You may remember that I was whinging a while back because of lack of interest. Well things have turned round and I have had a flurry of late interest and I am now only 2 bookings away from being technically full for next 12 months. I have even had a booking on spec, which is unusual.
The downside is that I have not yet had any big package bookings but there is a chance that some of these will convert up to a larger package.
The upside is that I have cost justified the big equipment spend that was really a necessity so thankfully that particular leap of faith played out the right way.
I have 28 for this year. 25 was my goal. I shot 33 last year and thought that was too many. Hahah. I'm still a little light for October/November, so I might end up shooting 30+ again.
Don't remember where I was at the last time you asked.
Things have definitely picked up the last couple of months. We have more booked for 2013 right now than we did this time last year.
I'll probably end up with the same # of 2012 weddings this year as last year, if not one or two shy. BUT my clients are spending a lot more $$ on us than in the past. Almost double. So, working less...making more.. can't complain.
nobody wants to book me when I tell them my prices are in EU.
26 this year. That's more than I want for 2013. Booking later for 2013 than I did for
2012 but I'm confident it will come around. Aiming for only 15 weddings in 2013.
sitting at 18 weddings, last year i shot 32 (2/3 involving air travel). it was way too much for me so i raised my prices and i'm happy with what i've got. i shot 9 last july and this year i only have 3, i love it (my birthday month, and a nice month to enjoy seattle). i only have 5 local this year. i think 18-25 is a good number, but it depends on where i'm flying. commuting SEA-SFO is quite pleasant i think, but the midwest/east coast can be logistically harder since it takes all day to get there.
last year all my clients were great except for 4-5 out of the 32. this year, they all look like they'll be good.
9 for myself (completely word of mouth). 9 through another photographer who sends them my way when she double books + I'm her go-to second shooter and I work bridal fairs with her.
I was hoping for 20, but I still have 1-2 pending that haven't booked yet, so hopefully I hit that 20 mark. Considering that I have a full time day job, 20 is my limit to keep my sanity and keep my family happy with a little husband/daddy time.
Yeah, once I started to approach 20 weddings as a "part timer" I had to seriously consider my future as a wedding photographer. Now I do this full time and wouldn't have it any other way.
Inku Yo wrote:
Yeah, once I started to approach 20 weddings as a "part timer" I had to seriously consider my future as a wedding photographer. Now I do this full time and wouldn't have it any other way.
This is kinda where I'm at now. I might have to make a decision soon, or if my wife gets a job, it'll make deciding much easier.
I can take one more wedding in December this year and that's it. Hopefully again in Las Vegas.
I aim to shoot same amount of weddings in 2013 but with higher rate. The price will be raised sometime at the end of the year when more bookings for 2013 are in.
I wasn't part of the initial post, but I have 20 this year total (shot 6 so far). 4 booked for 2013, 1 pending contract, and another lead from out of state that will be using me for their engagement session and want to discuss possibility of flying out to their wedding.
Last year (which was my first year) I think I shot around 8 or so and a couple of elopement sessions. Not sure where I should be for 2013 booking wise... most of my weddings for 2012 were booked in Jan/Feb of this year.
morganb4 wrote:
You may remember that I was whinging a while back because of lack of interest. Well things have turned round and I have had a flurry of late interest and I am now only 2 bookings away from being technically full for next 12 months. I have even had a booking on spec, which is unusual.
The downside is that I have not yet had any big package bookings but there is a chance that some of these will convert up to a larger package.
The upside is that I have cost justified the big equipment spend that was really a necessity so thankfully that particular leap of faith played out the right way.
Glad it's gone so well. So what happened for you? Did you change some things around, approach something differently? Or do you just accept that before there was a bit of a natural lul in the inquiries?
