Following on from last week's article on how to take your own fabulous photos of your products for use on social media, today I'd like to share the one thing that could very well make or break your business in terms of marketing and promoting. The wedding industry is nothing if not visual. Complementing and perpetuating this is the endless foray of stunningly gorgeous images from the professional photographers, who work in the industry.
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As any one of the other kinds of professionals who work in weddings, from celebrants to makeup artists, you no doubt relish in the visual feast of your own work you sometimes get to see and share with your own potential clients. Or maybe you don't. Maybe the photographers you work alongside are not currently sharing their images with you… ? If this is the case, it may come down to the photographer in question being too busy working to send out images left, right and centre, or it may be a result of your own poor behaviour – albeit perhaps unintentional – resulting in a photographer being less-than-enthusiastic about sharing their art with you.
Most wedding photographers you will find love to share their images with their colleagues, who have worked alongside them on their weddings. They know you benefit from being able to show your clients what you can do, but they also want to be given credit for their own hard work.
Photographers of all kinds tend to cop a lot of wrong-doings. Their photographs are so easily taken without having been given, used and altered without permission. It's really disrespectful and is actually considered stealing. I can guarantee you that if a photographer discovers you have done any of the above, they will highly likely add you to their little black list of people to never ever provide images to again!
I'm sure most of you reading this article will be well and truly doing the right thing, but it never hurts to have a refresher course in respect. Here is a made-easy 4-step guide on how to treat photographers right, so you can ensure you are continuing to build great working relationships.
Now, I really don't believe in bridges burned. If you suspect you may have been guilty of one or more infractions against a photographer, I'd suggest making contact with that person, apologising and simply admitting you did not previously know any better, but now you do. In the words of the ever-wise Maya Angelou…
