I was just PM'd about how I got my start... so I thought I'd share the small beginnings with everyone in case it can help someone else. I've practically written a biography here, so feel free to grab a soda and some popcorn. In the event that you hate reading as much as I do and are willing to stand the speak-and-spell voice, press Apple+F5 and highlight the text to have it read to you (for Mac users).

My first wedding was done for cost only. I volunteered myself to another bride who didn't have the money to afford a professional. She paid for all the film and developing and I simply supplied my eye, cameras, batteries, and lenses. She was very unhappy about her wedding day in general, and I received no referrals from her. However, I really enjoyed the experience and challenge of photographing a wedding day so I started taking more pictures at friend's weddings and gave them photo gifts like a leather 4x6 slip-in album, or a large collage of wedding day images, or a series of my favorites, etc. THOSE are the people who referred me on to other people. They saw something in my work that I didn't even see at the time. I was just having fun and it was a cheap way for me to give them a gift!

My first paid job came from a friend of a friend. Sara (the friend) and Shaun were getting married and I wanted to give them engagement pictures since it was something I wished my husband and I had taken before we were married. I gave it to them as a gift and they loved the pictures so much that they shared them with everyone they knew. Welll.... one of Sara's friends saw my pictures and asked if I could do HER engagement pictures. I said sure, and they agreed to cover the cost of film and printing. Once they saw their images, they actually fired the professional photographer they had hired (because they didn't like his work to begin with, but felt they had no other choice) and asked if they could hire me instead. I told them they were CRAZY, and they assured me that I'd do a better job than their original photographer. I didn't have nearly as much confidence in myself as they had in me, but being the kind of person who wants to help others, I agreed- and they insisted on paying me.

I had very little equipment at the time and actually spent much more on buying equipment to photograph their wedding than they were paying me. At the time, this still wasn't something I was planning on pursuing seriously, but I wanted to make sure that if they were paying me, that I would be able to do the best job possible. Also, in the months leading up to her wedding, I decided I needed people and situations to practice on, so I started offering to photograph people for free or for very little money. I put all of my work online and had links all over the place to my website.

After I photographed that second wedding (my first hired wedding) I knew that I had found something I absolutely loved. The bride was ecstatic and showed my pictures to everyone she met, and plastered her home with all of my images. I showed my work off to everyone I knew and always offered to help people with their wedding photography. I took out a few craigslist ads, which led to some really awesome clients who referred me to even more clients, and the cycle just continues!

I did have the luxury of easing into this. I also took my time with my pricing (and still am). I charged what I felt I was worth based on my experience, and my clients always felt as though I was worth much more than I charged. I had a very high level of "value" to my business and my work, which has helped give me the "RAVE" factor that was mentioned before. Here's a rough timeline of how everything happened...

March 2004
- Offered and informally agreed to photograph wedding for the girl who's aunt bailed on her
- Bought my first AF Film SLR - Canon Rebel Ti, plus a few crappy lenses
- Offered to take engagement pictures for friend Sarah, as a way to learn my new camera before the wedding

April 2004
- Photographed friend's engagement pictures

April 04 - August 04
- Attended weddings & gave photo gifts

August 2004
- Photographed first wedding to help a girl out for cost of film, developing, & travel

September 2004
- Photographed engagement session for friend of a friend

November 2004
- Created and signed my first contract for the friend of a friend @ $100/hr.

Nov '04 - May '05
- Studied a LOT
- Bought a 20D & 580EX + more glass, still used my Rebel Ti Film camera for B&W
- Posted all of my work online
- Created a website that focused on just my photography
- Created a blog

May 2005
- Signed contract with a bride who heard about me "through the grapevine"

June 2005
- Signed two contracts with brides I met online who needed help.
- Photographed friend of a friend's wedding for $100/hr. (8 hrs)
- Joined Pictage to host wedding images.

July 2005
- Decided to place Craigslist ad. (to work off the equipment I purchased)
- Signed 5 $100/hr. contracts with people who had either found me through the Pictage/Wedding Channel listing or through Craigslist.

August 2005
- Shot engagement sessions for some of the brides who had hired me
- The first time a "knottie" raved about me online
- Photographed my second wedding for hire.
- Signed 9 more $100/hr. contracts
- Started Student Teaching - my last semester as a full time student

September 2005
- Photographed 3 weddings
- Signed 4 more contracts - referred by brides who had hired me, but for whom I had only shot engagement pictures
- Faced with the fact that my husband and I would be graduating in the spring and would most likely have to move out of state in the summer of 2006 for his job, I decided to not accept any contracts for dates after Labor Day 2006.

October 2005
- Shot more engagement sessions
- Photographed 4 weddings
- Signed one contract
- Referred a lot of potential clients onto other photographers

November 2005
- Photographed 1 wedding
- Signed one contract
- Referred more potential clients onto other photographers

December 2005
- Photographed 1 wedding
- Finished Student Teaching. Realized that I was dedicating all of my free time to photography and that I was bringing my photography work to school with me.

