Friday, September 23, 2011

Bridal Show Booth

We just finished our first Bridal Show.  It was the Tampa Bridal Showcase at A La Carte Pavilion.

You might be asking yourself, "I wonder why Booray has never done a bridal show before?"  (you probably aren't but for the purposes of this blog post, let's pretend that you are.).

The truth is that it takes a lot of work to build a booth.  You don't have to build a booth... they provide a table and chairs... but I'm of the opinion that you should "go large or go home" so I always knew that I would only do a show if I could build a nice booth.

So, that's what we did.


It took about a week to plan it out and put it together.  Most of that time was the painting and I have my fantastic wife to thank for that part.  I used un-finished doors for the walls and furniture from my house to fill it out.  My goal was to have a booth that didn't have anything that was a "trade show" item.  No big table, white tablecloth, event chairs, etc. When we were all done, it was pretty nice!

After the show I imediatly made changes to the booth.  Less furniture and more table space for album viewing.  Watching everyone else break-down their space in 10 minutes was a little depressing.

The show seemed fairly busy... not a crush of people but a constant stream.  There were a lot of photographers.  Someone told me they counted nine of us in all.

Two former brides, Jessica and Tabitha, came and worked the booth with me.  In my wildest dreams I could not have asked for better help.  They were fantastic to the point that I was embarassed to be standing there whenever I could hear them talking about me.

Will it get me business?  I have no idea.  With nine photographers in the hall, I imagine that there was a wide range of prices and styles for the brides to consider.  I'm not a high-end price but I'm not discount either.  The real test of this show, for me, will be learning what kind of brides go to these shows.  If it's bargain shoppers than I won't get much from it.  There is always someone who is willing to shoot for less.  I like to believe that I offer the best value of price/quality. 

I did get a few emails right after the show but they were all of the, "Send me a price list," variety. If you see your wedding photographer as just another person on your check-list that needs to be hired than I'm not the guy for you.  My brides tend to ask direct questions about lighting and style because they have thought about what they want and it's important to them.

So, we'll see!  If I get a client or two from the show then I'll be happy.  If I get five I'll be ecstatic.

Tampa Bay Wedding Photographer Booray Perry's website is here.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Last night was the monthly meeting of TAPPA (Tampa Area Professional Photographers Association) and I entered three prints in the monthly competition.

This image won 2nd place in the "Un-categorized" category:


This image won 1st place in the "Weddings and Events" category:


... and this image won 2nd place in the same category:


What's funny is that I thought that the couple kissing was my best shot at first place.  I included the image of the shoes because I really like it and was hoping it might get third.  Instead, the members of the guild decided that they like the shoe image best of all!  I didn't even vote for that image (you only cast one vote.)!

I'm not saying that the shoe image isn't good.  I love that image.  I wrote an entire blog post about that image.  I just didn't think that anyone else would love it as much as I do.  :)

I've been entering images into the monthly contests for a few months now and I still have no idea what the other members will pick.  It's actually kind of cool because every month is a surprise.


Don't settle for a bad headshot on your website or social media pages. Get the best professional headshot in Tampa bay..