7 Mistakes I’ve Made as a Photographer

Oh boy, I know what you’re thinking - MISTAKES?! Does this mean that she won’t be a reliable photographer?!

In short, no. Because we learn from our mistakes and that’s what makes us better and MORE efficient!

And as an additional note, I (like yourself) am human. I’m a creative, and a mom, and as such am trying to balance my home life with my business life as a family and wedding photographer, so I do tend to forget small things here and there.

But I am thankful for the things I’ve learned and for technology advancing the way that it has over the last 10 years to help me with these things!

So, let me tell you the 7 mistakes I’ve made as a photographer.

7 Mistakes I’ve Made as a Photographer

Forgotten memory cards & forgot to charge batteries!

This is a classic rookie mistake I’ve made as a photographer. And yup, I’ve been there! I showed up to a photoshoot, turned on my camera and then the dreaded “no card in camera” flashed up.

Thankfully, I called my sister and she brought it straight to me and the photoshoot went on like usual.

Luckily this was in the beginning stages of my career and I was working with friends for this session so it wasn’t much of a big deal.

I also recently (I know I know HOW?!) showed up to a session with my battery flashing the charge me signal!

On a mountain, an hour from my house with no backups! This was while I was in America waiting on my visa and I was living from house to house.

So firstly, I didn’t have my proper camera bag with me that has all of my spare batteries and memory cards, as I had only planned on being in America for 1-2 months and then ended up being there for 6!!

My sister had to watch my son Alfie because my roommate wouldn’t allow babysitters there while I wasn’t home, and so had to pack up all of my camera gear, Alfie, his pack-n-play, and all of the things he needed for the day.

Since I have been home, I now keep everything I need for every type of shoot in it.

I ended up being able to shoot the entire session and stretched that battery for the full 45 minutes. There were only a couple of poses that I missed in the end and decided to take a couple on my iPhone 12 pro max to use the situation as a lesson and can also use those photos as a comparison for DSLR vs Iphone photos!

What I have learned from this and how I have improved in this area

I have learned to always be prepared (hello boyscouts motto!).

I now prepare everything I need for a shoot the day before, pack everything up in my camera bag and have it by the door ready to go.

Go through a mental checklist of the things I’ve forgotten in the past and make sure I know whether or not I have them with me.

Been late to a session/wedding or gotten lost on my way there

I’m just going to start this one with the fact that I have the directional sense of a goldfish.

It’s amazing how easily I can get lost. This has caused me to be late to things pretty often, and I have this paradox where I get a lot of anxiety about being late or missing things.

It’s only happened a couple of times with shoots and almost never for wedding photography. I can’t actually think of a time when I’ve been late to a wedding.

I always plan for myself to get there earlier than you really need me anyways. But it’s one of those things where I am human, so it happens on occasion.

In order to avoid this mistake I’ve made as a photographer, I have started a habit of making sure I give myself extra room for how long it’ll take me to get to your venue/location of the session, then I leave at least 15 minutes before that.

This gives a buffer for traffic as well as if I make a wrong turn I can have a few extra minutes to right myself.

Not charging a deposit

I booked a family photo session, (via Instagram DM) we had everything sorted, down to the location and time.

I am ready to go, I drive to the location we chose and message my client a couple of times.

I’m there for a bit, walk around waiting, message again. Crickets. She never shows up so I leave after about 40 minutes, just so disappointed and now I have wasted gas and my time.

She finally responds and basically doesn’t apologize or anything just said that she forgot.

What I learned from this experience is that my time is valuable. And this is why family and wedding photographers charge a deposit.

It’s basically an agreement between both parties that we promise to show up. When you pay a deposit, you’ve invested in the session, and as I take the deposit, I get paid for all of the work that goes in prior to the photography session.

Bookkeeping, location scouting or deciding, driving to the location and making sure I show up in a professional manner. As well as ensuring you that I will show up or you can get a refund!

Another thing that I include in my contract is rescheduling has to happen at least 24 hours prior.

I understand that things come up, illness happens, accidents happen and kids happen. A lot of things can come up last minute, and as long as we are in communication about these things, I am always happy to reschedule and accommodate!

Forgetting to follow up with clients after booking & before shoot date

Way back in the day when I was mostly doing photography sessions for friends and family, I never felt the need to take a deposit, send out contracts or secure bookings ahead of time in any way.

