Salonee Pareek is the better half of Ramit Batra Photography. She assists Ramit at his shoots and chronicles their experiences on their blog. When not travelling, or writing, she loves to spend her time with her books and can be found on Twitter.

A few days ago, I had the chance to interact with a prospective client and a fellow wedding photographer. The interaction was around two terms – one listed above, mentioned by the photographer – the dream client; and another what the dream client said “… if someone can put their heart and soul into doing a great job of the photography”. This got me thinking about our expectations as photographers and our clients' expectations for us and how it is like walking a tightrope to manage both of these expectations.

For a photographer, perhaps, there is no greater feeling than working for a client that wants the photographer to put her heart and soul in her photography. What would my dream client be like?

Realistically, what does a client really want? This may not be a million dollar question, but is definitely worth a few thousand dollars to us photographers. Some of us went to school or college and studied the craft of photography and some of us learned it in a more hands-on manner. But most of us have developed a manner of photography, we call our own, even as it changes and develops over time. There are certain things one is willing to do, and quite a few things one is not prepare to commit. And at the end of a hard day, we all want a client that appreciates our work and sees in it, a good value for her money.

While I am in no position to generalise, I have worked for clients who have appreciated the hard work I put in, gone a few steps further and asked for suggestions as to what would help me do my job better. And some, who have at the very outset, communicated the desire to always be in control of me and directed me to work accordingly. It is the latter variety that I am wary of. Here's why: because that does not come across to me as being honest. It appears as though this person only requires a camera operator with good equipment, not someone who uses their mind to control their equipment and create photographs the way only they can.

And thus began my dream of my ideal client. And here’s what I dreamed of:

My dream client would have some awareness about photography, if not especially about wedding photography. She would see me as a professional doing her work and not merely a camera controller. She would not vanish at the mere mention of payments (quite frankly, I know a lot of fellow photographers who have had brides vanish as soon as they receive an estimate). She will want to hire me as she likes my work, and not because she thinks I would do well to ape another’s style. Most of all, she will inspire me to create not merely capture.

Wow! Now that is quite a wish-list.

About being the client’s dream photographer? That would be another day, another story.

Want to win Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck's book, “Worth Every Penny“? Comment below. Their book walks you through the steps you need to take to set up a boutique business. It's a great read, with lots of information that you can put to use right away in your photography business.

Respond to these questions below: Can you describe your dream client? What would she or he be like? What are your expectations? What, typically, are theirs? (I'll pick the best responses on August 1st. Winners will be notified by email so please use an email address you check regularly when you post your answers.)

This is Dr. Dhiraj Kacker's second guest blog post here. Read his first post on album manufacturing too. He is the CEO and co-founder of Canvera, an online digital photography company based in Bangalore, India. Dhiraj can be found online on Twitter, his company blog or his personal blog.

This post has been on my mind for a long time as I think a lot about the changing role of pro-photographers in the digital age. But in some ways I got beaten to the punch by a much more spunkier take on the issue by Allen Murabayash, CEO of Photoshelter, on his blog post “Rant: I Love Photography”. Please go read it. My post here will be much more sedate and boring! With that warning, let’s dive into it.

I have much more insight into the market where pros get hired for personal or corporate events (such as weddings, portraits, bar/bat mitzvahs, etc) so I will focus on that and not on commercial, editorial and stock photography which has its own set of dynamics in the digital world.

What do we all hear and say everyday: DSLRs are getting cheap, everyone has a camera, it’s getting tougher to earn a living being a pro! A lot of it is true. Digital Photography combined with the internet and cheaper and cheaper capture devices have made it simpler for all and sundry to take and share images like never before. Unshackled from the physical limitations of film and the cost of taking each picture everyone today can pretend to have some proficiency in photography. There are weekend wedding photographers who are taking business away from full time pros just based on price. There are pro-sumers who are building online galleries, showcasing their work and in fact selling their work.

But here’s the funny thing:

– For the first time in the history of pro-photography we have celebrity wedding photographers! Celebrity status was limited to fashion and editorial photographers, never to wedding photographers. How did this happen?

– Family portraits on the wall look like model shoots today, not just people saying cheese into a camera and accepting whatever came out. Perfect lighting, perfect smile are must!

