A Wedding Puzzle...

I spoke recently with another person in the wedding business...in this case a celebrant. We compared cases and discussed what happens with wedding photography.

She mentioned that she was surprised recently to discover how much one of her bridal couples were to be charged for their photos. I assured her that the number she mentioned was not exceptional - one of our shop customers who also does weddings charges even more. In the case of our client and also, I suspect, in the case of the other photographers, the results are so beautiful as to largely justify the cost.

I was also encouraging to her in respect of the delivery times that were promised - well in line with efficient industry practise. All good.

What did surprise me as much as it did her was hearing that there might some reluctance on the part of the photographer to work with other people in the industry. I had never heard of this before. Perhaps I misunderstood...surely each person in a chain of service for a bridal couple  is their own operator and contractor. Unless there were personal problems surely professionalism would prevail.

Anyone heard of this idea before?

I did reassure my friend that she was one of the 5 essential people at a wedding - the bride, the groom, the two adult witnesses, and the celebrant. And that she was the licensed state official for the period of the event. All the rest of us are just peripheral to this, no matter what our advertising might say...

Fishing For Hobbyists - Niche Picking Need Not Be Nit Picking

I'm in two minds whether to be ambivalent here. Should I post this idea on this blog site or on my own personal blog that is written in the comfort of my old darkroom? I can say meaner things at home and unlike work, there a chocolate biscuits freely available. But right now my readership for the thing hrhoa.wordpress.com   - " Here All Week" - is still smaller than the entire reach of this blog and its associated Facebook account, so this is a better audience. Here goes.

Get yourself a group of geeks.

No, not necessarily the pencil-necked ones with  pockets full of pens and minds full of "Dr. Who". I mean get yourself a specialist group of enthusiasts who share a common interest and a focused outlook on life. And soak them for all you can.

The dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast hobbyist collector pest is just the person you want to team up with - if they have a collection of anything that they have found, bought, or made, they are going to want glorious pictures of it - and that means they are going to need you to gloriously provide them.

You may have to steel yourself when you meet them - they can be focused to the point of mania - and you must be careful to treat their obsession with dignity and understanding and serious interest. You can wipe the thin trickle of blood and CSF from your ears after a couple of hours of listening to them, but try to engage them early on with the idea that THEIR precious is YOUR precious. And that YOU can make it all look wonderful, and safe, and noble. Never mind that they collect jam tins - photograph the jam tins as if they were Fabergé eggs.

Toy cars, toy trains, quilts, teapots, kittens, coins, stamps, flowers, bees, horses, defunct farm oil engines,....there are enthusiasts for everything and they can be sold your services if you are prepared to sell. Brand yourself if you must - I must say I never did care for the smell of singed hair - market yourself wherever they will let you stick a bill, and go wherever the geeks meet. Buy geek magazines and learn a few of the cant phrases - an occasional tech term half mumbled with a wise nod can make you an expert, as long as you are neared to the door than your listener.

The world is really your oyster. If are allergic to shellfish or are keeping kosher this may not be quite so appealing, but do try to go out their and find your niche market. Find it early and sell it hard. And remember if you have been out and spent a day at the Knitting And Crochet Fayre you can always come home and drink.