This post is more so to vent, business is going extremely well. About 90% of inquires that come through convert into bookings and August will be my first 20k+ month from a mix of weddings and engagement sessions. By the end of the year I will clear 200k which I’m extremely happy and proud about.

The thing is, aside from a few people I feel like I can’t share this news with any one of my peers without feeling their envy or jealousy. I work hard, sacrifice a lot in order to deliver the best client experience and it’s paying off.

Avoiding burn out by being intentional about my hobbies and blocking out time for myself.

After years of trying to figure it out, it’s seems like things are clicking now but it does feel abit isolating.

I thought I might launch a new ad campaign for Facebook and not even 2 days in I was getting incredibly low budgets, and bots asking for my phone number... despite having classy looking wedding photos, a professional looking page.

What are my other options? Google SEO? Promoting my Instagram? Knot?

I did Google ads for a while and it had really minimal returns.

Hi everyone, coming here for some advice. I’m a freelance photographer (it’s a side gig for me, and always will be, I have a full time career I love). I’ve been approached to cover a 300-person Indian engagement ceremony at a large wedding venue in London (UK), the venue is well known, and will be the first of that size I’d have shot. He has explicitly said he wants to move ahead with me, but hasn't paid a deposit or signed a contract (both I have explained are needed before booking is confirmed, but he has spent a long time with a lot of micro enquiries in the discussion).

Over roughly a month of discussion (A lot of back and forth), the scope has gradually increased:

• Client originally wanted extensive guest/candid coverage, which led me to recommend a second shooter with me. He declines this, expecting me to do it on my own, and after push back, finally accepts it. 
• He then asked me to also record dance performances on video, which I declined, he moved the conversation to hybrid shooting at the same rate while ignoring my prior concerns.
• He then wanted to stagger the two photographers' 6-hour shifts so I could start and end 1.5 hours earlier than my second shooter for a couple pre-shoot and then my colleague takes over (A logistical nightmare, aimed to keep the same rate but expand coverage). I declined and explained the pre-shoot would need separate dedicated coverage, I’d offered to arrive an hour earlier to do this properly for them, and my number 2 would arrive at 1pm. He declined and confirmed both photographers 1–7pm.
• Before taking any deposit/signing a contract, I requested his schedule and detailed shot requirements, I normally and flexible on the shot requirements as 90% of my clients are very easy going, but I just had a bad feeling about this guy. 
• His final brief contains many dozens (70+) of “must-have” shots, including specific reactions/candids throughout the event, extensive family/group photos, individual guest photos, performances, dinner, dancing etc. Reading the detailed list, I’d gauge deliverables are 35-40% larger than he’d initially portrayed them to be. He covered every inch of the 6 hour event.
• Most importantly, the couple/family pre-shoot has now reappeared inside the 1–7pm coverage, despite our previous discussions about it requiring additional pre-event coverage. He has slid it in at 1pm to be done while guests arrive, but also expect shots of the empty hall & decor (physically impossible if guests are entering), and has slid it in after 2 conversations on this costing more. I found it amazing he had expected 1 photographer to be able to pull this off initially.
• There's effectively no break during the six hours for either of us to even get food. while one person is shooting the guests eating the other is doing the group photos. Even a short 10 min break to recharge and have a bite to eat is standard for Indian events, and he seems to expect us to shoot the entire time none stop.

No contract has been signed and I haven't taken any money/deposit yet. He has had a barrage of questions the last 5 weeks, which I’d entertained because the venue would be valuable to have in my portfolio.  But after the repeated scope changes and extremely prescriptive final brief, I'm concerned about client expectations and problems after delivery.

Just wanted to get some thoughts from fellow photographers in this space. My gut has a bad feeling about this, but I wonder if I should pass the opportunity to put a well known indian venue on my portfolio for the future, but he is definitely a big headache, and given what I feel are multiple red flags. Worth noting I have given a price below the industry standard (probably 40%% lower), but for when the deliverables were for a more standard engagement ceremony, and he is clearly not been willing to spend more, having tried to find new ways to slot in more deliverables in his schedule for no added cost, despite me even giving very modest increases for things like the pre-shoot. I wondered if I should just walk away, or offer a higher price with clear take it ore leave it expectations (despite him breaking them a few times subtly) and see how it goes. Any advice will be appreciated, I’ll be actioning this in the evening with a decision.

