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By reading my previous pages you must have understood that I’m a wedding photographer and also a craftsman. The word craftsman is important and will tell you more about my status and how I will treat your wedding.
I aim to create the unique, the made-to-measure and the exceptional.
You are the center of my attention and all my energy will be invested in pleasing you and creating the most unique shots.
So I’m a full-time craftsman, and I make my living from photography every day, with all the joys and constraints that entails (the joys of Covid, which you may have experienced too).
You should know that 90% of my colleagues are salaried photographers, and they also pay lower taxes than us artisans. It’s in this “complex” environment that I’m happy to evolve.
I’d even call myself lucky: I get up every morning doing what I love and only doing what I love (apart from accounting, of course).
As a result, I’m comfortable in my shoes and 100% available to my customers.
Those little things that make all the difference… only a professional photographer can assure you of that, so you won’t have any questions on the big day:
Civil liability insurance: if I injure one of your guests during my photographic adventures or if I break the Ming vase in your room during the preparations…. This insurance is compulsory, and it’s even better to have a good one with high ceilings just in case 🙂
Hardware, a lot of recent equipment. Let’s put it this way: photography equipment is too expensive. It’s hellish! On the other hand, I can tell you that as far as I’m concerned, I’m not one for half measures… This year I changed all my equipment. And like all new equipment, it’s supposed to put the old to bed. Except that, being as far-sighted as I am, I never go anywhere without 3 boxes.
I was lucky this summer when, during a wedding, one of my cameras decided to overheat and shut down in the middle of a performance. Sure, it was 40 degrees, I was in the sun, and I took lots of photos during the ceremony, but was it the right time for him to want to rest? Not at all sure. The bride and groom didn’t see a thing, since I had the second one on me and the third was just a few meters away, ready to take over.
I always have 3-4 additional lenses just in case…. In short, I could open a store. Equipment will never get the better of me in a performance.
A contract that protects YOU and me: I’m the only professional photographer in Bordeaux to be able to commit to delivery times. Yes, you read that right. You can rest assured that once your wedding is over, you won’t have to call the photographer back 10 times to get your photos. Depending on the package you choose, you have a specified duration, which is contractual and therefore binding. The advantage of working with a professional photographer is that he or she is able to manage his or her own workflow, and can therefore be precise about his or her work.
As you’ll see with my colleagues, delivery times are within 3 months of the wedding. 3 months is far too long, you’ll already be moving on with your life and your wedding will seem far too far away. As you can see, this detail – the delivery of the photos – isn’t actually a detail. It’s my job as a professional to make sure you can continue to be on cloud nine after the wedding.
Good financial management: that’s at least one thing Covid has taught us. It’s essential to choose your service providers based on rational criteria. Take 2020 as an example. The wedding industry has literally been swept away by Covid. I get a lot of calls from brides and grooms in distress because their photographer, DJ and caterer have given up on them, or are not prepared to reschedule for the following year. Worse still, some brides and grooms will never see the service provider again, who has stopped working in the meantime for lack of funds.
This situation has been hard on everyone. For you, the bride and groom, it’s mentally and financially very hard to have to postpone your wedding when you’ve invested so much time, money and emotion in it. For us wedding professionals, 2020 was a year in which our sales dropped by 80%. If you don’t have cash in advance and sound management, you won’t be able to survive. I’m lucky enough to have visibility over the next 3 years and a secure cash position. In 2023 and beyond, I’ll still be here for you!
What a lot of people don’t realize is how much downtime we have in our business. Take the example of a cab driver. When he waits in the cab queue at the airport, he charges nothing. On the other hand, when he picks you up at just the right moment, you may not realize that he’s been waiting in his car for 2 hours for the customers to arrive.
This analogy serves to illustrate my point: a well-organized professional wedding photographer doesn’t count the hours and doesn’t charge for them all (fortunately for you, by the way 🙂 ).
To tell you about my job as a photographer, I only spend 30% of my time behind my camera, the rest of my time is devoted to :
you must have found me on Google, or Facebook or Instagram. You should know that to be visible on these tools, I had to fight with them to always be well placed. It’s a daily job that keeps me busy for more than 3 hours a day. I can’t hide the fact that I’d rather do photo shoots than watch feeds on my mobile. But that’s what games and current tools are all about.
make quotations, call back prospects, make video calls, meet prospects, follow up. It’s exciting to discover beautiful stories and people, and to make enriching encounters… but it’s also a lot of personal investment in terms of time, availability, listening and exchange.
I systematically visit estates less than 2 hours from Bordeaux. It’s so important to see the site, to get a feel for it, to talk to you about your organization and also to be able to advise you on the right placement for the lighting. My added value is also there, in my accompaniment I’ll help you think of everything, even plan B in case of a flood (rarely used but the few times it was necessary everything was already thought of in advance so it was easy and stress-free for the bride and groom).