– Corporate mug shots make management look like celebrities and anything lower quality doesn’t speak well of the company

– I am hearing more and more that right after a wedding date is fixed the first or second service provider that gets booked is the photographer; this used to be an afterthought

– Senior shoots are blurring the line between model portfolios and what was considered just pictures of the teenage years

– Parents want their kids’ sports pictures to look like shots from pro sports

– Never before have engagements & boudoir shoots been taking place in such large numbers. The smart photographers have also created the “trash the dress shoot” as well!

I don’t believe any of this was common a decade ago.

So what’s really going on? Let me talk a little from my personal experience. I had a run of the mill point and shoot film camera in the 90s and in 2000 bought my first 3MP digital camera – an Olympus 3000 for a $1000 (yes, a thousand bucks for a 3MP P&S camera). I remember the excitement of getting pictures back in the film world and just being able to relive those memories was amazing. At the time the pictures looked great but today, they look mediocre (and I am being generous). Too much sharpening, probably done by the minilab and too much contrast because of the film I bought. And of course I had no eye for composition or lighting. Initially I really liked my P&S digital camera – it was quite simply the excitement of digital. But my appreciation of photography kept going up and at some point that quality was just not good enough.

After my first kid was born, I finally invested in an SLR and for a few years managed with the default lens. And then I got fancier with the lens. It is safe to say that today with two young kids I shoot a lot of pictures, but here’s the kicker: unlike in the film world where I did not know any better, I can immediately tell how many decent shots I got. It takes me possibly 100 shots to get one really good one! I don’t have an eye for light or composition, and I rely on sheer volume to get lucky. So much so that on a recent birthday party I did the unthinkable: I called up a pro friend of mine to hire him to take pictures. By playing around a lot I have come to realize just how difficult it is to consistently take good shots. It is kind of like playing sports and developing a greater appreciation for the professional who plays the same sport. Isn’t it true that the omnipresence of little leagues and minors grows the business for the majors?

Here is what is happening: never before have average consumers been exposed to this much high quality imagery – web, mobile, magazines, hoardings, blogs – you name it. The quality of images on Pinterest or Tumblr is just mind blowing. Sub-consciously consumers have developed a greater appreciation for good images. Everything I’ve listed above is happening because of this trend. I believe that today consumers (like me) are experimenting a lot more with photography trying to reproduce the quality they observe. And like me they are coming to appreciate how difficult the art and craft of photography is. So when it comes to important life events (operative words being “important life events”), my prediction is that over the next decade pros will be hired in record numbers. Consumers will be spending in record amounts.

None of this means that things have not changed and pros can simply fall back to what they did in the 90s (which was essentially to build a physical portfolio and get referral business). Like a pro-sportsperson, they have to be savvy business people. I am writing on a photographer’s blog so I know that this audience is aware that from building a brand, to marketing to sales and operations, a pro has to do a lot more; a pro’s life has become lot more complicated. But boy, I don’t think there has ever been a greater appreciation for the art and craft of photography as it is today and I think we are at the start of a golden age of professional photography fueled by the omnipresence of images in our lives.

So, what do YOU think? Pen your thoughts below!

I can't say it any more plainly. If you are starting out in wedding photography, or, if you have had some experience but have hit a roadblock in your business, you are going to need Simple Wedding Photography [affiliate link], Photography Concentrate's newest tutorial in a book.

As I read my complimentary review copy, I had to wonder how much better my own business would have been had such a resource been available when I began in this business back in 2000. Size isn't indicative of anything. But at a whopping 200 pages, Simple Wedding Photography is going to be my go-to playbook if I have a questions about the craft or business of wedding photography. I feel so good about recommending this book to you because its value will be felt for years to come.

The book offers two essential parts: photography and business. It's rich in actionable information. That means the book suggests ways in which you can go out and do what it is teaching you. I personally learn from books like this faster than even going to a workshop.

Rob & Lauren Lim of Photography Concentrate are not new to the wedding business. As wedding photographers, they have created enormous value for their clients. This book, Simple Wedding Photography, is essentially a brain dump of sorts. They have pulled their experiences together and written it all out in logical chapters and as a beautifully designed PDF. It's a jargon-free book, that flows smoothly from one concept to the next.

You can get Simple Wedding Photography today at 40% off. Even at its normal price, of $39.95, this is a steal. Learn more about the book and buy it here. It even comes with a 60-day money back guarantee!

