Wedding Photography

Steedie · 30 Oct 2014 at 13:22

Hey all,

My dad has recently decided that he has had enough of his job, he's been there 20 years and has decided he really wants to get back into wedding photography so he can be happy again and do something he loves.

A small bit of background, he ran his own photography business back in the 80's and 90's that included his own shop and a separate studio and from this did portrait photography and travelled doing holiday brochure photography, but his main interest was weddings, and has literally done over 1000 weddings. Sadly in the mid 90's he had to give it up to look after me

He hasn't done it since then but he really wants to get back into it and start up again. But he's terrified. He says his confidence is shot given he has never done it in the digital age. He has some awesome gear, bought about 6k worth of cameras and lenses 2 years ago so he still does it as a hobby

The biggest stress for him was worrying what the photos turned out like as you just didn't know until you had them developed, so obviously that has gone but he's worried that the style of wedding photography has moved on so much since he's done it that his experience counts for nothing.

I'm trying my best to support him and said I'd take care of a website, social media and teaching him the basics of photoshop but what I can't help with is the area of wedding photography itself...

So given that there are a few on here, what advice could you give my old man? Where should he go? Should he shadow someone for a few to get the experience then do a few free/cheap weddings to get his name out there? What are his first steps?

Really appreciate any advice on this one guys, I want to help him be happy again

Thanks in advance!

Hyburnate · 30 Oct 2014 at 13:25

His experience certainly is still valuable. It's expensive to get into though as I assume he'll have absolutely no kit or software. I assume all kit needs starting from scratch?

Steedie · 30 Oct 2014 at 13:27

He has a 7D and a 50D, and he has about 4k worth of lenses. He bought all this a couple of years ago to get back into it as a hobby, but he's aware he'll need another camera (said he'd never go to a wedding with one camera) and some decent flashes etc

mr tommo · 30 Oct 2014 at 13:48

He should really have a look who is out there - the ones at the top of their game - and find a style he wants to shoot. He doesn't have to be modern as there are still people who like traditional kind of stuff.

I'd definitely get onto his contacts in the industry and offer his services as a second shooter to get back into it.

DBT85 · 30 Oct 2014 at 13:54

The style of photography will be what the punter sees and chooses him for. There's a little less of the cheesy stuff with a super imposed shot of the bride and groom looking on over the ceremony and stuff, but I'm guessing he knows that!

Does he have or use Lightroom? Photoshop itself is great, but Lightroom will handle importing, renaming, keywording, grading, exporting, watermarking, and a host of the basics for image manipulation (spots, redeyes, levels, tone curve, crop, rotate, lens corrections etc). You can then export that file to PS to finish off and touch up where/if needed.

I imagine if he's done that many that he'll be able to handle himself on the day, so get on someones coat tails and do a few for the experience and portfolio and take it from there.

Raymond Lin · 30 Oct 2014 at 14:24

The experience counts, the day and how it plans out haven't really changed that much. It's still bridal prep, church, reception, speeches, first dance etc.

However, the kind of photography these days most people wants have changed. Perhaps there are people who just want the posed formals, if that is your dad's target audience then that is fine too. Clients will go to whoever they like that suits them. For example if they want a lot of formals and nothing else they won't come to me and vice versa. He doesn't need to change that much.

The crux of it however is are there enough clients out there in a new generation who like photos in a style that of the film age? (I am guessing it is more formals than anything else). If however your dad's style has always been candids and that digital has given him the tool to do it like the training wheels has been taken off then I would say he will love it.

DBT85 makes a good point about processing. With film, the developing is done by the lab, now they are done by the photographer. So your dad will need a new set of skills on top of his photographic skills.

Steedie · 30 Oct 2014 at 14:49

Thanks so much for your input so far guys, can't tell you how much I appreciate it

mr tommo: I said that to him about his contacts, but he pointed out that he really doesn't have any anymore, they've either shut up shop themselves and are no longer doing it, dead or he just doesn't have their details anymore. Been a long time I suppose since the mid 90's. So would it be worth emailing around local wedding photographers and asking if he can shadow them just for experience?

DBT85: He doesn't have lightroom although he knows what it is so is more than willing to pay for it. I use lightroom a lot myself so again, could teach him the basics and hopefully enough for him to then learn himself. He does however own a copy of photoshop (legit

), granted it's not a recent version but it should suffice for now?

Raymond Lin: Yeah I guessed as much, that different people want different things. I actually showed him your website as a guide of what good wedding photography is like these days and he was very impressed and also added that his style wasn't too far off yours in terms of the photos he'd like to get on the day.

DBT85 · 30 Oct 2014 at 16:02

Steedie said:
DBT85: He doesn't have lightroom although he knows what it is so is more than willing to pay for it. I use lightroom a lot myself so again, could teach him the basics and hopefully enough for him to then learn himself. He does however own a copy of photoshop (legit ), granted it's not a recent version but it should suffice for now?.

Well, Lightroom can be installed on 2 concurrent PCs don't forget, and I imagine anything he might need in PS he can do in whatever version he has.

Another option of course is the Adobe CC Photography bundle, £8.78 a month for Lightroom and PS. Lightroom alone is about £100 and a new version pops up every 15-18 months or so, I'd guess we're due one early 2015.

If he's going to use Lightroom then definitely check out the Adobe TV videos to get him started too.

Getting started with LR 5
http://tv.adobe.com/show/getting-started-with-adobe-photoshop-lightroom-5/

Learning LR 5 (many vids on specific topics)
http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-lightroom-5/

He could also have a mooch on other forums for info about stuff. Wedding photographers do have a lovely reputation on lots of forums