Joe Buissink: rich wedding photographer

The story of Joe Buissink is inspiring to anyone who might want to be a wedding photographer. He was in his forties, and in the third year of a Ph.D. program in neuro-psychology when one day he decided he wanted to be a wedding photographer. Maybe he realized that wedding photographers make a lot more money than neuro-psychology professors, yet they need a lot less education?

So there he was, a guy who was a hobbyist photographer who shot landscape photos but had minimal if any experience with portraiture or photojournalism. Nevertheless, he shot two weddings by offering to do the work for free, and then he had a portfolio in which to get paying gigs. Now he gets paid five figures per wedding, and even once shot a $100,000 wedding. Yes, Joe Buissink made more money shooting just a single wedding than the average guy makes working for an entire year.

With regards to the best way to start out, Joe Buissink clearly had the right idea to shoot the weddings for free. A lot of wedding photographers try to start out by offering their services for really low prices, and then all they get to shoot are blue collar weddings with fat brides in cheap-looking low class venues. This is not a good way to build a portfolio that will bring in the high-end clients.

Internet bibliography

February 2003 Rangefinder Magazine article
July 2005 Rangefinder Magazine article
Joe Buissink’s website