After 3 years of planning and 2 years of filming and editing, our newest tutorial: How To Become A Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer is now available. Our goal was to create the most complete and informative video on wedding photography and we believe we have done it with this 14 hours digital download. The world is filled with people trying to turn their passion for photography into a career and I believe that wedding photography is the easiest way to start making money with your camera.
This is the reason Fstoppers.com exists
Our goal
At the beginning of my career it was so frustrating trying to learn everything from scratch on my own. The information in books or on Youtube videos was a complete joke; it was either completely outdated or worthless generic information. The only way I "made it" as quickly as I did was by assisting other very talented photographers in my area. I learned all that I could from them but I still had to figure the majority of it out on my own. I didn't know how to legally start a business or pay my taxes, so I had to pay a CPA hundreds of dollars to explain it to me. I didn't know if magazine ads were valuable in my area so I took a $3000 loss to learn my lesson. Nobody in town had ever made a photobooth so over a 6 year period I created and perfected my own. When I met Patrick a few years into my career I told him everything that had taken me years to learn and within 1 year he went from not owning a camera to being a full time wedding photographer. Our goal was to make this tutorial that 3 year head-start that I gave Patrick. We wanted to cover every aspect of wedding photography, including the most important aspect, business.
What does it cover
As I said above this digital download is broken down into 8 chapters that house 27 chapters that equal over 14 hours of content. A basic over view of each chapter can be seen below.
Chapter 1
Intro - What is “Commercial Wedding Photography” - Mandatory Gear - The Importance of Assisting - Composition, Exposure, White Balance
Chapter 2
Advertising - Bridal Portraits: Lighting 101 - Pricing
Chapter 3
Meeting With Potential Clients -The Engagement Session - Designing Your Website - Music - Slideshows - The Importance of Video
Chapter 4
On Camera Flash - Getting Ready and Details - The Ceremony - Fusion
Chapter 5
Formals and Groups - Interview with Pye Jirsa
Chapter 6
Four Ways to Light a Reception - The Cake - The Rings - The Departure - Taxes, Write-offs, and Accounting
Chapter 7
Interview with Cliff Mautner
Chapter 8
Post Processing - Creating a Photobooth - Photo / Video Slideshow, SmugMug.com - Delivering Your Final Product - Final Words
Who's it for
We have designed this tutorial for photographers that already have a good understanding of their gear. We do not go over the basics in this video so don't expect to learn about standard camera settings here. Before you buy this you will need to learn all about cameras, lenses, shutter speed, ISO, aperture, and white balance. We will quickly jump into the basics of single, off camera lighting and then move quickly into more complex lighting scenarios. Our goal was to make this video helpful for those who have never shot a single wedding and those who are already professional wedding photographers who are looking to take their businesses to the next level. We even added over 4 hours of interviews with photographers that are far more successful than we are so no matter how good you are, there will be more to learn.
Money back guarantee
This isn't your standard fun workshop on lighting or how to use your camera. This tutorial is meant to make you money, way more money than the $300 we are asking for it. Luckily you don't have to take our word for it. We will give anyone their money back if they are unhappy with this tutorial for any reason. If you are on the fence about wedding photography we challenge you to buy it and watch it anyway. If after watching it you still don't want to shoot weddings, let us know and we will still give you a full refund. Due to advertising costs and affiliate programs, our money back guarantee must be applied to sales made within 30 days of the original invoice date.
We don't want to stray away from offering high quality content for free on Fstoppers and so over the next year we will be releasing parts from many of the shooting sections for free here on Fstoppers. The business portions of this tutorial were designed for professional photographers and the majority of them will never be released. You have absolutely nothing to lose. Give it a try and you may find out that wedding photography may be your quickest route to becoming a full time photographer.
The idea that you guys were able to put together your dream in a cohesive package is awesome itself, I hope this does well for you guys.
Cant wait to watch it, Who needs sleep anyways..
Looking good fellas. Best of luck.
"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
My reaction when I saw the price.
I had the same reaction when I saw your photo gallery..... I'm actually thinking of buying this FOR you...
I really hate when stuff turns nasty like this... but that made me laugh out loud :)
apply water to the burnt areas
hahahahaha
ahahahahha, OWNAGE xD
Now that is funny! ;-)
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! ;)
Nice one.
ROFL, now that was funny;-)
wow.... $300.... $99 maybe but I'd rather spend $300 on kit.
Newsflash: Gear doesn't make you a better photographer, educating yourself makes you a better photographer
BOOM. No amount of lenses/lights will make you any better. Knowing how to light a room at a wedding will.
knowing how to light a room is great... but lighting a room with a $300 DVD doesn't really work for me... unless I use it to bounce the light off my awesomeness.
true, but when you're on a budget I'd rather have kit and go shoot then sit at home and watch a DVD all day.
Do you talk about medical insurance options for you and your family?
good question
To anyone complaining about the price: It's 14 hours of HD video, and information you can't find anywhere else. I will be purchasing this in one week, and I can't wait to learn all they have to offer in this INCREDIBLE deal.
Thanks Ryan, obviously this tutorial isn't for everyone. If you are a hobbyist of course you shouldn't waste $300 on a photography video. If you want to make a living at this, $300 is nothing. You will make it back plus some on your first job.
