182 - How to get content for your social media

So let's start off with how did you actually get into the photography world to start off with?

so oh my goodness so I worked for a record company for 10 years when I left university and I ran the video editing facility post-production company and studio recording studio with inside a record company one of the one of the biggest up in London and we had an absolute ball But one of the things I've always loved photography and through my job as coordinator, I also got involved with video side of things.

So still, you know, the creative side.

I then had two children and I did go back to work in between, but I just found that, you know what, it's too much of a juggle to be on a train into London when, you know, you might get a call at half past four in the evening to say, oh, yes, by the way, can you jump on the train to Birmingham, please, and go and film a gig tonight? You can't then turn around to the childminder and say, oh, hi, sorry, is there a chance I can pick up at midnight, please? So I took a little bit of time off when my boys were little, little.

And then I thought, you know what, if I don't give this photography a proper go and actually do it professionally, then I'll always look back and think, oh, I missed out on that, didn't I? So I didn't have any photography qualifications when I started.

And you don't need qualifications to But I felt that I needed to for my, I felt personally that I needed to so that my clients knew that they were dealing with someone that knew what they were doing.

And, you know, have their own best interests at heart.

And so I joined the British Institute of Professional Photography and I did my qualifications through them over, you do it, you know, over a length of time.

So, yes, so I'm qualified now.

I got my associate last year before last.

So I'm an ABIPP.

a swpp and lmpa so um yes that's that's me in a nutshell basically

but i think it's quite important to get that qualification because it just shows to people that you're serious about what you want to do and also it gives reassurance to people that you know what you're doing i mean you're not somebody who's literally gone yeah i can take photos on my phone and then suddenly gone yeah let me just go out and spend a couple hundred quid on a photo and then let me spend a couple of grand on a photo and then you know what i'm going to make a bit at least you actually know professionally

yeah so so part of the the qualifications process um well actually to be a member of uh of the bipp and actually a couple of the other associations you have to have first first of all you have to you have to have professional um public public liability and professional indemnity insurance um which shows you're serious and um one of the you know Not all photographers have that.

And I think I think for the wedding industry, um, especially it is really important to make sure that, you know, if you are getting married, that you choose a photographer that's qualified because they are held to guidelines and, um, rules from the associations that say you, you know, that uphold all the, um, all the values of, of photography that means that you are going to deliver what you say you're going to deliver and, and things like that.

So, um, Then, you know, especially with weddings, which because we are shooting for 8, 9, 10, up to 12, 14 hours actually is my longest on a wedding day.

You know, it doesn't come cheap.

And I, for my wedding couples, I do beautiful storybook albums that they have because I really believe that you know i want to leave them with something that in a year's time they can go oh let's look back at our wedding photos and and they get out this beautiful album with these gorgeous photographs in and um and but you know that kind of thing does cost money um and i you know you do hear some horror stories where people have been let down on their wedding day and I couldn't, you know, I, I apologize for the photography industry that, you know, that people are still having those experiences because for me, I did a lot of training before I became a wedding photographer.

and took on my first weddings.

And actually, when I say I'm going to be your photographer and I'm going to look after you, I know that I can do that.

And quite often, I always meet my clients before the session because I'm going to spend 12 hours with them on their wedding day.

um and um so you know that's that's one of the first things that you know i do just to make sure that we all get on even before i take the booking um and so i think it's just so important that people are aware that there is something like the equivalent of checker trades yeah if you

go if you if you want to you know if you want to

a plumber to do something um you know a mate of a mate or something like that you know nine times out of ten people say oh on Facebook oh can anybody recommend a plumber um and then it's you know you just go oh let's just let's have a quick look quick google quick you know just to check that they're you know who they say they are and um and so you know associations and and and that are the equivalent for photographers um so yes I and for me developing my my skills and also my confidence as a photographer, qualifications have really helped me to do that.

So, so yes.