A Day in The Life of A Wedding Photographer

October 11, 2018

A Day in The Life of A Wedding Photographer | Calgary Wedding Photographer

A Day in The Life of A Wedding Photographer

Growing up I never had a real hard set idea of what I wanted to grow up to be. Some kiddos when you ask know they for sure want to be a doctor, a policeman, or a vet, but me I never really knew. I knew I was creative and I loved rearranging the furniture in my room and 100 times a month. I knew spelling was not my strong suit, just ask my mom and best friend who text me on the regular about all the grammar mistakes on my blog. I also knew that I needed a job that was people oriented. Because lets be serious if I couldn’t talk to someone during the day or interact with people my poor husband would be bombarded with so many words haha. Photography was something that kinda fell into my lap after I graduated college with a degree in Interior Design. It was something I had always loved but never thought of it as a career, but man, I am sure glad this is what I get to do every day.

I get asked a lot what ELSE I do other then being a photographer. (WHAT??) People don’t realize what all is entailed with being a photographer so today I thought I would show you what a day in the life of a photographer looks like.

Wake Up: 8-8:30am – COFFEE!! Not gonna lie, I hate morning and I am definitely NOT a morning person and that was a HUGE issue when I had a job where I had to be up bright and early every day.
8:30-9:30/10am – Answer the looonnggg list of emails I wake up to each and every day.
10-10:30am – Social media pushes. Typically I have blog post scheduled to go live everyday around 8am. This also means that I have to make sure that my clients and followers see these blogs so I time and plan out social media pushes for each of them on each platform.
10:30-2pm This is the time I sit wherever my lap top may be (kitchen island, comfy couch, in the summer time even possibly in our travel trailer camping), I should note I do have an in home office but it all comes back to the human interaction factor. I can’t be locked away in my office for hours on end and not see people or at the very least my cute pooch. I edit photos from the previous shot weddings, family sessions etc. throughout this time. I usually try to have portrait session back within two weeks and weddings 2 months so this means I spend a lot of time behind my laptop.
2-4pm I try to blog each and every wedding, and portrait session. I like to do this so my clients get to see a sneak peek of their photos before they are finished, it also keeps my blog and website current and relevant, as well it also creates excitement for my clients because they get a small taste of what they will be receiving soon.
4-5pm This is the time my eyes are usually burning from staring at a computer screen for hours on end so I try to either take my dog for a walk, run some errands, scout locations, or pack my gear for up coming sessions.
5pm-8pm at a normal job this is typically home time. The time you can leave the workload behind and head home for dinner with the family. In my job this time usually filled with client meetings, evening sessions, album designing, and last minute emailing.
9pm-11pm This is typically when I get to finally close the computer and turn off my photographer entrepreneur brain and relax with the hubby and dog (but lets be serious no boss babes brain ever stops thinking about the next project, or strategy).
11:30-12pm Sleep

Keep in mind not all days will have evening meetings and shoots, and not all days will I have editing that will fill 4-5 hours. In the midst of my busy season these days could have multiple sessions or client meetings or even weddings and editing could take 10hrs instead. Owning your own business each and every day will look different and that is something I love about it. With the amount of time it does take to run, organize and be successful at it, I don’t have time to do anything else. Photography is my full time career, and I am proud to say that this is all I do!