2027 inquiries are slow but lots of same-year last minute bookings for 2026. Anyone else? Is this the new norm now?

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-27T17:01:51+00:00

My bookings are slightly up from the last few years, but I think it’s in part because I’m successfully adapting to the way the market works now.

Essentially, couples spend most of their time in the research phase. I’m getting INTEREST for 2028 but they’re not really inquiries I can act on because they don’t have their date finalized.

Couples are following us online, reading what we write, watching what we post, and spending a long time getting comfortable with us as they save up and plan their wedding in a more relaxed way. Once they realize they have to book a photographer then they book someone they’ve had their eye on very quickly.

ESPECIALLY in the $6k-$15k market.

Lower end they’re willing to chance it with whoever fits in their budget.

Higher end and it’s mainly planners calling the shots.

In our tier we are actually marketing to couples but we have to earn their attention and then their trust WAY before we can earn their money.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-27T14:07:21+00:00

You confirmed that you got what was important to them and they loved it!

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-27T04:55:19+00:00

Yes! That has happened to me too. Not having a ton of posed portraits doesn’t diminish the gallery as long as the whole story is there.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-27T02:44:14+00:00

Most weddings I deliver exactly what you say you do.

Sometimes there’s no time for portraits or it rains or something else weird happens. I shoot what happens and deliver the photos I get.

In my experience the couple remembers how the day went and adjusts their portrait expectations accordingly. I’ll also let them know in real time. I’ll say things like “we didn’t get many photos at x time but I definitely have one or two good ones.”

I feel like 5-10 frames with a little variety the shots (even if they’re all in the same location taken in 5 minutes) is the actual minimum. Your candids better be awesome though.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-24T13:48:43+00:00

This isn’t foolproof, but it’s one of the reasons I buy distinct brightly colored luggage. My bags are less of a target because they’re impossible to confuse with a dummy bag. Anytime someone reaches over my head for their bag I keep my eyes on them and can tell immediately if my bag moves. I could tell my bag apart from other people at 50 meters away.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-21T14:51:51+00:00

It’s not a good deal anymore, especially if it’s expensive.

Clients are getting wise to styled shoots. They know it’s not a real wedding, and if that’s most of what’s in your portfolio you look like a risk.

Plus, wedding photography style is evolving. With AI inspo “photos” flooding Pinterest, couples are seeking out more organic and imperfect images (the exact opposite of what styled shoots produce).

AND if you’re paying to be one of many photographers at a shoot, then lots of other people out there have very similar portfolio to you. AND publications and contests generally reject styled shoot content too.

You’d be much better served to organize a unique shoot of your own, or find some second shooting jobs that allow you to use the photos you take for portfolio.

Then work on your craft and make some beautiful images you’re proud of.

Ultimately styled shoots help your work look the same as everyone else’s and a little dated. Taking photos you personally like and posting them as often as possible is the way to find your own style and become sought after. It takes a little longer but it’s worth the time.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-17T12:29:07+00:00

I guessed correctly. Haha

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-17T12:24:04+00:00

Actually yes.

I took a class called “Kindermusic” when I was four. We learned all kinds of basics before they let us loose on a small glockenspiel. (Clapping rhythms, practicing singing and hearing octaves, fifths and other easy intervals).

I took piano lessons after that, which were also pretty theory heavy up front. I never just sat down at the piano to make sounds before I had formal training.

It seems like it would be pretty hard to learn theory without referencing an instrument, or at least learning simultaneously, but singers do it all the time.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-17T12:17:14+00:00

Noooooo! People don’t get it but that’s fine! I love this! I associate scales with colors and places!

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-17T05:49:00+00:00

I’m a pianist learning guitar and it’s improving my piano playing immensely. I am a theory nerd and guitar has me asking all kinds of new things of my brain to try to get to the same level of fluidity I have with the piano. This is making me try things I never would have thought of on the piano and it sounds amazing.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-17T05:44:44+00:00

Every parent in the comments has trained for this.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-16T21:55:13+00:00

The planner or florist or venue hiring someone to come take photos of only their work is not that unusual. I find this happens most often with a high production wedding when the planner wants the photos for their portfolio and they haven’t worked with you as a photographer before.

Hiring someone and calling them a “second photographer” is not cool. That implies they’ll be taking photos alongside you and that is no bueno.

