February 5, 2021 • 41 mins
Are you interested in being a photographer? How about hiring a top recommended photographer. In this episode we'll be spending some time with Heather at HM Photography and Designing. You'll learn about what it takes to be a photographer, how and when to hire a photographer, and get to know Heather a little bit more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cathy (00:01):
Welcome to insider secrets. In today's episode,
we'll be talking with Heather athm photography and design coming
up next.
(00:25):
Hey, Heather, we're so excitedto have you on rent and resolve
insider secrets. How are youdoing today?
Heather (00:32):
I'm good. Thank you, buddy.
Cathy (00:35):
The reason why I'm so excited to have you Heather is a
lot of people in the industrythat have been watching this
know that I DJ before. I'm aquote, retired DJ, and I had the
pleasure of working a coupleweddings with you, man, I have
seen you in action girl, I don'teven know when you took the
picture. I don't know whathappened is like one minute
(00:55):
she's there. And I'm like, Didyou get that on camera. And then
later, I go and look at thephotos and they're freaking
awesome. So I'm probably one ofyour number one fans like ooh,
so anyway, so that's how I knowHeather and Heather. Also, the
one thing that I really likeabout you and this is why I
wanted to have you on as well isthat you're also a designer, so
(01:18):
when you have the design mind inwith photography, and it just
makes a phenomenal, phenomenalcombination. I really believe
that what I want to do is I wantto get to know you a little bit
better. So I want to know whatmade you want to start your
business.
Heather (01:37):
So this is gonna be kind of long, so bear with me.
So I always loved photography.
It started out like from mygrandpa he had like a 35 film
Minolta camera so you know itwasn't like the digital days now
where you can see how yourlighting looks and what the
(01:58):
photo looks like and hope to godit's not blurry and he would
shoot so many things and it wasso cool just to see that when
passed to me that when he passedaway it was given to me and so I
started shooting film which wascool but it's very tedious it's
it's hard like it I don't knowhow to explain it like you just
(02:19):
you kind of like you have tolike shooting prey but you know
i i still have two roles to getto either I have to develop them
or find a place I don't evenknow if they do that anymore. So
I'm obviously in the digitalworld about eight years ago I
(02:41):
just started you know shootingwith a Canon point and shoot
camera so like this big and itwas all about like nature
photography, since I'm not fromTexas because you can clearly
hear this accent guys don't makeme say like, beg or anything
(03:03):
that you can hear. It's bad. Butthis is what I'm from Wisconsin,
you know, we would always go upnorth go camping and stuff and
that's where I get a lot of mynature photography and scenery
and stuff like that. Just trees,the legs, stuff like that. I
want a few contests up there. Sothat was pretty cool. Even
though I was just like abeginner is that how everyone
(03:25):
starts is nature is that like,you know nature and people
know keep going. Yeah, I want tosay how some start? Yeah, no,
some just jump right into it.
And after that I got my veryfirst like DSLR camera and I
(03:47):
thought it was so cool was likea Canon Rebel. T three iron is
something I thought it was justlike the best in the world. And
when I use it today, I gave itto my dad, it's like, slow as
heck. So I'm like, oh, what Iwas thinking about, but you
know, I still continue to shootphotography and stuff like that.
(04:10):
As I grew, I grew up. I learnedmore about on camera. I went to
workshops, I looked on onlinetutorials I use google it is
your best friend I promise youyou can find free stuff on
there. I took photographyclasses because I had to for my
(04:31):
graphic design degree then youknow after college and after all
this I was like you know what, Ikind of want to start maybe
photography and you knowfamilies and stuff. But when you
start out You can't just startcharging people because your
work is probably crap. I mean,it's like your your work is not
(04:54):
going to be amazing. I meanunless I don't know, I don't
know. And, and one word ofadvice that I will say to
everybody, it does not matterwhat kind of camera you have,
you can have a $5,000 camera,you can have $1,000 camera on
it, it does not matter, it's,it's, it's the eye, it's the
person behind the camera, andhow they know how to work the
(05:18):
camera and know the settings,know the scenery, know what
they're working with to get thatperfect picture. So don't go out
and buy that $5,000 newmirrorless camera because
everybody's using it, it, itmight not help you or be
beneficial. But anyways, now I'mjust not I'm just rambling. But
um, so when I startedphotographing people, I knew I
(05:42):
wanted to start a business.
Because I started getting somany compliments and stuff,
which was really cool. You know,I had to do a lot of shoots for
free, because I had to see I hadto figure out my style, I had to
figure out lighting situations,I pretty much know all these
(06:03):
places to go in Texas. So if youdon't know what part to go to
pretty much tell you, you know,this didn't start overnight.
Like I said, it was a processthis, this at least took a
couple years to do. One night inAugust, about five years ago, I
think so I think I've beenmarried for six, don't tell my
(06:26):
husband that I was talking to myhusband about my passion for
photography. And like I said,it's funny, because I went to
school for graphic design, Ihave a bachelor's degree in
graphic design and informationtechnology. So I'm a huge
computer nerd gaming, anythinglike that. So it's just kind of
(06:48):
weird that I have this passionfor photography. But you know, I
have the eyes for it. And I andI absolutely love with I never
want to put my camera down,it's, it's kind of like, it's
soothing to me, you know, I canbe having a really bad day. And
then I have to go and do ashoot. And I feel better. You
know, the next day, if that'snot the next day, I feel better
(07:10):
in the next hour or the nextcouple hours or something, even
if it's a really stressfulwedding, I will keep on the
whole time. But you know, I wastalking to my husband about it.
And I was like, You know what, Ithink I want to start my own
website and a lot of websites,obviously, these days charge a
lot. And my husband and at thetime, it was really expensive.
(07:35):
We were on a really tightbudget, we were planning a
wedding, and we just build ahouse. So that was a real good
idea. Um, you know, I kind ofthrew this Adam out of nowhere,
kind of like when I said, Hey,you want to get married.
He had a credit card that healmost pretty much maxed out.
(08:00):
And he had $150 left on it. AndI didn't know where he handed me
his credit card. And he said, hesaid, Go run with your dream.
And he said, go build thatwebsite that you want. I mean,
I'm almost tearing up because,yeah, baby hormones still from
nine months ago, you know, itwas, it was really cool that he
(08:24):
he was really passionate andshowed how much I want to I
wanted to do this app. Fromthere, you know, I began to
grow. So I built the website,you have to build social media,
so you can use that marketingout. So I have a Facebook page,
I built the Instagram page. Andthen after, you know, I was
(08:45):
comfortable getting into mystyle of shooting and I was
confident that, you know, peopleliked my work, I knew it was
time to actually start onbusiness, register my business
and be legal. We like to collectmoney, you know, to be a legal
(09:05):
professional photographer, youhave to have a license. So
remember that you can't just getaway with it because there's
consequences, you know, you haveto start paying taxes and all
that. So that's real fun. Um, sothat's that's how I started my
business is really long.
Cathy (09:25):
No, that was good, though. So you It's pretty cool.
Because as a photographer, I cansee that kind of like, you know,
I remember when I startedbuilding websites, I did a
couple for free and then I didone for a friend and then she
started getting leads and she'slike, you need to do this
forever for everybody. And thenit was like so I relate to that
a lot. Let's go with a website.
Who was your first legitcustomer the one that you said,
(09:49):
Oh my god, I just got paid. Wasit a referral? Was it a friend?
Was it
Heather (09:55):
on your website? Um, actually, it wasn't it was from
this Other sites that I use thatI'm not gonna use them anymore
because they just money. But atthe time, it really helped me
grow. And it gave me a lot ofclients. And this was a family
that came in from California whoreached out to me and was like,
(10:18):
I really liked your work, but wehave a certain thing we want to
do. And I was really afraid,because I was like, Oh my gosh,
I don't think I can nail thisshoot at all. They're paying me
I was really nervous. You know,because I only practice on, you
know, families, my husband, mydog. Like that anything that
(10:40):
could be cool. And then all of asudden, they liked my work so
much that they left me a greatreview on just about everything.
