>Since he has always loved
>photography, he has decided to become a wedding
>photographer.

First red flag: loving photography has about exactly zero relation to being a wedding photographer -- or more accurately, running a wedding photography business.

>He takes gorgeous pictures of nature and things, but has not
>yet perfected photographing people.

Second red flag: in my experience, there are two kinds of photographers...those that have a knack for making people look good in their shots, and those that don't. Needless to say, being in the second group is problematic for a wedding photographer.

>Should he slap a name on a business card and get started?

Biggest red flag: running a successful business has very little to do with the subject of the business (in this case photography) and almost everything to do with the ability to operate a business -- legal, administration, accounting, management, and most important of all, marketing (without sales ya got nothin'). If he doesn't have those skills, the chances of success are pretty much nil. And he'll spend a lot more time and energy in these areas than he ever will on the photography part. (Not to mention all the time spent on the bridezillas, like Puppy said.)

There's a whole lot more to a successful business than a skill and a business card! Not understanding that is the biggest cause of failure for small business. (And remember, somewhere around two thirds of startups fail within five years...)

>Or slap on a hairnet and drop some fries?

Here's hoping that's not the only other career option available!

>PS A few weeks ago I think I read a list of extinct
>professions which included milkman, chicken plucker, and
>photographer. What the f-stop. Is that true?

Here's my theory: In the past, taking decent pictures required significant and reasonably expensive equipmment, and the "finished" product required either much more equipment and skill (a darkroom) or significant expense to have professional quality developing and printing. But now, we're at a time in history where just about everyone is wandering around with a "camera" of some kind (usually as part of their phone) and decent cameras are available at an affordable price, and most people have the ability to publish photos online or print them on their home printer.

The result: everyone thinks they're a fuckin' photographer. And now that film and processing/printing costs have been eliminated by digital, everyone can take enough pictures that they'll get lucky every once in a while and get a great shot (as opposed to real pros who get the shot every time).

It's like when personal computers made desktop publishing available to everyone and they all thought they were goddamn designers. Except they weren't.

OK. <\End rant>

Hope that helps!

PS A few weeks ago I think I read a list of extinct professions which included milkman, chicken plucker, and photographer. What the f-stop. Is that true?

Everything I've read/watched/heard lately about the job market all says the same thing: nursing is where it's at. There's currently a shortage of nurses. Add to that the SS Baby Boomer steaming towards old age and you have the makings for job security with a good salary like no other profession.

My sister in law is a nurse. That's a good thing, because my brother is in the printing industry. Like the Dunder Mifflin paper company, it's dying. He was recently laid off. All his wife had to do was work overtime for a half day Saturday to cover his wages for a week.

Sure you have to work 12 hour shifts, deal with mainly sick folks, dump bed pans, and sometimes you're working when everyone else is having fun. But there's security, and as you build seniority you get better shifts and can delegate the bed pans.

I've actually considered packing it in and enrolling in nursing school. I'm pretty damn sick of the industry I'm in. It's full of knuckle-dragging, slack-jawed righties and it gets abused by the economy something fierce. Might be time for a change of scenery. Maybe I'll buy a camera with a big lense and put myself through school photographing bar mitzvas and chastity pledge balls* (I wouldn't want to compete with Mr. animalhouse.)

*(shudder) Jesus, those things are creepy.

Loving photography has NOTHING to do with being a wedding photographer. In fact, being a wedding photographer will most likely make you hate photography. Can he do anything remotely resembling these - because there are just kind of average.

I managed a photography studio and custom designed wedding albums for about 5 years, and the photographer was really, really good. International award winning stuff. Years of experience. But the people you deal with generally suck. You can make a bride look amazing in a photograph, and there will still be complaits and you will struggle to make a living.

"You missed a photo of my cousin who was late and I never see him anyway, but he showed up and isn't in any of the pictures now my entire family is yelling at me, and for what I paid I should get a photo of my loser cousin."

"I know I signed a contract, but my uncle says it costs too much - I want a discount."

"Can you show up at 7AM and stay until midnight for the same price?"

Anyway - not a good idea if you have to pay the mortgage. With reasonably priced high megapixel digital cameras available to anyone, everyone thinks they are a good photographer, and at least 12 people at any wedding will be snapping away capturing the shots that YOU set up. Why should the bride pay you for anything?

So I vote fries.

I am convinced many wedding photographers are like real estate agents and mortgage writers: Average Joes with no real direction in life who pick it up and go 'Hey, I could do that!' I actually feel bad for real photographers/real estate agents/mortgagers with talent and drive - their field is filled with idiot hacks.

Mr. AH, I would like to supersize that.

Your husband could take photographs of people for organizational directories - like churchs, synagogues, et cetera.

The finished product standard isn't anywhere near as high as for a wedding, there's no time pressure, you can set up times for evening times, and you can get paid in cash and not declare the income.

The main money is made by the companies that sell add-on photo packets. Depending on the income he'd need to make per engagement, he could set up his fee structure to front load the money.

.
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Again, thanks to all.

everyone has cell phones w/ cameras down there, but very few people have digital cameras, and almost nobody has a computer, let alone a printer to go w/ it. so it's not the taking pictures that an issue, it's the printing of the photos that nobody can do. plus, unlike here in the u.s. nobody has huge photo albums of their kids w/ a gazillion photos, so they are willing to shell out $1 or $5 every now and again for some nice shots of their kids, or whoever it is.

i mean, you'd have to get a motorcycle or something to get to some of these villages, but i bet you wouldn't even have to learn spanish. plus, central america = low cost of living!