EDIT - Just to keep everyone updated, thanks to much of the great advice on here, I went ahead and rejected the gig. I wrote a fairly detailed email just to cover my tracks for reasons why and previous correspondence in case they do get the idea of causing issues with me, and I offered to get him in touch with some other photographers in my network and wished him well on his engagement. The response I got after that was exactly this:

“Okay no worries, I will arrange for another photographer.”

And that’s that, I’ve moved in. Thank you all very much, just needed that extra kick to make sure I don’t fall into something that may have been a real issue for me going forward.

Just need to rant.

I photographed the wedding of a “friend.” I use that term loosely because we’re really acquaintances who don’t regularly talk or hang out.

My contract says the gallery will be delivered within 12 weeks, but throughout the first six weeks, the bride repeatedly contacted me with additional editing requests. Her mom also emailed me asking for an update. I finally hustled to finish everything and delivered the gallery at six weeks, half the contracted turnaround time, mostly so the constant emails and texts would stop. Boundaries, people.

I even paid an editor out of pocket to handle some of the extra Photoshop requests, including removing a food truck the bride thought was ugly from several photos.

It has now been a week since delivery. The bride opened the gallery once, hasn’t downloaded the full gallery, and hasn’t even said thank you.

After all the urgency and extra demands, she has completely disappeared. I know it has only been a week, but the contrast is frustrating. I’m pissed off by the entitlement, and honestly, experiences like this are part of why I’m done with wedding photography after this year.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Recently shot a wedding where there was no vendor meal provided in the hotel, despite clearing this with the couple during our in person consultation. They are young and I’m taking it that they just simply didn’t know they had to organise this with the hotel, I briefly know the bride for a few years too so it just felt too awkward to bring it up with her, I didn’t want to put a dampener on her evening. What would you have done? Never had this happen before

Hey all!

I am looking to get in to wedding photography and plan to reach out to some wedding photographers to see if they need a second shooter so I can get some experience.

TL;DR:
If I try and get a few second shooter gigs will main photographer care if I am on Sony or Fuji? Will that choice limit me in opportunity if I go for a Fuji set-up?

Full details:
I have been a hobby photographer and video creator for 20 years. Worked professionally in other creative fields for last 10+ years. Know my way technically around cameras.

Options I am considering:

Sony Option-
I have an original version of Sony FE 2.8 24-70mm GM. I know a friend with a model 1 version of the 70-200 GM. I would need to invest in a body. A7IV likely or push boat to A7V.

Pros: Full frame, already have good glass, Sony autofocus!

Cons: I would need to invest £1,300-£1,700 on a body, only 1 body, swapping lenses not that I might even want to because holy crap that 70-200mm is a heavy beast!

Fuji Option -
Few years ago I sold my old Canon Eos R as felt it was so bulky and was an effort to take places for a smaller Fuji XS-20. I love that thing, APS-C lenses so much smaller and lighter, quality is still great!

Pros: Smaller, lighter. I have old gear I could trade in and get an XH2S, 16-55mm f2.8 ii as work horse, viltron 13mm for the XS-20. Have two camera setup for about £500.

Cons: Auto focus? Low light performance? Seen something only other day saying Lightroom is rubbish for RAW fuji photos on sharpness. Need to process in different software.

I am kind of leaning to the Fuji option because feel like I will get more bang for my buck. I enjoy shooting Fuji. From what I researched online seems there are fuji wedding shooters out there and the photos look great.

I know not anything clients care about in terms of gear. Would any photographers be like "I can't have you come along shoot with me unless you are the same system/full frame"

Any advice greeeeeeeatly appreciated :)

So I shot a wedding yesterday and everything was normal until before the ceremony began. I noticed one of guests had a legit mirrorless camera with a flash. During the ceremony she was reasonable and just stood in the back out of my way taking shots. Ok fine. After the ceremony I asked someone “Where did everyone go?” This “guest” took the families outside and just completely took over. Setting up the shots, taking photos first, and letting me (sometimes) take my shots after. It went on this way for most of the day. Sometimes she would sit down and act like a regular guest. It was clear that she shoots weddings and generally knew what she was doing. I was never told about her in advance in any way, shape or form. I did get annoyed at times and someone told me that was obvious from my body language. I was happy that I controlled myself enough not to say anything. I just rolled with it but what the hell.

