Press Release
Some wedding photography disasters are based on weather or equipment: there’s a downpour on the wedding day, or a flash mechanism goes on the fritz. Others have to do with that legendary figure in wedding lore: the bridezilla.
Seasoned photographer Elizabeth Etienne explains how she handled a particularly difficult bride’s demands in her new book, Profitable Wedding Photography. After Etienne explained that she could not complete all of the client’s desired shots in fifteen minutes, the bride demanded to be refunded her retainer fee. Etienne explained that the retainer was nonrefundable, and the bride threatened a lawsuit. Etienne politely held her ground, even after several harassing emails.
“Always remain calm and professional no matter how irrational someone else is acting,” Etienne says. “Make sure your contracts state everything necessary to protect yourself; when in doubt, seek professional legal advice; and never allow a crazy bride to destroy your passion and commitment to excellence–they do not understand what is required to do what we do.”
Drawing from her twenty-three years of experience in the wedding photography industry, Etienne thoroughly covers every aspect of running a wedding photography business in a lively, easy-to-understand way in her new book Profitable Wedding Photography. Examples of Etienne’s sumptuous photography are included throughout the book, as are essential elements to the photographer’s business and legal concerns, including sample shot lists, contracts, fee calculation formulas, and photography timelines.
In this book readers will learn how to:
– Protect their businesses with contracts and model releases
– Create a business website optimized to attract clients
– Hire and manage interns, assistants, and other essential staff
– Deal effectively with challenges such as bad weather and difficult clients
– Price a wedding photography product and service package appropriately
– Market their products through social networking and print media
Anyone looking for practical advice on how to start and grow a wedding business will need this one-stop resource from one of the most sought-after wedding photographers in the world.
“The primary goals of this book are to help you reduce the growing pains of shooting a real wedding and build the most successful wedding photography business possible,” says Etienne. “There’s simply nothing better than wallowing in the glory of creating incredible images, traveling to beautiful, romantic locations, eating great food, meeting new people, and earning money with your camera! Could it get any better than that?”
This article was last modified on January 18, 2023
This article was first published on March 16, 2011
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