Until I had a situation that really bummed me out. I had a woman reach out to me over email for maternity photography, so we planned it out, chose a date, happy with the price, done.

I told her the booking would be secure once she paid her deposit and confirmed the amount. Life got busy, I didn’t follow up and just assumed everything was good to go.

I emailed her a couple of days before to confirm that we were still on for her maternity session, and she told me she booked another photographer because I never followed up on the deposit.

She had never emailed me again asking how to send it or saying that she had forgotten, whether her date was still booked, nothing. Just went out and booked with someone else and never told me.

I was so disappointed because I really value and look forward to every. single. session and booking.

But I learned a lot from this experience and is a mistake I’ve made as a photographer that I won’t be making again. I am now in constant communication with my clients.

I make sure everything is sorted after I send the contract and invoice, make sure they’re happy with everything.

I also email 1-2 times between booking and shooting to make sure that YOU as the client know that I am excited about our booking and you’re on my mind, and to give any wedding planning tips or advice for your wedding or session.

Not being consistent with my editing style

Okay, so this is one of the ways I have evolved the most as a family and wedding photographer.

The fact that I started family and wedding photography when I was a teenager, I have taken a LOT of creative expression when it comes to photo editing.

When I started it was mid 2000’s so lots of crooked angles, I played around with all of the inverting colours and making things look like metal, the colour focus trend (remember the photos like a red apple and everything else black and white?).

Then I started using lightroom and would literally just pick a different preset for every. single. photo. and those free presets are terrible!

Then as I started getting paid for more sessions, my sister pointed out how each gallery should probably all be consistent.

I began looking at other photographers’ editing styles to help me find the ones I liked the most. Tried Pretty Presets, went a little of the matte style, did bright and airy for a bit.

Then the film looks started surfacing and I chose Rooke & Rover and adjusted their presets to more of my style and now we have what I call my “warm & moody” that you see consistently on my Instagram and galleries!

It has been quite a journey but I’m finally so happy with my style and I think it’s here to stay!

Taking my business too personally

This is probably the biggest lesson out of the mistakes I’ve made as a photographer, which I am working on daily.

Now that I do this business full-time, it’s so hard to separate my emotions from it.

I know that this is a business, but it’s also an art. ]

Any time I get an inquiry I literally get so excited, and if those potential clients decide to go with someone else I find it so tough to not be disappointed thinking that they chose someone else because of something I don’t do right or that they don’t like me personally.

It’s especially hard when people I know personally don’t ask me to do their photos, but I know that maybe my prices reflect what I need, but don’t match their budgets. And that’s okay!

I’m on my own journey of knowing that I’m not for everyone, and that doesn’t mean I am doing something wrong, but there are a lot of personality types, editing & shooting styles that what I offer may just not be the right fit.

And that’s good because I want my clients to see their photos and just go “WOW this has exceeded my expectations and it’s everything I could have asked for!”

I want those who book with me to choose me because they love ME and my brand, not just because I’m any family and wedding photographer, but the photographer they relate to or are excited to work with.

Under Charging

I’m a classic people pleaser, so I always try to make everyone around me happy. I’m constantly doing things for cheaper or free.

It’s such a tricky spot to be in because I know that so many people really want good photos but maybe just can’t afford it.

I’ve done 12-hour weddings for $700, and after all of those hours of shooting and editing, it really doesn’t come out to much.

This is a mistake I’ve made as a photographer and have since learned to respect myself and charge what my work is worth.

I’ve been taking photos for well over 10 years at this point and while I have learned all of these lessons that I have just shared with you, I have gotten better at technique, customer service, upgraded my equipment, and my confidence in my art.

I still have a lot to learn, so I hope that by reading through all of the mistakes I’ve made as a photographer, maybe I can help someone else learn or help a client feel more at ease with who I am and how I can take care of you while delivering amazing images for you!

Have You Booked Your Photographer?

Now after learning all 7 mistakes I’ve made as a photographer, have you come away thinking “this girl is honest, I like her” or “Okay I can’t believe one person can make so many mistakes!”

If you relate to my humanness and want someone to take amazing family photos or wedding photos, to collect all of your memories, then let’s chat!

I’m a Suffolk and Cambridgeshire wedding and family photographer and I would love to capture your memories!

P.S. I promise I’ll do my best to learn from every mistake I make, and do everything I can not to make the same one twice!