So on Google business, onFacebook,on wedding sites
on other weddings, besides allof that, you know, and then
that's when I started, like Isaid, I really found my style of
(11:02):
photography. And when I lookback on my old hard drives, and
let me tell you, I have aboutseven. Yeah, but that's insane.
And it's still growing, I haveto go buy another hard drive in
like a week. And all I can sayis wow, I've really changed now.
I've changed over the yearssince now. But I mean, I was
(11:26):
charging dirt cheap. And I wasovershooting you know, because I
thought that's what peoplewanted. But, you know, I was
kind of digging myself more intothe ground. And but you know,
you live and you learn and grow.
from a marketing perspective, weknow that technology. And I know
that graphic design all thatchanges, you know, daily, I'm in
(11:46):
a lot of Facebook groups thatpost workshops and stuff. But
you know, there's a lot ofdifferent photographers that
come up with these cool newideas and stuff like that. So I
can bounce off of that. I don'tcopy people, I don't like to use
Pinterest, I like to come upwith my new, like, my new ideas
and stuff like that. So um, Iusually get the most from
(12:12):
Facebook, I get a lot ofreferrals from Facebook, and
then I get a lot of referralsfrom word of mouth. And of
course, you know, Everywhere Igo, that I can put my business
cards because I like 2000 then ihave i put those everywhere, you
know, awesome. You never know. Imean, I say I'm a I'm a wedding
photographer mainly, but youknow, I do. newborns I family.
(12:36):
Just just about everything. It'sjust my main focus is wedding
photography, because I've alwayshad a passion for the wedding
industry, which is really weird.
And I don't know why. But
Cathy (12:52):
yeah, kind of addicting.
I mean, I know I'm missing it alittle bit, but not much.
Because I get to hang out withpeople like you now. Yeah, so I
do have a question. So whatmakes people want to do business
with you.
Heather (13:06):
So I hear that I'm very personable, and I have a great
personality. And that's justbecause I learn, you know, I
just show my true colors, I showwho I am, I can make them laugh.
But I also you know, I just showmy work, show what I can do, you
know, show them why theyshouldn't go with the $500
(13:30):
photographer that they wanted togo with and why they should, you
know, go with me and, you know,I just I work with them. And I'm
a very unique designer, I'm avery unique photographer. I
mean, I've been told I've been,you know, like out of the box,
you can say my, my graphicdesign is totally out of the
(13:52):
box. I mean, if people saw myportfolio, they're like, Whoa,
but you know, I have a differentvision. And I have different
creativity than people. Like Isaid, I'm always, I mean, my
cameras in my hand, almost like24. Seven, even at work. So I'm
always coming up with ideas.
Yeah, and
Cathy (14:12):
you know, just to interject here for on your
behalf is that just a couple ofweddings that I know of, and the
photos and the brides and thecouples, and you're really good
at taking really good picturesof people who don't really want
to be photographed, but want toget it done. And you can just
get in and get it done and keepthat wedding timeline going. And
so I have to attest to that.
That's awesome, because I'veworked some weddings where
(14:35):
photographers An hour later andyou're like, Are we going to eat
because they're still takingpictures, you know, and it's
just a skill. I think that Idon't know, I don't know how you
develop that but it's it's agood one. And then you got the
people that are like want to becenter of attention and be like,
take a picture of me and thenyou do like 50 million sets but
somehow you get them on thetimeline and you still keep it
(14:55):
going. Is there a secret tothat?
Heather (15:00):
Is there. So I tell my brides in advance, I tell them
to give me a you know, ifthey're working with a
coordinator that they shouldgive me, you know, the timeline
or something, show me atimeline, you know, show me how
much time I have for things. SoI can plan that out if I need,
(15:21):
like, this past weekend I had,this family was huge, and they
needed all of these photos. Youknow, so I had to, you know, try
and find the times you know, Iin it, sadly, I had to like,
push back some stuff, but theywere cool about it. But if I get
a timeline, usually I can aheadof time, I can tell them, okay,
(15:42):
this will work. But, you know,maybe this won't work. So the
secret is, try and get atimeline as soon as you can, and
then talk with your bride. Ifyou think it'll be a problem. If
you think that, you know, maybethe couple's session should be
changed to maybe like 4pminstead of 2pm. Because you
don't want their faces blastedout or something like that. So
(16:05):
that is one of my biggestsecrets is get a timeline
because that's how I stay onschedule. Otherwise, I'm just,
it's kind of like in that. I'vejust done so many weddings that
I just know how it goes. It'susually bride getting ready and
getting ready to do the detailsceremony. I mean, I could do
(16:26):
this in your sleep. Yeah, it'slike a hamster on the wheel.
Pretty much. You know,
Cathy (16:32):
if you're gonna say something to and that was a
little off is a good thing toask you. to other wedding pros
that work weddings with you? Doyou feel like they work with you
on the timeline? Do you feellike it's important if it's a
planner, or if it's a DJ, I knowlike every wedding is different.
Like sometimes the DJ is runningthe show. Sometimes the planners
running the show, sometimes thevenue's running the show, if you
(16:54):
feel like these professionalsare working with you, so that
way you can capture those shots.
Heather (17:01):
Typically, because I like to speak to the vendors
before, you know, I'll get tothe I'll get to the venue maybe
like 15 minutes before because Iknow those those vendors could
be on, they could be scheduleddifferently than I am, you know,
they could be on a differentday, it could be contracted for
like eight hours. And I'm onlycontracted for five. So, you
(17:23):
know, I like to get together.
And I like to talk to everybodyand make sure that we're all on
the same page. Because when youthink about it, or they're,
we're all there for one thingwe're taking pictures of so not
taking pictures I am. But youknow, we're all doing something
for somebody big day. And thesethese women have been dreaming
(17:44):
about this day, you know, maybelike three years old trying on
their mom's wedding dress, youknow, this is their big day. And
we all have to work together, wecan't email one person do this
one person do that. It gets itgets complicated, not so much
with like DJs. And thecoordinators, because they're
(18:05):
pretty easy to work with,especially the DJs, you can just
bounce off of them. But it getspretty hard with videographers
because they kind of have theirown thing. You have to watch out
where they're placing theirstuff. So I always try to get
with them first and be like,Hey, this is where I'm going to
be this is where I usually amand I try to work with them. So
(18:26):
we don't have
Cathy (18:29):
bad news and stuff like that. If I'm a bride or I'm
thinking about getting marriedon what's the most common
question?
Oh, I see it. What is it?
The most frequent question I getis how much? How much do I how
much do I cost? And can I seethe wedding package? And when
(18:52):
I'm away on Facebook, I have myway message you know, like AOL
Instant Messenger rest andbasically, um, you know, it goes
straight to my investment page,and people just start aren't
reading that. So that is themain question that I always get
asked. And then I always getasked, do you charge an arm and
(19:15):
a leg? Oh, I do not. BecauseBy the way, Heather is
sponsoring our arm and a legsession.
Heather (19:22):
Yes. The arm. Yeah. So you know, I looked it up and I
broke it down, you know, and onearm and one leg $250,000 so if I
was charging you an arm and aleg, I think I would have to
work. Like I'd have to in manyweddings. Maybe I have to be
free and I could be like abillionaire. Yeah. So that's,
(19:46):
you know, the common question Iget and then you know if they
are in they're not they thinkthey're not in budget. You know,
I can kind of work with them. Ican I can give them wiggle room.
You know, sometimes, I thinkThrow, you know, a discount at
them because they really like mywork, you know, and I'll get
compliments like that. Andthey're just like, wow, we
(20:07):
really need to go with you andstuff. But um, one thing I will
say to potential brides is, youknow, when you're asking, oh, I,
you know, I'm looking for aphotographer, that's great. But
you need to put your budgetdown, you need to tell how many
hours you want, because you canget 200 300 replies on Facebook.
