Indian photography business – as simple as it may sound, it’s a tough nut to crack. We have been in the business for a long time to make mistakes, learn from them and be able to write about them to you! We specifically mentioned it as an Indian photography business vs. just a wedding photography business because there is an ocean of a difference between them. Indian weddings are a world apart from the rest in their execution as well as workings. These are the top ten things we learned as wedding photographers from our Indian photography business!
You Have To Interact With The Full Family And Not Just The Couple – Anyone who has ever been part of the quintessential big fat Indian wedding knows that rather than couple Indian wedding is more about the family. So as an Indian wedding photographer, you must know that once the initial booking is done, your job is to not just interact with the couple but also the full family and what their requirements are! This helps you to capture the wedding better as you know how important which family member is.
Being A People’s Person – One of the most important aspects of an Indian wedding photography business is the people whose stories you are going to photograph. And to do a good job of it, you need to love people. Along with the couple you have to be able to communicate with the family when the couple is not around. If you don’t enjoy being around people or mixing with strangers, we believe that this would be a wrong fit.
Keeping All Communication In Black And White –There are wedding vendors all around couples when they are planning a wedding. So don’t make a booking on the phone or just over a WhatsApp message as they are dealing with multiple vendors and it can get confusing. Ensure that the couple sends an email to the effect plus pays you an advance to confirm the booking. Keeping things in black and white will cause you fewer headaches later.
Developing The Ability To Say No – When you are starting off a wedding photography business, it’s easy to get swamped with new work and clients. But saying yes to all, especially when you don’t have the manpower to support it, will result in a half-baked job. This in turn will affect your relations with your new clients and potential referral clients. To learn the ability to say no when you can’t do it all!
You Must like – Candid wedding photographers in Bangalore
Understanding That Haggling Is A Part Of The Psyche – And we mean this in a good way! We have learned not to get offended by clients who ask for a discount or haggle because it’s very Indian to do so. Clients don’t mean harm; they just feel like asking for a discount is very normal. Just ensure that you stick to your price and what you are offering and all should be okay.
Having Your Paperwork Sorted – Most Indian wedding photographers work on referrals but that doesn’t mean that you don’t sign a contract with your client. Having a contract in place will enable transparency for your wedding photography business as well as your client.
Learning The Balancing Act – Wedding photography is a huge rush of adrenaline! You want to keep on capturing weddings when you are riding that wave. But you need to give your creative mind some rest too. The balancing act is what every wedding photographer should aim to learn. Do a few weddings, then mix it up with a pre-wedding shoot or rest day to strike that balance.
Social Media Can Be A Key Marketing Tool – Social Media is more than just pretty pictures. When used well and smartly, it can drive a lot of business as well as brand awareness. Your content can define how your brand talks to your audience. Understanding different social media platforms and how you can leverage them to use it for your brand is the key!
You Become The Family Photographer – Once you are a professional wedding photographer, anyone who knows you personally will ask you to shoot their family events (for free!). While you may do it for close family and friends, make sure that you politely decline to do that for the rest. You have to understand (and so do they!) that this is a business and your services are payable.
To Know That It’s More Than Just Photography – You’ll be surprised to know that a wedding photography business is more than just capturing photographs. We would say that is just 50% of the business. The other half of a wedding photography business is to manage editing, post production work, client servicing, marketing, and new business development. Something that we learned only after the first year of our business!
Related Articles
