In today's wedding video business market, the female demographic is vastly unrepresented and is far outnumbered by men. In this insightful video, discover the ways that one female videographer found success and is booking 80 weddings a year!
A common question that comes up in the wedding video business or even the filmmaking industry is that if you're a female, can you succeed in making a living doing video? The answer is yes! In this video from Parker Walbeck, he highlights one of his students, Kaylor Ficklin. The video shows how Ficklin, who picked up her first camera just three years ago, is making a full-time living out of it. Walbeck gives the audience an inside look on how Kaylor shoots her weddings, how she markets herself, and how she continues to succeed in the business. The biggest takeaway from this video for me was the way she works. She explains that the way she got to where she is today was with pure dedication. After watching this video, I was inspired to go out there and keep shooting even when it's hard in order to accomplish my dreams.
Do you have any tips on what it takes to be successful in video industry? Share them in the comments!
If you are very good in what you are doing, it doesn't matter if you are male or female.
I'm not sure that's always true but it's always better to accept your situation, good or bad, and make the best of it. Having said that, framing these kinds of articles in terms of male vs female gets really old, really fast. In his defense, the author is young and idealistic.
If you watch the video you will clearly see her state what challenges she has a female videographer working in the buisnsss and the video highlights how she overcomes those challenges. That's all.
Okay. Thanks.
Frankly, I'm surprised to see an article that acts like it's a novelty for a female to be successful in any business. I find it way more compelling that she is making more that $100,000 a year just three years into her career.
Like I mentioned above in the video she says what kind of challenges females face in the busonsss and says how she overcomes them. None of these ideas are my own I'm simply restating the facts
She is in Utah. That place is wedding central with all the Mormons. There is no wedding season there. It is weddings season all year long. It has one of the highest weddings rates per capita in the country. It is competitive out there though but if you do a good job and have reasonable prices - like she does- you will get work. The Mormon network is great for referrals.
LOL at this article title, really guys? I come here for photography, not for the SJW. I could careless about the sex of the photographer, merit alone
And if you had the merit but were passed over because of the color of your skin or the lack of certain genitalia? How would you feel then? It does happen, just not to you.
It's kind of shocking to me because as a male wedding photographer, I always felt like females in the industry had it a little easier than me. I might have been a better sales person when meeting with clients and setting their minds at ease, but I can't tell you how many times I felt like a potential client bride felt more connected to the feminine touch often seen with female detail shots, soft airy color grading, and their attention and understanding of all things wedding. Many times women also felt much more comfortable having another female in the bridal suite during the dress reveal and all the bridesmaids getting ready. I don't think the difference was HUGE but as someone who was a successful wedding photographer that really didn't get obsessed about all things weddings, I always felt I had a disadvantage when booking clients compared to my equally capable female colleagues.
Well, the female photographers out there are saying that it's not easier. Should we listen to them? That's up for everyone to decide for themselves. I think that unless one is in their shoes, it's not really our place to judge how their experience is.
She litterally points out in the video that it was hard for her because she would constantly get looks seeing her as a joke or weak because she's a women. I'm basing the whole article on someone else's experience that was clearly documented.
Obviously each person's experience is different. From a photographer's side, I have never felt like men or women have had a leg up in this field, at least the wedding genre specifically. Generally, I'd say men are better at setting up websites, servers, domains, email lists, etc and being more technical with their photography (creating composites, using flash, understanding post production) while women have been better at communicating with brides, looking past the technicals and seeing the "emotion" in a scene, and catering their style to their clients with mood boards and personalized notes, letters, gifts, etc. Of course this is a generalization I know but that's been my experience doing it for 10+ years. Almost all of my female photographer friends have complained that the bride has consulted with them about picking out their colors, decor, and other details not related to photography while almost none of my male photographer friends have ever had those sorts of conversations with their clients.
All that being said, the nice thing about photography is most clients only judge you based on your portfolio. If they love your images, they usually don't care about your gender, your education, or your gear. As in all marketing and human nature, people do care about your personality, your overall fitness and attractiveness, your ego and world experiences, and also your perceived value which is usually expressed most strongly in your prices. We've all heard about the "creepy, anti social photographer" but strangely enough those types are almost always dudes and not females. Maybe there is a female equivalent that I just don't know (the bitchy, pushy female photographer maybe?). Either way, simply don't be either of those stereotypes and learn to be outgoing, interesting, and understanding and you should have an easy time connecting with prospective clients.
