one wedding photographer’s formula
Last January I ran into my friend Stephanie Carson at Sitwell’s, a popular university area coffee shop here in Cincinnati. Stephanie is a very successful wedding photographer in the region (view her website here and fun blog here) and she’d just wrapped up her 2007 obligations and would soon be off to Europe for a few weeks. We promised to get together upon her return but our schedules never seemed to fit.
Months have passed and I knew she was in her busy season but last week in a random moment I gave Stephanie a call. She was just stepping into an engagement session, she said, but it looked like there’d be time for coffee next week.
Tonight was “next week” and we found time for a nice three hour chat about life and all things photography. Though our photographic disciplines are very different we’re dealing with many of the same concerns: a meandering economy, increased competition and evolving technologies. At some point the conversation turned to pricing and Stephanie shared her approach to making a living as a photographer after a recent revision to her approach. I asked if it would be okay to share that formula here on the blog. Stephanie is also a photographic instructor and believes in sharing her knowledge where it will strengthen the professional community, so she didn‘t hesitate to oblige.
At one point Stephanie thought of success as the number of weddings she could shoot in a year, she admitted. Fifty weddings in one year was her goal, in the early going. This involved training a couple of other lead photographers and a handful of photojournalists (secondary, candid shooters) to work for her. That seemed to be the established formula: grow the business by adding photographers.
After a few very successful years she decided to change her personal formula for future success. Last fall it seemed time to set a different course and, most importantly, to simplify. She gave her understudy photographers a boost into their own personal careers and pared down the operation to just herself and a couple of photojournalists. The office was moved to home and construction costs were traded for some (now) unneeded photo equipment. Then, rather than looking at what she’d charged in the past, Stephanie looked at the future with a blank piece of paper.
First, she defined what she needed to earn to survive…the bare minimum amount of income. Then Stephanie speculated on what might be a truly slow year of business and determined that to be a total of twelve wedding bookings. Dividing the survival amount by twelve gave her a bottom line number for each wedding.
Then Stephanie determined a number for what she would deem a truly great year, a goal for the future and something to work toward. She divided this amount by the maximum number of weddings she would care to book in a year, which was twenty-five. Again, she divide the goal amount by the number of weddings.
With these two numbers to work with she settled on the average and this became the starting price for a wedding under her new incarnation. The resulting price was higher than what she had been charging in the past. This assured that, at the least, all of her basic needs would be met and the business was now moving toward realizing future goals.
Yes, Stephanie was pleased to realize an increase. But don’t think this happened overnight or was purely “found money“. By reducing the number of weddings her clients now also enjoy benefits beyond what most of the competition can offer.
With a reduced schedule and smaller staff, each client now receives Stephanie’s experienced, personalized attention to every detail. She was also an early adopter of personal blogging and creates and maintains relationships that begin well in advance of a wedding date and continue long after. A combination business / casual dinner before the wedding is also part of the service, providing an unrushed, unhurried atmosphere in which to discuss wedding details and to gain familiarity. Stephanie also firmly believes in the mantra “under promise and over deliver”, a clear indicator of a service-first approach.
In a business with growing competition, Stephanie is still finding room to grow. Her process begins by providing professional, personalized services and ends with satisfied customers pleased with their investment. And, as we’ve often discussed, that results in good word of mouth advertising, vital to retail service providers.
This made me chuckle. “She gave her understudy photographers a boost into their own personal careers…” Meaning, she fired them and told them to go start their own businesses. Hey, not a bad thing, I just found the description funny. BTW - I enjoy your photoblog, keep up the good work.
I’m glad Stephanie was willing to allow you to share her experience and how she came up with her pricing. That’s great information to have, even if I don’t plan on doing wedding photography. I’m sure this could translate to real estate or other types as well.
This is a timely article. A former co-worker just asked me about giving her a quote for her upcoming wedding. I’ve been reluctant to jump into that arena due to lack of experience, but this particular wedding sounds like a good “feet wetting” opportunity.
Anyway, does Stephanie have a studio at home for the formal engagement and bridal portraits? Or is she doing more of the photojournalistic style of event photography?
Did a wedding this past weekend for friends. Not my cup of tea, I’ll stick with commercial and corporate clients.
Stephanie shoots entirely on location, Craig. It sounds like this wedding is a good opportunity!
Great comment, Ed, and thanks for the kind words. Your perspective makes me think, yes, I did find a pretty fancy way for saying someone lost their job! Maybe I should be a press secretary instead of a photographer.
But, as you’ve also said, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Steph continues to support them and send work their way when she’s overbooked.
I took the comment about “boosting into careers of their own” as meaning that she provided them with help / clients / spare equipment / mentoring rather than just “pink slipping” them.
Although after looking at the statement, it does sound better than “moving on to pursue other interests.”
Wow Jim,
You did a great job writing this! Thanks for the kind words. I’ve enjoyed reading other post you have written on this blog and I must say you do have a way with words
Really fun read! As one of the very lucky people who Steph as helped into their own photo careers, the part about sharing her knowledge is very true. She is always great about giving advice and answering questions.
Great input Jim,
As I can only dream about having a photography job, I do hope I can live this dream someday.
Like everything else, starting point is the hardest.
Jim, I would love to hear your perspective on the interaction of sharing your knowledge (like she is doing) vs. growing competition. I’m all up for sharing the knowledge as I’m not a professional photographer by any means (although I would love to do it!), but I always find this interaction very gray. Just curious…
P.S. My POV on the issue is that there is a lot of knowledge out there that has definitely brought the edge to hobbyists to a point that they are shooting better than some professional photogs. However, professional photogs should keep up with new trends, techniques, and technology to really stand out from the rest. Kind of like doing your homework kind of thing.
Hi Juan, thanks for all the great comments and welcome to prophotolife.
One of the key reasons Stephanie and I believe in sharing knowledge is to communicate professional standards to up and coming photographers. Compared to ten years ago there are fewer technical barriers to becoming a solid photographer. Even novice photographers can take amazing photos now, given current digital cameras and technologies. And, given all the info on the internet, I don’t think it’s possible to keep “secret technical info” a secret for very long now.
Running a business in a competitive environment and ensuring the future of the profession requires a completely different set of values and that’s what we work hard to impart. We recognize that sharing information and passing on professional ethics are essential to the survival of the profession and, in turn, our own survival.
Plus it’s a kharma thing.
I just found this entry on prophotolife after recently finding the website through DPS. I would like to thank you for sharing your techniques and invaluable information with novices like me. I wish you continued success in your career.
Wow, amazing wedding photographer and she has a amazing web site and blog, but wow her starting package for a wedding is $3100! That’s a lot of money.
I’ve really enjoyed your topics and tutorials. There is so much to learn and practice and take into account before a photo is even captured.
Thanks for your perspectives and willingness to share!
Odd that I am surfing around reading up on all my photography blogs and I fall into this one. A couple of weeks ago I got the pleasure of meeting Stephanie Carson. She was my best friends wedding photographer. I stood back and watched (as a matron of honor and a peeping Uncle Bob) and learned what I could from Steph. She did a fabulous job both at the wedding and with the final product. Cindi was very happy with her photos and Steph had a particular confidence about her that screamed “successful photographer”. Thanks for the post!
Price is something that I am struggling with, and this seems to make sense of it. Thank you!
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