I'm looking forward to David Ziser dropping the other shoe in a couple of days. On scottkelby.com last week, in the first of two parts, he blogged about the "perfect storm" that he says has impacted wedding photography over the last few years. If you haven't read it you should. Factors David mentions include the Great Recession, the "Walmart Effect" – everything from consumers' ingrained cut-price mentality to the fact that "wedding photography has come to Walmart" (via the acquisition of Bella Photography by CPI Corporation). Plus of course the growth of digital photography (not just digital To View More >>

Photojunction ran an interesting post a day or two ago. Danny referenced a report from theweddingreport.com that spending on wedding photography in the US may be in decline. It prompted Sonya to mention anecdotal reports that UK photographers, also, may be in for a rough ride for a while – bookings down etc. Yes, times may be tougher next year. If they get tough for you, we’re concerned and sympathetic. Bad stuff happens in business, and if you’re affected, we are too. But... Don’t sabotage your long-term business in order to survive! What do I mean? Queensberry has always stressed the To View More >>

This impeccably shot and designed album nearly got away from us. We didn't photograph it before we shipped it, and we were too late contacting the studio before they sent it to their clients! But it's too beautiful not to show you as much as we can, which fortunately includes a slide show of the album. We love its natural, restrained good taste – professional wedding photography at its best, and typical of the consistently good work Geoff White sends us. Liz and Adam choose Meadowood, St. Helena, in California's wine country as the location for their destination wedding on May 19th last year. To View More >>

Follow the links for "the story so far" in our series on the recession... Yes, times will be tough for a while but you shouldn't assume the sky is falling. It makes no sense to sacrifice your business and market reputation to survive the short term challenge. Instead you may need to pull your horns in and find ways to prosper while others decline. A good place to start is by analysing your budget and business model, and we have a spreadsheet to help with that. Most people react to the threat of declining sales by saying, "I've gotta cut my costs". Everyone needs to work out their own figures, but To View More >>

Yesterday, I had one of the cheesiest sales line I've heard in quite a while tried on me... "Nigel, how will you feel tomorrow if you don't buy it now." I didn't buy and I feel OK. But I did buy wedding photography recently. I'm not sure which one of Johannes' categories I fit best, you'll have to ask him. And Ian – who says that, as a man, I'm not interested in the detailed (girlie) stuff? I was. Maybe that makes me a 'Control Freak'? Here's my take on selling to a man... (including a metro-sexual one). 1) Don't try any cheesy sales lines on me... I'll think you're a douche. Have a conversation To View More >>

Like many good things, and all great albums, Musée begins with a story. In fact it begins with three stories, and the real magic is how they weave together... The first begins several years ago with a traveller on a bus in Spain, who strikes up a conversation with the woman sitting next to him. They like each other enough to introduce themselves. He's a wedding photographer from the far side of the world, in Spain on a scholarship. She's a paper conservator living in England, home to visit her family in Barcelona - and as it turns out, later, in love. The photographer and the conservator To View More >>

Stock photography may be eating into commission opportunities for professionals, but some people are doing very well out of it, including Aussie photographer David Freund. I saw David online talking about iStockphoto's 10th birthday and asked him how this fitted with his wedding business. - Ian Ian Baugh from Queensberry recently posed a question to me about the role my stock photography takes in my wedding photography business. It’s not unusual to find that most wedding photographers also photograph other things. Commonly wedding photographers are also portrait photographers, some are landscape To View More >>

The New York Times caused a ruckus a couple of days ago with an article pointing out the negative impact on professional photographers of a number of trends: the decline of the print media and therefore print advertising; the rise of digital imaging, stock photography and photo sharing sites; the flow-on opportunities for pro-am enthusiasts who don't face the same commercial imperatives. Christian Oth runs an upscale Manhattan studio. Here's his response - Ed. The New York Times posted an article about how photography is on a shrinking path. It is an interesting assessment of the state of assignment To View More >>

Like many good things Musée begins with a story. In fact it begins with three stories, and the real magic is how they weave together... The first begins several years ago with a traveller on a bus in Spain, who strikes up a conversation with the woman sitting next to him. They like each other enough to introduce themselves. He's a wedding photographer from the far side of the world, in Spain on a scholarship. She's a paper conservator living in England, home to visit her family in Barcelona - and as it turns out, later, in love. The photographer and the conservator like each other enough to swap To View More >>

Those who know me know I think Seth Godin is the bee's knees. He's just been interviewed on the DWF Blog talking about wedding photography. Plenty to think about - do read it! "When everyone has a camera, and everyone thinks they are a photographic artist, it’s clear that access to the device is not a scarce resource. If that’s all you’ve got, I’m not going to pay you. The art isn’t in the taking of the picture." Cheers, Ian To View More >>