In most cases, it is the bride or the bride's mom/parents who are picking out all the details for the wedding. So if women photographers are feeling like they have a harder time, it's usually not because of some male dominated field where men are also employing the photographers but rather some weird prejudice women have towards other women (bride vs photographer). I'd say I usually meet with 30% couples, 70% brides only and maybe 20% of the time the bride's mom attends the meeting too. Of course of the 70% brides only, most of those bookings are done through phone call or email only and not necessarily in person.
I say all this just to make out the point that I don't think wedding photography is some male dominated field where women are being suppressed by men themselves. Weddings are a lot like the healthcare field where most of the people involved are overwhelmingly female (I'd say officiants, DJs and videographers are the few exceptions).
Good points. However the video and article is regarding specifically the video and film making industry not photography. But slot of the same principles do carry over into both industries
My response tends to be that videography is technically more involved than photography so that would make sense. With photography, you can literally shoot jpeg and have a final product right out of the camera. With video, there is so much editing and technical elements that I think men in general tend to excel in the field. I'm not saying women can't be great videographers but that men gravitate towards it more than women. For my assumption to be correct, it would be interesting to see how many females are directors on movies. If that is the case, I don't think the issue is with weddings as much as it might just be in creating, directing, and editing video.
Exactly that's what I was hinting at. That in general film industry women are under represented. But it's an interesting approach that Men are generally more technical. Probably why she got so many looks at weddings like she didn't know what she was doing. I forgot when but I know I remember reading some fstoppers articles regarding women in the film industry.
.
Really? Just a few? Wow, they must be enormously influential, because it's a huge topic in modern society.
.
I guess it would seem that way in Bolivia. Too bad the hatred infected there too.
.
Your profile puts you in Bolivia. Is that true? If not, then, well, whatever.
.
Ummm, if you hover your mouse over your name, your profile pops up - didn't even have to click. You don't want people to know where you live, don't put it out there. Like me! Now, to find out where I live you'd really have to stalk. Anyway, have a nice day!
Instead of you spewing insults at people who disagree with you why don't you suggest changes. This is a good place for you to do that. What suggestions do you have, I'd like to hear them?
Not sure where I insulted anyone. Here's a few insults I found though...
"It's just more cry babies looking for something to whine about."
"what we call either a liberal or a fan boy (most likely both). Either way, when you challenge one of those classes of people you will get attacked."
"How sad for these narrow minded people..."
I agree with you but for other reasons. As a school / children / family photographer I can say without a doubt that female photographers have a huge edge on male photographer and it has nothing to do with communicating or posing. I can say that I am better with children than most women.
The reality is that in the family genre -i.e, children, family, school etc.- the decision making is done by women/mothers and many would feel more comfortable with a female photographer. I heard it from a couple of clients of mine that were referred to me but were reluctant and initially wanted a female photographer.
That makes sense. All valid points.
Great point. Most family photographers I know are in fact women. It's anecdotal but that's my impression.
True that
That may be true but the most avid misogynists are women, especially as it relates to things considered technical.
That's the kind of statement that begs for more than your limited anecdotal evidence. You will not give it, unfortunately.
There's nothing to give. I wouldn't believe any study confirming or refuting my assertion, anyway. That would be like asking people if they're racist. Who would say, "Yes"? And I'm loath to blindly accept the analysis of sociologists. But, in addition to my limited anecdotal evidence, every woman with whom I've shared that opinion, has agreed. Of course that's not all the women in the world. I'm quite certain those women exhibiting such behavior would disagree vehemently while others won't have experienced it one way or the other. Keep in mind, I'm not referring to the number, or percentage, of misogynistic women but, as stated, the degree of their prejudice.
When one keeps themselves willfully ignorant, it provides proof of entropy. One expects nothing more from the general populace.
I've found communication works better when people say what they mean. As written, your comment lacks context.
Since you restrict your source of knowledge on this topic to a narrow sample of like individuals, you contribute to the degradation of society, like so many others, through choosing to remain ignorant of other viewpoints and thoughts. You feel that the creator of this video is wrong in her viewpoint, but are unwilling or incapable of seeking out information beyond that of women "with whom I've shared my opinion", certainly not what is considered an adequate sample of "women". And yet from that you draw conclusions of women as a whole, while summarily dismissing the conclusions of people who have had the intelligence and fortitude to actually canvass a wide, random sample. Entropy at work, and not unexpected from a random internet poster.
