Why would you hire me?

Here I am wielding not one, but two flashes. #ExpertLevelAchieved

Trigger warning: bad writing. 

Sometimes I start off with a really solid idea and then I branch out into ramblings. I apologize ahead of time because I believe I slightly did that here. 

     Why should we hire you... MIKE. While I don't get asked this exact question, it still hangs in the air throughout the meeting. I've done enough meetings with potential brides and grooms to read their expressions like a packet of Cliff Notes guide to meeting with wedding photographer.  

     So first there is the nodding expression where they are thinking "This is going to be expensive" . In truth it is going to be expensive. You're hiring me to document a day that can't be repeated, it's high stakes. I'm also showing up with enough equipment to put a downpayment on a house with. 

     There's the other hinting of body language and facial expression that spell out we don't want anything extra, book, flash drive, online gallery; we just want the digital photos. That's great that you know what you want and yes, just say that right off the bat.

     Sometime's I meet with just the bride and sometimes with the bridal couple. Meeting with one person is always easier because you have their complete focus. I'll also be completely honest in saying that the bride to be usually makes the calls when it comes to the details of the wedding. When I have a potential bride and groom in front of me throughout my pitch they will sometimes show their cards. When we get into price and start talking about what they're looking for. I'll start running through the different options and when I run across something they don't want they instinctively look at each other. They say it with their eyes "we talked about this before, I don't want this" and with a look back i'm able to course correct and steer them with options they do want. 

     The meetings are really just to see if we vibe, I already know I can shoot your wedding blindfolded and you know I can too. It can come down to a few things for a bride, i'll name the top three. First, do you like me? I'm going to spend all day with you and hopefully we get along right off the bat because I will spend more time with the bride on her wedding day than the groom. Secondly, do you like my photography? I have lots of different lenses and I'm with you for the whole day so I tend to have lots of different looks to my photos. Third, does my price work for you? I'm flexible on price to a point. I really want to shoot weddings and make people happy but it costs money to be a well rounded photographer. 

     Okay so I wanted to convey a little bit about the meetings above. But here's the truth of why you would to hire me as your wedding photographer. I'm committed to getting you awesome photos on your wedding day. My goal is to keep you on schedule, be your cheerleader, help out where I can. I've been known to bustle a dress, fit a corsage, straighten ties, deliver flowers, escort grandmothers and dance with kids. This is my full-time job, that means you message me at ten at night, i'm most likely going to be responding by ten ten. I've even taken the time to write out every single question that I've been asked in the past few years, sometimes a bride won't actually voice these questions so I've found it helpful to write it all out. I have enough gear, equipment and batteries to shoot three weddings in a row without recharging. I've been shooting weddings for over ten years. I actually like photography and do that in my spare time.. for fun. When I do a good job with weddings it leads to more weddings which means better equipment, sharper photos, more unique aspects. I'm constantly rolling my money back into my photography, so developing myself more. Every year I add a few more tricks to my wheelhouse. I also travel a lot, eighteen countries and twenty four states; that means I don't mind flying to your wedding to shoot. I would be happy to give you any bride and groom's contact info and have them tell you how much fun they had with me. Friend me on Facebook, Follow me on Instagram to see exactly who you would be getting as a wedding photographer; I won't disappoint. 

     So i'll use an analogue to describe wedding photography. When you go to Best Buy and stand there and look at all the TVs you can see the difference between each one pretty easily. They're all next to each other, same dimensions, same brightness, maybe color is different on this other one or another is a bit smoother with the resolution. When you eventually pick out a set you're getting it because the price worked for you. When you get that TV home you're going to fall in love with it and brag to your friends about your big tv. I will say that I certainly don't think back to that Samsung with the high gloss black finish when i'm sitting watching my tv. 

     It's partially the same with wedding photography. We're going to all do essentially the same thing, capture photos of you on your wedding day, the best we can or know how. If you stack me up next to other photographers you'll see i'm better than some but not than others. All I can offer is my uniqueness, perspective and skill. But when you have your photos, your memories you won't be second guessing who you went with. I imagine you're going to be pretty happy. I can't really trash other wedding photographers because most are not terrible, most just do it a bit differently then I do, different equipment, different focus or limited or unlimited experience that they may have. Most of my friends are actually photographers so I have that unique viewpoint of knowing how lots of other photographers operate.  So do you research before you commit, drill your wedding photographer, ask me a million questions. 

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Any of the above will make me happy.