Rebel Fish was swimming around wondering, “How big is the sea?” (What does the wedding photography industry look like). Well it’s really big and getting bigger. Here are a few stats to give you the picture.

*There are about 2.3 million weddings a year in the US.
*1.7 million first-time weddings
*17 million bridesmaids and groomsmen
*287 million wedding guests

So you see, there are a lot of weddings but more importantly what does the average wedding budget look like and who is spending this money? Here is the really good news. The average age of the bride and groom is increasing and so is their education and so is their budget. Rebel Fish has netted you a few numbers to show you how good things are looking.

*Average wedding cost is $26,800
*Average basic wedding cost is $6,898
*Average spent on Photography/videography $2661
*Average spent on Photography/videography basic wedding $1738

So what does this mean, well it means people who spend less on their weddings over-all are willing to spend a large part of their budget remembering the day, while people who spend more (even lots more) haven’t been educated on the the value of keeping those extravagances remembered. Those in the wedding industry who have focused on “professionalizing,” if that’s the right word, their trade have seen large increases in profits. Wedding photographers who bring this same focus can increase profits too. The more credible and savy wedding photograhpers become, the better it is for everyone.

*source - Copyright © 2005, The Wedding Report, Shane McMurray

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Rebel Fish designs her albums with every spread having a background image that spans the gutter. It makes for some beautiful backgrounds, when you know how to darken them or blur them just right.

Rebel Fish, therefore, is always thinking about the album during the wedding day. She looks for details that she shoots in landscape with the idea that it will make a possible background. Busy items make for distracting backgrounds, so look for things from the wedding day that are simple. A pear, a single flower, a rusty door knob, a table setting, etc. She uses her widest aperture to capture these little details so the focus fall-off makes them look even more interesting. Remember: one of the things point and shoots don’t do very well is narrow range of focus with the fall-off effect. So, when you’re shooting deteails, use an open aperture–your photos will look less comon than what the clients and their guests can pull off with their own cameras…

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K.I.S.S.
The age-old acronym that means “Keep It Super Simple.” (Some people use “Simple Stupid,” but Rebel Fish likes things that are super.)

A big secret to having a successful business, is keeping your daily routine simple and scheduled as possible. If you’re a wedding photographer, you’re also a small business owner. One thing that keeps Rebel Fish at the top of her food chain is how she stays on top of her “stuff to do.” She’s chosen to implement the amazing GTD (Get Things Done) system, but that may not work for everyone.

Another helpful tool is to schedule your week into blocks of time that revolve around your wedding workflow. An example of Rebel Fish’s week:

Sat: Shoot the wedding
Sun: Church, family, friends
Mon: Edit the wedding (no meeitngs)
Tues: Design and post the album (no meetings)
Wed: General catchup on to-dos, errands, emails, bank (meeitngs OK)
Thu: Meetings/business/etc. (as much as possible, being flexibile with prospects and clients if they need to meet on other days)
Fri: Day off

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Rebel Fish was asked recently a question that has been debated for well over a decade, “Which is better, Mac or PC?”.

While swimming through the preverbial ocean of information on the web Rebel Fish came accross some interesting information. However, this very topic is a sore subject to some, grounds for chum bait to others.

“The most important thing,” Rebel Fish shouts, “is to go with what works for you!” Now, what on earth can Rebel Fish mean by this?

Simple. Mac and PC have similar processing power and overall performance when it comes to photo editing. The fact of the matter is computers change so rapidly that it becomes difficult to see which is better (or faster) at any given time. For instance, some folks think that the new Mac Pro is the machine to go with while others swear by the Dell XPS systems. For portability, it’s tough to beat Apple’s new MacBook Pro, and rumor has it that they are about to ulneash an even faster processor in the near future.

Beyond power, there’s the user interface. Remember: you’re going to be spending a good amount of time in front of this machine: chose the operating system that is a) efficient, b) easy, and c) enjoyable. For most folks, that’s the Mac. But, if you’ve already dropped a bunch of cash on Adobe CS2 for PC, you have to consdier the cost of re-purchasing that (or any other) software again.

In the past, it’s been true that Macs were more expensive than PCs. That’s no longer the case. In fact, with the new Mac Pros, they’re acutally about $1,000 cheaper than a similarly packed Dell. It’s also been said that Macs are for creative people and PCs are more for “business.” That’s unture on both accounts. Both will do fine in either environment.

Here’s some interesting research on the subject:
Mac vs PC Info
Apple: Get a Mac
System Shootouts (Head-to-head comparisons. In this one, they compare the new MacPro with a similar Dell. Check out the price differeince… The Dell had no monitor, but the Mac is cheaper with a 20″ display!)

