Who steers the ship

Who steers the ship

You've hired a wedding photographer but on your wedding day you decide to direct them instead of enjoying the day, that's fine. But... how many weddings have you shot and do you have a method to get all the formals done in twenty minutes? 

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It's not a Trump hat!

It's not a Trump hat!

So if you haven't seen my Facebook yet then you don't know the yuuuge news. I have a new hat, a red hat, like i've always worn, except.. it has white lettering. Make Mike great again, he's always been great. So the problem with the new hat is Donald Trump also wears a red hat. I guess the big difference will be my ability to write and speak full sentences without using small words and big small hand movements. Okay, enough writing, go and read. 

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Business cards and why mine is the best.

Business cards and why mine is the best.

So I posted the design of my new business card and everyone had great feedback on it. I wanted to write about my design choices a bit more and explain myself and not have it get lost within the thread. So here's some of my marketing choices and design choices wrapped up together. This blog has cost me two Venti Cafe Mochas from Starbucks btw.

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What a photographer's day is like.

What a photographer's day is like.

So I thought this may be interesting to some of you out there. Being a photographer is awesome but most of it is the hustle. You have to work your butt off and throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. On top of that is communicating with anyone who you may come across on social media, phone, e-mail, text message or smoke signals. It's being proactive and taking risks at times and other times playing it safe and doing things by the book and also knowing the difference of when to do which.  A typical day in most full time photographers lives means being flexible and nimble. Here's what a typical day looks like for me, give or take a few details. 

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Hoodie and winter cap.

Hoodie and winter cap.

Meetings should be casual. Imagine if you went into a bank to discuss a mortgage which is a very serious matter. If the person across from you was wearing similar clothes to you and was able to sit there and walk you through the process of a mortgage wouldn't you feel a bit more confident and relaxed? That's what I think at least. When I meet a bride and groom I want them to be relaxed and honest with me so that I can give them the best price possible and also get to know them a little bit quicker because I'm going to be spending an entire day with them later in the year. 

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We're not going to get everything.

We're not going to get everything.

You're going to have your dream wedding, you've even selected what your wedding photos will look like via Pinterest, various wedding blogs and Google image searches. So you can have all of this but you may have to spend some time doing during your wedding. If you're getting married you'll want to read this. I'm writing this through my own personal experience. My number one goal is to make a bride and groom happy and also being very truthful with what I can offer.

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Want to become a better photographer? Shoot weddings!

Want to become a better photographer? Shoot weddings!

Want to become a better photographer, shoot weddings. 

This is a marathon, a crucible of photography. Locations, settings, light, people, equipment, you are the one making all these mini decisions and changing the outcome of your photos. The more you shoot these, the better you'll get.  Sure it can be stressful, but once that's gone it's nothing but fun.

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