The duo has also published a mini-book: 7 Simple Ways to Market Your Wedding Photography Business. This PDF is totally free and makes for a great companion to the book that is on sale today.

If you buy Simple Wedding Photography, you also get these following bonuses:

A complete client wedding album design to demonstrate storytelling start to finish

We’ll walk you through the sample album with a video screencast commentary

Wedding Day Worksheet to make sure you get all the critical information

Wedding Prep Checklist so you’re completely prepared for the big day

Wedding Day Shot List for a clear look at all the must have images to create

Post-Wedding Report Card for easy review and future improvement

Brand Identity Worksheet to help figure out the message behind your brand

Doug Levy is a photographer based in Acton, MA. He shoots weddings and portraits. Check out his blog. Check out Doug's first guest blog post about second shooting weddings. Doug will be teaching reception lighting techniques at Inspire Photo Seminars. Follow him on Twitter.

When Seshu saw my year in review post with my favorite ring shots of the year and asked me to write a guest blog about rings, my first thought was, “That's not substantial enough of a topic for an entire blog post.” Then I gave it some more thought and realized there might be enough there after all.

With my ring shots, the light is almost always the same, small flash through an umbrella or white diffusion panel, as close as I can get it. Shutter at max sync, aperture in the F/8-16 range (you want that diamond to pop!), and ISO 100 or 200.

There are other tricks too. A few years back Matt Grazier turned me onto the idea of magician's invisible string (to help rings stand up), and though I've never been able to make it work for me, I definitely see how it could be a useful tool.

With the technical formalities out of the way, on to the fun part.

My ring shots almost always about one of two things – humor, or something personal to the couple. Sometimes, it's easy.

The groom was a big Bruins fan, and their wedding was just a few weeks after they'd won the cup, nothing crazy here.

Sometimes though, it's not quite so obvious.

A bottle cap from room service.

The card from the coffee at the end of the night.

A hotel room key (the couple was going to Hawaii on their honeymoon).

The dessert table is a great spot to dig up ideas.

So is the bar.

When I get really stuck, I start looking for text.

It would be easy to put the rings on the flowers or the cake at every wedding. That's easy. That's also, “been there, done that.” And I never want to repeat a shot. To me, that's just throwing in the towel and being lazy. I love it when potential clients come over and wonder aloud what I'll do with their rings – that's the fun part. Then comes the, “I need to step up my game and do this better,” part. But that part should never go away, and that's what makes it fun.

Share links to your wedding ring shots below in the comments section.

Matt and Enna Grazier, of Grazier Photography founded Inspire Photo Seminars with a group of like-minded studios. Thank you Seshu for inviting us to share our ideas about the value of “regional conferencing” and to tell your readers just a little bit about what we are cooking up for Inspire 2012!

We love attending conferences! They give us the chance to see great products, listen to great presenters and to network with incredible colleagues! We are excited to be at the forefront of a new trend of conferencing, which is the smaller more intimate regional conference. Jim Collins, CEO of Pictage, sums up the value of the regional conference perfectly when he wrote about last year's Inspire conference: “the reason I love this conference so much is because it is so relevant to its own community.”

We all know conferences can be tricky … it's easy to leave a conference feeling like you've just glimpsed the glossy surface of the topics presented. The irony for conference presenters is that while it’s difficult to pack rich material into a lecture spot of just one hour (the ability to do this is surely one mark of a gifted teacher), it’s very easy to fill an hour perfectly with a lot of inspiring catchphrases and pretty pictures!

It’s also common for conference attendees to have the sense that the best part of the event was the “in-between” time spent sharing war stories, strategies, ideas, and commonalities with other photographers. Our favorite moments at conferences we’ve attended are the most serendipitous – a chance meeting with a comrade who we get to chat with over coffee – or, if we’re lucky enough, while sharing a fine meal. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve gone home feeling incredibly grateful for these relationships, yet incredibly sad that we can’t easily continue those conversations over coffee, wine, or shared photography jobs simply because we live so far away from each other. Much of our business success is due to these photographers who have shared their own ideas and expert knowledge in happenstance, in-between, serendipitous moments.

Another common disappointment at the large conferences is that the talented speakers and experts who are the biggest draw to attend large conferences are often inaccessible, either surrounded by an almost impenetrable group of fans, friends, and colleagues, or just dropping in for their portion of the schedule and not participating in the greater community for the rest of the conference. Even if they work hard to be accessible, the sheer volume of people at a large conference makes it almost impossible to interact closely with these experts.