(20:32):
And these people can be way overyour budget, and you're finding
somebody like myself who's like,in the middle of the ballpark of
kind of expensive, because Iknow what I'm worth, and you can
follow me
Cathy (20:45):
you got to buy another hard drive. If you're a
professional, you have to investin this.No, no, it makes sense.
Heather (20:52):
Yeah. Yeah, it does.
And you know, they can fall inlove of my work. And then, you
know, they say, Oh, I'm on$1,000 budget, but I want like
10 hours. That's, I'm sorry, Ican't do that. But But I do
know, a lot of no otherphotographers in the industry
who can work with more of thebudget brides and stuff, so I
(21:13):
refer them to them. And I have areferral list and everything. So
that's how I can kind of solvethat.
Cathy (21:22):
So if you are giving advice to a bride or a couple,
or somebody that was callingyou, maybe they're going to get
their senior photos, whatever itis, what kind of information
would you recommend that theyhave? Before they call you? I
mean, obviously, you just saidthey need to know their budget,
right? And then that would beasking you and then you can
consult them from their billinginformation, which you tell them
(21:46):
to do before they call youresearch?
Heather (21:49):
Oh, yeah. I mean, so um, I would say that they should
be asking, Well, first of all,they should have looked at your
website, your face. To see ifyour stuff is your pictures, if
it's consistent, because I'veseen a lot of a lot of
(22:13):
photographers, you know, they,whatever they're photographing,
they say and show one thing ontheir Facebook and their
website, and then when thepeople get the final product,
it's not at all what it lookslike. So you need to ask them
about their style. And you know,the photographer's style, you
know, what their budget is, howmany photos they're going to
(22:35):
get? Are they going to getoutfit changes with weddings,
you know, weddings are very,very different. I mean, that's
obviously the budget thing is,you got to ask that right away.
But then then you have to ask,okay, you know, how long have
you been in this industry? Thatthat's what I would ask, you
(22:57):
know, how do you know, how manyweddings have you done? And I
see galleries, you know, anytimeI talk to a bride, and I'm
starting to really get togetherwith them, I'm like, here, why
don't you take a look at mygalleries? And we can talk from
there to make sure that, youknow, we like that style,
because I have a debt. I'm verycandid and photojournalistic.
(23:19):
So, I'm not opposed to the type,I get anything that I can give,
because I want you to see what Isee on your big day. Because be
drunk or not, you know,something, something like that.
You're just having the time ofyour life and you might not
remember it. That's, you know,that's, that's the best advice I
(23:42):
would get. But,
Cathy (23:43):
yeah, I love that you go to your website, because I mean,
I can't imagine being intypography or film or any, you
know, design work and notsaying, Go to your websites, I'm
gonna make sure to have yourwebsite here we go check out
your awesome stuff. What advicewould you give somebody that may
say, you know what, Heather, Iwant to do what you do I want to
(24:03):
be a wedding photographer. Whatadvice would you give to
somebody who might want to, youknow, work towards that goal and
maybe be a competitor of yoursone day.
Heather (24:15):
Okay.
Cathy (24:17):
Or when I grow up,
Heather (24:18):
okay. So the first thing you need to do is if you
are in the creative industry, nomatter what you do, you have to
have thick skin. You know, youhave to learn how to take
constructive criticism fromanybody. Nobody's perfect. Not
everybody's gonna like yourwork, you're gonna get a client
that might not want somethingdidn't like something, and you
(24:42):
got to use those customerservice skills. So, you know,
you're, you're selling yourself,you're selling your brand, you
want to keep your reputation upand keep your business up. You
know, if you're, if you're gonnashoot weddings, like me, I mean,
it took me it took me a while.
took a lot of practice, I had tosecond shoot, I love the shadow.
(25:02):
And when you're shadowingpeople, you're not getting paid.
Every second shooting and youyou've only done like two
weddings, you're gonna get, youknow, maybe $20 an hour. It's
not. Like I said, it doesn'thappen overnight. There's,
there's a lot you have to, to doand, and you have to have money.
When I go to a wedding, I haveprobably 15 SD cards, just in
(25:27):
case I have about six batteries.
I have to have two cameras. Youknow, I have multiple lenses.
You gotta think of how muchyou're going to invest into this
business and make sure that thisis the right business for you.
Because I mean, all of a sudden,like six months down the road. I
(25:48):
don't want to do photographyanymore. Okay, well, you just
spent like, seven grand in. No.
Photography supplies, camerasand lenses. You kind of just
screw yourself.
Cathy (26:02):
Yeah. So what do you think of Polaroid?
Heather (26:07):
I think it's actually pretty cool. The last wedding I
actually did
Cathy (26:13):
They are starting to bring those back.
Heather (26:15):
I think i think i think it's cool. I've seen a lot of
guests use it for like, ourbrides use it for their guests
book, like what happened? Sothey take a picture, you know,
of the couple, and then thecouples signs it and like, oh,
best wishes or whatever. I mean,I just did it this past weekend
with with a videographer, youknow, I was like, hey, smile,
(26:39):
and I was like love. So I thinkthey're cool.
Cathy (26:45):
It's definitely not a professional photography
experience. But
Heather (26:49):
But it but it's really cool. And it's candid stuff. I
don't mind stuff like that. AndI will tell you that an iPhone
is not a professional camera,even though mode, but I'm sorry,
it is not it is a professionalcameras. So not go and shoot
(27:10):
weddings with an iPhone. I haveseen it happen. Okay, I have
seen the results and it is bad.
Cathy (27:18):
You know And that's another thing. I didn't put this
on here. But I think you couldprobably address this issue.
Being a photographer and I haveseen this going around the
internet, I have seen postsabout the person that's right in
the middle of the ceremony thatdecides to pick up their camera
and either record the ceremonyfrom the audience or take a
(27:41):
photo.
Heather (27:45):
Yes, yes, yes. So it's very important.
Cathy (27:52):
Why why this is important. Like what?
Heather (27:55):
So it's very important because this bride and groom
spent 1000s on HDMI, or on theend the videographer to capture
your big day. If you have yourlike $600 iPhone that's going to
give a really grainy, crappypicture. And that's that's not
(28:16):
what the bride and groom won.
And for instance, I, I had thishappen to me a couple months
ago, and I will say that thiswas awful. And I was stuck. You
know, I was in the front. Mysecond was in the back so she
could get the bride coming downthe aisle with her father's so
we could get the train. And Iwas in the front so I could
(28:37):
capture the bride and theofficiant said hey, this is an
unplugged ceremony. We have awonderful photographer here.
Please put your cell phonesaway. Bride starts coming down
the aisle all of a sudden thislady's takes out her phone and
puts it right in my in my wayand I couldn't move because the
Brian May the bridesmaids areright here and the family was
(29:01):
right here. I literally stoppedI would have had to like do an
army roll to maybe have shortershot. And it sucks because I got
maybe two photos and I couldn'teven crop this lady out. It.
It's just it's very I think it'svery rude. And I think that's
why a lot of brides are sayinghaving they want an unplugged
(29:22):
ceremony because you shouldn'thave your phones on you
shouldn't be texting, youshouldn't be doing any of that.
You're here to see the bride andgroom. Get married, you know
your best friend, your sister,you know just just let the
photographer do it. And I knowthat some brides get very angry
when their photo gets postedonline before they can eat
(29:46):
before the photographer canshare the sneak peeks you know
that
Cathy (29:53):
Yeah, I got you I got you.
Heather (29:55):
I'm against that.
Cathy (29:56):
What I like I have to do this because Heathers, Insider
Secrets.
Heather (30:03):
Yes.
Cathy (30:04):
What do you feel is your insider secret that you're
willing to share with all of us?
