Dear Rainsfords, I want to be a wedding photographer! Where do I start?

Love, The Overwhelmed Photographer

So you want to really get your business off the ground but aren’t sure how? There are a million things people tell you to do but you’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to start? You have a desire to shoot weddings but you doubt your skill? Guess what? We were right there! Let us share the three key steps to determine your priorities, grow in confidence & start well so that your business can grow!

1. Practice!! 

• The old saying, “practice makes perfect” is not just for kicks!! It’s true!! But it doesn’t happen overnight. We remember the feeling well: “Man, we just need more practice!” There were so many factors on a wedding day that made us feel overwhelmed & insecure. We lacked confidence for so many things! We started making a list of all the things we wanted to practice if we had any extra time. Then, we started making space to actually PRACTICE!! 

• We would call friends to be “models” for us, save old invitation suites & use our rings to practice details. It took years – but all of that practice paid off! But don’t hear that as “We have arrived” because we haven’t! We STILL practice. We STILL go back to the drawing board. And we STILL do numbers 2 & 3 listed below to continually refine our skill & grow our confidence!!

2. Find a Mentor!

• Finding a mentor is KEY!! When we first started photographing weddings, I (JP) second shot with quite a few photographers. It was during those times that I was able to ask lots of questions & make observations without lots of pressure! 

• Once we knew we wanted to jump full force into weddings, we hired a mentor to guide us through our next steps in our business & to teach us about the wedding industry. Enter Lauren Carnes! She saved us in those early years from making so many mistakes & coached us in business fundamentals. It was then that we finally understood what was ESSENTIAL for succeeding vs feeling trapped in the tangle of “There is SO much to do – where do we start??” (You all know the feeling!!)

3. Invest in Education!

• Finally but MOST importantly: we have invested in LOTS of education. I know it, there’s a TON of free stuff out there. It takes hours to sift through! How do you know if what you are about to watch or read is actually quality? 

• Three years ago we made a budget just for education. We listed out all of the things we wanted to dive deeper into: posing, lighting, & business fundamentals! It was then that we looked to the industry leaders for their courses in how to do these things well! And we kid you not – it changed EVERYTHING about our business from how we shot a wedding day, to post processing, to client & vendor interaction & SO much more. Instead of relying on what we naively thought was the right thing to do, we invested & made the conscious decision to be proactive in LEARNING from the best so that we knew the right thing to do!!

All of this led to CONFIDENCE in ourselves & our business!! If you lack confidence & want to invest in your education (& in yourself!) join us for our in-person CONFIDENCE workshop this spring where we will dive into all of these topics & more. Head to our website here to pre-register & be the first to hear more! In the meantime, be on the lookout for more great free education on our blog! We are cheering you on friend – you too can be a Confident Photographer!!

All our love,

The Rainsfords

If you have specific questions for us about our business, photographing weddings, systems/processes or even about mixing family & business – please let us know!! Chances are you’re not alone & we would love to answer these questions for you.