I really look up to you guys, and it's great to see the hard work you all have put in this download. I plan on going to the Academy of Art in San Fran this fall and after 2 years of school plan on being a wedding photographer. I can't wait to purchase, what looks to be, the best value any wedding photographer can pick up. Keep up the good work guys!
Ryan, I am trying to go to AoA in SF to this coming fall (that or the Art Institute in Chicago). Would love to talk more with you on it. I've had some questions but so far non of their consulars have been much help on answering them. Maybe you know more, anyways, hit me up on my website (www.foggOdyssey.com) on my contact page if you'd like to talk more.
Lee, I'm an enthusiast and have learnt a great deal from you guys, peter hurley, mark wallace and the like over the years.
I think the amount of, nothing but, TOTAL QUALITY learnings you are offering in this Dvd will be useful for anyone and everyone taking pictures of people (just my opinion).
I have seen your other videos on the internet and am very comfortable and confident with your teaching style which further reassures me that I will surely be gaining ALOT out of it as a bear minimum.
I wish you good luck and hope you will have more videos to release in the future over other topics.
Sincerely,
Umer
Melbourne, Australia
P.S: please ignore the haters.
We will never have more haters than we had during the iphone fashion shoot :) Thanks for reading and enjoying the content we create
agreed. Haters will hate. Although I think the price is steep, people should just leave it there. There is a difference, big difference between saying: This is too expensive for me, I wish it was little cheaper - and saying: f*ck!$300? Forget it!
haters will hate.
more power to you guys.
When it comes to buying things for my own photography business, $300 usually is on the lower end. The flights just to watch a 3 hour lecture is usually $300. Going to WPPI costs $1000 when hotels, flights, and "entertainment" are paid. Our whole goal was to help people become full time professionals; those who are scared to take a chance with $300 with a full money back guarantee are probably not the people we are trying to reach anyways.
Lee, do you have a personal Photography FB that we can follow you on in addition to FS?
Let's do this! I'm off from work tomorrow, it will give me something to do. Hope it helps with some of my anxieties of doing weddings.
Wonderful promo-video; sincere and convincing. Best of luck on the main video series. I hope it does well for you guys. I, personally, owe a lot to you and Pat for the success of my wedding photography business. Again, best of luck to both of you!
Mike
Great work on the trailer. I've been looking into producing some quality video like that. I will for sure consider purchasing this in the future.
Oh, and I'll be purchasing next week, as well, Lee and Pat. I'm more than certain it's worth the money.
Epic, I'm definitely getting this tonight. Looks well worth it!
Pricing - While some may be put off on the price, you just need to remind yourself that this is a 14hr production. There is a ton of information in here. While some of it may be introductory to many, it really is a comprehensive package that tries to hit every mark. If anyone was to take a workshop (2 days at 8hrs per day) they would easily pay more than this.
Congrats on putting it together!
Congratulations guys!
Personally I think we have all been spoiled by Fstoppers. Think of how much free information they provide to us every day with their site, and I am extremely grateful for it.
Compare the DVD price to a photography degree or a training seminar. It would be $300 just for the ticket to fly to the course. Lee and Patrick’s' DVD is so much more value because it is proven in the field knowledge. It’s what they do every day (when they’re not wake boarding, at a party, or just having fun.) Sounds like they’re ahead of the normal 9-5 people with quality of life and the best thing is that their willing to teach it how they do it!
If your interested in weddings then this is the DVD, if you already in the business then you should still get it. It allows you to expand on your existent skill set and not fall into a rut.
Lee, I have NO DOUBT this is worth $300. It's actually probably worth a lot more... but have you considered breaking it into payments? I know with paypal, you can set it to 3 payments (or any amount of payments). I think that may help some people rationalize the purchase.
We tried to think of a way to break it up into cheaper smaller portions but we couldn't make it work. All of the sections lead on to the next.
People spend tens of thousands of dollars going to college to get a degree they don't even use. IF professional photography is a goal for someone, saving up $300 shouldn't be a big deal. It is risk free too; if they don't like it we will refund them. What college would do that?
Preaching to the choir, brother...haha. I am going to buy it without any hesitation. Just figured that you guys probably get a lot of "new" guys who may have to make hard choices with their cash. I can tell anyone reading from personal experience that information like this is absolutely the right way to INVEST in your career, even if it's not in an easy payment option. In my "other life" I run a sports website & charge for premium access to information. I was able to set up a subscription via paypal that automatically charges 3 payments... one each month. Just making sure you knew it was available.
Oh, no I didn't realize that was available. We will look into it. Thanks!
I love this as an idea for payment. I want to start watching this video, but have to build up the money before I can. Paying month by month would make it much easier. And I could start watching straight away. :)
That sounds much more affordable! I definitely want this video, and yes, I spent thousands on education.... but SAVING $300 vs. using a student loan to pay for for your education are two very different things. It's very difficult for me to drop $300 at once becuase most of my income goes to paying back that damn loan lol. I would be very interested to hear if you come up with payment options.
Video looks awesome and worth much more than $300 I'm sure. Thanks!
Agreed, for me $300 is a huge chunk of my monthly expenses and I am starting a business, so I need to save every penny. If it were a buy-as-you-go setup, I would be much more likely to begin watching.
Maybe I missed it, will this come in an actual DVD or be emailed to the purchaser?
at this point it is only a digital download
how big is the DL?
about 16gb
i want to become a wedding photographer to your country and to work with you:D can i? :D
Is there a chance for more precise outline ? Thanks!