Okay, secret formula.
Heather (30:14):
Never give up. I know that sounds really hard, because
I will tell you that last year,I did 38 weddings, which was
insane. I was pregnant, highrisk pregnancy, right? You know,
it was it was very scary. But Ikept chugging along. And I never
(30:36):
gave up, I kept giving qualitywork, but I burned my self out.
You know, look at yourself, takea look at your photos, make sure
you like you're worth something,your work shows what you are
worth. So figure that out andmake sure that you're doing your
cost of business, you know, youroverhead price, and make sure
(30:59):
that you're getting enoughmoney, because when you break it
down, by the end of the day,sometimes you're making like $2
an hour, I mean, you're betteroff work now, McDonald's or
something. Another thing isnever give up on your dreams, I
have never given up on mydreams, I started from the
bottom with my graphic design,and I'm up here now, with my
(31:20):
graduates, you know, I'm acreative director, that's, you
know, like the highest you cango. Our VP, I'm sure that's the
highest goal. But you know, I'venever given up, I had a
professor in college come up tome and tell me that I should
never ever be a graphicdesigner. And instead of me
(31:41):
getting, you know, wanting tocry and walk out and kind of
punch me in the face, I stillstayed in class, he asked the
class with a good grade. And,you know, a couple years later,
she goes and finds me onLinkedIn, and all of a sudden
sees, oh, wow, she works at acorporate office, a very known
(32:02):
corporate office, and she's beena creative director, and oh,
wow, look at her work. So it waskind of like a punch in the face
there. You know, and then, andthen, you know, work with your
client. And just, if you'retrying to secure your client, if
you're trying to secure anybody,just just work with them. And
(32:24):
like I said, just be you showyour personality, because you
don't want to be fake with them,when you meet them. And then on
the wedding day, you're like acomplete, I don't want to say
the word, you're just like acomplete psycho, you don't want
to do that, you know, you wantto, you want to show who you
are, you know, if you if youwant to offer a discount every
(32:48):
so often, if you're not getting,if you're not getting enough
leads, what I do is I offer adiscount just a little bit,
because when you offer adiscount, I just go crazy over
that, even if it's like 10%. AndI know I'm talking quietly, but
even if it's very little grindswill go crazy over that, because
(33:10):
you're knocking off money off orwhatever. So, for instance,
let's say you book my six hourpackage, that's 20 $200. And
I'll take $200 off that, andI'll add on a, you know, a,
let's say 12 by 16 by 20 acrylicphoto of you guys, you know,
(33:35):
they'll go crazy over that youlove that and chances are
they'll probably book you. So,you know,
Cathy (33:42):
Your giving value too. So you're even if you're
discounting or you're addingsomething else, you're providing
a lot of value.
Heather (33:49):
Yeah. And show your value. And like I said, Show,
show what you are worth becauseyou are worth you, you're worth
a lot. And I've seen a lot ofgreat people and I've worked
with a lot of great otherphotographers and stuff who
don't even do weddingphotography, and I can still see
that they're under charging andstuff and I'm just like no
(34:12):
charge more your work is sogood. Right? Right.
Cathy (34:17):
What is my last question for you is what's the best time
and we get this a lot I hearthis a lot in the wedding
industry. When is the best timeto book the photographer? Or is
it just you is when is it thebest time to book me Heather Is
there a certain time like wejust got through the fall so now
(34:38):
it's you know we got a bunch ofpeople that and got engaged. A
lot of times people say you knowbook out booked booked your
venue first wins. This is a twopart question. So when should
they book you? And then how farin advance a type of notice do
you need? Because you know, I'msure you booking so many people
have called you four or fivemonths later and said hey, I
(34:59):
need you for this one. I, yougave me a quote six months
ago,and now I'm not available.
Heather (35:03):
So don't do that. As a formal bride. I booked my I did
my venue, I picked my date, Ifound my while I was venue
shopping, I secured myphotographer, at least a year in
advance, because we broke upvery fast the photographers and
(35:23):
the videographers. You know,we're already booking for 2021.
And then that same and, youknow, some photographers will
even say, Oh, I'm booking for2022, that gives me nearly a
heart attack. Okay, I'm tryingto just work on 2020. But, um,
my best advice for Brides, youknow, book book a year in
advance, because, you know, anything can happen. Just
Cathy (35:49):
well, and when you're good, like you and people want
to book Yeah, you kind of goquick. So yeah.
Heather (35:57):
You know, there. I mean, there may be times that I
can get in a quick elopement.
But I mean, I had to do anelopement at seven in the
morning. And then I had to do awedding from five to 11. That
night, and that don't. So bookgear, while your vendor shopping
(36:17):
and stuff, and you have yourdate, and it said, start
shopping for your photographers,then your DJs you know, and
because those are like your topthree, I believe, you know, and
then you get or and then youknow, coordinator if you want a
coordinator, and then you know,your linens and all that other
(36:38):
crap, really doesn't matter.
Cathy (36:42):
Now. A little extra stuff. Yeah. Finding with a lot
of professionals it is it'saveraging about a year out or
two years depends on the date.
You know, if everyone reallydepends on the day, there is no
month that's 2020. But I know10 1010 was a popular day. So
what's the best way for peopleto get in touch with you,
Heather (37:03):
I would say go to my Facebook page. Because as much
as I do on my website, I don'tupload. I mean, I do upload it,
like upload photos of weddings,but it's just maybe like three
photos because I don't get a lotof storage on it. So my
Facebook, you see more sneakpeeks. You see, oh, wow, she
(37:27):
just did a wedding last night.
And she posted the photos likeholy cow, like, wow, this girl
is amazing, you know. So Irecommended a message, you quit
messaging me on my Facebook, andthrough my business page,
because I don't want youbothering me on my personal
page. Unless I know you that'sfine. But on the business page,
(37:49):
so I know what's what's goingon. And then yeah, and if I'm
not there, you know, like Isaid, I have the away message.
And it does lead you to mywebsite, which leads you right
to the investment page. And ifyou have questions, you're more
than welcome to email me. And Ieven have my phone number on
there. We have that nice.
Cathy (38:11):
Well, I Heather, I want to thank you so much for taking
the time. I'm so honored thatyou are talking to us. And I
just want everybody to know howawesome you are. And I saw a
thing that you said you willtravel Are you going to be doing
some traveling destinationweddings soon?
Heather (38:28):
Yes, I actually added destination weddings this year.
And I have two books.
So I'm learning Illinois. Sokind of like my, my hometown.
And then another one was, Ibelieve in Ohio. So we're
getting there. And that's prettycool. You know, my biggest goal
(38:54):
for next year. And now and nowI'm just going off topic, but my
biggest goal is to become fulltime. But yeah, you know, the
wedding wedding industry. It'snot like stable income where you
get a paycheck every week.
Cathy (39:11):
I know that from the DJ world. It's
Heather (39:13):
exactly exactly I think every vendor knows. And you
know, my husband works very hardat a full time job and does the
job. And he has insurance, but Ican't just be like, hey, guess
what, I'm quitting my job. AndI'm going to do photography full
time now. Idon't know. Yeah.
Cathy (39:31):
You know. That's, that's cool. Well, I hope you get it. I
mean, I'm excited. And I knowwhat you're doing senior
pictures, you can do partypictures, corporate events, I
mean, all kinds of cool stuff.
So you're getting there and youyou got it down. You got it
down. I'm just excited thatyou're with us. Any last words
that you want to leave ouraudience with any? Anything
(39:53):
maybe I didn't mention
Heather (40:00):
No, no, no, not that I can think of. I think we hit
just about everything that youknow that
Cathy (40:11):
we can cover
Heather (40:12):
over that that you've asked me and I kind of put me on
the spot.
Cathy (40:18):
That's all right. I think he told us all the secrets. So I
did. And Heather Thank youHeather with hm photography and
design, you can reach her atwww.hmphotography and design.com
thank you again so much forbeing with us. We'll see you
guys on the next episode.