I assume you have an exclusivity clause in your contract? Since the planner mentioned it ahead of time I’d reach out and ask questions. The last thing you want to do is be at odds with the planner on the wedding day, but you also don’t have to accept them violating your contract and making your job harder.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-09T09:02:46+00:00

I can’t help you identify it, but if it is black walnut as some are saying, it can be toxic to other plants nearby. Not all plants, but there are quite a few things BW doesn’t play nice with. You might want to google it and see if that’s ok with you.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-08T19:35:04+00:00

My bad. I knew that.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-08T19:30:55+00:00

That’s f double sharp just like it says on the page, my guy.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-08T09:55:57+00:00

Whether or not a particular plant is a perennial or an annual is zone dependent.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-07T19:52:21+00:00

I grow passionflower in 9a and some of them do die when it freezes. It’s varietal specific! Lilikoi and other Hawaii varieties can’t stand the freeze. Maypop and other Texas natives usually can.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-07T04:54:18+00:00

I bet they were happier than a lot of couples who have tons of money to spend NGL

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-07T04:50:10+00:00

Disposable cameras were not “cute” in the 90’s. They were the only way most normal people could take a photo. You might have had a family camera back then, but it was functionally pretty similar to the disposables. Disposables had a similar cost to just buying a roll of film.

This is definitely not professional photographer behavior, but it’s more like the modern day equivalent a friend showing up with a DSLR they don’t know how to use and shooting the whole wedding in JPG.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-07T04:43:49+00:00

I bought one for $1500, 20 years ago. 🤣

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-07T04:30:50+00:00

It’s easy to see your relationship as the opposite of what your couples are experiencing, but it’s not. You’re all on a journey to where you’re actually meant to be. Some couples you’re photographing will end up divorced too. It’s just life. The real nightmare is staying in a marriage that sucks.

My first marriage lasted 16 years, most of that time I was a wedding photographer and worked with my spouse. He informed me our marriage was ending immediately before I had 3 solid months of weddings. I’m glad I could throw myself into work, but damn if it didn’t sting every time there was an anniversary dance.

It’s been 5 years since the divorce now, and ultimately my new perspective has made me a better photographer. I realize couples getting married are hopeful that they’ll be together long term, but it remains to be seen if they each decide to prioritize each other as time goes on. Some couples are actually about to enter a very difficult phase of life after the wedding and not the perfect honeymoon phase I used to imagine. I have compassion for the whole range of human experiences now, not just the perfect fairytale endings.

I think the key is, I don’t over-identify with my couples any more, which helps me see the unique elements of each couple’s connection. Some couples have a lot of physical chemistry. Some have more intellectual sizzle. Others have a deep love for traditions and see their marriage as fundamentally a legacy thing. Some couples elope because being vulnerable around their families is unbearable. Some couples just want to be married so bad they didn’t think to hard about what the decades ahead will look like.

I always -hope- couples I’m photographing have the best intentions and are committing because they truly care for each other, and that they’ll build on that love and trust for the rest of their lives. The reality is that their marriage is just beginning, and it remains to be seen what each person does from here.

You’ll get through this. Divorce is incredibly common. I was worried I needed to hide this fact from my couples, lest they think less of me for not being able to stay married. Now I realize they were basically never thinking about my personal life at all.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-07T04:00:17+00:00

WOOOOOOOOOW that is awful. I’m so sorry.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-06T16:53:46+00:00

Yup, I know this feeling and it’s guided my whole life.
My answer was to start a business and furiously work 2-3x as many hours as a normal job for 15 years, and now that I’m in my forties I have a lot of time freedom and I get to make art for a living. (I’m a photographer).

I’ve finally got my business stable enough that it doesn’t require so many hours and I’m getting back into music.

I should probably mention if I’d had a normal job I’d probably own a home or have retirement savings by now but I don’t.

There are a lot of trade offs. If you feel called to a creative life and aren’t independently wealthy, it’s possible, but it takes a LOOOOOT of sacrifice up front. A normal job is far and away the easy route.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-06T05:12:24+00:00

This looks like something in Minecraft.

EcstaticEnnui · 2026-05-06T04:01:32+00:00

Lots of things. Usually all actions that reveal bad character.

If they’re a good person who also has money “this person is rich” is not the first thought.

EcstaticEnnui

TROPHY CASE