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July 14, 2021

Wedding photographers: how to get ready for a busy summer

Written by Jack Lewis

Confetti, cake, and being in the presence of true love: we here at Dinghy all enjoy a good wedding, and we’ve been sad to see them postponed, cancelled and scaled-down due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, restrictions have now been eased on the numbers of wedding guests, and 19th July’s Freedom Day should see weddings becoming more normal, with no restrictions on guests and music and dancing allowed once again. Because really, what is a wedding without the groom’s granny bopping along to ‘Agadoo’?

The people most celebrating the return of weddings though – apart from brides and grooms – are wedding photographers, who have had an extremely tough time over the past year or so. While many pivoted to offer doorstep portraits of families in lockdown or focused on smaller shoots, it was still no substitute for the frenzied weeks of summer wedding season. Wedding photographers will be looking to fill up their diaries this year and take advantage of the wedding boom to try to restore their income and get back to doing what they love. In this blog, we take a look at how wedding photographers can prepare for a summer of love.

Advertise your availability

As with any busy period – organisation is going to be key here. Get your calendar out and make sure you have all of your jobs booked in, including allowing time for editing and sharing photos with happy couples. This will help you to see where there are any gaps in your schedule to fit in extra jobs – and you can advertise the availability on your website. If you’ve got any Saturdays free this summer, don’t expect them to hang around for long!

Shout out on social

Use your social media feeds to keep people up-to-date about your activity over the summer. Sharing behind-the-scenes snaps and samples of your work will help build up your portfolio once again, and encourage people planning weddings for 2022 and beyond to get in touch. You can also use your socials to advertise any last-minute availability you have: there may well be couples holding off booking their big day until the final confirmation of restrictions ending is given. You can also be canny with your timing here – make sure you’re online as the reopening announcements are being made and in the immediate period after to take full advantage of the hype.

Get your camera gear ready

It might be a while since you’ve dusted off your kit, so take some time to check everything over and make sure it still works. Charge your battery, and your backup battery (and your backup-backup battery) so that you can be confident that you can cover the whole day. Check that any old photos on your camera memory or SD cards are backed up and wiped so that you can start with a clean slate for the new season. Make sure you’ve got decent bags, covers and carriers to protect everything in transit from one venue to the other. If you use a car or van to get about, now’s a good time to get it serviced to check it’s running smoothly to get you to the venue on time.

Protect your precious equipment

If you’ve let your equipment cover lapse because your cameras were just sitting at home feeling sad, don’t forget to buy new insurance to protect your precious kit. Cameras, lenses, tablets and tripods do not come cheap, and you’d find it pretty impossible to work without them. Business equipment insurance cover means that your gear is protected from loss, theft or damage while you’re out and about. Dinghy’s business equipment insurance offers a replacement item or cash straight to your bank account within 24 hours, so you’ll be able to get snapping again straight away if the worst happens. We’ll cover your kit anywhere in the world, so you can say yes to that destination wedding without worries.

Get insured

As well as cover for the expensive and essential equipment owned by your business, wedding photographers should also hold public liability insurance. This means that if Auntie Anne trips over your tripod and breaks her leg during the drinks reception, you’ll be protected for the potential legal claim against your business. Dinghy offers flexible cover designed specifically for freelance life, so if things go quiet again and you’re not working through the winter, you can press pause on your policy and pay a lower premium, saving you precious cash. Just remember to turn it back on again when you get back to work! Insurance for wedding photographers can be set up in a flash on our website. Dinghy would like to wish all our wedding photographers a happy, busy summer filled with “I do’s”.

About Jack Lewis

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