Hi Everyone

Today I am going to look briefly at the decision for fine art and commercial event photographers in Scotland as to how they achieve a good balance between the 2 genres.  That is when to pursue the fine art route and when to aim for commercial event and commercial photography in Scotland.  I am a specialist event and conference photographer in Scotland, who also does wedding photography in Scotland and the North of England.  I also sell landscape and infrared photos, from exhibitions and I am involved in training photographers.

So how do you decide when to pursue the art side of photography and when do you go for the commercial aspect. I thought I would devise a list giving advice for photographers who do both and lets face it very few photographers tend to rely solely on selling landscape or art images and even the ones that do tend to undertake training and or maybe publishing a book on the genre.  So here we go.

Advice for the fine art and commercial photographer.

1. Try to work out the income you will receive from both.  You may have to do more commercial work to pay the bills.

2. Use the commercial photography side of things as a means of funding the fine art photography, if this helps.

3. Combine the 2 areas. I often include infrared photography when I am working as a wedding photographer and the clients always love it.

4. Use commercial photography as a way of promoting your other photography.  I promote my exhibitions by inviting my commercial clients to the events and this often results in sales.

5. Allocate certain times of the year for each.   As an infrared photographer in Scotland, I tend to be more involved in this during the spring and summer months.  Weddings can often be seasonal as is sports photography and other events.  So if you plan things well you can balance it out.

6. Apply your strict commercial business rules to your fine art photography as well as as your day to day photography.  Sometimes we can get carried away when we are overly enthusiastic about a certain subject, often clouding the financial considerations.

7. Finally, ask around and take on board advice from successful fine art photographers as to how they manage to balance the two and how they market their product.

Anyway hope this helps.  In the meantime, here are some fine art infrared photos from this website Colin Wright Photography, Edinburgh and Glasgow conference photographer | Infrared Images
and here are others from my sister website at www.edinburghphotographer.com Infrared Photography - Landscape and Beyond - Colin Wright Photography (edinburghphotographer.com)

Until next time.

Kind Regards

Colin

www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk

www.edinburghphotographer.com

wedding photographer Perthshirewedding photography from Pitlochry Perthshire by professional event photographer Edinburgh Glasgow, Scotland, Colin Wright

Looking back on the wedding photography captured earlier this year.  This one is from Pitlochry Perthshire. Image by professional event and wedding photographer Edinburgh Glasgow, Scotland, Colin Wright

Hi Everyone

For todays blog we will be looking at Wedding photographers in Edinburgh and conference photographers in Scotland
and the similarities between both and what they have in common.  So lets look at the things that are similar for both these genres of photography.

Wedding and conference photography similarities.

1. Both genres come into the category of event photography in Scotland.  They are capturing a big event with either delegates or guests.

2. You need to know the timings involved on the day and know them well.  For weddings it is when the bride comes down the isle, time of the speeches, the time allocated for the photos etc.  For wedding photographers in Scotland, the timing of the weather changes is also critical and how they will effect the photography on the day.  For conferences it will be the time of the presentations, breaks, guest keynote speakers etc.

3. You will use similar gear as a wedding photographer in Scotland or say a conference photographer in Glasgow, you will need a standard 28-105mm lens for instance and a 70-210mm, possibly a macro lens for close ups and depending on the event, maybe a wide angle.  You will also need speedlights, as you wont have much tome or space to set up complicated lighting systems.

4. Your relationship with the clients will be crucial.  They will help you with the venue and provide you with valuable information on the day.

5. You will need to act quick to capture the right moments, whether this is the bride and groom at the ceremony or a politician arriving at the conference to give a keynote speech.  You need to make sure you do not miss these moments.

Wedding and conference photography differences.

1. Conference photographers will probably need a longer lens than than wedding photographers, probably up to 300mm or 400mm.  Other than that the gear will be similar.  However, I have been to conferences where I had to photograph people in a formal portrait sense, with a more complicated lighting set up.

2. You will probably have more room to play with at a conference thana wedding, due to the size of the venue, although this will not always be the case.

3. A conference will likely be a shorter day and less tiring than wedding photography in Scotland, which can go on from late morning to almost midnight.

4. You will have to deal with guests who are maybe a bit tipsy at weddings, this will not happen at a conference, unless you are also covering the eventing meal.  Wedding photographers in Scotland can however use this to their advantage as it can mean the guests will relax more.  It can cause problems though, as you can well imagine.  As a wedding photographer in Scotland, I have seen all sorts of things.

5. As a conference photographer in Edinburgh or Scotland, I have had a lot of repeat business.  This will not happen in weddings, although you can get referrals from friends of the bride and groom and people may ask for your business card on the day.  I have photographed weddings when I was asked at a friends wedding if I could do their photos.  So it pays to be friendly professional and polite at all times.

So I hope this helps all you budding wedding and conference photographers in the UK.  Here are some of my wedding photo images and also conference photos from this website. Corporate event and conference photographer Edinburgh, Glasgow and Scotland (colinwrightphotography.co.uk)Colin Wright Photography, Edinburgh and Glasgow conference photographer | Wedding Photographer Edinburgh Glasgow and Scotland
 

Until next time.

www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk

www.edinburghphotogrpaher.com

Colin Wright Photography - Commercial Photographer in Edinburgh and Glasgow (edinburghphotographer.com)