Is the wedding photography industry dying?

[JB Sallee]

Hi everyone, my name is JB Sallee and I am a new member here. I just wanted to post something and introduce myself and start sharing on a more regular basis! My wife and I hope to get to know more of you as well, we will be instructing at Texas School next week and would love to meet you on Thursday May 6th, at 7pm for the photography shootout (yes Dallas people are welcomed as well ;)

Someone brought up this point in one of our post a last month and I wanted to offer my opinion to all of our photographic friends to read... :)

I feel that this industry has Sooo much room to grow, there are so many new and exciting things to keep us pro photographers thinking creatively I don't see how we could EVER stop growing as an industry and individual artist! Photography is one of the few art forms that was created solely from technology, and as technology grow so does this great industry, no one can cap us but our selfs!

I remember the day I bought my first digital camera (Kodak 14N) just six years ago and how scared I was of the thought of something new, It seems silly to look back on it now that I have mastered the digital transition! Now comes mixing video with stills or what some of us have coined it as "fusion”, Once again I felt the butterflies in my stomach as I thought of the learning curve of teaching myself how to capture video! It's been a solid three months now and I still need more practice, but I am getting stronger everyday at our video captures and our clients are really responding to the video sideshows that we are making for them. Every time I feel those butterflies, I go full steam ahead because I know the reward will be great!

I once heard someone say, “If you are not learning something new everyday, your competition is!” This quote summarizes exactly how I feel about the future of our industry! We have got to keep up with technology or we are going to be left in the dust! The strong will grow stronger and the others will put themselves out of business! Every 6 months DeEtte and I work hard to reinvent our selfs and do something new and showcase it at our local bridal show, first we started with Panoramic images and the brides LOVED them, then we came up with adding linen texture to the Kodak metallic paper, next came our 17x8 and 20x8 album, then destination bridal and engagement session, Then our "off the wall, on the wall" series, then 2.5 inch gallery wraps, then wedding day slide shows at the reception, then the photo booth, then the Sallee Trophy Bride contest, then video fusion and the next big thing we are doing at this July bridal show is really going to blow away the brides! If you know us at all, you know it will be something that has never been done before but will soon be the “Next BIG Thing!” Some of our local competition despises us for being innovators and pushing the envelope, but remember, we don't strive to be better than any of our competitors, we strive to impress the brides and show them what professional photography is all about!

I feel this recessions going to do two things for this industry, weed out the lazy photographers that don't want to put forth the effort to stay around, and that will make the good photographers shine even more! The “shoot and burn” photographers that do not charge enough for their services will soon realize that shooting a ton of weddings just to barely scrape by will not put food on the table for long and the passion will quickly subside, they will need to raise their prices and compete for business solely by their personalities and portfolio or find a new job to support their family! I don't worry about these photographers because their is and will always be a place in our industry for them, everyone needs to learn from there own mistakes and grow from them, DeEtte and I did!

I don't know about you but I want to stick around for a bit longer, I LOVE my job! Think positive and GREAT things will happen! Don't let your self worry about what others are doing, focus that energy into doing what you need to do to stay in business and take care of your family, family is the only thing that matters in the end! :)

Focus on your imagery and the rest will follow...JB Sallee

P.S. If you would like to see some of our work and get to know what we do for our clients, please click on the link below...

animoto - Sallee Photography

[ldelacruz]

Do you have the audio version for me to listen to? It is hard to read this while driving!

[Rson]

Hey JB....Willkommen

[Phanee]

Hi JB.. welcome to the forum!!
Looking forward to informative posts from you!! Your work is inspirational.

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by JB Sallee

Hi everyone, my name is JB Sallee and I am a new member here................. Focus on your imagery and the rest will follow...JB Sallee

Well said! See you next week. Lonnie, go to your room!!

[ldelacruz]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

Well said! See you next week. Lonnie, go to your room!!

Don,
I thought this was Spam at first but I see he now has 16 posts!

BJ,
Welcome to TPF!

[Tom]

I still don't know if the wedding industry is dying. :sad:

[JB Sallee]

Originally Posted by ldelacruz

Don,
I thought this was Spam at first but I see he now has 16 posts!

BJ,
Welcome to TPF!

Thanks Onnie

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by JB Sallee

Thanks Onnie

Lonnie is an aquired taste... lol... but he's good folks! Great sense of humor!

JB - your I shoot people tour a couple years ago was my first actual 'photography' event that I attended - and I have to say that you guys set the bar high for the ones that followed. You showed some quick and easy editing (multiple blur layers varying opacity) tips that I find invaluable. Welcome to TPF - I don't do weddings.... for the most part. ;-) But I enjoy your work.

[shutterfire]

Great to see you here! Dang you set the bar high.