Streamline Your Workflow with a Wedding Photography Invoice for Businesses

Wedding photography invoice for businesses

I started my wedding photography business in 2013. it's been 10 years which got me thinking what would I do if I started my wedding photography business in 2023 so if you are starting your wedding photography business this year here's what I would do if I were just starting out first you should absolutely be consuming and dissecting the work you admire if you want to be a wedding photographer I highly suggest following others work that inspires you I believe that the work we consume the most will inevitably Inspire us whether consciously or subconsciously we will begin viewing images through our viewfinder based on others work that we've consumed but it's not enough to just follow people whose work you like and are inspired by the second half is to dissect that work find patterns things that speak to you is it the way they use light or color is it the couple's free-spirited posing a photographer like India Earl creates or the candidness of the wedding day in work found by John Dolan and Daniel Kim learn the pattern find what is speaking to you determining what that is means you can use it and have something to aim for when it comes to shooting and editing your work second you need to practice this so many people say shoot for free and so many also say to not shoot for free instead I say shoot on your terms you should approach people and ask if you can photograph them your brother and his girlfriend or your best friend who just got married and their spouse especially if they can jump back into their wedding outfits put an open call out on Instagram or something heck ask your parents or grandparents the most important thing is to get in the field and practice creating we talking about practice take the inspiration and what you learned by dissecting that work and learn how to create and Achieve that look learn how to light during sunset or in midday Sun get hands-on experience with posing people comfortably learning how to juggle the choosing of a backdrop finding the right light talking and making the couple feel at ease and then posing them comfortably takes a lot of practice no we talk about practice man you can even learn by just keeping your camera on you during family outings or events documenting candid moments and learning to tell stories through your camera lens is an important skill that can be developed through practice we're talking about practice get in the field on your terms with no pressure and just practice we get it that said if someone approaches you and asks you to photograph them uh please definitely charge them some money take all of this a step further and set up a style shoot at venues you'd like to work at in your area this will help get you portfolio images to use from that venue so you can show that you have some experience shooting in that space plus you'll build connections with venues and vendors in the process third you should start collecting reviews from people of course if all of your work was done on your terms and you didn't provide a paid service to anyone you may need to approach this differently I would send out a quick email after sharing the photos with them stating that you'd love feedback to better serve clients moving forward and to hear about their experience in front of camera ask if they can share a quick review with you about how their experience was being photographed how did they feel in front of camera did they have a fun time how did they feel about the photographs you delivered what is something that they think you did really well and what's something they think you can do better tell them to be honest if they answer these questions then you'll probably have a little mini review they may also give you something you can do better that you can work on in the future which is also really helpful now that you have a review or two or three you'll be able to feature those reviews on social media and a website speaking of social media the fourth thing I would do is to of course post on social media you'll want to dedicate an Instagram account to your photography and this might mean creating a new account or turning your current one into your own photography brand begin posting rails carousels stories get your work out there tag the people you photographed share reviews from the people you've photographed in a story highlight or as a post create on Tick Tock share your work and get it out there getting your workout to your immediate sphere of influence like your friends your parents friends your friends parents your co-workers your former School classmates and anyone else who is in your life at one point or another is all connected to you on social media more people who know the more likely you will grow and get booked fifth is to build a website I highly recommend using show it which is a completely customizable drag and drop website builder you can customize your mobile layout as well and the website builder is super intuitive and easy to use plus there are a bunch of free templates or you can purchase pre-built website from places like tonic site shop or Davey and Krista or other show designers and plug in your info and photos and you're ready to go I'd recommend getting a website that has a Blog as well showcasing your work is important and blogging is helpful when it comes to people finding you online we've built our entire business on our blog and it is the Cornerstone of our marketing I cannot begin to tell you how many inquiries we get that state Google as the source that Google search likely brought them directly to our blog post and while you might be able to get far on Instagram alone trust us eventually you will need a website please do not rely on social media to be your only home base on the internet create a home yourself of which you are in complete control sixth create a workflow I'm not saying you need to go and invest in a CRM like honeybook or dubsado immediately especially when you have no money but you should create a workflow of sorts if I didn't have a client relationship management software like honeybook I would use notion.so and create a workflow in there that I can use to track each of my clients progress so I know exactly exactly what I need to do for each client this might sound pointless right now when you're just starting but it's the equivalent of dressing for the job you want to have Dad um I need to borrow some clothes you wouldn't walk into an interview for an office job in a band t-shirt and rip jeans you'd walk in with a dress shirt tie and nice slacks the same applies to our business you want your business to operate as if it were already a well-oiled machine so believe me you do not want to realize you need to put a workflow in place after you have 20 clients you're trying to manage put the system in place before you get those clients so that when you eventually do have 20 or more clients at once you can manage them all easily if you want to grab resources like workflows and email templates you can head to shop.jasonstaff.com and use the code 2023 for 15 off any products the link is in the description seventh connect with other local photographers follow them on social media comment on their work put the social in social media put yourself on their radar because you'll want to gain experience second shooting for them they will undoubtedly be in need of a second at some point so it's okay to DM them after you've been interacted with them long enough on social to say that you love their work and that if they're ever in need of a second you'd love to help them out gaining experience has a second where there is less pressure will prepare you to lead shoot a wedding on your own one day but it's not enough to just start second shooting second shooting can be a little tough and some seconds misunderstand what it is they're actually hired to do so if you want to learn how to not suck as a second shooter or you would like to go behind the scenes at a wedding as a second shooter you can watch both of those videos here