( Hello! Thank you for stopping by! Polite, friendly reminder, Ms. Naina does not photograph weddings any more. Please do see other categories in her photography portfolio. )
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I’m not a wedding photographer. Just as I’m not a sports photographer or a food photographer.
Keeping a separate website dedicated just to my wedding photography work was giving the impression – in my opinion – that I am just a wedding photographer – at least to those viewers who were visiting only that website.
I moved all the Knottytales.com content to a page on the main Naina.co website. You can now see all my wedding photography related content on the WeddingsByNaina.co page with the following URL https://www.naina.co/weddingsbynainaco The domain WeddingsByNaina.co automatically redirects to Knottytales.com, which provides a clickable link to be taken to a new destination i.e. Naina.co
I didn’t want the entire Knottytales.com website to simply redirect to https://www.naina.co/weddingsbynainaco because the change would have been abrupt and without any provided explanations. All the pages on Knottytales.com now display the following image :
I had to do a bit of manual uploading and folder creation at the back end but it was worth it.
Apart from consolidating the Naina.co brand onto just one domain, the other advantage of this move is the “traffic”. While Naina.co received on an average of about 26,000 pageviews per month, Knottytales.com was receiving about 50,000 pageviews per month. The move is about a week old and my last month’s pageviews on Naina.co has already climbed to 36,000.
The third and more intangible advantage was that I just don’t like photographing weddings the way most clients expect me to. The typical Indian wedding photographer is still someone with a team, with lights, with a videographer – someone who is a one-stop-shop. The quality of wedding photography has improved in leaps and bounds and we have jewels like Joseph Radhik, Ramit Batra, Anshum Mandore, Richa Kashelkar, Shreya Sen, Sharik Verma but the average Indian wedding photography client is still not ready. For me.
A while ago I tweeted saying that I was not photographing weddings anymore. And I haven’t photographed a wedding since the Jeevan & Saify wedding in June 2013. Not because I don’t want to but because I haven’t found the right clients. Don’t get me wrong – I’m still getting dozens of emails each week enquiring about wedding photography services. Problem is, most are cookie-cutter, “Hi, I’m looking for a candid wedding photographer. And we want a videographer and a second photographer to shoot the groom’s side of things. And we want four albums and where can I see your work?”
I don’t respond to such emails. I want to be hired because you saw my work and loved it. The second step is that we HAVE TO MEET. Otherwise no can do. Imagine you hire me without meeting me and on the day of your wedding you meet me and realize you don’t particularly like me. That’s not cool because I can guarantee that the images will not be my best. On the other hand, if you meet me and we like eachother? Then there’s going to be MAGIC.
I told you it was “intangible”. It has to FEEL right to me and to the couple. Otherwise the images are going to be just “ok” – which is not what I want. Maybe other photographers can do it, but I can’t.
Indian weddings are difficult to photograph for a multitude of reasons and I want to make sure we at least like each other to begin with. If I’m going to resent you, I’m not going to be focusing on creating great images. And then I’m going to rant and rave and say things like “I hate photographing weddings.”
Moving Knottytales here also means that people who visit to see my wedding photography work will also have a chance to see my non-wedding work, which is the majority of what I do. It will give them a better idea of what I do and what I produce and if they see a fit, well you know how to get in touch with me!
12 comments
Always awesome to see you sticking by your guns. From what I read, the move makes sense. Good luck with it all!
Thank you Chirag, that is very kind of you.
I totally understand this point of view… I have often myself wondered what course myself… am still confused but this post helps. Thank You!
Hi Puja – I’m sure this would resonate with some of us, which is why I put it down on a separate post altogether. My only “advice” is that you have one life and there really is no point sticking with things and people that make you miserable ( well unless one of them is my Mom! ). Luckily I have some people around me who give me feedback exactly when I don’t want it or like it and it hits me like a ton of bricks. There were just too many times I was saying, “I hate weddings.” and the people around me were listening and told me as much. And then I started noticing myself – my behavior, my words, my work and I knew I had to make some changes. Good luck with your changes!
Can’t agree more. I’ve not shot a wedding in almost a year now… Not because I’m busy, but because I keep getting emails which either ask me to come with two photographers and two videographers…
Or do a candid photoshoot in 10k!
Haha Aditya! Well yes, THOSE emails. I just couldn’t be arsed to respond. I have received a couple of enquiries over the last year that I really was interested in but those didn’t work out for whatever reasons. Apart from those two, it’s been useless crap in the inbox.
Gud move.. The clientele for ur kinda work migh tk sm more time to build up around here… But the rawness of the moments u capture speaks for itself.. Hope people understand the magic that is there in capturing the moment than just going in for the rut of the mil stuff.. All the very Best.
Thank you Amardeep! Yes let’s see how this goes. I’m very happy experimenting and playing it by ear as life throws things at me!
Good move Naina.
From my experience in doing wedding photography in Philippines, Indias’ progress is very very slow, specially in the business side. I would have loved doing wedding photography here, but maybe when clients find out that I don’t use cranes (cringe) and lights, that I have agreements, that I dont have a videography service and I prefer a meet and greet, they wont hire me. Lol I guess ill stick to what I am currently doing now. (I do miss weddings though) Ill think about weddings when my youngest turn 5, lol
Goodluck!! 😀
Hey Peach! Wow, sorry to hear about your experience with wedding photography in India – and thank you for sharing your insights. I agree, it’s a slow market – at least for me – I know wedding photographers who are doing really well but that’s not the kind of model I want to work with – and it’s not like they produce bad work either, so more power to their elbow. I just don’t see the point of photographing anything without knowing / liking / meeting the client. Good luck to you too!
Wedding photography is easily the most lucrative genre of photography in India today and hence it’s flooded with so many ! Glad to see that you have a certain style & unwilling to compromise at what you offer. I enjoy Travel & Surf photography and may have done couple of weddings so far in my career, I don’t do it anymore (too much headache) 🙂
Hi Rammohan – yes it is definitely lucrative – but so is other types of photography, in my experience at least. But there are no barriers to entry in the wedding photography business – especially in India. Anyone with mediocre photography skills can charge something like Rs. 25,000 per day and photograph a wedding; this is because the majority of the clientele falls in this category and they are happy to pay. It’s a vicious / virtuous circle depending on where one stands!
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