January 2005
- Taught full-time as a music teacher in the public schools, for my student-teaching mentor who was on maternity leave.
- Realized that I wasn't as enthused about teaching elementary music as I needed to be in order to make a career out of it.

February 2005
- Finished up photography post-processing that I had fallen behind on due to full-time teaching.
- Learned that my husband was hired as a full-time professor for Indiana State University.
- Announced that I was accepting jobs again, but that there would be travel fees for going back to Detroit to accept jobs.
- Placed Craigslist Ad
- Raised my prices to about $175/hr.
- Signed 3 Contracts (2- craigslist, 1-referral)

From there, things just kept getting better..... but that's how I got my start! The only "ads" I've placed have been the ones that were included free with my Pictage membership, and free on Craigslist. I studied the other craigs ads A LOT before posting my own, and made sure that I presented a more professional image than the others out there. I always followed up IMMEDIATELY, and presented everything in a confident and professional manner.


____________________________________


TO THIS DAY... I do not have a sample album, I have never paid for an ad, I have never shmoozed with wedding coordinators, and to be very frank... I've never done numbers 2-7 on the list of marketing ideas. However, if I hadn't had the lucky start that I received, those are the methods I would have used to seek out more opportunities for myself.

It's easy for people to sell you and your work when your price is much lower than your actual worth, and I have nothing but love for people who start that way because they're building their business from the ground up. They are honestly paying their dues and building a large fan base. However, charging so little is not sustainable over long periods of time if you are to make a living from your passion, which is why eventually you need to decide when you're going to move out of the bargain basement and head for the top shelf.

As you move up, you have to make sure you're making friends along the way. Your fellow photographers may be your biggest competition, but they are also your best source of referrals because you already know what the client is looking for, what she wants to pay, and the style she's attracted too. Referrals from photographers who are already booked are basically like receiving cash in your hand because the bride is already disappointed she didn't get her first pick and is afraid she won't get her second. By helping each other out and sending referrals onto the other photographers you admire in your market, we all win in the end. It's people who think they can do it on their own, who think they don't need anyone else, who think there isn't enough to go around, that end up in last place. The more you give, the more you get.

Thanks for all the info. I just shot my first wedding this weekend!

Well... I read the whole thing!

YOU ROCK!!! You always post helpful things!!! Thank you!

I read the whole thing! Thank you for taking the time to write all that out and share it.

Phew! A whirlwind and inspiring story

that's really cool to hear about how another photographer got her start thanks for sharin hun!
<3 kris

Ann, thanks for taking the time to write this. As if haven't written enough, what I kept wanting to know more about is how did you build your craft? Trial and error? Classes? Lots of innate talent?

Because I'm coming to this profession after a longer career as a teacher, it's little challenging for me. I definitely will have to apply many of suggestions you make in your marketing list. But the same time, I look forward to the opportunties to get out shoot weddings. I try to learn as much as I can between jobs, but I certainly learn lot from each job I do. The weddings I have coming up this year year are better than the back yard weddings I shot last year. I'm not putting those weddings down—they really help me dive in and get started and help purchase some much needed equipment. But it will be nice to shoot bigger weddings this year with more vision of what I'm doing.

In the meantime, it's great have photogs like yourself to study and learn from. Thanks again for you input.

As a teacher, I know that you're also a great learner - as teachers need to be.

When it comes to the technical side of photography, I started learning on an OM10 hand-me-down from my uncle. That camera was born the same year I was and I think the only automatic function it has was a timer and a meter that only worked half the time. I read everything I could get my hands on and expirimented A LOT. I kept a working journal of settings I used and studied their results when I developed my film. I would often take several shots of the same subject, changing my settings and writing them down from one frame to the next. I also have a fairly strong background in art and the study of optical illusions (both were major interests and pastimes as a child.)

Funny you say that about backyard weddings... those are my favorite. ;-) It's easy to take pretty pictures of things which are already pretty. I would challenge you to make an average wedding look extraordinary by the magic of your lens alone. If the background is messy, use a long lens with a wide aperture to focus on a beautiful element or moment. If the lighting is a terrible color, make a beautiful B&W image out of it and learn how to create beautiful lighting with your flash on and off-camera.

The key is to make the most out of what you have to work with. My first wedding was one of the least glamorous of all, but I found what was beautiful about it and exploited that as much as I could. Often times if the wedding lacks amazing details or scenery, your focus should be on the amazing people and their expressions. Find different angles to photograph things in a way that make them look even more beautiful than they appear in real life. Light, background, and composition can really do a lot even when something first appears to be not-so-purty. Some of my favorite photographs have been taking in some of the ugliest places, and I love that.


