A comprehensive database for everything WordPress related.

TOP
WPKlik Logo Newsletter

Sign up and receive a free copy of How to Create an online Store with WooCommerce (full guide)

Mark Condon

An Interview with a Professional Wedding Photographer Mark Condon

Mark Condon is a British wedding photographer living in Australia. He is also the founder of Shotkit – an online resource for photographers to learn, be inspired and grow their business.

1. What themes are you exploring in your photography?

I’m been a wedding photographer for over 5 years now, so I’m trying to go back to the basics of good storytelling and capturing real emotions. For too long I was focused on creating dramatic poses and finding that perfect light/composition/background… but usually falling short and missing what really matters to clients.

2. What have you learned through photography over the years?

That you’ll never be able to guess what a client likes most about the photographs you deliver them. What’s beautiful to me, may be boring or banal to them. What’s boring to me might be the most precious thing in the world to them. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

3. When does a photograph become complete and what makes it powerful enough to tell a story?

While using fast glass is fun (shooting wide open at a large aperture), stopping down to smaller apertures and getting creative with composition and layering are the keys to telling multiple stories in one photograph. That and of course being in the right place at the right time.

4. What would you recommend to other photographers trying to find their niche?

Let’s not beat around the bush here – if you’re doing photography to pay the bills, you’ll need to choose a niche that has earning potential. That narrows things down… a lot.

Then just focus on making photos that resonate with you. If that doesn’t work, focus on creating photos that resonate with your ideal client.

5. Could you please share one photograph from your portfolio and the story behind it?

This was on our wedding day – I decided to take the photos myself. This was taken a few hours after our ceremony, which took place in the Tweed Valley of Northern NSW, Australia. We only had 16 guests – all close family. It was pretty much the antithesis to every wedding I’ve ever attended.

Ironically, the wedding on my site was shared globally as a kind of ‘groom shoots own wedding’ story…

Wedding Day

6. What are your biggest challenges in maintaining a professional photography blog?

Blogging consistently and not getting burnt out. Also SEO is something we all need to focus on.

7. Do you need advanced knowledge of WordPress or any other blogging platform to independently manage your website if you’re only starting your blog?

Definitely not advanced knowledge, and you may even choose to use a non-self-hosted platform, of which there are several good ones.

8. How to earn attention in the sea of other photography blogs?

It’s a tough one. Try and do something different, and stick to it!

9. Is it better to post photos on social media or on your blog?

Both! I advocate posting images on your blog for SEO benefit, and on social for promotional benefit. If you can keep users on Facebook via your photography, Facebook will reward you with extended reach, so it’s a win:win.

10. What are your 3 tips for growing photographers who have just started their blog?

  1. Submit your sites to the top wedding blogs – this will help with SEO, promotion, and advance your own critical judgement.
  2. Pay for someone to design your site. Don’t waste hours trying to figure it out for yourself – pay someone skilled in this arena to do it. Re-invest your first pay cheque into this.
  3. Research what your competitors are doing, and replicate/improve on their tactics. If you need help finding out the process to this, I write about ways to growth hack your photography business in my book More Brides.

We hope that you found this article to be helpful. If you liked it, please feel free to check out some of these interviews as well!

Newsletter

WordPress perfection at your fingertips.

If you enjoyed this article, feel free to subscribe to our newsletter using the form below. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to our YouTube channel for WordPress video tutorials.

Leave a Reply