IOWP | Fresh photography news, autumn wedding tips and a stronger business
Dear IOWP photographers,
Welcome to your October update. This edition brings you the latest editing developments, a camera spotlight and practical ideas to help you photograph autumn weddings and keep your business moving forward.
What’s new: Lightroom’s latest editing tools.
Adobe’s September update to Lightroom desktop, version 9.6, introduces Prompt to Edit, allowing photographers to describe the changes they want. It also improves Reflection Removal and adds support for more cameras and lenses. These updates apply to Lightroom desktop; check the separate release notes if you use Lightroom Classic. See Adobe’s update.
For wedding photographers, reflection removal could be useful for portraits through windows and images featuring glass. Our practical suggestion: try it on a small selection first and inspect faces, jewellery and dress details closely. Decide with your couples how far creative edits should go, particularly when they change what actually happened.
Equipment spotlight: Canon EOS R6 Mark III
Canon’s current EOS R6 Mark III offers a 32.5-megapixel full-frame sensor, Dual Pixel CMOS AF II and CFexpress Type B plus UHS-II SD card slots. Canon also lists the ability to register up to ten faces for priority autofocus—a feature worth exploring for keeping attention on the couple during busy scenes. Explore Canon’s specifications.
Thinking about upgrading? Start with the problem you need to solve. Is your current camera struggling with focus, handling or the work you now offer? Hire or borrow a potential replacement and test it in conditions similar to your weddings before committing.
Autumn wedding tip: plan portraits around the light
For UK autumn weddings, shorter days make advance planning especially useful.
-
Agree a portrait window with the couple before the wedding.
-
Find a sheltered outdoor spot and an indoor alternative.
-
Test your flash under the venue’s lighting.
-
Keep a short group-photo list and ask the couple to nominate someone who knows the guests.
Give yourselves room to adapt. A relaxed ten-minute portrait session can produce more meaningful photographs than a long session squeezed into a rushed schedule.
Business focus: make your next enquiry easier to answer
Read your website as though you were a couple contacting you for the first time. Can they quickly understand your style, coverage, starting price or how to request pricing, and what happens next?
Prepare a warm enquiry reply that includes:
-
Whether you are available on their date.
-
One relevant full wedding gallery.
-
A clear explanation of your packages.
-
A simple invitation to arrange a conversation.
Showing a complete gallery helps couples understand how you handle the whole day, from preparations to the evening celebrations.
Workflow check: can you recover your photographs?
This week, choose one completed wedding and check that you can restore its files from your backup. Include the original images, editing information and final exports.
A successful restore gives you much more confidence than simply seeing a “backup complete” message. Make this a regular part of your studio routine.
Your photography question: should I use silent shutter all day?
Silent shooting can be helpful during a quiet ceremony, but electronic shutters can produce banding under some artificial lights or distort moving subjects, depending on the camera and conditions.
Test your camera at the venue and review the results carefully. Keep a familiar alternative ready for difficult lighting or fast action, and check any ceremony restrictions beforehand.
Looking after the photographer behind the camera
Long wedding days and editing queues can leave little room to recover. Put breaks, meals and realistic delivery times into your working schedule. If a gallery is taking longer than expected, give the couple a clear update before they need to chase you.
Join the conversation
What is your biggest challenge this month: low-light photography, editing time, equipment choices or turning enquiries into bookings?
Reply with your question—or share one thing that has made your wedding photography work easier. Your experience could help another IOWP photographer.
Warm wishes,
The IOWP Team
Supporting wedding photographers in their craft, their business and their everyday working life.
Responses