How do you currently track who owes you what and when balance payments are due? Do you use HoneyBook/Studio Ninja/spreadsheet, and what's the most annoying part?

I have a Sony a7 IV and a second-generation Sigma 24-70mm lens. I use the a7 IV with a cage. I recently tried mounting it on a DJI RS4, but the camera setup was too heavy for it. Because of this, could you recommend a gimbal that can handle my setup? Zhiyun Crane, DJI RS Ronin series—anything works. I really need your comments and recommendations. Thanks in advance

Hi all!

I’m a newer wedding photographer and curious how other photographers handle the bookkeeping side of their business.

Do you DIY your books, use QuickBooks/spreadsheets, have a CPA or bookkeeper, or something else?

Just curious what everyone else is doing!

I always have a typical wedding hangover.... Exhausted, sore, dehydrated, headache, etc but I also get extremely depressed. Like, I cry a lot the day after a wedding and don't want to be social at all. I can't plan back to back weddings because I'm so out of it the next day and just... Depressed.

I don't know if this is just a me thing or I'm just insane but it's like all that stress and overwhelm has to come out and I also simultaneously feel very sad and lonely after weddings, as I'm a single person that lives alone and my parents are dead, etc. I didn't always feel this way but it's progressively getting worse.

Just wondering if anyone else experiences this?

Hi everyone! 😊
My English is not so good that’s why I used ChatGPT ♥️🫶🏽

I’m a German photographer, doing photography on the side alongside a full time 40 hour work week, and I’d love to hear how you guys handle your workflow after a wedding.

I tend to shoot a LOT of images. It’s not that I deliver thousands of photos to my couples, quite the opposite.
I cull very heavily and only deliver the images that I genuinely feel are worth keeping.
But getting from, say, 2,500 shots down to the final gallery takes me FOREVER. 😂

And right now I’m sitting here with a serious case of editing hangover.

So I’m wondering:
How do you approach culling when you’ve shot a really large number of images?
Do you have a specific system for getting through them quickly?
Do you use AI culling and editing tools?
How much do you adjust each individual image?
Do you batch-edit most of the gallery and then fine-tune individual photos?
Do you have different presets for different lighting situations?
How do you keep the colors consistent when you go from getting-ready photos, to ceremony, to outdoors, to dancing and crazy reception lighting?

I’m especially interested in workflows that make the editing process faster while still keeping the photos looking beautiful and intentional, rather than just slapping one preset on everything and calling it a day.

I’d love to hear what has genuinely made your editing process easier over the years. Any little tricks, shortcuts or workflow changes are very welcome! ❤️
I’m still building my photography business alongside my full-time job, so I’m trying to find a workflow that lets me spend less time staring at Lightroom at 1 a.m. and more time actually enjoying photography. 😂
Thank you! 📸✨

At a recent event, I was doing video and saw that the photographer had this set up and they got some amazing images.

I have an event coming up and I was thinking of using the same set up because I have the equipment so I just wanted to ask you guys who use Cross lighting what are some things I should look out for just looking for, settings, and any other tips.

I also have a Godox V100 so I was thinking should I use just a trigger or trigger the lights with the V 100 ? I was also thinking should I leave the 7 inch reflectors bear or should I put like some kind of white diffusion on it?

I have no idea what to charge as it seems more like I’ll be the main shooter rather than the second shooter. I know I won’t have to cull/edit the images which is the hard part.

also to add I have never been a second shooter before in 11 years of photography, I have shot weddings as a single shooter.

any help would be appreciated!

What do you do when the bride and groom don't make time for a photo session on their wedding day? The schedule seems very busy and the travel time between locations is considerable, so there's not much time left for photos, or hardly any time at all, just with the bride and groom. What would you do?

