How To Become A Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer
With Lee Morris and Patrick Hall
Whether you want to know how to become a professional commercial photographer or how to become a professional photographer in general, the quickest way to start making money with your camera may be wedding photography. Our Fstoppers tutorial How To Become a Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer is finally here! Lee Morris and I have spent over 3 years planning and 2 years filming and editing this tutorial on all things wedding photography. The goal behind this 14 tutorial was to create the most comprehensive resource on everything it takes to create compelling wedding images as well as the tools needed to start and run a successful wedding photography business. No matter if you are brand new to photography or if you are already shooting weddings professionally, this 14 hour tutorial will teach you everything we know about wedding photography so you can either start your own business from scratch or take your existing business to the next level.
Please note, for lack of a better term we have called this a “DVD” but for reasons explained in the promo video below, we have decided to make it a digital download.
Why Wedding Photography?
As we explain in the promo video above, wedding photography pretty much fell into both of our laps. I believe many photographers have the same wrongfully biased opinion about wedding photography as I did when I first picked up a camera. The idea of dealing with dramatic bridezillas, going hours without food or drink, and having to take cheesy photographs all day was not my idea of a good day at work. But after shooting a few weddings, I found that wedding photography was incredibly fun, creative, and way more stress free than I ever imagined. In fact, what I realized was I was taking the best photographs the bride and groom had ever had taken of themselves and their friends during the happiest day of their lives. And the reason I was there in the first place was because they loved me as a person and valued my creativity behind a camera. What originally started as a dreaded favor I did for Lee Morris quickly became my passion, obsession, full time job, and eventually my career.
The most interesting thing about wedding photography is that there is a market in every single city. I believe wedding photography offers an amazing opportunity for anyone interested in photography as a hobby or career; through wedding photography, you can become 100% self employed as a full time photographer!
What We Hope To Share:
Our goal with this tutorial isn’t to make everyone a millionaire or turn you into some sort of rockstar wedding photographer. Lee and I aren’t either of those things. What we want to teach you is how you can take better photographs, start your own business, and hopefully shave off at least three years of trial and error during those initial startup years.
Material: 8 Chapters containing over 27 topics over more than 14 hours of content
Chapter 1
Intro – What is “Commercial Wedding Photography” – Mandatory Gear – The Importance of Assisting – Composition, Exposure, White Balance
Chapter 2
Advertising – Bridal Portraits: Lighting 101 – Pricing
Chapter 3
Meeting With Potential Clients -The Engagement Session – Designing Your Website – Music – Slideshows – The Importance of Video
Chapter 4
On Camera Flash – Getting Ready and Details – The Ceremony – Fusion
Chapter 5
Formals and Groups – Interview with Pye Jirsa
Chapter 6
Four Ways to Light a Reception – The Cake – The Rings – The Departure – Taxes, Write-offs, and Accounting
Chapter 7
Interview with Cliff Mautner, one of the top wedding photographers in the world
Chapter 8
Post Processing – Creating a Photobooth – Photo / Video Slideshow, SmugMug.com – Delivering Your Final Product – Final Words
Patrick Hall is a Charleston Wedding Photographer based in South Carolina. Lee Morris is also a commercial wedding photographer based out of Charleston South Carolina.
Preview Video: How To Light Posed Wedding Photos in a Church (Click for Full article)
Preview Video: How to Photograph Engagement Sessions (click for full article)
