For those of you who caught the latest PPS Roundtable #6, you heard us touch on the topic of inspiration. Now it’s easy to get really deep into the whole “finding inspiration” topic. Some inspirational techniques usually recommended are visiting your local art museum or sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking a picturesque location while the sunrises. That’s nice and all but not where I’m going with this tip.

 This weeks quick tip has more to do with the business side of wedding photography than the technical side.  Where I’m located, it seems that most couples book their wedding photographer about six months to a year out from the wedding date.  Newer wedding photographers might book more weddings in a the “less than 6 months” range whereas your big time superstar wedding photogs book up 2-3 years in advance.  The point here is that it’s a long time to be in a business relationship waiting for the big day to get here.  

It’s a good idea to check in with your clients on a regular basis.  It sounds like common sense but too many photographers relax once they have the signed contract and retainer check in hand. Why not use this time to get to know your clients better?  Checking in with them at the one year, six months, three months, and finally one month mark prior to the wedding will strengthen your relationship with your clients.  By doing these timely “check-ins,” you will be able to stay informed as to the progress of the wedding planning as well as updated information pertaining to the photography.  But more importantly, the client will appreciate your thoroughness.  This shows your clients that they are not just a paycheck too you but people you are genuinely interested in providing the best possible service and in turn, the besy possible product (images.)

Welcome to the inaugural post of Wedding Tip Wednesdays. My goal is to share helpful little tips and tricks pertaining to photographing weddings. While these tips and tricks are intended for photographers of all skill levels, those considering sticking their toe into the wedding photography waters and newby wedding photographers will probably get the most out of these. You may even find that some of these tips will spill over to other types of photography besides weddings. Some topics will be broad while others, like this first one here, will be random, simple, and straight to the point.

Todays tip features a piece of equipment that those of us who use non-battery power lights or strobes, use at every wedding shot indoors. It’s an extension cord. Seriously? Yes, stick with me. What I have noticed, especially in some of the older historic churches, is that after plugging in an extension cord and then strategically weaving it under the maze of pews back to my lights only to realize that when I tried to fire up the lights…no power. The hunt for another working power outlet soon followed. Irritating and time consuming.

My solution: Use an extension cords that feature “power-on indicator lights.” This is basically a fancy way of saying that the female end of the extension cord has a little built in LED that lights up when plugged into a live outlet. In a day where time is of the essence, this little tip might just save you ten minutes that you could spend creating more beautiful images.