Rex Photography

Whats the best way to get into wedding photography?

Should I approach someone to work with as an assistant? I am an amateur photographer with my own digital SLR.

Public Comments

1. Offer your services for free.
2. ask a local photographer if you can get some work experience with them maybe they will let you go to a wedding where you can try taking some photo's birthday parties are more common events maybe a friend has a party happening and you could take photos of that it will help you with getting group pictures and capuring the moment.
3. HI Ive been doing wedding photography for the past 15 years. The very first job I did was a baptism for a friend, from there I got a job for a wedding, believe me if you are good it will snowball as it did for me. you need to get someone to give you a chance, I'm lucky as I have my own business, maybe you could send some of your work to local photographers and offer your services for free, just until you get enough pics together to get yourself an album together, once you have done this then you can offer your services via the Internet or a local magazine. If you are good people will want you. I am booked every Saturday and Sunday, I am very fortunate with tons of experience under my sleeve. send me a few pics if you like, I often have to turn business away as I am fully booked and I cant be in two places at once. I have been looking for someone that shoots with a similar style to myself.
4. Stand behind the bride!!!!!!!!!!
5. i do this..and have done for 25 years or more... fisrt off, are you any good? (yes) you have a decent 8mp camera, such as a Olympus; Nikon; Cannon etc... YES... i started off doing friends and relatives, (almost for free) just to build a portfolio... at each wedding i do, i hand out cards at the reception... and i specialise in reportage. standard wedding snappers get paid a pittance, and they might do 6 weddings on a saturday, which is one reason why you only get 36 photos... yes, they may well be 120 (6x6) but your never ever going to blow them up to poster size, so 35mm was adequate, and a 8mp image can go to A3 no problem (20x16inches) i spend the whole day with the bride, 2hrs before and upto 6hrs after the wedding. i produce a record of the day, my last one was 550 shots... they took 2 whole days to rotate and edit... they fitted onto 5 Cd's... at 12p each! and that was my ONLY cost... and i charge £30 an hour... plus PC time... its around £300... which as youll realise is dead cheap compared to "names" which is why my appointment book was full... all you need is a bit of patter... some flash kit, and a fair bit of ability... and its easy, what isnt easy is the stress level... these days you can see what youve got straight away... but for 8 hours that camera and you are inseperable... its hard work.... and youre dealing with maybe hiundreds of people, and you dont know anyone... you have to also do the stock shots... and you ve got maybe an hour to do it... i teach creative digital photography/advanced image manipulation these days, but i also still do the occasional wedding... dont work for someone else, they charge around 650 quid a wedding, you as a snapper will only see around 25 quid... which is great, 6 weddings is `150 quid... i much prefer one job a day, you build a rapport with the couple, and the guests, they see you, they see your images..and invariably you get more work... oh, and as well as being a good photographer, with some good kit, you also HAVE to be a dab hand with some form of Photoshop or paintshop pro... you want to chat, email me. good luck.
6. Pass on becoming someone else's assistant. Consider starting up your own photography enterprise as discussed below. If you know anyone who has a current Mac computer, you can use IWeb to create a website showing your recent photographs. Set up an .mac account [$99 per year] and publish your IWeb webpage(s). Acquire from Vistaprint.com a colorful business card by selecting from their many templates a suitable one that meets your needs. Make sure to list the URL of your website along with a telephone answering device. Do not place your home address or anything personal such as a cellphone on this businesscard. Then when you receive the finished business card, pass it around to various churches, temples and the like to solicit business. When you receive a major photography assignment, visit your local professional camera store and "rent" the necessary camera equipment to fulfill this assignment. When starting out, you don't want to tie your money up with a piece of camera equipment which because of ever changing technology "becomes obsolete." Remember, that 90% of professional photographer are not "buying" camera equipment continually which can easily become outdated; instead, they merely "rent or lease" the camera equipment for set period of time; thereby keeping their money for other expenses. Even though you may have your heart set on an SLR and film, you may have to give up that concept for the moment, since digital photography offers the most economic method of photo reproduction. Digital imagery is easy to edit on a computer and the print quality is often far superior to regular film-generated prints. You want to buy an "essential/basic" DSLR system which has an all-around affordable accessory lenses, then consider the award winning Pentax KD series beginning with the Pentax K100D 6.1 mp DSLR with "image stabilization" built into the camera body. "Image stabilization" is essential for allowing you to take telephoto pictures at weddings, parties, while on the go and you don't have to drag along a tripod to steady your camera. Unfortunately, Canon and Nikon have chosen to install their "vibration reduction" devices into very expensive auxiliary lenses. But getting back to the Pentax K100D which comes in a starter kit consisting of two Pentax lenses: a 18-55 mm. normal lens and a 50-200 mm. telephoto which sells for $650 at samys.com. Again, the Pentax K100D starter kit runs circles around the D40 Nikon! For digital print processing, find a private professional film processing lab who can handle all your client's print orders. And with a resale license, you will be qualified for considerable "professional" discounts on lab fees. A search on the Google and Yahoo for wholesale photo albums will connect you with various distributors who, again, you can sign on as a photography studio and get a dealer's pricing for any number of albums, guest books, etc. Instead of renting a studio, take people pictures at local parks and beaches and for indoor shots, go to the client's residence or office to set up a photo shooting environment which consists of a set of lights, reflective screens, background drapery, etc. Good luck!