articles/Profiles/neale-page2
Published 01/12/2014
Enter SoundMan At The Societies' Convention 2015 Neale will be leading two Masterclasses on the business of wedding photography. The first will discuss how he hit 80 weddings a year and the marketing methods that he uses. 'Many people suggest it's better to shoot fewer weddings for more money, but I wonder how viable that is in an industry at saturation point. The idea that you can just up your price and shoot fewer weddings only works if you can also completely change your client base, and I'm not sure how easy that would be to do in reality.' Neale's best technique for marketing himself is working closely with the venues so that they do much of the work for him.
His second Masterclass will be an opportunity for Neale to talk about how documentary saved his business. 'I got to a stage where I felt that I was photographing from a list of things that wedding magazines say that wedding photographers should do. I think that documentary is very misunderstood and some people don't think it's a very valid way of photographing weddings, but the client is ultimately the one that matters, and if they like it then that's great!'
But Neale's Superclass will be doing something that has never been tried before at the Convention; 'I'm going to attempt to produce a photo film in four hours,' he tells me when I ask what he's going to be teaching. 'It usually takes me six or seven hours so I'm going to have a few of the parts already prepared. I'd like people to see how I put a photo film together, how it's edited, how I make my selections and decide what's going to be used, and then to see what I do with the images too.' What is it that Neale would like delegates to take away from his classes though? 'If they can take away an idea of doing something differently and I can help some people have a leg-up in the business, then that would be fantastic.'
There are 24 days to get ready for The Society of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Novotel London West, Hammersmith ...
which starts on Wednesday 15th January 2025