Is Wedding Photography Broken?

Here's an important article all my wedding photography friends should read and ponder:

Wedding Photography – The State of the Union
Are Weddings Broken?
By David Ziser

Excerpts:

"Last year at an Imaging USA luncheon with some of the most prestigious photographers in attendance, one of the top wedding photographers in the country said, 'Weddings are broken.' I think this statement reflects the state of wedding photography for many photographers nationwide."

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"I know of three wedding photographers, photographers that were the leading wedding photographers in their respective cities who were all but out of the business in 2010. One drives a large cross country rig (and loves it BTW), another is driving limos to make ends meet, and another 30 year wedding photography veteran works at a popular retail outlet for the same reason -- no business. (He loves his new part time job too).

"The turn down in sales is not just limited to wedding photography either. It’s encompassing all areas of the photographic profession including family portraits, high school seniors, and all the services professional photographers have been offering their clients for the last 40-50 years."

"And the real fact of the matter is that it has all happened in the last 24-36 months. Photographers were having their best years in 2006 and 2007. Things started to go south with the crash of the economy in October of 2008. Although the “Crash of ‘08” certainly played a major role in the downturn of wedding sales averages, I believe the downturn was due to more than this single event."

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"The point I’m trying to make is this. The market crash hit all vendors, photographers included, regardless of the market segment they served. The consumer was cutting back, and appeared to be cutting back across the board."

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"Let’s look at I call the “Wal-Mart Effect”... In 1985, about the age today’s bride and groom were born, there were 882 Wal-Marts throughout the US. That number has grown to over 8,400 worldwide, nearly 10x the figure 25 years ago. What’s my point? Today’s wedding buying generation has been bombarded their entire lives with “…that we are lowering prices everyday” in Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart ads. Every retailer is offering deals and today’s bride and groom want a deal too. Today’s wedding buying population is, like it or not, a Wal-Mart population -- looking for the best deal all the time, even in their wedding photography."

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"OK, a quick review... The aspiring photographer is getting better and better with the ease of use the new digital cameras provide and the bountiful amount of all the free training online. The whole world loves digital photography. But in October 2008, the stock market goes from 14,000 to just below 6,600. The housing bubble bursts and unemployment starts to shoot up dramatically!...

"People need to supplement their income; they’re excited about photography; they’re been trained to know an F-stop from a shutter speed; Craig’s List and eventually Facebook, sure seem like an easy and cheap way to advertise -- the new breed of weekend wedding warrior is born. And, they are entering the wedding market at an exponentially increasing rate."...

"Smart phones, and P&S digital cameras make photography more accessible to everybody, Facebook makes the sharing of any photographs easier than ever to with family, friends, actually the world. Are high school wallet photos even necessary any more? This combo begs the question, 'Is professional photography even relevant anymore?!'"