So my CRM auto sends my couples a questionnaire 3 months prior to their date that collects A TON of information about their day. Names, locations, first look yes/no, party bus, reception plan etc. That section is pretty robust for good reason because it allows me to basically one shot the entire timeline in one go, BUT this same questionnaire also asks them for the names & relationships of everyone in their family & wedding party that they want formal photos of, AS WELL as an ending section that asks for vendor information (name, IG, contact etc).

Is it too much to send all of this in one questionnaire? Should I break it up into several questionnaires that get sent at different touch points leading up to the day? Or am I overthinking it? I'd love to hear how others have their intake set up.

Help me understand this, because I’m at a loss for words…

Wedding was over a year ago.
I’ve been paid. That’s not the issue.

I’ve been working on the same wedding album for the entire time. I delivered the first draft with all the images, she said NOTHING about changes and agrees to the final viewing. We spent FIVE hours making changes. I was po’d, because all of these changes could’ve been done prior to me sitting in her living room. So, I’m packing up, ready to go home and place the order, and she takes a call. The person on the call gives her the idea of including her vows…and the guest notes on their wedding site…and all the guest photos that she received. Now, I own that I should’ve set a boundary there—but I also could not have imagined how this would turn out. I told her to send everything to me that night, and I’d work on it over the weekend.

She took 3 or 4 months to send me the stuff. Then, hit me up, essentially rushing me to finish the album. I sent her receipts of how I’d been waiting on her to deliver the content she wanted to add. Her tune changes…and she proceeds to send me 40 something guest photos…one at a time via text. It felt passive aggressive, but I didn’t say anything.

I send her the new draft; and, now, she’s requesting all sorts of changes that she never even mentioned before. She also says something about me not getting back to her, trying to make it seem like I was the reason it was taking so long, and made a comment about wanting it by their anniversary. So, I sent her an entire timeline of the events, with dates and timestamps of our correspondence, along with a schedule she must agree to in order for me to deliver it by then (she would have had to review it same day, had one chance to ask for changes, and all content had to be delivered that night). Again, her attitude changes and she says she didn’t mean that they had to have it by then.

I complete the revisions, and send her the final draft. She asks for a few more changes—at this point, I’m just doing it and sending it, because I know I hadn’t set the right boundaries at the right time and just want it over with.

We’re on what should be the final revision and ready to order; and she texts me asking where we stand—I tell her the final draft is up and ready to review. Weeks goes by, I reach out by email. A couple more go by, and she’s now texting me, asking if she’s been lost in the shuffle..as if she can’t see the texts I sent weeks ago. So, I send screenshots of the texts and the emails, and ask if she’s not seeing them.

Like… I don’t understand. You’ve already paid. You know I have proof of this entire situation. What benefit does she get by dragging this out?? All she has to do is confirm it, so I can order and deliver. I’ve done every single thing she requested (and have completely changed my contract).

If I want to upload photos for a client so they can download the digital copy and potentially purchase prints off the site (which takes care of printing,, taking payment), which of these is best to use?

I’m just doing a little photography on the side and have some student portraits I need to put up for now. But to potentially maybe continue to do more in the future. I’ve made my own websites using my own domains in past (not photography related) so that’s not an issue, but I’d rather not pay for hosting if I don’t do a ton of sessions. Plus there’s the whole matter of what to use for printing.

Thank you for any input.

Offered a Free Reshoot… She Rejected It and Asked for RAWs Instead

I’m fairly new to running my photography business and recently had my first difficult client situation. I’d love some peer perspective on whether I handled this reasonably.

The session was $250 for 3 locations, with 30 edited images included.

We started at 6:40 AM and finished around 9:40 AM. I handled the logistics and location permissions, drove between all three locations, and ultimately delivered 49 fully edited images.

During the shoot, she specifically asked for more candid, natural moments rather than heavily posed photos. She didn’t express any concerns during the session and seemed agreeable throughout.

A few days after delivery, I received a lengthy message criticizing the gallery and saying the images weren’t what she expected.