Guest (40:38):
Five Guys, thank you so much for watching.
Welcome to insider secrets. In today's episode,
we'll be talking with Heather athm photography and design coming
up next.
(00:25):
Hey, Heather, we're so excitedto have you on rent and resolve
insider secrets. How are youdoing today?
Heather (00:32):
I'm good. Thank you, buddy.
Cathy (00:35):
The reason why I'm so excited to have you Heather is a
lot of people in the industrythat have been watching this
know that I DJ before. I'm aquote, retired DJ, and I had the
pleasure of working a coupleweddings with you, man, I have
seen you in action girl, I don'teven know when you took the
picture. I don't know whathappened is like one minute
(00:55):
she's there. And I'm like, Didyou get that on camera. And then
later, I go and look at thephotos and they're freaking
awesome. So I'm probably one ofyour number one fans like ooh,
so anyway, so that's how I knowHeather and Heather. Also, the
one thing that I really likeabout you and this is why I
wanted to have you on as well isthat you're also a designer, so
(01:18):
when you have the design mind inwith photography, and it just
makes a phenomenal, phenomenalcombination. I really believe
that what I want to do is I wantto get to know you a little bit
better. So I want to know whatmade you want to start your
business.
Heather (01:37):
So this is gonna be kind of long, so bear with me.
So I always loved photography.
It started out like from mygrandpa he had like a 35 film
Minolta camera so you know itwasn't like the digital days now
where you can see how yourlighting looks and what the
(01:58):
photo looks like and hope to godit's not blurry and he would
shoot so many things and it wasso cool just to see that when
passed to me that when he passedaway it was given to me and so I
started shooting film which wascool but it's very tedious it's
it's hard like it I don't knowhow to explain it like you just
(02:19):
you kind of like you have tolike shooting prey but you know
i i still have two roles to getto either I have to develop them
or find a place I don't evenknow if they do that anymore. So
I'm obviously in the digitalworld about eight years ago I
(02:41):
just started you know shootingwith a Canon point and shoot
camera so like this big and itwas all about like nature
photography, since I'm not fromTexas because you can clearly
hear this accent guys don't makeme say like, beg or anything
(03:03):
that you can hear. It's bad. Butthis is what I'm from Wisconsin,
you know, we would always go upnorth go camping and stuff and
that's where I get a lot of mynature photography and scenery
and stuff like that. Just trees,the legs, stuff like that. I
want a few contests up there. Sothat was pretty cool. Even
though I was just like abeginner is that how everyone
(03:25):
starts is nature is that like,you know nature and people
know keep going. Yeah, I want tosay how some start? Yeah, no,
some just jump right into it.
And after that I got my veryfirst like DSLR camera and I
(03:47):
thought it was so cool was likea Canon Rebel. T three iron is
something I thought it was justlike the best in the world. And
when I use it today, I gave itto my dad, it's like, slow as
heck. So I'm like, oh, what Iwas thinking about, but you
know, I still continue to shootphotography and stuff like that.
(04:10):
As I grew, I grew up. I learnedmore about on camera. I went to
workshops, I looked on onlinetutorials I use google it is
your best friend I promise youyou can find free stuff on
there. I took photographyclasses because I had to for my
(04:31):
graphic design degree then youknow after college and after all
this I was like you know what, Ikind of want to start maybe
photography and you knowfamilies and stuff. But when you
start out You can't just startcharging people because your
work is probably crap. I mean,it's like your your work is not
(04:54):
going to be amazing. I meanunless I don't know, I don't
know. And, and one word ofadvice that I will say to
everybody, it does not matterwhat kind of camera you have,
you can have a $5,000 camera,you can have $1,000 camera on
it, it does not matter, it's,it's, it's the eye, it's the
person behind the camera, andhow they know how to work the
(05:18):
camera and know the settings,know the scenery, know what
they're working with to get thatperfect picture. So don't go out
and buy that $5,000 newmirrorless camera because
everybody's using it, it, itmight not help you or be
beneficial. But anyways, now I'mjust not I'm just rambling. But
um, so when I startedphotographing people, I knew I
(05:42):
wanted to start a business.
Because I started getting somany compliments and stuff,
which was really cool. You know,I had to do a lot of shoots for
free, because I had to see I hadto figure out my style, I had to
figure out lighting situations,I pretty much know all these
(06:03):
places to go in Texas. So if youdon't know what part to go to
pretty much tell you, you know,this didn't start overnight.
Like I said, it was a processthis, this at least took a
couple years to do. One night inAugust, about five years ago, I
think so I think I've beenmarried for six, don't tell my
(06:26):
husband that I was talking to myhusband about my passion for
photography. And like I said,it's funny, because I went to
school for graphic design, Ihave a bachelor's degree in
graphic design and informationtechnology. So I'm a huge
computer nerd gaming, anythinglike that. So it's just kind of
(06:48):
weird that I have this passionfor photography. But you know, I
have the eyes for it. And I andI absolutely love with I never
want to put my camera down,it's, it's kind of like, it's
soothing to me, you know, I canbe having a really bad day. And
then I have to go and do ashoot. And I feel better. You
know, the next day, if that'snot the next day, I feel better
(07:10):
in the next hour or the nextcouple hours or something, even
if it's a really stressfulwedding, I will keep on the
whole time. But you know, I wastalking to my husband about it.
And I was like, You know what, Ithink I want to start my own
website and a lot of websites,obviously, these days charge a
lot. And my husband and at thetime, it was really expensive.
(07:35):
We were on a really tightbudget, we were planning a
wedding, and we just build ahouse. So that was a real good
idea. Um, you know, I kind ofthrew this Adam out of nowhere,
kind of like when I said, Hey,you want to get married.
He had a credit card that healmost pretty much maxed out.
(08:00):
And he had $150 left on it. AndI didn't know where he handed me
his credit card. And he said, hesaid, Go run with your dream.
And he said, go build thatwebsite that you want. I mean,
I'm almost tearing up because,yeah, baby hormones still from
nine months ago, you know, itwas, it was really cool that he
(08:24):
he was really passionate andshowed how much I want to I
wanted to do this app. Fromthere, you know, I began to
grow. So I built the website,you have to build social media,
so you can use that marketingout. So I have a Facebook page,
I built the Instagram page. Andthen after, you know, I was
(08:45):
comfortable getting into mystyle of shooting and I was
confident that, you know, peopleliked my work, I knew it was
time to actually start onbusiness, register my business
and be legal. We like to collectmoney, you know, to be a legal
(09:05):
professional photographer, youhave to have a license. So
remember that you can't just getaway with it because there's
consequences, you know, you haveto start paying taxes and all
that. So that's real fun. Um, sothat's that's how I started my
business is really long.
Cathy (09:25):
No, that was good, though. So you It's pretty cool.
Because as a photographer, I cansee that kind of like, you know,
I remember when I startedbuilding websites, I did a
couple for free and then I didone for a friend and then she
started getting leads and she'slike, you need to do this
forever for everybody. And thenit was like so I relate to that
a lot. Let's go with a website.
Who was your first legitcustomer the one that you said,
(09:49):
Oh my god, I just got paid. Wasit a referral? Was it a friend?
Was it
Heather (09:55):
on your website? Um, actually, it wasn't it was from
this Other sites that I use thatI'm not gonna use them anymore
because they just money. But atthe time, it really helped me
grow. And it gave me a lot ofclients. And this was a family
that came in from California whoreached out to me and was like,
(10:18):
I really liked your work, but wehave a certain thing we want to
do. And I was really afraid,because I was like, Oh my gosh,
I don't think I can nail thisshoot at all. They're paying me
I was really nervous. You know,because I only practice on, you
know, families, my husband, mydog. Like that anything that
(10:40):
could be cool. And then all of asudden, they liked my work so
much that they left me a greatreview on just about everything.
