How to become a wedding photographer in 2020.

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g:</p><p id="fe8f"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/serafin_castillo/">Serafin Castillo</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pablo_laguia/">Pablo Laguia</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jonaspeterson/">Jonas Peterson</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ferjuaristi/">Fer Juaristi</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/niravpatelweddings/">Nirav Patel</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bensasso/">Ben Sasso</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thetimeswehave">The Times We Have (that’s us)</a></p><h1 id="549e">Education</h1><p id="6eb4">Spoiler alert: this will never stop. Learn everything about gear, light, composition, and then learn some more. When you feel a little confident, learn some more. Now that you know everything about the technical stuff you should be good to go, right? Wrong. Wedding photography requires more than just being a good photographer, you will have to learn marketing, customer service, business, selling, dealing with people, psychology, you might even have to invest in physical training and the list goes on. <b>Always improve yourself, there is no better investment than that</b>. There are a lot of fake magicians that will promise you the magic formula, be careful buying courses or workshops. Do your research before investing and just know that there is no shortcut. You will have to do the hard work.</p><h1 id="64af">Hobby to business</h1><p id="fcf5">Eventually, you will become a better photographer and you get over doing that “free work” for “exposure”. Money will be exchanged for your services and that’s when you officially will have to deliver or maybe overdeliver your service to your client. I know you don’t want to deal with the business part, another spoiler alert: <b>business skill might be the most important part of becoming a wedding photographer. </b>You will soon notice that people won’t just hire you because of your creative style (after all we are all copy of each other right? Or did you forget already about the first part?). If you want to be in this industry for a long time, you better start making some business plans. You have to create a sustainable business that is profita

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ble, or else you will eventually have to find something else to do to pay your bills.</p><p id="3cf6"><b>“Wedding photography is my passion and I want to dedicate all my time doing this for free” — said no one ever.</b></p><h1 id="ce86">Community</h1><p id="1e24">The journey will be hard, there will be small victories to celebrate and difficult obstacles. Find people that will support and will understand you. You can choose the people you surround with and it will be key for your growth. Stay away from the negative and gossip, focus on your craft, and try to get honest feedback from your peers. You will not be that good in the beginning, but you have the taste and you know where you want to go. Go!</p><h1 id="64e7">Progressive Process</h1><p id="85e0">It will be a progressive process. Most people will quit in the middle. Then more will quit after that. The reason? It takes a few years to be good at your craft, become well established in the wedding industry, and have a profitable business. If somebody wants to sell you workshop promising 6-figure or that you will book 30 destination weddings within 1 year: run-run-run away! The best thing you can do actually is not to become a wedding photographer from one day to another. Stay at your job, pay your bills, learn the skills, invest in education, save some money, don’t focus on the gear (it will eventually come), create a business plan, start slow, and as you become better you will know exactly when is the time to transition into a full-time wedding photographer. Enjoy the journey, but make it right so you can enjoy it.</p><h1 id="0624">Hello, I am Tae from The Times We Have</h1><p id="2261">I have been a full-time wedding photographer for 9 years and have shot over 250+ weddings in different countries. Today I have a 6-figure wedding photography business and most of our weddings are Destination Weddings. I am not a magician and I refuse to sell you a formula. But I will share my experience with you for “free”, so maybe you can give me some “exposure”?</p><p id="69f1">Follow us on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thetimeswehave">The Times We Have</a></p></article></body>

First things first. Why?

Yes, I know you might have the urge to buy that full-frame camera with all the prime lenses and go at it. Make a logo, upload your photos on Instagram, start sponsoring posts, and hope people to hire you. First things first: It is very important to contextualize why you want to get into the wedding industry at first. When you understand your “why”, you can focus your energy towards your goal with precision. Some people will want to make an extra income during the weekend, some just love photographing people, others want to potentialize their skills and create a solid business (yes, you can build a profitable wedding photography business). What is your reason you want to get into wedding photography?

Photography 101

Nowadays being good is not enough. Just browse your Instagram feed and you will see millions of people who are very talented photographers. By no means, I want to discourage you and want you to compare to others, but just know that you will have to dedicate a lot of time towards your craft, some will progress faster than others, but there is just no way around. Are you willing to do the hard work?

Benchmark

Find some good references and photographers that you find inspiring. In the beginning, it is important to look at the work of other wedding photographers so you understand the different possibilities and styles of shooting a wedding. By no means, I am saying to just copy their style, but be good enough technically and creatively that you feel that you can create a similar image. And let’s be honest, there will be a lot of copy-paste in the beginning, that is just a natural process. But if you in search of inspiration, go for the best and not just your next-door neighbor “uncle bob” photographer. Below are some wedding photographers that we find inspiring:

Education

Spoiler alert: this will never stop. Learn everything about gear, light, composition, and then learn some more. When you feel a little confident, learn some more. Now that you know everything about the technical stuff you should be good to go, right? Wrong. Wedding photography requires more than just being a good photographer, you will have to learn marketing, customer service, business, selling, dealing with people, psychology, you might even have to invest in physical training and the list goes on. Always improve yourself, there is no better investment than that. There are a lot of fake magicians that will promise you the magic formula, be careful buying courses or workshops. Do your research before investing and just know that there is no shortcut. You will have to do the hard work.

Hobby to business

Eventually, you will become a better photographer and you get over doing that “free work” for “exposure”. Money will be exchanged for your services and that’s when you officially will have to deliver or maybe overdeliver your service to your client. I know you don’t want to deal with the business part, another spoiler alert: business skill might be the most important part of becoming a wedding photographer. You will soon notice that people won’t just hire you because of your creative style (after all we are all copy of each other right? Or did you forget already about the first part?). If you want to be in this industry for a long time, you better start making some business plans. You have to create a sustainable business that is profitable, or else you will eventually have to find something else to do to pay your bills.

“Wedding photography is my passion and I want to dedicate all my time doing this for free” — said no one ever.

Community

The journey will be hard, there will be small victories to celebrate and difficult obstacles. Find people that will support and will understand you. You can choose the people you surround with and it will be key for your growth. Stay away from the negative and gossip, focus on your craft, and try to get honest feedback from your peers. You will not be that good in the beginning, but you have the taste and you know where you want to go. Go!

Progressive Process

It will be a progressive process. Most people will quit in the middle. Then more will quit after that. The reason? It takes a few years to be good at your craft, become well established in the wedding industry, and have a profitable business. If somebody wants to sell you workshop promising 6-figure or that you will book 30 destination weddings within 1 year: run-run-run away! The best thing you can do actually is not to become a wedding photographer from one day to another. Stay at your job, pay your bills, learn the skills, invest in education, save some money, don’t focus on the gear (it will eventually come), create a business plan, start slow, and as you become better you will know exactly when is the time to transition into a full-time wedding photographer. Enjoy the journey, but make it right so you can enjoy it.

Hello, I am Tae from The Times We Have

I have been a full-time wedding photographer for 9 years and have shot over 250+ weddings in different countries. Today I have a 6-figure wedding photography business and most of our weddings are Destination Weddings. I am not a magician and I refuse to sell you a formula. But I will share my experience with you for “free”, so maybe you can give me some “exposure”?