It Is Her Big Day And She Is Expecting A Professional Wedding Portrait Photographer Nanaimo

By Ryan Graham


It has taken months of planning and preparation. There is electricity in the air. Or, it could be the unsettled anxiety brought on by the rain clouds still hanging ominously overhead. This is meant to be an outdoor event. The wedding planner s conferring with the groom. They are debating arranging shelter in the form of gazebos. The groom s hesitant, as that might interfere with the seating arrangements. The bride would not be too impressed. You empathize with them. But your real concern is how none of your equipment is waterproof! It is your first big gig. And you are already having doubts about running a professional portrait photographer Nanaimo.

With the massive uptrend of people wishing to join the ranks of wedding photographers, the profession s garnered a somewhat glamorous mystique. Aspirants lose sight of it being work, until they start getting booked, that is. They find themselves commuting to, sometimes, foreign locations at odd hours. In a business built on referrals, reputation is everything. So, catering to unusual requests from clients simply comes with the territory. In a sense, it is like working in the service industry.

With clients having very specific sets of preferences and expectations, one has to learn to roll with the punches and just take it on the nose when it comes to rejection. But all too often, aspiring artists, apologies, photographers, take the blows to heart, and they lose all sense of proportion. The true test of one s mettle is how well they are able to adjust to the fact that as good as they are, not everyone s going to like their work.

Staying committed and refining your abilities, in spite of rejection, becomes an almost alchemical process. One s trials are the flames that transform the lead of one s doubts into gold, the pressure that converts the coals of one s character flaws into diamonds, developing the distinguishing quality that separates the wheat from the chaff of, feel free to insert any appropriately half baked analogy here. In essence, in order to stay ahead of the pack, one has to keep pushing ahead.

For a wedding photographer, the quality of relationships one builds has a direct correlation to the volume and quality of clients one attracts. And when spending weeks and months accompanying people during one of the most emotionally tumultuous episodes in their lives, the bonds formed can last a lifetime. As well as the grudges. But the value of displaying one s authentic self cannot be overstated. Since most people possess an uncanny ability for seeing through false pretences.

Once the business starts rolling in though, the urge to take on every couple due to trade nuptials must be strongly resisted. Every client expects that personal touch, and all the legwork involved is no small feat. Being fully booked, while an appealing proposition at the beginning of your career, does not allow for any flexibility should unforeseen circumstances arise. And as any wedding planner can attest, things do not always go as planned.

So, when a shoot scheduled for 5 hours becomes 10 hours because your clients insisted on your services at the after party, or an unplanned night shoot, scheduling conflicts are bound to happen. Especially since the most time consuming aspect of the work does not even happen at the photoshoot. Bear in mind, all their pictures will still need to be edited, processed, packaged, and, as per their request, transferred to a personalized photo album or flash drive. All this accomplished on your own time, of course.

Which is why health is wealth. One s not only expected to, but required to go that extra mile in providing consistently value added service to all their clients. That is key to building a profitable reputation. Which takes time. It takes energy. But instead of developing tunnel vision, it is just as important for one to take some time out for themselves occasionally. A little R&R helps one reassess their goals, getting back in touch with family and friends, and remembering why they decided to become professional capturers of moments in the first place.




About the Author: