Hey all, wasn't sure where to post this, but I am hoping to call all of the husband/wife teams out of the woodwork. Love to know who is all out there and your thoughts on some of the above questions!

Thanks!
Rita

Well ok... I guess I'm not part of a husband/wife team officially... but we're getting married August 18th of this year so then it will be official

Congrats Jacob! So do you guys shoot together?

Rita


Oh, and other than the poll - I would really LOVE to hear from you guys! At least post a hi, how are ya or something! I want to know who is all out there!

Thanks!
Rita

I couldn't survive without my wife. I like to think we compliment each other, but the truth is, she could do every aspect of this with no problem. What does she need me for ?

I'm documentary, she comes up with bridal poses that rival any magazine.
I'm clueless, she keeps us organized.
I'll fold like a cheap suit, she makes sure we don't budge on contracts.
I sporatically come up with new ideas- then abandon them at the first sign of trouble...she keeps me focused and on the right path.
I usually shoot everything.....but 2 of my last brides chose pictures that she took for their display enlargement.

Yeah- I couldn't make it without her. We split everything- we both shoot, we both do office work, and we try to go to meetings together (because she is afraid I will fold...lol).

+1

My husband can't take a decent picture in dummy box mode (full auto).

Adam and I work together. He does almost all of the shooting. For weddings I do second shoot, but he is the main shooter. I actually don't know enough to really call myself a photographer, but I can get some good shots.

He does all our portrait work. The only time I photograph portraits is if we are doing event type posed photos on a backdrop and they need two stations, then I photograph at the second station.

At weddings I second shoot and act as assistant. I do all the getting ready photos for the girls as well as shoot throughout the day. I also do most of the set up for the formals and keep things moving during the formals. I haul equipment, run and get things and pretty much do whatever Adam needs througout the day when I am not shooting.

For office work, Adam does all Photoshop and technical work. He designs flush albums. I layout matted albums. We usually both do some sorting of the wedding, but I usually go through it first and cull out most of what we toss. He usually does the final edit from there and then tweaks anything that needs tweaking.

I do all bookkeeping and billing. Adam would never charge anyone for anything if it was up to him. I also figure out most of our pricing and put together price lists and stuff, although we talk about that stuff together. Whoever is around answers the phone. We both meet with customers for proofing sessions and album design sessions, it just depends who feels like doing it or is free.

For initial wedding consultations we both are always there. We both go to engagement sessions, but I don't shoot at them, I just go to get to know the couple. Usually for album sessions, just one of us meets with them, but frequently the other is around somewhere.

I do most of the ordering of prints and proof magazines, Adam gets all the images ready to be ordered. I sort orders once they come in and do most of the mailing.

Adam is excellent at spending money, I am really good at being a tightwad. We balance eachother out pretty well.

Thanks =) Yep we shoot together.

Wow Lynn! Isn't it funny how it all works out? A lot of what you stated is similar to what Joel and I do - except we are both main photographers. The balance of the PS, albums, and office work is similar to us. Although I manage all of the bills, I also am the spender, so that can be dangerous!

Rita-
Great post topic and poll as there as many husband and wife teams working in this industry!

We love working as a team! When we started, Johnny did some weddings alone. It took him doing a really cool beach wedding without me for me to insist that I needed to tag along! Johnny is the primary shooter and I am the second shooter/assistant/post-processing guru/office manager/album designer, etc. Since he has a full-time teaching job that he loves, this is an arrangement that works well for us. I work on the non-shooting part of the business during the week, while we both shoot together whenever possible (except for illness or some portrait sessions). We also do meetings together part of the time. It depends on timing and childcare.

Our wedding business was born along with the birth of our second child when I stopped working as a graphic designer at an ad agency. Neither of us wanted to start a business solo (him doing weddings alone or me doing freelance design), but we needed to create a new career for me that allowed me to be home with the kids. Doing weddings together has been a perfect collaboration for us and we find it ironic that it took 10 years of marriage to realize how well our skills and creativity work together!

Cindy Stafford
www.johnnystaffordphotography.com

My husband and I are both elementary school teachers...SNOW DAY today!! We are just begining the buz and defining roles. Photography and kids are my thing... I love taking photos. And as the old saying goes find what you love to do and then find a way to make money at it. My husband loves kids and loves making money. He takes care of the office stuff and entertaining the kids when I share the photos with the parents.

I am trying to get him into the post production work... backing up... editing... web... albums... and all the other things that add up and make it overwhelming. This is just the begining...so we will see how that goes.

What are your suggestions on making it work? We are just getting started and I hear of lots of succeful hubby and wifey teams out there.

Casey

p.s. ORAGANO our buz name ... well I am Italian and had a hard time giving up the Italian last name... and Ragan (my husbands name is sooo Irish). I tried to persuad him to do the new Hollywood trend and start a combo name and thats when I created ORAGAN...like the spice. Well needless to say I didnt start the new Hollywood trend but I did get a buz name out of it.

We aren't officially husband and wife yet, either, but we're engaged, and we do all of this fabulous photography stuff together!


They're rollerblades, not boots!

I started doing weddings by myself about five years ago. My wife started coming with me as my assistant about 2+ years ago. She just started to do some shooting last year. She shoots some of the ceremony and reception. I can't get her off the full auto mode yet, but she is getting better with her composition so I don't push to hard. She is great at paying attention to the small details. Brides love her! She has had more people tell here that she should be a wedding coordinator. LOL We have so much fun at our weddings. It is also a really nice break from our two monsters...I mean children. (two boys ages 4 & 8) I think couples really like having a married couple photograph their wedding...at least our couples have so far!

My wife started the ball rolling as our family photographer, but I have picked it up and am now running with it, she seconds for me but I do all the grunt work now - mainly because she keeps the kids in line (yes, I'm including myself in that statement - kid number 3 - that's me )

I started this photography thing alone, but after my first wedding, it was pretty obvious that I needed Jensey. And since then, she's become such a talented, creative, balanced, cute, etc etc second photographer. And her ideas for molding and directing the business aren't bad either! So like someone else said...I really couldn't do it without her!

Dan and I shoot everything together, and attend all of the meetings together. On occasion we'll be shooting two separate engagements at the same time, but other than that we do those together as well. It sort of acts as a second meeting with our clients.

We each have different strengths when it comes to the office work, but it's split pretty evenly.

LOL I totally though you were wearing snow board boots!

Hahaha, that's why I put that little tidbit there under the photo. I have that photo on my MySpace, and my cousin left a comment saying, "What are those? Boots?!" It had never even occured to me that they might look like boots - I guess because I know they're rollerblades and we simply stepped off the path to have our picture taken, hah.

My wife is the queen of bookings! When she meets with potential clients alone, she has a 100% closure rate. We have a running joke that I should stop going to meetings, but it still hasn't kept me away. For now We shoot together most of the time, but I guess I'm the "primary" photographer.

Rita, I've been a fan of your guys' stuff (saw you guys on DWF). Always inspirational. Thanks.

Jan

I'm the lead she's my assistant. Valeria (my wife obviously) only shoots, I do everything else, then when I'm done she tells me all the things I did wrong... which apparently is fair in her eyes. I meet with the clients and tell them how wonderful my wife is. Hopefully that will get back to her one day. She's a doctor of physical therapy and director of the therapy departments at a local hospital in Covina. I sit in my little shop, cold and alone till I start researching camera equipment or surfing OSP, then I warm up.
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

I also spend a lot of my time figuring out goals for marketing, developing new product strategies and saving for equipment we need versus want.

Bene' and I shoot weddings together. I wouldn't say one of us is first and the other second. She is like the bride's personal photographer all day & night, except when I'm shooting groups - she is with whatever group I don't have. I shoot pretty much everything else, groups, groom getting ready, dance floor, action, etc.

It's funny, because every other day of the week we are within a few feet of each other, but when we are actually working together at a wedding we are apart most of the time.

We select pictures together. I do all of the editing. She does all of the books.

My wife and I work together and we love it. See my avatar.

She doesn't do too much shooting but she loves playing with the fisheye lens every once in a while.

Wow, can't imagine doing a wedding without Brian. We both have such a different eye for things. And we have a blast, sometimes it's the closest thing to a date for the week with the cake, dancing, low lights...

The only thing I can't figure out is we fight on the way to the wedding? Maybe it's b/c he has to stop and use the bathroom at the gas station when we're already late, and maybe it's because I've caught him taking his book with him! (ooooh, he's going to kill me for this post! ) But he's in the dog house anyway this week (oh, it's only Monday? lol!).

my husband matt and i started our business together and shoot every wedding together. i'm so grateful we can do this together.

matty is the silent photojournalist for the most part - and makes everyone laugh...he is also an elementary school teacher that loves what he does - so I handle most of the business - but we make the decisions together and occasionally he'll join me for engagement shoots and client meetings...



lol Me Ra! so funny - i was going to put a comment on this topic about the fact that my husband matt and i are the "bickermans" on the way to weddings! so funny.

they say a successful business develops lots of systems - so how about this for one of our most important "systems!"

Our solution:
1) I drive to weddings. I'm a nervous passenger - and when I'm a bit anxious to begin with - I make it worse!

2) all clothes are selected and drycleaned early in the week before the upcoming weddings. I used to iron matt's shirts - now he picks out his clothes for the weekend WELL BEFORE fifteen minutes before we leave and I don't touch them...it's perfect - I'm not too domesticated when it comes to ironing.

3) made a pre-wedding checklist that he and I can both follow to make sure we have everything...

4) we leave 30 minutes before we think we should

we've tried to take everything "hectic" out of our pre-wedding routine - but then again, we don't have KIDS yet!

so funny - but every husband and wife team we talk to has this problem! the longer matt and i work together the more we really get into our groove...

another question to folks:
until now - we haven't marketed the two of us as a husband and wife team too much - but I think we are making a mistake there - i guess we just weren't expecting to do everything together - but we definitely do...and sell it in the consults - just not on our web site, etc...and our business name is my name - not both of ours...so I'm afraid that might be a tough switch. my sister katie is an associate for us - so we can't just think of the two of us either...

although me ra - i guess you and brian do the same thing, huh?

I am the main shooter and my husband assists/2nd shoots from time to time at weddings, but never shoots or goes with me to meetings or other portrait sessions. He's learning a lot about his photography and enjoys helping out. But I'd never make it without him on the business side. He keeps track of all the books and pays all the bills. I'm horrible at all the business stuff and if I was trying to do both, I'd have run us into the ground a long time ago! I do all the post production, client interaction, etc. He puts orders into the lab once I've gotten them ready, helps package orders, is always running to the post office...

wow, as I write this all down, I need to thank him more! I've always felt lucky to have a spouse that is not only willing to help, but is invested in helping my (our) business succeed.

I'm glad we're not the only ones! LOL! I say, a little arguing over directions now and then just adds to the passion right?!
Couldn't imagine doing it alone either...and really, is it not just the most fun EVER to shoot with the one you love?! Everyone responding to this thread - aren't we lucky!?

Dustin is the one who has always been interested in photography, and I kinda like taking pictures, but he is teaching me a long the way, and eventually I will learn. I really would like to do the other end of photography (he does weddings, I do famililes and kids and such..) we will see where it leads. But I like to go to weddings with him becuase it is our date night, and we get some food too most of the time.

Kathy and I shoot together. If there is a lead photographer, I differ to her. But mostly we shoot as equals. Our son, Dallas, shoots with us on larger events and shoots seperately from us. Kathy and I have worked together the entire 33 years we have been married. Some have asked how we make it work. The secret is, she decides all the small things and I decide all the big things. So far nothing big has come up
Joe

We take it a 'little' further than husband and wife.
Carla (wife) and I have worked together for the entire 23 years in business. (Married 28 years). She's been shooting for probably 10 of those years.
For the last five years we've had our daughter and our son-in-law in business with us. Well, actually, he's been a son-in-law "officially" for about 15 months.


Carla is in the office as she wants to be. Usually a few hours most afternoons, but spends a lot of time doing things for her mother - doctors appointments, groceries, etc.
The rest of us are in the office full time.

We often use three or all four of us at weddings, each with specific duties, but we will also split up for the occasional double booking. On these, we will sometimes bring in others to supplement our team.

It works for us, and it is a priviledge to be able to work so closely with my family.

Mark

Fun thread and love to see all the photography couples!

Garrett is the lead photographer and I gladly second for him. I have no interest in being the primary photographer...really love the business side. I try to make it to half the weddings...we had 45 last year and my first priority was being a mom so I could only make it to half, (clients know this). This year we are cutting way back and I can hopefully make it to most of them. I am mostly documentary style and Garrett is the directing and fashion style. We have a good balance with it and for some reason we don't fight day of wedding...I think its more after.

Photo by Ben Vigil
Garrett leads with the client meetings. Most of the time I am there. Half the time it is through email, so we split the inquiries.

Garrett does post-production, does all the shoots, (e session, portrait...etc. sometimes I come along) designs for some of the albums, the technical side, most of the client relations, leads in presentations, networks for the most part.

I do the business side, (clerical, office management, handling the money...yeah!!!), the marketing side, (branding, packaging, media kits, slideshows) research of everything, (industry, ideas, promos, etc).

Pictage does the rest!

We know our strengths and weaknesses and we learn from it. We make all decisions and have creative ideas together. We love our "jobs", "working" together, and we lead a blessed life!

History Bit: Garrett started the business in '03 and I joined late '04. (We did shoot the first wedding in '01...and it was the only one for that year). We went full time in '05, (left our very secure careers) and never looked back

Clients and another photography couple on OSP...now our dear friends! (Brandy and Sticky)

I am laughing at everyone who fights before weddings. We don't get into arguments before weddings very often anymore, but we used to. Adam tends to get really stressed leading up to things, but then relaxes about 5 minutes after we get in the car. I have learned to completely stay out of his way. He has a checklist that he works through, I used to help get everything for it, but that was too much interaction. Now I don't help get the stuff at all and only occasionally load the car. The only thing I do is fill my one pack that I keep my keys and cell phone in. The rest I leave up to him. The kids and I have all learned to stay out of the way and ignore him for best results on wedding days. Oh, yeah, sometimes I will iron his shirt. Leanne is the only person who has ever second shooted for us and when she did she stayed overnight. I warned her to completely ignore Adam and not take anything he says personally because he can be such a bear. He was pretty embarrassed that I did that, but I felt it was necessary so she wouldn't be scared off

I initially read this post and thought - aw, were not married yet BUT WE ARE It is still sinking in I guess!

Ok, I mostly do it all - main shooter, post production, marketing, office work, etc.... Sticky second shoots at weddings and that is it. We are changing things up a bit this year and putting him more in charge of some of the office stuff - I really need it b/c I feel like I am drowning sometimes. Sticky barbers full time so it is hard for him to help out with the other stuff - ideally it would be great for him to only have to barber part time (he really does not like the place where he works but he loves to barber so I would hate for him to quit cold turkey) so hopefully he will be able to make that happen in the next 6 months.

He is so fun to shoot weddings with, I cannot imagine not having him there!! I love to look over at him and know that he is thinking the same thing that I am just by the look on his face. He is such a vital member of our team - he is usually in the background taking candid shots but he also throws in some one-liners that can really make everyone laugh!! Bridal Parties love him but I would be hard pressed to find someone who did not love him.

I shot on and off for about three years and then in 2004 I went full time (sort of, I always will have my hand in my family business some way or another). Sticky joined in May of '06 and to date that has been the best thing I have ever done. Wedding season last year was an absolute blast!! We have double the weddings that we had last year this year so I am very excited to see what the two of us come up with.

We never fight at weddings - before or after. Sticky thrives off of order so I try to make sure that we are well prepared days in advance - which is very difficult for me b/c I am a bit more scatter-brained Most of our arguments stem from me being on the computer too much - you know editing, designing albums, checking out OSP, all the vital parts of the job.

This is a great post!! It sounds silly but we really wanted our own wedding photographers to be a couple - not to discriminate against those who are not. It was just a small thing that we were looking for - definitely not the deciding factor. We discovered The Nudds early on and I cannot tell you how thrilled we are that they were there to shoot our day - I would have been bummed if Joy could not have made it. Best decision of the wedding - next to Sticky of course

congrats brandy and sticky on the wedding! so exciting isn't it! marriage is just the best thing ever - you'll get a ton of advice in the first year - but really, its just an awesome thing!

how fun to have joy and garrett at your wedding - they are such great people - i wish they could have been at mine!!

sounds as though sticky and my hubby matt have a similar approach at weddings and i have that crazy computer addiction problem too!

congrats again on married life!

Okay I must chime in. After meeting Matt last summer in Denver and spending the weekend with Sticky in Savannah (not literally spending the weekend with him!), I'd say they are two peas in a pod. Seriously.

Many photographer-types are outgoing, but Sticky is outgoing in the most genuine way. He's so genuine that you catch yourself wondering sometimes. Its easy for us to connect with brides, but sometimes it's more challenging to connect with grooms. Not this time.

And Jenna and Brandy remind me a bit of each other too. Uncanny.


#####

Now, back on track. Yes, I started the biz on my own. We were married but Joy was focused on her nursing degree/work. Right after Graycen was born she literally pushed me into this. It's all her fault, and boy do I love her for it.

Here's the rationale...

We could spend our whole lives wondering "what if?" but there's no better time to try it than now. Sure, we have a mortgage and a new baby and so much responsibility. But we'll likely have more mortgages and more babies and more responsibilities down the road. Not to mention, the longer you wait the harder it becomes to connect with brides and potential clients (unless your name is Joe Buissink). So here we are. Totally blessed. Totally undeserved. Totally surprised. Totally working to improve and get better. And totally in love with our work, our clients, our family and each other. And many of you.

We are so inspired by couples like MeRa and Brian, Jenna and Matt, Brandy and Sticky, Katie and Chris, Nathan and Amber, the LaCour double duo, Matt and Sarah, Eric and Jen Larson, Jeff and Julia, the Bebbs, the Wiebners, the Jaksas, the Cowleys, the Humphreys the Turtles and on and on and on. And couples like Jill Higgins and her husband, who would totally be working together if he wasn't serving in the military overseas.

That's inspiration!

It's so amazing to hear all of the different stories of all of the "teams" out there. I have loved reading everyone's responses - who does what, why this works and that doesn't and so forth. For those of you who get into "fights" before weddings - we also used to do that. On top of getting ready for a wedding, we usually have the added stress of getting our 2 children to the babysitter, so it makes for a stressful time if you are running late. I am by nature a late person - so I have to trick myself - I always write down on the couples paperwork our start time as 30 minutes earlier than we need to really be there. If I give us an extra 30 - 1 hour, we usually get there on time! And we aren't as stressed, nor do we fight before a wedding. Helps to get in the right frame of mind for the day creatively.

I am so glad there are so many couples out there that love to work together. I couldn't imagine doing it any other way - we are together 24/7 - literally! The other week I went shopping for about 4 hours by myself, I think that is the first time I have been alone, without husband or kids, in about 6-9 months.

It's crazy how this business takes over, and people often ask how we do it. The both of us at this full time, 45-50 weddings a year, and 2 very active little boys. It's not easy! You really need to find a balance that works for you.

I am going off on a tangent, so back to discussing husband/wife teams - rock on everyone!

Our option wasn't there, we shoot separately. we used to shoot together, but after a while Neil decided it was overkill to have 2 lead shooters at a wedding, and having me there made him lazy (hey, he said it, not me) because he knew I could cover it all myself.

so we shoot separately so that my schedule won't be so crazy, and he takes a different second shooter who won't let him feel lazy!

I've found that I'm much less mean on the mornings of weddings if I get everything I need from the basement upstairs and ready to go. Even if we don't have to leave until 1:00 or later. I do much better if I'm not frantically working through the checklist the morning of. Also, this way if I'm missing anything I can run out to Midwest Photo to pick up whatever it is before we need before we leave. That hasn't happened in a while, though.

Much less stress. And that's important.

Funny, I didn't see that either. I was thnking "Wow, those are REALLY ugly shoes!"

-TM

My best hardware purchase for my business? Her engagement & bridal rings.

My wife Sara and I shot together / obstructed each other's view at senior portraits when we first dated in '03, and we worked together photographing a couple of long time friends get married in '04-05 and noticed how well we compliment each other. She has a great eye and ideas and is learning more of the technical side of image making. She took some *amazing* photos at the first wedding we shot using a Nikon 5400 p/s and flash... just seeing that she knew how to anticipate and shoot with that pokey camera made me realize the talent she had behind a camera.

My wife is the PR department, I can't get her more cards to hand out fast enough. She's the secret weapon I can send in to a stressed out bride, get a conversation going, or just shamelessly plug our work anywhere. We went to brunch this weekend and when the table across from us asked the waitress to snap a photo of them Sara chimed in about our work and gave cards to anyone around making eye contact. We got to talk to the older married couple behind us a while as we waited for our checks, and they asked for a few extra cards to give out.

On wedding days she's shooting with the bride up till the entrance and then shoots around the ceremony. She gets balcony fisheye shots when available, and has shot with all the gear we haul. She has a great complimentary angle to the images I'm catching, and we usually have to get to the exif data to win the argument of who shot which awesome shot. At the reception she makes a slideshow and takes it easy talking to guests and family while they mingle. She assists with batteries, cards, dinner and cake. (One thing I LOVE that she does is that she GUARDS my cake so no one takes it if I only get one bite then back out ot the dance floor. It's there till I chomp the last bite or she gets to it first.) Once things wind down we usually catch a slow dance while the couple has their feet up, after snapping some shots of the couple first, of course.

Our business took off the summer we planned ot marry, and in May of 06 both our jobs folded on us and we took our business full-time. I do almost all the office, editing, scheduling, purchasing for the biz. She picked up work at a day care to get out of the house and earn some extra spending money / pay off bills while things are a little slow this winter. Bookings, and orders are still 80% of our income this winter, and that's leaps above what was on file from last year. Come spring she'll be home working with me full time helping cull weddings, edit, post galleries & updates, and album design.

There's a little more about us on our bio page here. I brag about her and her shots all the time. We're pretty competitive but with her choosing the slideshow shots she gets to show off HER favorite photos and get the crowd oohs and aahs for her work too - and she should!

Did I mention I love this woman!?

eB

We've been working together since 1999 (full time in 2000). It took some time to figure out the ways to make our business run smoothly - we each started out doing everything and over time came to know what areas we are each best at.

And we have two kids.

We split things up in a way that capitalizes on our strengths. I'm better at multi-tasking so I do all the office work, all the editing, all the album design. And I watch the kids too!

Steve is really, really great in person, so he does all phone calls and all sales meetings. He also does any running around to labs, post office, etc. He's also my "tough" guy - if something unpleasant needs to be done, he does it.

We have photographed almost 300 weddings together, the exception being 2002 while I had a really tough pregnancy that precluded me working for about 7 months. That was a tough year for us personally as we discovered we are so much better together than we are apart.

There is no lead/second at the weddings. The only time one of us is in charge is during formal family portraits - I'm in charge of organizing the groups and Steve shoots them. It's the most efficient way we've found to do it.

We've talked about splitting up for weddings and doubling our income. But we're "Steve and Jen" and we like it that way. Yeah, we can each shoot on our own and we have done it a few times. But we just have more fun together and that's what it's all about.

Andrew is my "tough" guy Love this quote , Jen!!!

Seriously, though...like the Bebbs, the LaCour double duo has discovered that we are better together than apart. Andrew and I & Mark and Erin shoot as husband-and-wife teams, and we love it that way. It's rare that one of us will shoot a wedding alone.

Just today, Andrew was chatting with a wedding planner who told us how wonderful it is to have both a male and female perspective on the wedding day. This particular planner has sent us so many wedding clients, and a big selling point for us is that we are a husband-and-wife team. I spend the day with the bride, and Andrew spends the day with the groom.

Andrew is more technical than I am, so he handles the lighting set-up at receptions. I, however, am more focused on the décor and details. Our styles complement each other very well. Both of us are very hands-off at weddings. We both worked as photojournalists, so we concentrate on naturally-occuring candid moments rather than portraits etc. It's a good fit for us after working for years at newspapers etc.

Andrew and I have a "dance" at weddings -- I always know what he's thinking and what he needs from me before he even asks. And he does the same for me. It makes working together extremely efficient and most important, extremely fun!

We do have our tense moments in the car ride to the wedding though -- like many of you! I get pretty wound up before weddings, so my nerves keep me on edge on Saturay mornings
Andrew is so sweet and patient with me though!

Great thread.

I have a full-time studio, and Michelle has a real job, but we always work together at weddings. She has recently started 2nd shooting for me and is phenominal. We are working (and looking) forward to the day when she can work with me full-time.

When we were dating I told her once that I would pay her $50 to help me at a wedding. Well, she still hasn't seen a nickel of that fifty dollars, but she stuck with me regardless. Occasionally she asks me about it in jest, but I just tell her she gets it all now anyway.

Good to see so many husband-wife teams!

Hi Rita,

Elaine and I are blessed in that we fell in love and married before we ever went into business together. But now that we're married and working together we can't count our blessings enough that we've also found the perfect partnership in our business together.

Work load wise, we distribute things evenly. I find that I'm more technical than Elaine while she thinks more creatively than I. It's funny, I remember doing a brain test with Elaine once. We would choose answers to questions together such as "what do you see in this image". And while she was choosing her answers I remember thinking to myself "I can't believe you're choosing that!". We were clearly two different sides of the brain.

Also, I'm the night owl, Elaine's the early bird. She's up and at it thriving better in the mornings, yelling for me to get up, while I'm still half asleep in bed. But on the flip side, I'm able to stay up and work much later than her. It does make for some interesting characteristics in our work flow.

Before weddings Elaine leaves it to me to get the gear in working order while she prepares for the wedding in other ways. One of those ways being packing food for us. If I were in the kitchen we'd probably starve.

We always shoot together if there's a capacity for two cameras. When we do studio work and there's only one camera necessary, Elaine does the hair, makeup, and lights, while I shoot. It's a much more wholesome experience by working together. We've shot weddings separately in the past and while it has its perks, it's more soul-edifying to be together. Also we do have other shooters that we could work with individually for weddings but we've still found that we work together best. There's more honesty and openness between us than with other shooters and I think that honesty is a huge factor.

As a husband wife team, what I've found also is that there's always the tendency for the business to slowly become the foundation of the marriage. It's hard to not talk about the business together. So we've had to lay down guidelines on when business is truly off limits and it's just time to rest and spend time as a family. Maybe you identify with me on some of this.

Just a random thought ... I think there's a bigger responsibility for husband wife teams than for just a shooter who goes to a wedding with a second shooter. The responsibility is in the lifestyle that we show while we're on the shoot. I think people do watch husband wife teams a great deal and because of this we hope to make a positive impact through our lifestyle in encouraging a new couple to live out a life of love together.

Cheers,

Kenneth + Elaine

Mike and I are just getting started and at first it was going to be all about him, and I decided to play with his camera when he went out of town and was hooked. Right now I am doing more shooting than he with portraits as I have found a niche where I am happy and doing well. He is working full-time and shooting part time and will be the lead on weddings where I'll be the second shooter.

