What do Wedding Photographers Really Do?
It comes up a lot. Usually when I’m standing in the buffet line for dinner, or when there’s a slow time during the day when I’m not taking pictures.
“So you’re the photographer?”
“Yessir, I am, and I absolutely love it.”
“Well I don’t doubt it. You’re doing a great job out there. It must be great to work only one day a week!”
I hear similar stories from other wedding photographers. There seems to be a lot of misconceptions regarding what wedding photographers actually do all week. It’s perfectly understandable, after all, the only time most people see us working is at the wedding. So I thought it would be interesting to survey wedding photographers and discover what they really do besides take pictures every weekend. Hopefully it will help clear up some misconceptions and give some insight into what goes on behind the scenes after we leave the reception.
About 50 wedding photographers responded so it’s a fairly good sample size, and I’d be surprised if a larger response would yield a much different result.
The Perception
How some people think wedding photographers spend their time (and how some photographers WISHED they could spend their time):
The Reality
How wedding photographers REALLY spend their time:
We clearly spend more time in front of our computers than behind our cameras, which is a sign of these digital times.
Photographers, does that sound about right? If you think we’re way off or if we missed anything, let us know in the comments.
Quotes
Here are some exerpts from some of the responses that were sent back from the survey:
Looking for a wedding photographer in your area? Check out the ISPWP Wedding Photographer Directory featuring the best wedding photographers from around the world.
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Next time I get ask one of these questions I will have to refer them here. Maybe then they will understand.
Excellent article by Lawrence Kim that corroborates this survey: “If you desperately want to be your own boss and run your own business, by all means becoming a full-time photography business owner can make sense. Be aware, however, that you’ll be spending 90% of your time doing non-photography business tasks like marketing, selling, networking, bookkeeping, web-mastering, order fulfillment, etc.”
http://laurencekim.com/2011/03/23/for-love-or-money/
110% Absolutely true! But you forgot to mention ‘while sleeping ….’
Photography will also take a lot of time during my sleep
120% right! Thanks for the evidence! lol
Excellent write up, I thought of doing a video about this for a long time.. For me though, editing in front of the computer actually takes up around 65% of my time, I wish it was a mere 28%!
From the graph, it looks like 0.2% of the day is lost to white space (or maybe that’s the coffee allocation?)
I would totally agree in that your second graph totally depicts how a lot of photographers spend their time. However, I fully believe that it is a choice they make to do so. For it is much easier to feel busy and do all those “tasks” to feel professional, but I think doing photography professionally requires you to give up almost all of those things.
I have a full time editor, an album designer, an accountant, I never blog, I don’t do any kind of advertising, and any time on Facebook/twitter is mainly done to keep up with my friends!
My schedule looks more like: Hang out with family and friends – 50%, travel to exotic places – 25%, shoot photos 10%, edit photos (just favs) – 5%, send off albums/raws to editors – 5%, hanging out with clients and calling – 5%.
Isn’t that the way it should be??
Maybe that extra .2% is the party-like-rock-stars?
Seriously — though wrong for me as an individual (I spend way less than 12% actually shooting) it’s a great graphic to see when looking at the industry as a whole.
I feel this is soooo accurate! It seems like you alwasy spend twice as much time editing as you do with taking the pictures. I have fortuneately speeded up my production time a bit but still. It’s crazy.
Great infograph! You forgot to mention that many wedding photographers work part-time. So a BIG pie would be “working other day job”.
And you also forgot to mention how much time we spend browsing the web for the latest gadget and giving our 2 cents in formum threads titled “Nikon vs Canon”.
(c:
LOVE this!
Editing needs to be higher- uploading, burning discs- etc.
We print for photographers daily, and those that are doing the print work are working overtime!
(posted on our FB with a link here: https://www.facebook.com/persnicketyprints)
This could not have come at a better time!! I have just decided to take some time away from weddings and focus on a specific market…. now people may understand a little more on why when they ask, “but, why, you do such a great job!” Great post, thanks for sharing!
Ah ! this was PERFECT! I was at a Hindu wedding recently that lasted from 7 pm to 4 am in the morning and during that wedding-I had people come up to me and ask if i was doing this as a profession or as a hobby? Because staying up all night is something I love doing!
That looks brilliantly accurate (if scary). I would add a 2% screaming at computeur
Thank you for publicizing this little known truth. It is the same for us in the video production business. They all think that filming the event is the whole job. Of course in reality. My graph looks much like that of the photographer. I am a full time producer. We are based near Windsor NSW. Video Innovations.
I would say this is the main reason why so many photographers come and go, many new photographers enter the field not realizing that owning your own photography business is really more about business than photography. That can bum you out fast if you’re thinking you are getting into a career that resembles the first graph. But, of course, most of us wouldn’t trade it in for any other career.
Well said!!!
I had absolutely no idea about this breakdown, but it does make sense. Creating beauty through the lens is a fantastic trade off for all the hard work from my perspective.
Beauty is not created through the lens. It is already there. A good photographer merely uses their learned skills to record that beauty. That said, that graph is, and always has been accurate. Before computers it was lab time . Part time job? My part time job is promoting myself and business, being busy getting busy. I have no time to have outside employment.
Of course, you are right! That is what I meant. Just being able to see it from a professional photographers point of view so many times brings into focus an aspect that I failed to see in the beauty set before me. I appreciate that.