So on Google business, onFacebook,on wedding sites
on other weddings, besides allof that, you know, and then
that's when I started, like Isaid, I really found my style of
(11:02):
photography. And when I lookback on my old hard drives, and
let me tell you, I have aboutseven. Yeah, but that's insane.
And it's still growing, I haveto go buy another hard drive in
like a week. And all I can sayis wow, I've really changed now.
I've changed over the yearssince now. But I mean, I was
(11:26):
charging dirt cheap. And I wasovershooting you know, because I
thought that's what peoplewanted. But, you know, I was
kind of digging myself more intothe ground. And but you know,
you live and you learn and grow.
from a marketing perspective, weknow that technology. And I know
that graphic design all thatchanges, you know, daily, I'm in
(11:46):
a lot of Facebook groups thatpost workshops and stuff. But
you know, there's a lot ofdifferent photographers that
come up with these cool newideas and stuff like that. So I
can bounce off of that. I don'tcopy people, I don't like to use
Pinterest, I like to come upwith my new, like, my new ideas
and stuff like that. So um, Iusually get the most from
(12:12):
Facebook, I get a lot ofreferrals from Facebook, and
then I get a lot of referralsfrom word of mouth. And of
course, you know, Everywhere Igo, that I can put my business
cards because I like 2000 then ihave i put those everywhere, you
know, awesome. You never know. Imean, I say I'm a I'm a wedding
photographer mainly, but youknow, I do. newborns I family.
(12:36):
Just just about everything. It'sjust my main focus is wedding
photography, because I've alwayshad a passion for the wedding
industry, which is really weird.
And I don't know why. But
Cathy (12:52):
yeah, kind of addicting.
I mean, I know I'm missing it alittle bit, but not much.
Because I get to hang out withpeople like you now. Yeah, so I
do have a question. So whatmakes people want to do business
with you.
Heather (13:06):
So I hear that I'm very personable, and I have a great
personality. And that's justbecause I learn, you know, I
just show my true colors, I showwho I am, I can make them laugh.
But I also you know, I just showmy work, show what I can do, you
know, show them why theyshouldn't go with the $500
(13:30):
photographer that they wanted togo with and why they should, you
know, go with me and, you know,I just I work with them. And I'm
a very unique designer, I'm avery unique photographer. I
mean, I've been told I've been,you know, like out of the box,
you can say my, my graphicdesign is totally out of the
(13:52):
box. I mean, if people saw myportfolio, they're like, Whoa,
but you know, I have a differentvision. And I have different
creativity than people. Like Isaid, I'm always, I mean, my
cameras in my hand, almost like24. Seven, even at work. So I'm
always coming up with ideas.
Yeah, and
Cathy (14:12):
you know, just to interject here for on your
behalf is that just a couple ofweddings that I know of, and the
photos and the brides and thecouples, and you're really good
at taking really good picturesof people who don't really want
to be photographed, but want toget it done. And you can just
get in and get it done and keepthat wedding timeline going. And
so I have to attest to that.
That's awesome, because I'veworked some weddings where
(14:35):
photographers An hour later andyou're like, Are we going to eat
because they're still takingpictures, you know, and it's
just a skill. I think that Idon't know, I don't know how you
develop that but it's it's agood one. And then you got the
people that are like want to becenter of attention and be like,
take a picture of me and thenyou do like 50 million sets but
somehow you get them on thetimeline and you still keep it
(14:55):
going. Is there a secret tothat?
Heather (15:00):
Is there. So I tell my brides in advance, I tell them
to give me a you know, ifthey're working with a
coordinator that they shouldgive me, you know, the timeline
or something, show me atimeline, you know, show me how
much time I have for things. SoI can plan that out if I need,
(15:21):
like, this past weekend I had,this family was huge, and they
needed all of these photos. Youknow, so I had to, you know, try
and find the times you know, Iin it, sadly, I had to like,
push back some stuff, but theywere cool about it. But if I get
a timeline, usually I can aheadof time, I can tell them, okay,
(15:42):
this will work. But, you know,maybe this won't work. So the
secret is, try and get atimeline as soon as you can, and
then talk with your bride. Ifyou think it'll be a problem. If
you think that, you know, maybethe couple's session should be
changed to maybe like 4pminstead of 2pm. Because you
don't want their faces blastedout or something like that. So
(16:05):
that is one of my biggestsecrets is get a timeline
because that's how I stay onschedule. Otherwise, I'm just,
it's kind of like in that. I'vejust done so many weddings that
I just know how it goes. It'susually bride getting ready and
getting ready to do the detailsceremony. I mean, I could do
(16:26):
this in your sleep. Yeah, it'slike a hamster on the wheel.
Pretty much. You know,
Cathy (16:32):
if you're gonna say something to and that was a
little off is a good thing toask you. to other wedding pros
that work weddings with you? Doyou feel like they work with you
on the timeline? Do you feellike it's important if it's a
planner, or if it's a DJ, I knowlike every wedding is different.
Like sometimes the DJ is runningthe show. Sometimes the planners
running the show, sometimes thevenue's running the show, if you
(16:54):
feel like these professionalsare working with you, so that
way you can capture those shots.
Heather (17:01):
Typically, because I like to speak to the vendors
before, you know, I'll get tothe I'll get to the venue maybe
like 15 minutes before because Iknow those those vendors could
be on, they could be scheduleddifferently than I am, you know,
they could be on a differentday, it could be contracted for
like eight hours. And I'm onlycontracted for five. So, you
(17:23):
know, I like to get together.
And I like to talk to everybodyand make sure that we're all on
the same page. Because when youthink about it, or they're,
we're all there for one thingwe're taking pictures of so not
taking pictures I am. But youknow, we're all doing something
for somebody big day. And thesethese women have been dreaming
(17:44):
about this day, you know, maybelike three years old trying on
their mom's wedding dress, youknow, this is their big day. And
we all have to work together, wecan't email one person do this
one person do that. It gets itgets complicated, not so much
with like DJs. And thecoordinators, because they're
(18:05):
pretty easy to work with,especially the DJs, you can just
bounce off of them. But it getspretty hard with videographers
because they kind of have theirown thing. You have to watch out
where they're placing theirstuff. So I always try to get
with them first and be like,Hey, this is where I'm going to
be this is where I usually amand I try to work with them. So
(18:26):
we don't have
Cathy (18:29):
bad news and stuff like that. If I'm a bride or I'm
thinking about getting marriedon what's the most common
question?
Oh, I see it. What is it?
The most frequent question I getis how much? How much do I how
much do I cost? And can I seethe wedding package? And when
(18:52):
I'm away on Facebook, I have myway message you know, like AOL
Instant Messenger rest andbasically, um, you know, it goes
straight to my investment page,and people just start aren't
reading that. So that is themain question that I always get
asked. And then I always getasked, do you charge an arm and
(19:15):
a leg? Oh, I do not. BecauseBy the way, Heather is
sponsoring our arm and a legsession.
Heather (19:22):
Yes. The arm. Yeah. So you know, I looked it up and I
broke it down, you know, and onearm and one leg $250,000 so if I
was charging you an arm and aleg, I think I would have to
work. Like I'd have to in manyweddings. Maybe I have to be
free and I could be like abillionaire. Yeah. So that's,
(19:46):
you know, the common question Iget and then you know if they
are in they're not they thinkthey're not in budget. You know,
I can kind of work with them. Ican I can give them wiggle room.
You know, sometimes, I thinkThrow, you know, a discount at
them because they really like mywork, you know, and I'll get
compliments like that. Andthey're just like, wow, we
(20:07):
really need to go with you andstuff. But um, one thing I will
say to potential brides is, youknow, when you're asking, oh, I,
you know, I'm looking for aphotographer, that's great. But
you need to put your budgetdown, you need to tell how many
hours you want, because you canget 200 300 replies on Facebook.
