Every wedding is different. That goes without saying. Every time that Marta and I head into a wedding, we’ve gotten to know the couple. We know what to expect. We know what to do and where to do it. Not much has changed with how we work. We’ve been able to grow and evolve exponentially. In the grand scheme of things, we haven’t been doing this that long. There are people that have been doing this for decades. There’s so much that we’ve learned. So many mistakes that have been made. So many things have been learned. In the end, this is a business like any other. Originally we would never tell anyone to stop buying equipment.
Something that I talk about in the photography world all the time is that you have to have some sort of a business mindset in order to be successful in the industry. You have to be like every other entrepreneur in the world and hustle. It’s kind of the great debate in the photographers world. There are some people that will disagree with me, and there are others that won’t. Hopefully, there are some people that will take what I say here to heart and implement it in their own photography business (or any other business). Here are a few tips that I wish I knew when I was starting out in the photography business.
Here’s the scenario. You’re starting out. You have shot a few weddings for free or downright near nothing. You have a portfolio. Now, you’re ready to really start working and growing. Here are some tips that I wish I knew back when I was starting out. This will be a series of posts. I’ll cover everything in detail. So here’s the first one. Please keep in mind that these tips are for people that are just starting out.
Stop buying Equipment
I know, I know. Stop buying equipment? It’s like this. Photographers get in business. They’re supposed to get the best equipment, right? Wrong. The most avid and active photographers will tell you that the most important piece of a camera is the six to eight inches behind the viewfinder (your head). Most have several cameras ranging from fully autonomous to downright complex. We as photographers are all nerds. No matter how much of a hipster or old school strobist you are, there’s a deep and underlying love for the tech that we use. Nothing feels quite as nice as when we get a new piece of glass, new body, or new lighting set up.
“It’s true that in order to make money, real money, you have to spend money. Just don’t spend it, initially, on all the fancy gizmos that you know we all love. So, stop buying equipment.”
Why would I post this as my first tip then? Here’s the thing. How many new couples (or clients) would that lens bring you? How many more weddings will that flash get you? Absolutely zip. Nada. Big goose egg. Some people will say that it does help your craft. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t. Later on, maybe. Most photographers start out with some of the worst equipment possible and they create amazing images with it. Most people that start out rent their equipment. It’s cost effective when you’re starting out.
I personally would love to get four Nikon D5’s to have for Marta and I to photograph weddings with. That is totally unreasonable for what we do though. We’ve been able to take our imagery far with what we had. We started out with Nikon D3000‘s, which were cameras that cost no more than $300 at the time ($500 with a crappy lens). Guess what? We made it work. We were able to photograph weddings with it and make it work for a little over a year before investing in something better. That’s the year that we invested thousands upon thousands of dollars into the business in order to make it grow.
It’s true that in order to make money, real money, you have to spend money. Just don’t spend it, initially, on all the fancy gizmos that you know we all love. So, stop buying equipment.
In the next article, I’ll talk about what exactly you should invest in and the benefits of each one.
