website. Make sure you’re sending the booking properly to the website. Don’t make the booking to someone’s Facebook page and forget to attach it to your website. Make sure you’re doing everything right.
On the flip side of that, sometimes you will make mistakes when booking clients. Make sure you make the booking to someone’s actual email address. Make sure it’s not on the social media page, or somewhere where you can make the mistake. Don’t leave anything open, so you can’t make the mistake. Think about it, if you make a mistake, it’s going to be very hard to fix it. Make sure you’re going to make every booking properly.
The best photographers aren’t trying to make mistakes, they’re just trying to make great photos. The mistake is when photographers try to make as many bookings as possible, even if the bookings don’t work out. Don’t take the booking with the email address attached to the photographer’s email marketing program.