CONGRATULATIONS COLTS!!

Thank you for sharing your inspiring story!

Great read Anne - I always find it so interesting to hear how everyone got their own start in this bus.!

After spilling my beans.... I sure hope to hear other people's stories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anne,

You are the best at sharing your info. !

I don't post too often here, but always read your posts & have learned a great deal from you.

I've also watched you grow as a photographer, & you have improved in so many ways !

I hope your move to your new home went ok, & you are liking it there now.

Anne,

Thank you so much for sharing this insight with everyone! Photography can easily be an "isolationist" type of industry. But we cannot live and work in isolation -- we must work as a community of colleagues. This is absolutely the best advice any photographer can give to another. We have booked two amazing weddings this month directly from referrals from another photographer we greatly admire. He was booked, and sent the bride to us! Helping one another makes us all successful in the end. Thank you for saying this so openly. It's all about establishing a community -- You rock!!!

As someone who is just starting out myself, I'm very grateful that you posted this Anne. Thank you so much for sharing!

Thanks for sharing, Anne. That's very insightful and inspirational to those of us who are still on the road you've traveled over the last few years.

thanks so much for sharing your story!! i only hope to be so successful!

Anne..Lifetime channel just called, they want to make a movie out of your story.

Wow! That was great, thanks so much for sharing your story.

HAHAHAH!!!!!! They'd turn me down as soon as they saw me because I'm not skinny enough for TV!!!!

You are awesome for sharing. Wonderful way to pay it forward. Thank you

Thanks for all the info Anne. I actually had the computer read it to me. I didn't know how to do it before. From now on I will probably always associate you with a computerized russian woman's voice! -Ashley

BWAHAHAH!!!!! this is how I really sound... well... through a recording..

Anne, Thanks so much for posting this. It was really interesting and helpful for us (being new to the industry). It's also very motivating & inspirational!

Thanks!

Awesome "getting started" story, Anne!

Here's my story:

October 2005: took "we did" photos of a co-worker of my renter

January 2006: got 20D and Alien Bees
February 2006: took headshots of community theatre actors
March 2006: took headshots of Community School of the Arts board members
March 2006: joined OSP
April 2006: took more headshots of Community School of the Arts board members
May 2006: hooked up with PureFashion for their show in Fort Wayne
June 2006: went to OSP Indy where everyone told me "you have to shoot weddings!"
second shot a wedding with k.c. Ferrill
July 2006: second shot a wedding with Matthew Gordon (matt.lee)
August - September 2006: second shot weddings with Jerome Gibson, k.c. ferrill and Adam Squires
October 2006: shot my two weddings of my own
December 2006: another wedding of my own

2007: I have three weddings currently scheduled for this year.

I'm planning on doing a bridal show the first weekend in February and am working on networking with other photographers and vendors.

Leann

Anne, I've been a big fan of your work for months. I remember seeing your work through another forum. Others on the forum said that you should raise your prices ASAP. Your posts are always inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

Ann, that's basically I what I did. In most of my shots, you can hardly tell it was a backward wedding. I shot close and made the large backyard treat look like a spot in the park. The couple could only afford one of those Apple iPhoto books for their photos, but they received that book like it was done in GraphiStudios in Italy!

So believe me, I'll always be thankful for the wedding opportunities I got this past summer. Though I don't currently have weddings booked this and next month, I'm gearing up for March and the six other wedding clients I've gotten so far.

While natural talent is a serious plus for wedding photographer, I'm finding, as you know, tons of resrouces out there that can help a committed photographer get better and better. It just takes time, effort, practice, and serious desire.

I'm no where I want to be in the profession right now, but what the heck, I'll follow Ann and Leann's lead and document on my own little start:

Fall of '06: Did my first wedding engagement of a couple that hired me as their videographer for their wedding. I shot engagement session for free, though I later realized that their official wedding photographer might not have been happy about that.

June '06: Did both photography and videography for three weddings. Realized that trying to do both by myself was a serious challenge and overload, but the shots I got from these weddings helped me to get a portfolio going. Marketing: two couples were wife's co-workers, and another called and hired me based on biz cards I left in a vendor's shop.

Another video shoot, but the photographer for the wedding allowed me to take shots along side him. I really learned about portrait photog from him that day. These shots also provided me some pretty good portfolio samples for my website.

July: Referrial job, on a very hot July day. The wedding took place in a park and the couple didn't have lots of money, but I learned a lot about how to work under pressure. I was almost in tears thinking I accidently deleted the ceremony shots from the media card. It wasn't until I arrived home that night that I found another media card in the bottom of my camear bag with the ceremony photos on them. Anyway, lots of good shots to practice Photoshop skills with.

