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Do you need creative freedom at your weddings?
28 October 2010
Hi everyone!!!! I thought I’d write a little about a topic a fellow photographer friend was complaining about. I’ve actually heard it more than once in different forms from different people. It boils down to having creative freedom during your sessions whether it be a wedding, family session, senior session or any other session involving other people. Anytime you are working with someone who pays you you pretty much have to do what they tell you. Or do you? I used to think so. It’s more like....you need to comfort them upfront. Let’s dive into this. I'll use weddings as an example. I am simply going to cover one common complaint I hear frequently when having discussion with other photographers.
Complaint: "I hate weddings. They are so stressful."
How many of you feel this way? This was the very thing I kept hearing before I decided to take the plunge into shooting them myself. I can certainly understand after my first few weddings WHY they can be stressful for a photographer. I started thinking about where that stress is supposedly coming from. A couple of different things came to mind during my first few weddings. Will I nail every single shot? That pressure can be pretty stressful in itself. Then, maybe you have the mother of the bride directing you and following you around to make sure you get pictures of every little detail in the wedding. However, turn that camera on her and she says “Oh, please don’t take pictures of me” and runs off! Hahahaha! I think it’s quite funny. All joking aside, there was a very important element missing that was TOTALLY my fault in all of this. I HAD NOT LINED OUT WHAT MY EXPECTATIONS WERE BEFORE I PHOTOGRAPHED THEIR WEDDING! So, they feel the need to make sure you are catching everything they want because they just quite don’t have the confidence in you that they would like to have.
Here’s what I started doing and have done it ever since I analyzed this. During the time I spend with the couple I spend a great deal of time building confidence to them that I will totally nail their wedding and have fun doing it. I begin by building a relationship with them so they can feel 100% comfortable when they leave after hiring me that day. Towards the end when I’m ready to close it up I say, “I would LOVE to photograph your wedding. Everything you have planned sounds like so much fun and to top it off, it’s a perfect fit for my style. However, BEFORE you hire me today (notice I assume they are going to hire me) I have ONE very specific rule that I have if I am to shoot this for you. If you can follow this simple rule, I will book your wedding and we can wrap this up right now.” They then ask “Ok, what is it?” I reply with this, “I need TOTAL CREATIVE FREEDOM on your day. This means that I CANNOT have people directing me or hovering over me to shoot things. They HAVE to let me do what I do best. If you think this can be accomplished then I am ready to book this wedding for you. You seem like the type that can. You are, aren’t you?” (Here’s another powerful tidbit not related to this blog>>>>>) When they say YES....because you know they will, move right to the close and say “GREAT, will your deposit be Visa, Mastercard, or check?”
Now, can you see the power and confidence this type of statement has built into it? It tells your potential client that THEY DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY. Guess what, it also gives you the freedom you need to shoot because its what you love to do, right? It also relieves stress so you can shoot from the heart and not worry. How much better will your photographs be?
Rock out!
LP
Complaint: "I hate weddings. They are so stressful."
How many of you feel this way? This was the very thing I kept hearing before I decided to take the plunge into shooting them myself. I can certainly understand after my first few weddings WHY they can be stressful for a photographer. I started thinking about where that stress is supposedly coming from. A couple of different things came to mind during my first few weddings. Will I nail every single shot? That pressure can be pretty stressful in itself. Then, maybe you have the mother of the bride directing you and following you around to make sure you get pictures of every little detail in the wedding. However, turn that camera on her and she says “Oh, please don’t take pictures of me” and runs off! Hahahaha! I think it’s quite funny. All joking aside, there was a very important element missing that was TOTALLY my fault in all of this. I HAD NOT LINED OUT WHAT MY EXPECTATIONS WERE BEFORE I PHOTOGRAPHED THEIR WEDDING! So, they feel the need to make sure you are catching everything they want because they just quite don’t have the confidence in you that they would like to have.
Here’s what I started doing and have done it ever since I analyzed this. During the time I spend with the couple I spend a great deal of time building confidence to them that I will totally nail their wedding and have fun doing it. I begin by building a relationship with them so they can feel 100% comfortable when they leave after hiring me that day. Towards the end when I’m ready to close it up I say, “I would LOVE to photograph your wedding. Everything you have planned sounds like so much fun and to top it off, it’s a perfect fit for my style. However, BEFORE you hire me today (notice I assume they are going to hire me) I have ONE very specific rule that I have if I am to shoot this for you. If you can follow this simple rule, I will book your wedding and we can wrap this up right now.” They then ask “Ok, what is it?” I reply with this, “I need TOTAL CREATIVE FREEDOM on your day. This means that I CANNOT have people directing me or hovering over me to shoot things. They HAVE to let me do what I do best. If you think this can be accomplished then I am ready to book this wedding for you. You seem like the type that can. You are, aren’t you?” (Here’s another powerful tidbit not related to this blog>>>>>) When they say YES....because you know they will, move right to the close and say “GREAT, will your deposit be Visa, Mastercard, or check?”
Now, can you see the power and confidence this type of statement has built into it? It tells your potential client that THEY DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY. Guess what, it also gives you the freedom you need to shoot because its what you love to do, right? It also relieves stress so you can shoot from the heart and not worry. How much better will your photographs be?
Rock out!
LP
- Brett Tyler and Loren like this
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but I do this in a very nice and gentle way. Everyones happy then, including me.
I have to work on my self confidence I guess, cause I understand it's the right thing to do but I need someone to tell me they will be happy with my photos and of course they can't tell that beforehand...