I am handling the business end of things and am designing albums. I love images, always have but have recently found my 'voice' so to speak.

Mike has so wonderfully supported me through my career changes during our marriage (especially when I quit a full-time job to train and intern for FREE to become a lactation consultant) and though not surprising life circles around and I am back in the creative field again. This time it's me getting to do the supporting and encourage (well maybe kick his butt into gear at times) him to follow his dreams and talents to make his dream business a reality and successful.

We work well together and our different styles and perspectives compliment each other. Our challenge now as the business is gearing up is how to work while parenting 5 kids I can't wait till he can shoot full-time and we move into that dream home with a studio!

Cat

my wife and I shoot as a team. It works pretty well over all

We're also a team -- David second shoots and assists though he definately is the cog that keeps the wheels turning some days. He's also a marketing machine and a shameless, self promoter. I think working as a team means finding your strengths and weakness and delegating -- we've come to terms with what I like and do well and what he does well. I handle much of the day to day business load, post processing, accounting, client relationships but David serves as a backup to support me in tehse tasks when I am overloaded. David works a full time job and handles second shooting at weddings primarily. We have such wildly different visions and personalities while at the same time being able to think on the same plane. It's more of a comfort than anything to know that if I need someone to re-energize me at any given moment, he would be there to give me that boost. Given all that, I love that we have different backgrounds, perceptions, visions, concepts... yet we still see something very common in looking at the overall event as a whole. We know exactly what I need to accomplish and he knows what he needs to accomplish to make the machine run properly.

Great thread... I've loved reading how everyone has a different kind of team.

D.

Fun topic! I started the bug but as soon as I got my new camera my Hubby was in the background saying "what if you tried shooting this or that"...so I knew I'd better get him his own camera asap. From there we both got hooked. I'm the main photog and run the office since he has a day job.

It's been an awesome ride so far!!

How did I miss this thread????

I remember voting, but apparently never got around to replying!

Nathan and I shoot all weddings together. We are both "lead" shooters except during the formals, when generally Nathan takes the lead. I shoot baby sessions alone, and Nathan shoots engagements.

Nathan meets with all wedding clients, all the time.

Office duties are split based on our respective talents. Nathan works on the administrative duties... (frightening amounts of work...) and local networking. I work on all image processing and album design... and forum posting

I adore working with my husband. He's brilliant and inspiring, and I cannot imagine trying to work with anyone else... Ever!

Wow ~ this is such a fantastic thread.

We're such newbies to this forum. I never realized what an incredible community DJ has put together. It's been so much fun reading everyone's posts about husband and wife teams! I had no idea there were so many of us!!!

Bob and I have been in business together for almost 2 years. He's the photographer and I do everything else, office, post production, design, and so on. Sometimes I think he's got the much easier job!!! LOL..! I'm sure some of you would disagree.

Bob has been a photographer for over 20 years, beginning in the newspaper industry, working for the Chicago Sun-Times for 14 years. He left that to launch Bella Pictures and soon after than I left my full time job as an accountant to start our own brand, la Storia foto. www.lastoriafoto.net Leaving our mundane jobs was the BEST career decision we've ever made!!!!!

I absolutely love working with my husband. He is the light of my life and has such a calm demeanor. He puts everything into perspective when things sometimes feel otherwise! He's an amazing photographer and I'm so proud of what we have accomplished together with our business, our children, and our marriage. I'm a lucky girl...!!!

We've had many amazing opportunities and thank God everyday for this. I'm so inspired by what I've read here in this thread... thank you all so much for sharing your lives here at OSP!!!

~ Dawn & Bob Davis

Bravo...this is a fun thread!

Dawn and Bob are indeed an inspiration to us and so many others. After spending quite a bit of time with them in Texas a couple months ago, it's obvious to me that the mission aspect of their lives has had a huge impact on their business. Clearly they've been blessed, in their personal lives and in their business. Do yourself a favor and get to know them.