Another referrial job also worked out well. I shot the wedding for like $400, but again it was good training ground. It was at this wedding that I started putting ceremony photos on my laptop and showing slideshows during the reception. A seriously great way to market yourself and provide a service the couple really likes.

August: Two more small wedding shoots. One was my first totally indoor wedding shoot. Another challenge and learning opportunity.

October: Beautiful Fall wedding shoot up near Reno, CA. I tried shooting in RAW for the first time and also realized that I needed to learn lots more about controlling exposture under conflicting backlighting situations.

Nov.: Last wedding shoot for the year. Great basic shots. These are the first clients to purchase an Asuka wedding album.

Goals: After all these shoots, I so eagerly want to take the craft to another level. I want to get beyond the safe, ordinary portrait shots and build a more artistic approach. Look forward to redesigning my website and building my wedding album design skills. And finally, get my biz in line on a both management and accounting level. Goal this year is to make a profit from what I do and still pay taxes.

Note: For you newbies out there. Get yourself a brightly colored 3-ring binder and use it as a management tool. It should contain your business plan, tax and insurance information and forms, list of photo equipment you own and need, marketing strategies, and photography goals and challenges you will work on.

2007: 7 weddings booked so far. One from referral and another from Respond.com. The rest from internet searches the clients did. My bookings are largely based on, I think, my affordable prices (coverage only rates starting at $750, final photos on DVD, and decent work. But I want to do lots, lots better and raise my prices lots, lots, higher.

Hi Anne! Thank you so much for sharing your story. I would really love to hear the stories of so many others on here.

I don't have much of a story yet. I just did my first wedding three weeks ago. I thought I did okay. But now I have nothing on the books for the future AT ALL. I've been wondering how to go about getting those first few weddings. Ya know, the ones when you don't have very much work to show to your potential clients. And it seems like no one wants to hire a guy that's never been hired before. But now I do have one wedding to show, and I talked one of my wife's friends into putting on her wedding dress and letting me shoot her for a couple of hours. I officially have a website up, but I feel that it lacks in quantity to the point where I'm not sure if I should market it much.

So.....Craig's List? Is that the way to go in the beginning? Maybe make a special, limited-time offer just to get some more experience and images to market with? I had never thought about Craig's List before. I don't think it's quite as popular in this area (georgia) as it is in Indiana, but it might help. Anyone have anymore ideas on how to get the wedding thing started? I really feel like, if I had a few more weddings worth of material, that I could start doing bridal fairs (which is how most everybody does it in this market) and make things take off for me.

Any thoughts anyone?

I don't know how good craigs is in Indiana either. I was in Detroit at the time, and to be honest, the people who hired me through craigs were from Seattle, Chicago, New York, and generally out of town.

Start out by thinking like a bride... do a search for "georgia wedding photographer". See what comes up in the search.... it's likely you'll find onewed.com and wedj.com and others. See how many people are listed and decide if its worth it to you, or if the cost to be near the top is appropriate to your goals.

Go where the brides go.

+1.

Thank you so much Anne for sharing your insights. You are too sweet!!

And thanks for sharing that Apple F5 tip. I never knew that existed!! Cool.

Brian, I'm not that happy with my template-based Apple iWeb site either, but I think the important thing is to work with you got and find any way to get opportunities to shoot. Be it friends' weddings, Craigslist, photographer's assistant, free ads on wedding directory sites, etc. You won't be able to move forward without some photo samples and experience. Offer to shoot engagement photos for couples who can't afford an established photographer. I know that some people look down on newbies for offering their services for free, but those same people can't provide better solutions for getting started.

I really wish I had connections and could have worked with an established photographer before I got started—I still wish I could—but I didn't have time or the know how to make those type of connections. Your situation may be different. But the important thing is to keep visiting these and other type of forums (Flickr's wedding group has a great list of threads for newbies) to get ideas.

Hi Anne,

I just want to thank you for sharing this info with us. I had actually heard bad things about craigslist. So now I am having a change of heart. You really took your time writing this, and I really appreciate your efforts. There is a lot of great info here, and I for 1 can use any advice I can get starting out.

I'm completely and utterly new, so forgive me if this has been said, but I tried craigslist and got lots of fake leads. The typical Nigerian scam thing just with a different story. So be careful...

Hi i just read through this and its so helpful! I am busy trying to get started here in toronto and with little money for advertising i have chosen the craigslist route and i am hoping on getting some word of mouth clients from all the friends and family i have been photographing! So far craigslist is i have had some people contact me about engagements families etc Even a wedding however i am not a wedding photographer! Its encouraging to see the stories on here and its helping me get through this getting started phase!

It was October of 1985...

Nevermind...I'm not a newbie and I advertise so who's gonna listen to me???? Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha....

I would be interested.

As would I, my friend!

Anne... I have no idea why I never visited your blog!!! Amazing work and I love how you are giving back in all these great posts! Thanks!