Thanks. Sometimes we all need a good pie chart.
That sounds quite right! There is a lot less photo taking than what people think!
Thank you! That’s a great help in the decision if wedding photographer would be a future carreer to wish, or not to.
I’m even more upbeaten
Loved this Blog post! Perception is not always reality! A successful photography business requires an effective business manager … Here’s an older Blog we posted you might find interesting also. Together we can change perception!
http://www.centurycolorblog.com/journal/2010/8/4/professional-wedding-photographers-unite.html
Love this post! This also answers the question….”why do photographers charge so much for only a few hours of work?”
I always tell my clients that the real work begins after the wedding or shoot is over!
You forgot sleep! Many of my clients think I get to sleep in till 9:00, 10:00, 11:00… probably because I party like a rock star every night. But alas, that is not true. I am up every morning at 6:30. And darn it! No parties!
Training ? doesn’t anyone here go and learn new techniques, learn about new equipment and research and learn about new software and hardware capabilities ?
Resource and man management – sometimes you do have to explain to the team what you need doing and why.
Planning – scheduling, planning, previewing locations, and managing the calendar and team
Otherwise – love the post, revealed to my family that doesn’t understand why I am a photographer that actually I’m not some hippie after abandoning the city job and that the MBA was actually quite handy after all…
(wedding photography is very similar as a business to sports photography – except that bit you guys *have* to get – I can always claim I was looking at some other action!)
The maker of this chart needs to come forth so we can credit him/her for this brilliant chart!
“The maker of this chart needs to come forth so we can credit him/her for this brilliant chart!”
I agree, it is brilliant!
I made the chart, but it was all due to the participation of the ISPWP members. Stay tuned for more interesting charts and graphs…
Excellent article and illustrations. This is certainly something to share with certain types of clients in a kind and professional manner.
I am a thirty year self employed studio owner, weddings are the most glamorous, they put us in front of a lot of people and help build a 50 thousand plus client base not including school work. I state they are the most common because they are the least profitable per hour, Clients will have a senior poretrait done, have 60-100 images taken and maybe 20 as a finished order and spend 600.00 dollars and take may be 2 hours of the photographers time, weddings on the other hand from start to finish take min 40 hours pf production, shooting and sales time and the $2000.00 price range is thought to be high
Editing ate up a chunk of my time and it really helps when you have professionals edit for you..I got back loads of my time which i earlier spent on editing…if you are a wedding photographer you should definitely check ido-wedding. co
Excellent Article, how true!
Social networking should have more percentage!! haha..
This is so true. People always say, “Your job is so easy” or “You must love traveling”. It couldn’t be more wrong. I sometimes hate traveling, because you never really get to enjoy the city before you’re worried about getting the photos off your camera, backing them up, editing them, and getting them ready for print and stored on a disc.
Photography is fun, but it’s also stressful. But at the end of the day, it’s worth it for those smiles!
It is very good job still.
In the beginning i thought i was doing something wrong so it is reassuring to see i’m not the only one. my background in process management and the manufacturing industry has really helped me to structure my time and business processes well but it’s still pretty close to this model. that said i love it, those 8 – 12 hours on the day are such a rush, getting back and going through the days images and creating an album or gallery for the couple and seeing just how happy they are with your work in the end makes it all worth it, i may never make the same kind of money i once did but i will live a happier more fulfilled life.
: )
Excellent website. A lot of helpful info here. I’m sending it to several friends ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks to your effort!
That doesn’t mention the actual AMOUNT of time a wedding photographer (or really any photographer) invests and works… Everyone thinks that it’s just snapping a photograph and that’s it. They don’t realize that one 12 hour wedding is 40 to 60 hours of work behind the scenes!
I completely agree with your article breaking down the time element of the wedding photography business. For me, it feels more like the editing is 100% and everything else is pro bono. My photo editing isn’t that elaborate – I spend about 12 hours per wedding, which is better than most. But, it feels like an eternity compared to the actual wedding day. I also found that the more I charge, I get more of the clients who appreciate what a wedding photographer does. So, I do think we can price ourselves to where we don’t have to justify our worth. -Stuart
Absolutely agree with this. Clients often think the job is over after the wedding while it’s just the beginning.
Stuart–I find the exact same to be true of DJ’s. Until reading your response, I was for sure I was the only one who felt that way.
Brilliant article, well done. Am in complete agreement. My partner and I adore our work and would not trade our profession for anything – after many previous years of working 9-5 (or more like 8-6), the birth of our first business together ‘Innovo’ was a whole new world to us of being able to work for ourselves and, so we thought, being able to work our own hours. Looking back now (part in laughter), this is not so much the case, as there is indeed, so much ‘behind the scenes’ work to be done. Well, to be honest, there is a fair amount, but it is those truly driven photographers who strive to give 100% all of the time that have the abundance of continuous behind the scenes work. After all, the more you put in, the more you will get out. So, finding yourself up at 2am, sitting on your laptop reading the latest articles from Photobiz, or editing images has become something of a ‘normal day at the office’ for us, but that said, we do love it.
I love this post and think also it’s true. What an excellence post!
Excellent article!. Even though I know it is like that; the visual representation impacts you and even surprise you. I think it is strong point to share with everybody to educate why our prices “seem” high. Thanks