(20:32):
And these people can be way overyour budget, and you're finding
somebody like myself who's like,in the middle of the ballpark of
kind of expensive, because Iknow what I'm worth, and you can
follow me
Cathy (20:45):
you got to buy another hard drive. If you're a
professional, you have to investin this.No, no, it makes sense.
Heather (20:52):
Yeah. Yeah, it does.
And you know, they can fall inlove of my work. And then, you
know, they say, Oh, I'm on$1,000 budget, but I want like
10 hours. That's, I'm sorry, Ican't do that. But But I do
know, a lot of no otherphotographers in the industry
who can work with more of thebudget brides and stuff, so I
(21:13):
refer them to them. And I have areferral list and everything. So
that's how I can kind of solvethat.
Cathy (21:22):
So if you are giving advice to a bride or a couple,
or somebody that was callingyou, maybe they're going to get
their senior photos, whatever itis, what kind of information
would you recommend that theyhave? Before they call you? I
mean, obviously, you just saidthey need to know their budget,
right? And then that would beasking you and then you can
consult them from their billinginformation, which you tell them
(21:46):
to do before they call youresearch?
Heather (21:49):
Oh, yeah. I mean, so um, I would say that they should
be asking, Well, first of all,they should have looked at your
website, your face. To see ifyour stuff is your pictures, if
it's consistent, because I'veseen a lot of a lot of
(22:13):
photographers, you know, they,whatever they're photographing,
they say and show one thing ontheir Facebook and their
website, and then when thepeople get the final product,
it's not at all what it lookslike. So you need to ask them
about their style. And you know,the photographer's style, you
know, what their budget is, howmany photos they're going to
(22:35):
get? Are they going to getoutfit changes with weddings,
you know, weddings are very,very different. I mean, that's
obviously the budget thing is,you got to ask that right away.
But then then you have to ask,okay, you know, how long have
you been in this industry? Thatthat's what I would ask, you
(22:57):
know, how do you know, how manyweddings have you done? And I
see galleries, you know, anytimeI talk to a bride, and I'm
starting to really get togetherwith them, I'm like, here, why
don't you take a look at mygalleries? And we can talk from
there to make sure that, youknow, we like that style,
because I have a debt. I'm verycandid and photojournalistic.
(23:19):
So, I'm not opposed to the type,I get anything that I can give,
because I want you to see what Isee on your big day. Because be
drunk or not, you know,something, something like that.
You're just having the time ofyour life and you might not
remember it. That's, you know,that's, that's the best advice I
(23:42):
would get. But,
Cathy (23:43):
yeah, I love that you go to your website, because I mean,
I can't imagine being intypography or film or any, you
know, design work and notsaying, Go to your websites, I'm
gonna make sure to have yourwebsite here we go check out
your awesome stuff. What advicewould you give somebody that may
say, you know what, Heather, Iwant to do what you do I want to
(24:03):
be a wedding photographer. Whatadvice would you give to
somebody who might want to, youknow, work towards that goal and
maybe be a competitor of yoursone day.
Heather (24:15):
Okay.
Cathy (24:17):
Or when I grow up,
Heather (24:18):
okay. So the first thing you need to do is if you
are in the creative industry, nomatter what you do, you have to
have thick skin. You know, youhave to learn how to take
constructive criticism fromanybody. Nobody's perfect. Not
everybody's gonna like yourwork, you're gonna get a client
that might not want somethingdidn't like something, and you
(24:42):
got to use those customerservice skills. So, you know,
you're, you're selling yourself,you're selling your brand, you
want to keep your reputation upand keep your business up. You
know, if you're, if you're gonnashoot weddings, like me, I mean,
it took me it took me a while.
took a lot of practice, I had tosecond shoot, I love the shadow.
(25:02):
And when you're shadowingpeople, you're not getting paid.
Every second shooting and youyou've only done like two
weddings, you're gonna get, youknow, maybe $20 an hour. It's
not. Like I said, it doesn'thappen overnight. There's,
there's a lot you have to, to doand, and you have to have money.
When I go to a wedding, I haveprobably 15 SD cards, just in
(25:27):
case I have about six batteries.
I have to have two cameras. Youknow, I have multiple lenses.
You gotta think of how muchyou're going to invest into this
business and make sure that thisis the right business for you.
Because I mean, all of a sudden,like six months down the road. I
(25:48):
don't want to do photographyanymore. Okay, well, you just
spent like, seven grand in. No.
Photography supplies, camerasand lenses. You kind of just
screw yourself.
Cathy (26:02):
Yeah. So what do you think of Polaroid?
Heather (26:07):
I think it's actually pretty cool. The last wedding I
actually did
Cathy (26:13):
They are starting to bring those back.
Heather (26:15):
I think i think i think it's cool. I've seen a lot of
guests use it for like, ourbrides use it for their guests
book, like what happened? Sothey take a picture, you know,
of the couple, and then thecouples signs it and like, oh,
best wishes or whatever. I mean,I just did it this past weekend
with with a videographer, youknow, I was like, hey, smile,
(26:39):
and I was like love. So I thinkthey're cool.
Cathy (26:45):
It's definitely not a professional photography
experience. But
Heather (26:49):
But it but it's really cool. And it's candid stuff. I
don't mind stuff like that. AndI will tell you that an iPhone
is not a professional camera,even though mode, but I'm sorry,
it is not it is a professionalcameras. So not go and shoot
(27:10):
weddings with an iPhone. I haveseen it happen. Okay, I have
seen the results and it is bad.
Cathy (27:18):
You know And that's another thing. I didn't put this
on here. But I think you couldprobably address this issue.
Being a photographer and I haveseen this going around the
internet, I have seen postsabout the person that's right in
the middle of the ceremony thatdecides to pick up their camera
and either record the ceremonyfrom the audience or take a
(27:41):
photo.
Heather (27:45):
Yes, yes, yes. So it's very important.
Cathy (27:52):
Why why this is important. Like what?
Heather (27:55):
So it's very important because this bride and groom
spent 1000s on HDMI, or on theend the videographer to capture
your big day. If you have yourlike $600 iPhone that's going to
give a really grainy, crappypicture. And that's that's not
(28:16):
what the bride and groom won.
And for instance, I, I had thishappen to me a couple months
ago, and I will say that thiswas awful. And I was stuck. You
know, I was in the front. Mysecond was in the back so she
could get the bride coming downthe aisle with her father's so
we could get the train. And Iwas in the front so I could
(28:37):
capture the bride and theofficiant said hey, this is an
unplugged ceremony. We have awonderful photographer here.
Please put your cell phonesaway. Bride starts coming down
the aisle all of a sudden thislady's takes out her phone and
puts it right in my in my wayand I couldn't move because the
Brian May the bridesmaids areright here and the family was
(29:01):
right here. I literally stoppedI would have had to like do an
army roll to maybe have shortershot. And it sucks because I got
maybe two photos and I couldn'teven crop this lady out. It.
It's just it's very I think it'svery rude. And I think that's
why a lot of brides are sayinghaving they want an unplugged
(29:22):
ceremony because you shouldn'thave your phones on you
shouldn't be texting, youshouldn't be doing any of that.
You're here to see the bride andgroom. Get married, you know
your best friend, your sister,you know just just let the
photographer do it. And I knowthat some brides get very angry
when their photo gets postedonline before they can eat
(29:46):
before the photographer canshare the sneak peeks you know
that
Cathy (29:53):
Yeah, I got you I got you.
Heather (29:55):
I'm against that.
Cathy (29:56):
What I like I have to do this because Heathers, Insider
Secrets.
Heather (30:03):
Yes.
Cathy (30:04):
What do you feel is your insider secret that you're
willing to share with all of us?
Okay, secret formula.
