If I were to rank the types of photography in terms of their difficulty, I would put wedding photography at the top of the list.
I'm not saying that it's impossible to be a successful wedding photographer - far from it.
However, I think it takes a little extra work because the stakes are so high.
After all, as a wedding photographer, you bear the burden of recording one of the most significant moments in your clients' lives. That's heavy stuff!
With that in mind, I put together this quick list of wedding photography truths that will shed some light on the realities of throwing your hat in the wedding photography ring.
It Can Be Hard to Maintain Balance
Being a wedding photographer is a ton of work, and because of that, it can easily throw your life out of balance.
By that, I mean that before you know it, being a wedding photographer might be all that you feel like you do. Working weekends certainly doesn't help...
There will be times - particularly during wedding season - that you might not see your friends and family that much. That can lead to some pretty heavy feelings of isolation, and you might even wonder if this is the job for you.
Having said that, if you can find ways to bring that balance back, wedding photography is a great career.
When it comes down to it, having a better work-life balance can often come down to good scheduling and choice.
For example, if you know you'll be working this weekend, take Thursday afternoon off. If you have an engagement shoot out-of-town, bring the family along for a little vacation. Get up 10 minutes earlier each morning to have breakfast with your kids before you take them to school.
Yes, these suggestions might not always work, but they're certainly worth a try!
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It's Incredibly Rewarding
All the long hours and time away from your friends and family can be trying. But at the end of the day, being a wedding photographer can be incredibly rewarding.
Aside from the fact that the photos you take will be admired for decades to come, being a wedding photographer means that you get to witness the most important day in your clients' lives. That's pretty special.
That's not to mention all the people you get to meet and photograph.
Seeing generations and generations of a family come together in one spot for one event is fun to see - and can be even more fun to document with your camera!
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It Ebbs and Flows
There's no getting around the fact that weddings are seasonal.
You'll be busy in the spring and the fall, not so busy in the winter and the dead of summer.
With those ups and downs in the demand for your services, you need to figure out how you're going to even out those peaks and valleys.
That might mean taking on different types of work - engagement sessions, family portraits, newborn photography, and the like - or it might mean working more during the peak times of the year to have enough money to make it through the slow times.
Either way, it can be a challenge, but, again, it's part of figuring out how to have better balance in your life.
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Your Products Need to Speak Volumes
You can be the most skilled photographer on the planet, but if you present your work in the form of cut-rate prints and albums, you might as well close your business doors right now.
Quality photos need to be presented in a way that enhances them, increases their value, and makes them something even more special for your client.
Look at the image above - now that makes a visual statement, does it not?
It's an Acrylic Prestige Collection Album from nPhoto, one of the best manufacturers and suppliers of photo albums in the world.
If you want your work to make a real statement, nPhoto's albums are the way to go.
Where some printers might build their albums with flimsy paper and cheap cover materials, that's certainly not the case with nPhoto.
They offer a variety of cover materials for their different albums including supple leatherette and texture-rich textile that give their albums an immediate wow factor. The cover can be modified by the client in virtually endless ways, with different material colors, fonts, album corners, and so on.
In the case of their Acrylic Prestige album, there's a refined acrylic window on the cover that beautifully frames the cover photo in a way that gives the album a beautiful, modern look.
Inside, the beauty continues. nPhoto's albums feature layflat pages that are the perfect medium for enjoying the photos inside.
And since the images are printed on 800g/m2 paper, the pages feel sturdy and weighty, like something that will last forever.
Speaking of printing, nPhoto makes use of silver halide Noritsu HD technology and metallic and silk papers (which can be intermixed in a single album!) that make the images leap off the page in beautiful color and detail.
You get tons of options too. You can have as few as 10 pages or as many as 70 pages in one album, select from multiple sizes of albums, and offer you clients features like padded covers, laser etched covers, and edge seams.
The bottom line is this: you can work hard and maintain a great balance between work and home. You can enjoy taking photos of these special moments all you want. But if you don't present those photos in the best light, it'll be difficult - if not impossible - to make a success of your business.
In that regard, the products you offer are the linchpin to your success. With that in mind, choose to work with the best - nPhoto.
Judging from the sample images throughout this article, I think you can see that these albums are the ideal way to present your photos!
Learn More:
- Explore nPhoto's Line of Photo Albums and Accessories
- Why We Need Photo Albums, Even in the Digital Age