150: How to Book $20,000 Weddings with Samm Blake

Episodes The Bearded Tog

April 9, 2021

Samm Blake is a world renowned wedding photographer with a knack for combining her editorial background with the emotion and beauty of weddings.

She’s joining me to chat about her background, her path toward weddings, and what it takes to be successful in the New York wedding scene. Listen as she shares her tips and advice for how to book $20,000 weddings.

When it comes down to it, Samm has always had a love of photography. She double majored in photography and journalism, but hated the feeling of invading people’s lives when they were at their worst.

So she switched to the very willing group of people who were excited to share their joy through photography.

Her photography shows raw, real emotions with an artistry and grace that is to be admired. How does she do it? By never becoming complacent in her skills. She’s always learning, always growing, and always down for a new challenge.

We chat about everything from booking out high-end $20,000 weddings, to what gear she’s loving now, and what happened when she raised her rates. Samm was a joy to have on the show and her story is definitely a source of inspiration for me.

After you take a listen, bookmark this episode and revisit it when you need a boost of inspiration!

In this episode:

[00:01:01] Does Samm miss Tumblr?

[00:03:26] Samm recounts her trip backpacking around the world.

[00:07:21] How did she start into photography and then wedding photography?

[00:11:29] Why she feels more comfortable with wedding photography versus photojournalism.

[00:12:45] Her journey to living, working, and thriving in New York.

[00:16:25] What are some of the differences between Australian and U.S. weddings?

[00:25:17] Samm shares her average pricing and the number of shoots she’s doing per year. Plus hear why raising her rates to $20,000 + per wedding has increased her number of inquiries.

[00:32:20] Learn tips for creating high end imagery that commands a higher price.

[00:37:50] Does she still do family photos? What is her process for getting the best poses and shots?

[00:44:36] How does she curate her feed with candid shots and couple shots while making sure everyone looks good and is comfortable with the imagery?

[00:48:22] Learn more about NDA weddings and her thoughts on increasing her charge for those.

[00:53:27] Her thoughts on signing over copyrights and people using images for commercial use.

[00:56:04] What is she most excited about for 2021 in her life and business?

[00:58:58] Samm shares her favorite lenses for the Fuji medium format.

[01:02:12] Does she shoot with medium format for receptions?

[01:06:50] Has she ever felt content with her gear?

[01:09:36] Connect with Samm.