Stylized Wedding Photo Shoot

Business By Gingerlocks Updated 29 Feb 2016 , 4:55pm by Gingerlocks

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Gingerlocks Posted 28 Feb 2016 , 3:15am
post #1 of 3

I'm just wondering if anyone has ever done stylized wedding photo shoots? I was recently asked to do one and while I only have a few years under my belt in the cake decorating world; I'm fairly new to the whole "publishing /  photo shoot" side of it. 

Mostly I'm just wondering how much creative control the decorator should have in the process? I feel like I should have some input into how I would like to present my work; however, I was basically told "make a naked cake or we'll find someone else". So I ended up passing up this particular opportunity. I'm not sure if that was a bad idea or not; how much creative control is normal in these types of situations?

Honestly I'm so over doing naked cakes and that is not the kind of work I would like to highlight to potential customers, even if they are popular at the moment. I wanted to show off my technical and creative skills and the photographer just wasn't interested at all. They didn't have a publication for this particular shoot yet, and she believed the only way to get into local bridal magazines was with a naked cake..I have no idea why she was so set on that idea, but I couldn't convince her otherwise. How much creative control is normal in this kind of situation?

2 replies
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costumeczar Posted 28 Feb 2016 , 10:23pm
post #2 of 3

Photo shoots are mostly beneficial to the photographer, because they get the pictures to use in their portfolios. I've never done one that got me a bit of business, and big deal if they get published somewhere. It means nothing in the long run.

You generally have no control over the design, they'll give you a theme or place an order for something specific (which is what they did with you) and too bad if you don't like it. I've done shoots where I dropped the cake off, and when I got back they had covered it with flowers so that the design I did was basically obliterated.

I also can't think of any that I did where the people involved in it ever sent any business referrals my way, they're all pretty much wrapped up in whether they can get their pictures on The Knot or Ruffled or whatever it is they're sending them out for. They're not worth the effort IMO. If someone called and said "I see that you have this or that display cake, can we use it?" that's one thing, but if some twerpy little coordinator wannabe starts bossing me around they can take their photo shoot and go jump in the lake.

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Gingerlocks Posted 29 Feb 2016 , 4:55pm
post #3 of 3

I did a bit of research and looked into her pricing..she is dirt cheap for a photographer (I got married last Sept; and she cost less than a third of what we paid). So I don`t think her`s is the type of clientele I`d really want to attract anyways.

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