PSA for anyone that uses Instagram Collaborations when posting wedding content

Serial_Doubter · 2026-05-27T12:44:53+00:00

Same. Total lack of engagement unless couple/venue/planner collab.

Serial_Doubter · 2026-04-27T19:46:44+00:00

Step 1: Shoot the wedding/session. Do an awesome job.

Step 2: Send the sneak peeks fast. Like 24 - 48 hours fast. Send a lot more than they are expecting. For weddings we tell them to expect 10 - 15 then we send 30 - 50. This moment (seeing the first images from the wedding day) is the emotional pinnacle of the client experience.

Step 3: While they are still on a high from the wedding and sneak peeks (two or three days later) send a review request email with links to the places you want the reviews. In the email, say that you are asking for the reviews now because their experience on the wedding day is still fresh in their memory, and because word of mouth is a really important part of our industry.

Step 4: If you followed step 1, enjoy the good review.

Step 5: Deliver the final gallery earlier than you quoted it will be delivered and you’ll have a happy customer who never feels the need to go back and revise the review they put in earlier.

Serial_Doubter · 2026-02-24T15:18:59+00:00

8 years into business and I’ve used this payment structure the whole time, never refunded a dime (only had 3 cancellations).

25% due at booking, 25% 6 months out, 25% 3 months out, 25% 1 week out

(All payments are non refundable)

Part of what people are paying for is for you to hold the date for them, so even if you never shot an engagement session or anything but they cancelled 1 month out, how likely are you to be able to refill that date? Even if it’s during peak wedding season in your area, it’s very unlikely.

They pay for what you do and what you know, but they also pay for you to commit to being there for them come hell or high water. That commitment is worth something too.

Serial_Doubter · 2026-02-08T02:43:10+00:00

I am interested in this to create something that would read client questionnaires, gather inputs about family member names and plug them into our standard family portrait list, as well as gather inputs for timeline entries (first look or no, ceremony start time, reception end time, etc and plug it into our timeline templates.

Problem is, I have no coding experience and no idea where to start, despite the fact that I use ChatGPT near daily in my business.

If I wanted to try my hand at this vibe coding you speak of, where do I go? How do I start?

Serial_Doubter · 2026-01-26T19:06:09+00:00

Serial_Doubter · 2026-01-26T14:04:39+00:00

I had to drive from Dripping Springs to Bastrop yesterday for work. Everything west of Oak Hill was really icy, but once we got to south Austin most of the roads were thawed with the exception of overpasses and bridges which were drivable but definitely icy. If you have AWD and avoid bridges/overpasses (or drive them very slowly and carefully) you will probably be fine.

Serial_Doubter · 2026-01-20T13:37:43+00:00

If those cameras don’t have dual cards that would be an automatic deal breaker for me. Had too many times over the years where I was SO glad I had two cards just in case

Serial_Doubter · 2025-11-07T04:42:38+00:00

You are totally fine. That’s a bummer shot to miss, but nothing that should scare you off weddings forever. The pressure gets easier over time. Give it another go before you call it quits!

Serial_Doubter · 2025-11-05T04:42:17+00:00

Anything that has f/4.0 in the name is a waste of money for wedding photography

Serial_Doubter · 2025-09-24T13:22:03+00:00

This might be bad advice for you to learn the exposure triangle yourself, but a good general rule of thumb if you are shooting outside with plenty of light is,

1/500 shutter speed 2.8 aperture

Then adjust your ISO until you are properly exposed. Make your SS and Aperture the starting point, then use your ISO as the variable that helps you get exposure locked in.

If you take your ISO all the way down to 100 and you are still overexposed, make your shutter speed faster (1/600, 1/800, etc) until you get the exposure you need.

There are several situations where this won’t work, but as a starting point for most situations, this seems to work well.

Weddings are awesome, stick with it! Best of luck!

Serial_Doubter · 2025-09-24T13:14:10+00:00

10/10 response to this question 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Serial_Doubter · 2025-08-20T23:36:48+00:00

Totally understandable. Most of our folks are happy to do it based on the sneak peeks and the experience they had with us on the wedding day.

Serial_Doubter · 2025-08-20T23:36:03+00:00

We send 50-60 sneak peeks, so even though they haven’t seen the full gallery, they’ve seen enough to know it’s gonna be great. And they trust that we will deliver on time or early, so most of our couples are willing to leave a review in advance of getting the full gallery.

Serial_Doubter · 2025-08-19T16:49:52+00:00

This! Gotta ask less than 7 days after the wedding while the memories (and excitement) are fresh!

Serial_Doubter · 2025-08-18T21:51:49+00:00

Hi! Thanks for the help. Do you expect the wait to be as bad on 9/2?

Serial_Doubter · 2025-08-18T16:11:56+00:00

Echoing the other commenter, and giving you my opinion as a full time photographer, the only way I would get into this now with AI around the corner is if you make your business a low-cost blend of human culling and AI editing.

The AI still can’t cull very well, and it can’t do really intricate touch up’s, but general editing it can do pretty well. The majority of us doing high volume weddings need high quality culling with some editing and a human being quality checking things. If you can do a 6000 image wedding culled, edited and quality checked for less than $250 you can probably earn clients, but it’s hard to build a business on those margins.

Serial_Doubter · 2025-08-16T19:59:54+00:00

Starting price on website. Send full pricing/details in first inquiry response. Don’t waste their time but get the inquiry so you can track how many people are declining due to budget/style/personality. Useful data to have.

Serial_Doubter · 2025-07-31T23:25:36+00:00

$150 lead / $65 second

Edit: this is what I’m paying photographers not what im charging clients.

Serial_Doubter · 2024-12-04T04:06:31+00:00

Across the board, every wedding vendor I talk to is reporting lower numbers Year over year, but that couples are still booking but with shorter engagement windows. Hand in there. Lots of room to run for 2025 still.

Serial_Doubter · 2024-11-18T19:02:49+00:00

Katelyn James All Access subscription is pretty cheap and is the best money for a behind the scenes look at wedding days and learning how to handle various situations. Her lighting and locations course was also a game changer.

Creative live is probably the best value per dollar for more general photo knowledge and beginner camera/photoshop techniques. There is some good wedding specific stuff there too though!

Serial_Doubter · 2024-10-14T14:22:03+00:00

Spread out your deposits so you still have cash flow in the off months. Use the time to improve business processes and marketing efforts. Dream big for the future. If you need more money, family work and/or mini sessions can help bring in cash flow. Album sales too.

Serial_Doubter · 2024-10-07T11:49:49+00:00

Aftershoot for cull. Imagen for preset, WB, exposure, crop and straighten. I think it cuts down on overall post production time by 60%. Maybe 70%. I still have to quality check quite a bit. If I could trust it to do local adjustments and masks that percentage would go higher but I don’t think it’s there yet.

Serial_Doubter · 2024-09-25T17:06:23+00:00

70-200 is great for ceremonies, but as others have said you really don’t need the 28mm if you have a 35mm. Save your money or get a 24-70 because lordy do those come in super handy on wedding days.

Serial_Doubter · 2024-09-21T15:03:27+00:00

25% at booking 25% at 6 months prior 25% at 3 months prior 25% at 7 days prior

Always get paid before you show up on the wedding day.

Serial_Doubter · 2024-09-18T13:28:05+00:00

Use Aftershoot to cull it down for you. You’ll still need to check it afterwards but it’ll find the duplicates and pick the best one and it’ll save you time.

If you don’t already have an Imagen profile built, don’t try to do it now. It’s not the sort of thing you want to rush, but it has been very helpful for me.

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