We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jess and Kim Lawrence. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jess and Kim below.
Jess and Kim, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Prior to getting into wedding photography, we both had an interest in photography in general. When we got our first “professional cameras” we took the time to learn to use them through online courses, even while photography was still a hobby. Once we started in weddings, we second shot with a few other wedding photographers and continued with online courses to learn everything from off camera lighting to editing techniques. Knowing what we know now, we probably should have diversified who we shot with and learned from sooner. We tried to self-teach and figure things out on our own maybe a little too much.
The basic skillset needed is how to use a camera effectively, but for us, learning off camera flash was a game changer that sets us apart from other wedding photographers.
The biggest obstacle to learning more is time. We both still work full time jobs, so it’s hard to attend things like conferences, workshops, or even industry meet-ups that interfere with the workweek.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
We are a husband and wife wedding photography team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. We pride ourselves on our authentic, creative, and vibrant imagery and our ability to relate with the couples we we work with. We photograph weddings because we care about the people. Plain and simple, we want our couples to have an awesome wedding day and have killer photos to remember it by. Most people feel pretty uncomfortable in front of a camera, so our goal is to create a fun and easy experience that captures our couples’ true personalities. We spend time getting to know our couples well in advance of the wedding day so that we aren’t just a vendor, but friends with cameras!
We got our start in wedding photography by complete happenstance when we were attending the wedding of a good friend and historic flooding threatened to derail the whole day, including the arrival of the photographer! Luckily, we had our cameras with us and, in a pinch, stepped up to document the day. After this, we realized how much we enjoyed sharing our skills and passion for photography with others and became Party of Two.
The majority of our photos from a wedding day are purely documentary; letting things unfold without intervention and capturing authentic moments. During the portrait session part of the day, however, we try to create unique and vibrant images that excite and awe our couples. We are most proud of our images that capture a raw authentic moment that makes the viewer feel something, as well as our portraits that utilize technical skills and creativity to produce.
In addition to capturing the wedding day, we also prioritize wedding albums. When photos are stored on a flash drive or a facebook page, they are easily forgotten, which is why every single one of our wedding collections comes with a customized album design. A wedding album is not just a book to sit on your coffee table, but it is a way to preserve memories for generations to come.
The thing that sets us apart from other wedding photographers is the full experience of working with us: from inquiry to reveal. One of our favorite parts of the wedding photography process is what we call a Reveal Session where our couples come to our home to experience their photos for the very first time.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
We find our new clients in two main ways: referrals from friends/past clients or through vendor recommendations. Developing those vendor connections has been one of the most valuable things we could have ever done for our business. The main way we do this is through what we like to call #teamgoodphotos. This simply means, that on a wedding day, we (all the vendors, guests, wedding party, etc.) are all on the same team. As vendors, we shouldn’t be difficult, competitive, or dismissive, but work together in harmony to make sure the couple has an awesome day! We prioritize early and good communication with other vendors by reaching out to all vendors a week before the wedding to introduce ourselves and ask if there is anything in particular they would like captured from the wedding day. Most vendors put in a TON of work into their craft only to never see it all come together. By offering to capture their work, we are giving them future marketing materials and social media content that they usually have to beg for. We also provide our vendor partners with the full wedding gallery 99.9% of the time. All we ask in return is for them to credit us. In addition to being a blast to work with on a wedding day, it’s these little things that have built the best industry relationships and the referrals that come with them.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being a wedding photographer is our couple’s reactions to seeing their photos. We love to hear the “oh my god, I can’t believe that’s me!” or the “wow, mom or dad is going to flip when they see this!”. We photograph weddings because we care about the people that we work with and seeing them excited about their photos is what is most exciting for us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://partyoftwophoto.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/partyoftwophoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partyoftwophoto/
- Other: https://www.fearlessphotographers.com/photographer/4126/kimberly-lawrence https://www.fearlessphotographers.com/photographer/4181/jess-lawrence https://weddingmaps.com/photographer/jess-and-kim/