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Don’t be afraid to play with your lights–especially after you’ve grabbed a couple standard exposures for safety. Here’s a couple examples and an explaination of the setup used…

Here, the photographer (Kevin Swan) placed his monolight on a lightstand and then laid the lightstand on the side of the pool, with the light shooting directly into the water. Then, he used a wireless transmitter from his camera to trigger the flash, which was pumped up to a full 500 watt-seconds. The bottom of the pool, being white, reflected the light througout the pool and up into the faces of the bride and groom as they jumped into the pool.

Here, the photographer (Kevin Swan) took advantage of the natural light coming in through the window, but then pointed his monolight directly at the couple (into the bride’s back). Without an umbrella or any bounce, the light was harsh and direct–which matched the direct sunlight and feels very natural (even though there would have to be two suns if the light in this photo _were_ natural!).

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Rebel Fish advises that you put some smart money into simple contracts. If you do a google search for “contracts for photographers,” a good number of hits will come up. Do some reasearch, think things over, and purchase a reasonably priced set of templates that you can base your business on.

You’d be surprised how fast they come in handy. Does your assistant or second shooter have a contract with you that gives you the rights to the images to sell and manipulate? Do you warranty your products in your contract? What happens if you don’t show up? Do you have insurance if you destroy something on site? Is your assistant covered in that insurance? What happens if your assistant crashes your car while parking it? What happens if that model you shot for free suddenly demands you take her photos off your site? What happens if a couple you shot demands you take their photos off your Web site? What happens if you lose the originals? What hapens if your cameras are stolen on-site?

These are just a few of the things that can (and will, if you do this long enough) happen to you. Don’t wait until after something goes wrong to figure out how to deal with it. If you’re going to do this professionally, then act professionally and think ahead.

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Rebel Fish used to hate formals. Now, she loves them. The pressure is certainly on–you’re controlling the light, the location, the pose–but if it comes together well, you have some of the most awesome photos of the day.

Family formals, however, can sometimes get out of control. “Can we get one of…” are the 4 most-dreaded words. Here’s how Rebel Fish controlls the situation:

She meets with the clients a few days before the wedding to go over the schedule and put a formal shot-list together. That way, no one is caught up in the moment and you are able to focus on what you really want. If the couple starts listing an unusual amount of formals (e.g., “Aunt Sue with my third cousin, Shem”) then Rebel Fish politely explains that she will shoot formals all day if that’s what the client wishes, but normally people hire her because of the more photojournalistic style. If we spend an unusal amount of time on formals, that leaves less time for candids. This usually allows them to refocus and cut the list down.

Another thing to remind your clients is that this is THEIR WEDDING DAY–it is not a convienient opportunity to do family portraits. It is not a time for taking shots that make great Christmas presents. Don’t let the formal session get hijacked by crazy relatives.

Swim On…

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Rebel FIsh’s clients are always squeeling with delight when it’s a sunny day. “This will be awesome for photos!” “WRONG!” Rebel Fish barks, “unless you like having raccoon eyes, harsh shadows, and squinty faces!” Rebel Fish’s clients then recoil from her venom, questioning their wisdom in hiring her for their Day.

After frightening many clients, Rebel Fish has decided on a softer approach to dealing with that ugly sunlight. Quite simply, she puts it at her clients’ backs and the world is right as rain (whatever that means).

Even without reflectors and other fun photo gadgets, you can get some beautiful shots by simply sticking the sun behind your clients. Rebel Fish has attached some sample photos for your viewing pleasure.

In this case, the couple was exiting the church out into bright sunlight that was blaring down on them — directly at the church doors. Rebel Fish knew she would either have to a) move or shade the sun, b) move the church, or c) try something different. She quickly decided on “c” and asked the couple to give her a quick look over their shoulder as they ran through the petals while she shot from _inside_ the church, rather than the standard _outside_.

Rebel Fish’s assistant shot the direct-sunlight shot. You can see the hard shadows and the relatively 2-dimensional feel of the photo. Rebel Fish shot from inside the church. The result? Backlit flower petals, a happy couple (getting plenty of light bounced off the church building), and a unique look on a we-take-this-at-every-wedding photograph.

One last shot to show that without reflectors or tricks, just sticking the sun right in your lens gets you some good milage:

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Obviously, as a wedding photographer… a calendar is a pretty important tool in your belt. One of the great frustrations of iCal is that it doesn’t have a default alarm setting; you have to set each alarm manually. Robert Blum has created a little fix for those of you using iCal.

Note: There is a typo in his install instructions, though. Where he tells you to put the iCalFix folder in the /Library/Inputmanager folder… you actually need it to be /Library/Inputmanagers (with an s) folder for it to work. See below:

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