Every photographers inner dialogue.

“I’m exhausted, this is my last year of doing this.”

“I want to photograph a celebrity wedding.”

“Why does HE have 56,000 followers on Instagram?”

“Why does every potential client think I cost $500?”

“What camera should I buy next?”

Don’t lie, I know you think this from time to time.

Even the most seasoned photographers, the ones with massive followings, the ones with “celebrity” status think these things. It’s human nature. This is a crazy cutthroat business, and it can be quite challenging to navigate.

Things that exhaust creatives: clients who say they love your work, but then low ball you. Maybe it’s an honest mistake, maybe it’s not, but it happens to the best of us. Finding the ideal client, the one that looks at your work and says YES to your creative fee without hesitating is rare - I’ve been shooting weddings for 20 years, I know first hand, that no matter how good we are, there are people that simply don’t know the value of what we do for them.

Through my years of working as a photographer, I have realized a few things to be true.

There are two types of client out there. Two types of buyer. The yes client, and the no client. That’s it. It’s as simple as that. There are those that see what you do and want it, and others that are just looking for the cheapest price and will say no until they get it.

Some will low ball because it’s in their nature. They want a good deal.

Some will want you to jump through hoops and perform every trick in the book to get their business. They will control your every move on the wedding day.

And then, there are those clients that want to get to know you, that see the value in hiring someone that is personally invested in the work and the people they work with.

That ask you questions about you, your family, your inspiration. And that conversation usually goes both ways.

They understand that you’re a small business of one, but that you also don’t want to live like a peasant. The whole “starving artist” thing isn’t cool, and they will support your efforts by paying what you charge without any question because they see the value in what you do.

They connect on a personal and emotional level with what you show, and also understand that what you show online is a representation of the WAY you work, and the style of images you seek out, but that you may not actually get THOSE specific images at their wedding - and they are totally okay with that, because they are reasonable people that understand their wedding day is not a cut and paste photo session.

So to my ideal client - thank you. I am grateful to you. For understanding what we creatives do, and letting us do that.

If you’re a client who is looking for a professional photographer make the process of working with you easy. Open up.

Share. Ask questions - not just “what do you charge and how many pictures per hour do you give us”

Invite us into your inner circle. Tell us about your family, your friends.

Tell us what makes you nervous about being photographed. Ask us questions.

Just as you have a choice to hire any one of us, we too have the choice whether or not we’ll work with you. It goes both ways.

Look - I enjoy what I do.

I enjoy the WAY I do what I do for the people that enjoy HOW I do it. But if I’m being honest with you all - and I think I can speak on behalf of most wedding photographers here - we just don’t love some of the hassles of trying to land another client that thinks that we’re the servant and they are the master.

Am I alone in this thinking?

I don’t think so.