Last year I signed up a couple for their wedding that took place a couple months ago. We did an engagement session and I came to realize that the bride was extremely difficult to work with.  After some back-and-forth emails, she agreed to find another photographer and I returned her money.  Happily.

Well, this morning I was looking at a friend’s profile on Facebook and saw that he was friends with her, so I went to her profile to see how her wedding had gone. She had posted her wedding photos taken by her new photographer.

They were horrible.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such bad wedding photography.  Many shots were over/underexposed.  Most were shot with direct flash.  Lots of mis-focused shots.  Posing of the formals was terrible.  It looked like they grabbed someone off the street and handed them a cheap point-and-shoot camera.  Someone who was drunk.

I feel really bad for the bride.  I know the photography was very important to her and she has to be really upset over getting that garbage.

By far, the biggest waste of money I’ve ever spent on advertising has been weddingwire.com. In the last three months, they’ve sent a grand total of eight visitors. Eight! Let’s put that in perspective. During the same time period, I had 1,388 total visitors. 700 came from Google, 111 from Yahoo, I even got 40 from Facebook and that’s free!

So, weddingwire has contributed less than 0.6% of my traffic. If I hadn’t been snookered into a 12 month contract, I’d be long gone.

Just saw an ad for one of those “photo-mill” photography companies promising “8 hours of unlimited coverage”. If it’s limited to 8 hours, in what way is it “unlimited”?

The latest album cover.  When Stephanie told me she wanted to go shoot on the beach in her wedding dress in December, I thought she was nuts.  But wow, was it worth it.

Based on the recommendation of an “expert”, I signed up for advertising on WeddingWire.com.  I’ve been one of their top-line “featured” advertisers for a full three months now.  In those twelve weeks, they’ve sent a grand total of four visitors with no inquiries.

That’s pathetic.

As part of the package, we also got a featured vendor ad on MarthaStewartWeddings.com.  They’ve sent zero visitors (and zero inquiries).

That’s disgusting.

This same expert told me that “Site X” was well-known, but not as popular as they said they were, that they were overpriced, and didn’t perform that well.  He recommended not advertising with them.

After being so wrong about WeddingWire, I wondered if he was as dead wrong about Site X.  I signed up with them.  They’ve sent 20 visitors and I’ve gotten two inquiries in the first three weeks!  That’s 15 times better than WeddingWire.

I’m still not totally sold.  During that same three weeks, Google organic searches sent 130 visitors.  But regardless, even if Site X doesn’t work out, WeddingWire still sucks.

I’ve noticed a definite trend lately.  I’ve started shooting much more upscale weddings.  Places like Amelia Island Plantation, Epping Forest Yacht Club, and the Ritz Carlton.  While I still enjoy smaller weddings (the food can be phenomenal at a family-catered wedding) it’s kinda cool to visit these fancy-schmancy places, too.

I was doing some market research last night about the average costs of weddings in Jacksonville.  More specifically, wedding photographers in Jacksonville.  The thought suddenly occured to me:  What bride wants their wedding to be “average”?

This is a very special day that can’t be recreated.  If you don’t like your family portraits from Wal-mart, you can try again at Olan Mills (not that I consider Olan Mills particularly good). But if you end up with average or mediocre wedding photos, that’s it, you’re stuck.

When it comes to choosing your wedding vendors, don’t get stuck on “average cost of a wedding photographer”.  Instead, think of it as “the cost of an average wedding photographer” and think “Do I really want an average wedding photographer?  Or do I want a great one?”

Well, I got a bit of interesting news today.  I’ve been invited to join Photographik, a web directory of the world’s “elite” photographers.

I’ve often been a critic of photographic associations.  On more than one occasion, I’ve made fun of articles that say “make sure your photographer is a member of a professional association”.  Why?  I’m a member of PPA, all that proves is that I give them $350 a year and I’m not a total dirtbag.

Photographik is different.  You actually have to be invited based on a review of your portfolio.  And apparently they really care, because they’ve been around for years and yet don’t have a ton of photographers listed.  For the Jacksonville area, Photographik only has three photographers, whereas TheKnot.com has 60.

I was really skeptical about their “elite” claim, I figured they really would just take anyone claiming to be a photographer (like TheKnot.com).  But then I looked at the websites of a lot of the listed photographers and, quite frankly, they’re intimidating.  These guys (and gals) are good.

So I’m a little stunned to be in the club.

I visit a lot of wedding photography forums.  They can be a good source of ideas and just plain entertainment.

Recently, however, there was a thread on one forum asking for pet peeves, things that brides/relatives/guests do that drive wedding photographers crazy.  Some were quite funny and some were very familiar.

What bothered me, though, was the number of comments that were hostile, bitter, petty, and downright angry.  There were more than a few that made me think “you’re in the wrong business”.

Weddings are happy times.  I love shooting a wedding, to me it’s a lot of fun and I always leave the reception humming, dancing, and pleased.  Albeit very tired.

I thought I had been in some windy sessions before. But Gayle and Gabe’s engagement session takes the prize. The wind had to have been 40 mph or more, I’ve never seen the surf so wild.