I'm not sure what you're referring to in your first point but, not being willing to dedicate my life to the subject, I don't see how I can expand my source of knowledge beyond a relatively narrow sample. If you followed me around (you're not following me, are you?), I don't restrict my interactions to "like individuals". In fact, I'm constantly seeking out other viewpoints and thoughts.
I'm not sure what you're talking about regarding the creator of the video. I haven't written anything to refute the views of the young woman, who is the subject of the video and NOT the creator. I've not written anything to suggest disagreement with the point of the video as a whole. My only negative point was with the way Eli framed the video. I was probably too harsh in my original statement and attempted to amend it later.
Regarding my "misogyny" statement, I did NOT draw conclusions of women as a whole but rather, made the assertion that of those people biased against women, other women tend to be the most biased. Perhaps you glossed over my original wording but I don't see how you could have missed my clarification, this was NOT meant to indicate that most misogynists are women.
I never suggested I summarily dismiss the conclusions... I wrote, I am loath to "blindly" accept their analyses. One of the basic principles of science is to be skeptical of the results. In fact, you attempt to disprove a theory in order to support it. Not being a sociologist and having insufficient motivation to perform an exhaustive research of the subject, I refuse to "blindly accept" anyone's word for it.
And lastly, your comments suggest a very cursory examination of my words, which have been carefully chosen, indicative of mental entropy.
Correct Patrick as it's pointed out in the video how females tend to have the edge on certain things like posing and connection with the bride. Again all I'm doing is restating the facts from another person and not taking any of these observations as my own hence me accrediting them to the original author
Keep in mind, this is a video made to increase the subscription to Full Time Film maker so you have to take into account that maybe the subject matter is made to draw more females to their platform. Nothing wrong with that necessarily but something else to keep in mind.
Right. You're right about that. The only reason I reposted it is because they were addressing an issue today that needs to be addressed. It's definitely interesting, at least to me.
.
Saw an interview by Mark Wallace of Rodney Smith and Rodney said something that, oddly enough, has never left my mind while thinking about making a career in photography. Mark asked him something to the effect of, "do you think there is still a place or a way to be successful in photography". Rodney said, "If you're good, there will always be room for you." Which I believe & know to be entirely true.
Thanks for your opinion on the subject. :)
So there are more men in the industry because men are better at photography/video than women?
I'm not entirely sure what you say is in relation to my comment. But as for your comment, I believe is directly related to the sociology aspect of our society(-ies). When it comes to something like this, photography, the playing field is wide open. Some aspects may seem male dominated (ie. sports), some may seem more female dominated (ie. births). Of course, heavy emphasis on "seems". But in the US, for sure, your own validity, attitude, determination and work ethic is directly related to your own success and/or failure. Men can fail as easily as women can and neither is better or worse when it comes to being the better photographer. Both have their unique challenges but both can equally fail and the field has been proven over and over again to be wide open for those ready for the true challenge.
Yes but is it harder work for some than others? If it is really true what your saying then it would come out to roughly 50/50 men/women successful in the industry. When the numbers don’t reflect that it either means a) men are better at photography (or insert whatever other industry you want to talk about here) or b) something else is going on... perhaps there are more barriers for some people in our society than others that have nothing to do with your ability or talent.
And sure, someone born into say poverty, against the odds can work hard and succeed and people will say look this person did it therefore everyone else can, but if you look at it statistically, it’s probably not going to happen and it doesn’t reflect the extra work that it has taken someone just to get tot there same point as someone else. Now change poverty to any slight disadvantage in this world, say being born female, of colour etc and the scales are still not in your favor.
Yes!! Exactly what I was trying to get at this whole time
I think I see what you're getting at... I'm currently a designer/architect for a construction company (photographer on the side) and after 20+ years I have yet to see 1 woman pour concrete, lay steel, lay block, weld I-beams, so on and so forth. Does that mean "only" men can do this, does this mean men are just better? I don't think so!! But the numbers, in my 20-year experience reflect 100% that "only" men can, will & do. Maybe this is an unfair example, but we are talking about an ever changing landscape of perspectives changing. The numbers don't reflect that because it's still changing. Give it time, like we always have, and the whole idea of, "are men or women better at...." will be a relic of an idea, when it comes to getting a task or job done.
Cue the fragile white male in 1, 2, 3 ....
Ha ha!