Each of the things that frustrated us about large conferences motivated us to put together our own conference that would address these three shortcomings and fact our approach to these shortcomings forms the building blocks of our conference community. We wanted to create an event that has the diversity, breadth, and spontaneity of a conference, but the depth of information and personal connections that are more often associated with a retreat.

Depth. Our sessions are deep. Instructors are selected almost half a year prior to the conference, and we communicate with them throughout the months that they are preparing their lectures. We give them 1.5 hour time slots for their sessions, and we encourage them to focus on addressing the needs of the mid- to advanced-level studio owner. We want them to deliver meat! This approach ensures that their content will be relevant to the beginners as well as the more seasoned photographers. This shouldn’t intimidate the less experienced studio owner, it just helps us make sure that we’re meeting the needs of the larger professional community.

Community. We have built the schedule and physical layout of the conference around the concept that the peer-to-peer networking and mentoring opportunities are of equal value to the conference sessions. There is plenty of time for impromptu mentoring and networking, and we also have scheduled time for 1:1 and small round-table mentoring with our speakers and several of our sponsors (for example, Jared Bauman of ShootDotEdit will lead a small group to whip their pricing and packaging into shape during his allotted mentoring time). All meals are included in the conference fee (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and we eat together. We have built plenty of time in the schedule for attendees to gather and socialize and because of this structure wonderful things happen! Attendees get more than an idea, more than motivation, more than a plan to move forward; they build real relationships with those who want to help them succeed… relationships that continue beyond the conference and are easily sustainable because everyone is from the same region.

The image above shows one of our innovations this year: a private online community for our conference attendees, sponsors and speakers. Everyone is invited to join and interact during all of 2012, including the months before and after the conference. Conference-goers can manage their class schedule, chat with attendees, speakers, and sponsors, download class materials, and schedule private meetings with others. We are excited to see how our participants utilize this unique tool!

Connections. Our teachers are not always well-known – most of them aren’t on the lecture circuit, and they haven’t proposed their workshop sessions just to become known as “rock star” wedding photographers. They are busy, hard-working photographers who are committed to raising the standards of business and art of photography within their own region, because they recognize that by raising the barre across the region, every studio stands to benefit. We’ve chosen our instructors in part because they’ve expressed interest in learning and participating in this community, and we pay for their lodging and conference fees to enable them to participate fully in the conference community. We know that part of the reason that they are teaching is that they also wish to attend – and not just as an expert, but as a fellow studio owner who recognizes that we can all learn from each other.

Regionality. Oh yeah, did you notice this word that I’ve repeated throughout this post? Region. Inspire is a regional conference. The national conferences are definitely important, offering polished and inspiring speakers with dazzling success stories, diverse trade-shows, and incredible opportunities to mingle with photographers who we either know or admire from across long distances. However, we’ve found that within our region (and perhaps others), photographers are starved for structured networking opportunities, and for relationships with local colleagues. It’s important to cultivate relationships locally: this networking provides emergency backup and other skilled resources within easy reach, and gives opportunity to become more familiar with the local markets. And, with enough critical mass, we believe that a community can actually drive the market – in style, policy, practice, and culture.

We have heard many photographers say they don’t recognize all the names of our speakers. While that presents a small marketing challenge for us, the tradeoff is that every single person who attends inspire – paying ticket-holder, speaker, sponsor, exhibitor, and members of the planning team – will benefit greatly from genuine, deep relationship building with successful studios who are right in their neighborhood. Our speakers are true experts, and we want to facilitate their connection with other photographers within their region. These are relationships that can continue into the wedding season and beyond. We’ve seen photographers meet at Inspire and hire each other as associates, cover for each other in emergencies, and share incredibly helpful information to see each others’ studios grow. We’ve even heard from one person exclaim, “I’ve vacationed with people I met at Inspire!” This was the biggest compliment, because it shows just how well people in our conference community can connect with each other.

You may work alone, but you don’t need to build your business alone. Everyone who attends Inspire finds a welcoming community willing to help.

Be one of the first 5 to use this PROMO/DISCOUNT CODE: 2012TIFFIN and receive $50 off your registration.

In our next post, we will share our strategy for choosing your path in a conference agenda so that you may leave the conference fulfilled and ready to tackle your business!