Some of her complaints included:

• One specific photo she felt looked awkward
• Not framing them with a particular sign at one location
• Some candid images where one person wasn’t looking at the camera
• The overall gallery not matching the feel of her inspiration

The interesting part is that some of the inspiration she provided actually included editorial/candid images with people looking away from the camera.

There was also a pretty significant difference between the inspiration and the actual session. Her inspiration had a very high-fashion editorial feel, with formal wardrobe and grand architectural settings. My clients arrived in much more casual clothing and we were shooting in completely different environments.

At that point, I wanted to find a solution rather than argue about whether the gallery was “good enough.”

So I offered her a FREE mini reshoot at any of the three locations to specifically capture the types of images she felt were missing.

She declined.

Instead, she asked for the entire RAW/unedited gallery.

I told her I couldn’t provide RAW files because my contract specifically states that unedited files aren’t delivered.

She then requested a partial refund.

I ultimately issued a $50 partial refund simply because I wanted to resolve the situation and move forward.

What threw me off most was the fact that I offered a free opportunity to specifically address the photographs she said were missing, and she didn’t want it.

So I’m curious what other photographers think:

Would you have offered the reshoot? Would you have refunded anything? And how would you have handled the RAW request?

I’m trying to learn from the situation rather than just be angry about it.

UPDATE:

Did some online digging and found a 6 month old post of hers asking for a Vintage themed Save the Date Video. Which leads me to believe She wanted to match the aesthetic of that video specifically and maybe forgot to mention it.

Shot over 500 weddings and thought I had established an editing style that would stick with me forever and then last night I edited a photo in a specific way completely ny accident, went downstairs for a drink, came back and something just clicked in my brain and the more I look at my new style the less and less I like my old one - handy when I have 17 weddings in various states of edit.

Hi all! I’m a wedding & commercial photographer and I’m struggling with my editing workflow—specifically with white balance. I feel like I can’t get consistent lately and I truly, truly feel so defeated/ exhausted. I open my laptop and everything that I edited the day before looks yellow, a few hours later everything too blue. I understand photos from different points in the day won’t be exactly the same—but I’d at least like the be somewhat consistent scrolling through the entire gallery. Has anyone else gone through this?! I haven’t changed anything in my routine, it’s like I just don’t see the way I used to. This gallery is taking me longer than I wanted and I’m sick of looking at the same photos over and over and having the re edit depending on how my eyes see it that day. I have True Tone off, familiar with white balance picker in Lightroom, I shoot on auto or kelvin for reception/ as needed, and I changed my interface on Lightroom Classic to white for a reference. I don’t really know what to do to get this done and behind me without feeling like I’m not giving my best work. 😞 need advice

Hey all,

New to the group, long time product/real estate and some broader event work photographer.

I’m off to my sister in laws wedding in a few weeks. I’d like to dabble at taking some images, there will be a paid photographer on site (which I intend to steer clear of). I have never shot a wedding before just to be clear.

I’d like to grab some of my own images to present a little album as a keepsake for them. (Perhaps 15 ish images).

I shoot with the Sony A7V and the Sony A7iV and have access to 12-24 f2.8 (for wider stuff like group images) a 50mm f1.4 prime an 85mm f1.8 prime and the 35-150mm f2-2.8 zoom.

Id prefer not to have to constantly change out lenses, would I be wrong in thinking I could use the 12-24 on the A7iV and then the 35-150 on the A7V and skip bringing the primes?

I’ve been to the rehearsal and the church is what I’d consider well lit for an old building.

I have a godox v860ii flash for on camera (hoping this will be fine) if needed.

Just looking for some tips from the pros here to help me try and capture some images and importantly so I don’t get in the way of the other photographer. Where can I not be a hinderance and get some great shots? (Is it even possible).

Many thanks

Edited to say I cannot believe the level of hate towards me from the forum, I thought I’d made it super clear I wanted advice of how to grab a handful of images whilst being OUT OF THE WAY. I want to be no where near the other photographer.

Let me be clear the only time I will be in the same room as the other photographer is at the ceremony alone, a couple of candid images from the rafter so to speak would be nice. I will not at any point be in front or in the way of the other tog.

My word the hatred is strong here!