Space requirements:
You are going to need to have a small professional office inside your home. You are going to want to have a professional looking area where you can meet with customers, which the area should include a few chairs and a table or two with some magazines available for customers to browse through while they are waiting. You are also going to need to have a safe place to store your equipment when it is not in use, as well as an area to handle all of your paperwork, which includes tracking and scheduling appointments.

Time requirements:
In becoming a wedding photographer, you will be putting in many hours, even if you only do one wedding a day. With wedding photography, you can do bridal pictures, engagement pictures, wedding ceremonies, and wedding receptions. Most of these photo sessions can take anywhere from two to four hours to complete. Receptions can be even longer, depending on how long they want your services for. When scheduling your appointments make sure that you do not schedule two weddings that will overlap each other because you will not be able to cover both events fully.

Income potential:
5 - Wedding photography is always in demand and people are always looking for a great wedding photographer. The more areas that you offer for wedding photography the more money that you can make in the end. If you only do ceremonies and receptions you are limiting yourself, while offering engagement sessions and bridals you are expanding your area of expertise.

Keys to success:

• You will need to have a portfolio made up of all of your photography accomplishments. You can always place this out on the table in your home office for your clients to look at while they are waiting to speak with you. Having this portfolio will show people what you have accomplished, and it gives them an idea about what you can do. Knowing what you can do and seeing how good you are at photography helps sway your clients to choose your services.


• Take photographer courses and participate in photography competitions. This will help you develop your photography skills so that you can capture the feelings and special touches of the events that you are photographing. Remember photography is not just about taking pictures, it is about capturing moods and an event to tell a story about what is happening.

Risks:

• You will not have any time to yourself on the weekends because you will be working almost every weekend. The reason for this is that most weddings and receptions happen on the weekends, so you will be busy during those times and busy during the week taking bridal shots and engagement photos. Keep in mind that in this business you cannot call in sick because they are counting on you to cover the event.


• The worst thing that can happen in this business is to have your equipment break or fail to work properly. The best way to handle this situation is to address it before it even happens by carrying extra equipment with you. You will want to have two of every piece of equipment that you use for photography, just in case.