One of the most important things a new wedding photographer on the block can do is continually expose themselves to new educational resources. The photography industry is huge, and constantly expanding. There is a wealth of knowledge available online that will cover every topic known to man about photography as a hobby and profession.
We have assembled a list of 5 online resources we love, and consistently utilize to keep educating ourselves. These are web pages that have directly benefited our ability to capture beautiful photographs.
The Best Online Resources for Wedding Photography
1. Reddit
We have used Reddit for many purposes over the years – from just looking at funny memes, to reading celebrity IAMA’s, to helping get travel advice for our Iceland trip, and now for wedding photography. In case you don’t know about this website, it really functions as a discussion board website that has an incredible wealth of discussions going on in it’s forums and sub-forums that are, mostly, user-created (called “sub-reddits”). This allows users to create discussion forums for just about any topic they can think of.
R/WeddingPhotography is a well populated and interesting forum that is frequently updated and filled with a lot of useful information. Many wedding photographers around the world visit and leave their thoughts on the array of ever changing discussions. We have even posted questions ourselves, and received really useful feedback to help shape our photography approach.
2. Facebook
Social media offers a wide array of resources for wedding photographers. Facebook is one of these websites where the sky is the limit. You can maximize this resource by having a personal account and a business page. On our personal FB accounts, we are able to join groups like LooksLikeFilm where photographers from around the world share their images and tips on how to achieve a film-like look to their photography. This is an example of just one unique group with a lot of members and interactions, but even a quick search will net you a lot of results.
Of course, in terms of making business connections, Facebook is excellent for networking too. You can often find localized photography groups on Facebook, and by participating in meet ups, styled shoots, and offering yourself as a second shooter – you can become a part of your local photography community. Referrals and tags from other vendors and your clients on your business page help make Facebook a valuable resource that has the potential to generate new client leads, too!
3. YouTube
We have an addiction to YouTube in our household. We’d estimate that about 80% of the “TV” we watch is actually just YouTube videos running in the background as we listen to music, educational resources, the news, etc. (I know, we sound boring here). YouTube is an excellent resource for wedding photographers, and photographers in general. Some great starting points for wedding photography is Adorama, Fstoppers, and Canon‘s channels – filled with useful resources.
As a bonus, we also love watching landscape photographers that make their videos educational, yet feel like a travel show. Shout outs to some of our favorites including Chris Eyre-Walker and Mads Peter Iverson.
4. SLR Lounge
One of the few specific photography brands we have gained a lot of valuable knowledge from is SLR Lounge. While not every video caters specifically to wedding photography, the educational resources seem almost limitless, and most apply to wedding photography scenarios well. They have videos on Youtube as well, but much of their written content is also useful, and helps to digest the information in a different format, too.
5. Instagram
Last but not least is Instagram. Not exactly an educational platform like some of the other resources, but invaluable for networking, seeing the work of other photographers in a clean user interface, and perfect for integration with your brand identity and driving new prospective clients to your website. We use Instagram often to post pictures from sessions and weddings, have collaborated with other photographers through the site, and have generated new business as a result of people finding us through searches (be sure to do a lot of #hashtag research).
Check us out on Instagram, too!
What are some great online wedding photography resources for you? Let us know in the comments below!!