Heather (30:14):
Never give up. I know that sounds really hard, because
I will tell you that last year,I did 38 weddings, which was
insane. I was pregnant, highrisk pregnancy, right? You know,
it was it was very scary. But Ikept chugging along. And I never
(30:36):
gave up, I kept giving qualitywork, but I burned my self out.
You know, look at yourself, takea look at your photos, make sure
you like you're worth something,your work shows what you are
worth. So figure that out andmake sure that you're doing your
cost of business, you know, youroverhead price, and make sure
(30:59):
that you're getting enoughmoney, because when you break it
down, by the end of the day,sometimes you're making like $2
an hour, I mean, you're betteroff work now, McDonald's or
something. Another thing isnever give up on your dreams, I
have never given up on mydreams, I started from the
bottom with my graphic design,and I'm up here now, with my
(31:20):
graduates, you know, I'm acreative director, that's, you
know, like the highest you cango. Our VP, I'm sure that's the
highest goal. But you know, I'venever given up, I had a
professor in college come up tome and tell me that I should
never ever be a graphicdesigner. And instead of me
(31:41):
getting, you know, wanting tocry and walk out and kind of
punch me in the face, I stillstayed in class, he asked the
class with a good grade. And,you know, a couple years later,
she goes and finds me onLinkedIn, and all of a sudden
sees, oh, wow, she works at acorporate office, a very known
(32:02):
corporate office, and she's beena creative director, and oh,
wow, look at her work. So it waskind of like a punch in the face
there. You know, and then, andthen, you know, work with your
client. And just, if you'retrying to secure your client, if
you're trying to secure anybody,just just work with them. And
(32:24):
like I said, just be you showyour personality, because you
don't want to be fake with them,when you meet them. And then on
the wedding day, you're like acomplete, I don't want to say
the word, you're just like acomplete psycho, you don't want
to do that, you know, you wantto, you want to show who you
are, you know, if you if youwant to offer a discount every
(32:48):
so often, if you're not getting,if you're not getting enough
leads, what I do is I offer adiscount just a little bit,
because when you offer adiscount, I just go crazy over
that, even if it's like 10%. AndI know I'm talking quietly, but
even if it's very little grindswill go crazy over that, because
(33:10):
you're knocking off money off orwhatever. So, for instance,
let's say you book my six hourpackage, that's 20 $200. And
I'll take $200 off that, andI'll add on a, you know, a,
let's say 12 by 16 by 20 acrylicphoto of you guys, you know,
(33:35):
they'll go crazy over that youlove that and chances are
they'll probably book you. So,you know,
Cathy (33:42):
Your giving value too. So you're even if you're
discounting or you're addingsomething else, you're providing
a lot of value.
Heather (33:49):
Yeah. And show your value. And like I said, Show,
show what you are worth becauseyou are worth you, you're worth
a lot. And I've seen a lot ofgreat people and I've worked
with a lot of great otherphotographers and stuff who
don't even do weddingphotography, and I can still see
that they're under charging andstuff and I'm just like no
(34:12):
charge more your work is sogood. Right? Right.
Cathy (34:17):
What is my last question for you is what's the best time
and we get this a lot I hearthis a lot in the wedding
industry. When is the best timeto book the photographer? Or is
it just you is when is it thebest time to book me Heather Is
there a certain time like wejust got through the fall so now
(34:38):
it's you know we got a bunch ofpeople that and got engaged. A
lot of times people say you knowbook out booked booked your
venue first wins. This is a twopart question. So when should
they book you? And then how farin advance a type of notice do
you need? Because you know, I'msure you booking so many people
have called you four or fivemonths later and said hey, I
(34:59):
need you for this one. I, yougave me a quote six months
ago,and now I'm not available.
Heather (35:03):
So don't do that. As a formal bride. I booked my I did
my venue, I picked my date, Ifound my while I was venue
shopping, I secured myphotographer, at least a year in
advance, because we broke upvery fast the photographers and
(35:23):
the videographers. You know,we're already booking for 2021.
And then that same and, youknow, some photographers will
even say, Oh, I'm booking for2022, that gives me nearly a
heart attack. Okay, I'm tryingto just work on 2020. But, um,
my best advice for Brides, youknow, book book a year in
advance, because, you know, anything can happen. Just
Cathy (35:49):
well, and when you're good, like you and people want
to book Yeah, you kind of goquick. So yeah.
Heather (35:57):
You know, there. I mean, there may be times that I
can get in a quick elopement.
But I mean, I had to do anelopement at seven in the
morning. And then I had to do awedding from five to 11. That
night, and that don't. So bookgear, while your vendor shopping
(36:17):
and stuff, and you have yourdate, and it said, start
shopping for your photographers,then your DJs you know, and
because those are like your topthree, I believe, you know, and
then you get or and then youknow, coordinator if you want a
coordinator, and then you know,your linens and all that other
(36:38):
crap, really doesn't matter.
Cathy (36:42):
Now. A little extra stuff. Yeah. Finding with a lot
of professionals it is it'saveraging about a year out or
two years depends on the date.
You know, if everyone reallydepends on the day, there is no
month that's 2020. But I know10 1010 was a popular day. So
what's the best way for peopleto get in touch with you,
Heather (37:03):
I would say go to my Facebook page. Because as much
as I do on my website, I don'tupload. I mean, I do upload it,
like upload photos of weddings,but it's just maybe like three
photos because I don't get a lotof storage on it. So my
Facebook, you see more sneakpeeks. You see, oh, wow, she
(37:27):
just did a wedding last night.
And she posted the photos likeholy cow, like, wow, this girl
is amazing, you know. So Irecommended a message, you quit
messaging me on my Facebook, andthrough my business page,
because I don't want youbothering me on my personal
page. Unless I know you that'sfine. But on the business page,
(37:49):
so I know what's what's goingon. And then yeah, and if I'm
not there, you know, like Isaid, I have the away message.
And it does lead you to mywebsite, which leads you right
to the investment page. And ifyou have questions, you're more
than welcome to email me. And Ieven have my phone number on
there. We have that nice.
Cathy (38:11):
Well, I Heather, I want to thank you so much for taking
the time. I'm so honored thatyou are talking to us. And I
just want everybody to know howawesome you are. And I saw a
thing that you said you willtravel Are you going to be doing
some traveling destinationweddings soon?
Heather (38:28):
Yes, I actually added destination weddings this year.
And I have two books.
So I'm learning Illinois. Sokind of like my, my hometown.
And then another one was, Ibelieve in Ohio. So we're
getting there. And that's prettycool. You know, my biggest goal
(38:54):
for next year. And now and nowI'm just going off topic, but my
biggest goal is to become fulltime. But yeah, you know, the
wedding wedding industry. It'snot like stable income where you
get a paycheck every week.
Cathy (39:11):
I know that from the DJ world. It's
Heather (39:13):
exactly exactly I think every vendor knows. And you
know, my husband works very hardat a full time job and does the
job. And he has insurance, but Ican't just be like, hey, guess
what, I'm quitting my job. AndI'm going to do photography full
time now. Idon't know. Yeah.
Cathy (39:31):
You know. That's, that's cool. Well, I hope you get it. I
mean, I'm excited. And I knowwhat you're doing senior
pictures, you can do partypictures, corporate events, I
mean, all kinds of cool stuff.
So you're getting there and youyou got it down. You got it
down. I'm just excited thatyou're with us. Any last words
that you want to leave ouraudience with any? Anything
(39:53):
maybe I didn't mention
Heather (40:00):
No, no, no, not that I can think of. I think we hit
just about everything that youknow that
Cathy (40:11):
we can cover
Heather (40:12):
over that that you've asked me and I kind of put me on
the spot.
Cathy (40:18):
That's all right. I think he told us all the secrets. So I
did. And Heather Thank youHeather with hm photography and
design, you can reach her atwww.hmphotography and design.com
thank you again so much forbeing with us. We'll see you
guys on the next episode.
Guest (40:38):
Five Guys, thank you so much for watching.
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