Wedding Photographer FAQ - Sites

i sat on the floor, my back against the couch, as a dozen of us listened and shared attentively. the group of us had started a conversation; a conversation about how we could better share with the world who we each uniquely were as photographers, as people. then our host, david jay offered a solution and asked for our help.

that was back in february of this year, from one of the countless hotel rooms overlooking las vegas. and it was at that little user group that carlie and i launched our wedding photography website that now serves as our "handshake" [coined by our friend jasmine] to potential clients.

since launching our site, we have received a constant stream of inquiries asking who made our site. and it has become obvious that tons of our colleagues in the photo industry are looking for a solution to create something unique and marketable.

to answer the question simply, we made it ourselves.

and that is the beauty behind showit sites [which is the solution we have chosen for our website]. with showit, we can make any change to our website that we can dream up, and we can do it without forking over a small fortune to a programmer.

however, the real answer to that question, is that we had A TON of help. first off, we had the fortune of knowing an incredible artist, melinda moen, who drew up all the custom illustrations you might see on our site. we also summoned the expertise of the showit team, who was more than willing to answer all of our "how-the-heck-do-i-do-that" questions. and most valuable, we had the help of our colleagues: our fellow photographers. in fact, most of our wppi experience this past year, was actually spent in conversation with other photographers, and we couldn't be more thankful for our friends in this industry.

so, when it comes to making a killer website that tells the story you want to tell, i recommend a few things:

[1] first, get clear on WHO YOU ARE. what do you bring to the marketplace?
[2] find a solution that works for you. how easy is it to add content or make changes in the near future?
[3] invest in good people. what can you do to add value to someone else? chances are, they might return the favor.

and, because blogs are more fun with photos, here's a little something... about two weeks ago, we shot quyen & jon's wedding, and melinda [our good friend & artist] was in attendance with her husband & her barracuda. i couldn't help but snap something fun with melinda and her ride.

P.S. I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT I AM NOT SPONSORED BY SHOWIT. I AM JUST A RAVING FAN :)