When I photograph weddings, I love capturing the couple's wedding rings. For my clients, those details are important because they symbolize their connection to each other.

You may also recall Doug Levy's guest posting here, “How To Create Fun Wedding Ring Shots.”

Now, Jasmine Star has just published a post on her own blog about how she goes about quickly photographing wedding rings. I think it's always neat to see how other photographers approach a common theme. Take a look at the video she created to show you how:

Anne Ruthmann of Photolovecat once told me she packs silly putty and fishing wire to hold those rings up. So, how do you photograph wedding rings? What tips and tricks can you share with us?

Howdy Tiffinbox readers! My name is Marit and I'm the Creative Director for WeddingLovely – we help brides all over the world plan a stress-free wedding and find vendors that match up to their budget and location. That's where you come in! We have five vendor specific directories, one of them being WeddingPhotoLove, our directory and community dedicated to wedding photographers. We want to help you improve your business, and have a few tips to help you out!

There are lots of ways to increase traffic and customers to your website for free. Not everyone has huge budgets for advertising, so you have to get scrappy and promote yourself wherever you can! Here are some ways to increase your visibility:

Get Social!

Blogs are an awesome place to share your work — do you have one yet? Do a small teaser post for each wedding or engagement shoot you do, and get your clients to share it with their family and friends. 

There are many other ways to connect directly with customers and let your personality shine through. Create a Facebook page for your business and encourage your clients and friends to “like” you. Make sure to post your photographs in albums on Facebook for potential clients to browse and share! You might have a website, but let's face it– people love Facebook and will likely see your presence more there!

Twitter is also great for building an audience around your personality and likes/dislikes. Since Twitter is so time based, you can use it to drive traffic to your blog posts (make sure to post once in the morning and once in the evening so the most people will see your tweet). Also use Twitter to share industry related news and tips with fellow photographers.

Pinterest is somewhat new on the market, and there are a lot of worries about Pinterest stealing images and removing credit. We'd recommend to use it to share your very best work to promote yourself, and make sure it's watermarked just in case something goes wrong. Pinterest is amazing for driving traffic, so don't ignore it!

Create Free Profiles on Directories to Drive Traffic

We built WeddingPhotoLove because it sucks to search for a wedding photographer on the internet. With Google, you get a ton of results, but the results are overwhelming! Not to mention, most vendor lists on blogs cost a ton of money and only list a few photographers. We wanted a beautiful, easy-to-use directory that welcomes every wedding photographer, regardless of a couple's budget.

So of course, we'd recommend signing up for a free account on WeddingPhotoLove! In addition to traffic, your website is linked to directly, which can improve your SEO. Here are four tips for creating a compelling profile to maximize the number of people clicking through to your website:

1. Choose one image that shows your style. In a basic profile you are only given one image so choose one of your best — we made the images large so people can really see the detail in the photo!

2. Stand out from your competition. Take a look at what other people are sharing. Browse your favorite portfolio images and select the one that differentiates you from the rest. Revisit the site from time to time and update your image! This will draw attention to your profile from regular visitors.

3. Be personable. Let's face it. You're all making a profile for the same reason, which often results in profile descriptions sounding alike. Make sure you profile your company in a way that sets you apart from other photographers. Perhaps you can mention what you love most about weddings? Better yet, rather than profiling yourself – profile your ideal couple. Get creative and make it fun to read!

4. Contact past clients. Never underestimate the power of a review. Ask couples to post a review on your profile, whether it's a sentence or two about their experience or a detailed explanation on how awesome you are. 

Promote Your Weddings on Wedding Blogs

A lot of wedding bloggers love to promote beautiful weddings, and they'll link to you and send you extra traffic to boot! On the WeddingLovely Blog, we feature real weddings and engagement shoots, wedding photographer interviews (linked to your WeddingPhotoLove.com profile), as well as guest blogs from photographers for brides … since you're the expert in wedding photography, not us! 

There are a ton of other resources to submit photos to — we particularly like Two Bright Lights, which will take your submissions and let you send them directly to hundreds of bloggers. Two Bright Lights charges though, so if you have a budget crunch, try making a list of wedding bloggers and contacting them directly!

We Hope That Helped!

There are a lot of little things you can do to promote your business on the internet, and we hope our tips will help get you going!

If you'd like to become a WeddingPhotoLove vendor, we'd be stoked to have you join! To get a profile, just head here. And if you decide you want to upgrade your profile, here's a little gift for you: enter PARTNER20 in the promo field to receive 20% off forever. 

If you have questions or would like to give us more tips about using the internet to promote your business for free, you can email me directly at marit@weddinglovely.com. I'd love to hear from you!

Kirk Mastin and I connected through Twitter. It was only when I spoke to him (scroll down to see the video interview), that I discovered he and I shared a passion for story-telling and a background in photojournalism. Kirk uses film cameras of all types.

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In my interview, I ask him about that and the purported demise of film (especially as Kodak is now officially bankrupt). I also ask him about his experiences photographing wedding and engagement sessions. Check out his responses.

I caught up with Kirk when he was visiting San Francisco. So, the only connection to the Internet he had was through his iPhone. Please bear in mind that the interview has its moments; where I am convinced Kirk is in a kung-fu movie and the audio and video didn't quite sync up.

“The only thing I am selling is my vision, my art.”

Got questions for Kirk, ask them below in the comments section or on his Formspring page.

On Twitter, on Facebook and even on LinkedIn, I have been asked the same question: “Are you going to be at WPPI?”

The short answer is: no. The somewhat longish answer is: no, not this year, but hopefully the next.

It got me thinking, however, about my friends who have been to every single WPPI convention in Las Vegas for the last 20+ years. That's commitment. That's loyalty. That's staying power. That's knowledge. Those photographers are obviously much more advanced than I could be; knowing their craft, the business and the industry we are all members in.

Can you imagine going to every single WPPI convention? Are you that committed to your business or to the industry?

Is WPPI the must-go event of the year for wedding and portrait photographers? If you are going, what do you get out of conventions like WPPI? How do you pay for the entire experience? Do you set aside a special budget for it? If you are not going, why not?

Are there other conventions you attend on a regular basis? For me MysticSeminars and Inspire Photo Seminars provide great value. Why? Because I live in Connecticut and while MysticSeminars is in my back yard, I think of Inspire Photo Seminars as being in my front yard, in Massachusetts. The smaller, more intimate, nature of these events are also a bit factor in my decision to commit to them every year. I guess, then, it comes down to one's personality and goals.

So tell us a little bit about you and your goals. Would a big (and I do mean BIG convention like WPPI) be your cup of tea or would you prefer smaller, more regional gathering of wedding and portrait photographers.

Please comment below!