089: Kiamarie Lambert – How To Shoot Film & Digital Simultaneously & Achieving Longevity In The Wedding Industry

I picked up film again back in 2017, and I was literally like a newborn baby trying to walk and crawl all over again. So what I did was I purchased a used 35 millimeter camera. I didn’t go big and was like, let me go get a Contax or a Hassleblad, which are the big four, 5,000 medium format cameras. I got a Nikon F100 and a Nikon N80 for like 100 bucks off eBay. You can also get those type of cameras at keh.com. And I also see on Facebook marketplace, a lot of people are trying to offload equipment that they have that they don’t use any more.

So I bought my first 35 millimeter, popped a roll in. At the time it was Fuji, because Fuji was all the rage, the light and airy and the lighter pastel colors. And what I was doing was, I did not take my film camera to weddings, because my couples paid me to professionally capture their wedding day. It would not have been fair for me to use them as test dummies. So what I did was I just set up a few styled shoots. So what are styled shoots? I asked four of my hottest friends that were couples, engaged, married, to pose for me as they were getting married on their wedding day. We went to a park a few times. I did this a few times, and I shot a few rolls of film.

I went to… Here it’s Goodwill, it’s like a Salvation Army or a thrift store. There was wedding dresses that people offloaded that you could pick up for like 50 bucks. And then I went to a local tuxedo shop and I just asked them, “Can I rent for the day, or do you have a discounted price? And maybe if I give you some images and return, you’ll allow me to rent a suit for free.” And that’s how I got their wardrobe for the style shoot. And I just practice. Practice makes perfect. I shot some rolls, I found a reputable lab. If you go to my Instagram, I have a ton of labs that I recommend, and I actually have a little link, how to get started with film.

So when I was just digital, I was at golf courses, and I was at sometimes firehouses, and I was at very small, intimate venues. And then when I upped my brand, because I incorporated film, I’m being flown to Bermuda, I’m being flown to the Dominican Republic, I’m being flown to Miami, Vizcaya Museum. That’s the grand dame of… It opened up a higher clientele for me. And then planners, because I was posting on Instagram religiously, and tagging and hashtagging and being area specific, planners were picking up on it. I think I got my first feature in Carats & Cake because I hashtag [inaudible 00:15:12] wedding. And then Style Me Pretty, same thing, got my first feature. I have a few on there now, but first feature. So it elevated not only me as a photographer and put me into a different category, taking me out of that pool of so many digital to just a few film, and then with that I was able to raise my prices.

That was the biggest thing for me, because at the time I was doing this shift, my mom had passed away. So she had always watched my kids for me, because I hadn’t gotten back with my now husband. We hadn’t re-met again, because we dated when we were younger. So when my mom passed away, she had always watched my daughters, she took them to school, picked them up, fed them. Now she was no longer there, so I needed to be home more. So I wasn’t able to shoot 50 to 100 digital weddings at $2,500 a wedding. Film allowed me to shoot 10 to 15 to 12 weddings at $6,500. So instead of me doing that one for 25, I’m now doing the film and it’s like four times that. So I was able to take less clients as well.

And they appreciate you on a different level. People use that term budget bride, which I don’t like to say. I think it’s mean, because everyone is at their own budget within their wedding. And trust me, I’ve planned a wedding. But now I have those couples that they don’t care what the budget is, they just care what the end product is going to look like. So it puts me in a whole different category where I feel appreciated and I walk away feeling fulfilled. And they give me gifts and gift cards. And when my mom passed away during that time, most of my couples were at her funeral, and they just appreciate you on a different level. And it’s not where you shoot their wedding and you never talk to them again. These clients, they want wedding albums, they want parent albums, they buy canvases. So you’re now outsourcing all the things you never got money towards or for in your business, you’re able to incorporate those extra things now, and you’re working less but making more.

So for me, I always love just a clean look to my photos. So if you go through my Instagram, you’ll notice I never have anything dark. I don’t have dark backgrounds, I don’t have dark structures. So with my style… And it’s very important for you to figure out what style you want as an artist. Don’t copy what other people are doing, figure out what speaks to your soul. So my style is always light and airy, bright and joyful. So everything I always do is with a clean background in mind. So if I go out with my couples, let’s just say they’re on a golf course, and there’s a million different dark trees in the background, I will move them to face the emptiness of the course, so I have nothing behind them, because I know in my mind, when I’m posting on my social media, all of that clean space will look a lot better than a bunch of dark and jumbled structures in my feed.

So it’s crazy to say, but I am always shooting for the gram. Not that I post everything on the gram, but I’m always shooting with intention. So I look at the sun, and I know if I face my couples towards the sun, they’re going to be very contrast-y, they’re going to have dark circles under their eyes, their skin is going to just look a little orange-y. So I always face my couples away from the sun, and the sun is behind them, because I’ll get a little bit of a creamy glow, and I’ll get that beautiful light that comes through. So it’s very important to understand that the way that you’re shooting is going to mimic what your style is going to be.

Not that I’m telling anyone, shoot for the gram, and that Instagram – But you just have to shoot with intention. If you see something, you have your… Because not every venue is gorgeous. Sometimes you have a lot of stuff on the ground, maybe there’s garbage cans in the background. Look around, and instead of saying, “I’ll fix that later in post,” no, don’t create more work for yourself. Just move your couples, adjust things, and shoot with intention. That means that people are going to say, “Her style is so consistent.” And consistency is key. If we keep everything the same, people are going to look at you as the professional. People know I go to Starbucks because I can get that same really good cup of coffee every single time, so you want to exuberate that same… You’re not a jack of all trades. You’ve mastered one trade, and that’s why they’re going to hire you, because you’re going to be that professional to them that says, “I can do this over and over and over, and I can do that for you.”

And that’s exactly what they’re looking for. They’re coming to your website for your style. They’re dreaming of these days like, “I know exactly how I want my pictures to be.” So you have to make sure that you consistently shoot that way. And again, you have to speak up. So if you know you’re on a wedding day and they’re like, “I love this structure over here,” but you’re looking at it and it’s like, whoa, you have to be honest with them and say, “I really don’t think you’d photograph well in front of that. How about X, Y, Z?”