Interview with Jennings King
Jennings King Interview, by Rebecca Malouf Franson
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing professional wedding photographer Jennings King. Jennings is based in Charleston, South Carolina and her timeless photos have been featured in so many places that the list is too long to mention! Jennings has a charming southern accent, and an adorable personality to match it. During our Instagram Live interview we covered quite an array of topics, and Jennings was kind enough to share some tips for us about pricing, how to go about get featured and promoted, what her favorite print labs are, and how she keeps her work-life schedules in balance.
Personal Background
Jennings grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina. She was involved in dance starting in the third grade and she was also a cheerleader. Her love for dancing has even infiltrated her work as a wedding photographer, and she firmly believes that “The better the band, the better the pictures.” Jennings met her husband, Brennan, her first week of college at Clemson, but they actually didn’t start dating until 13 years later! While at Clemson, Jennings studied Graphics Communication, which gave her a solid understanding of the printing process. Jennings also took some photography classes as a part of her studies at Clemson, but at the time she had no plans to become a professional photographer. After college, Jennings lived in Charlotte and Raleigh before settling down in Charleston 9 years ago, where she now lives with her husband and her six year old son, Miller. “My family bleeds orange!” she says, “We love football and everything Clemson. Go Tigers!”
Before becoming a wedding photographer, Jennings had many years of experience as a commercial sales rep. The experience in sales significantly helped her in her journey to becoming a professional photographer and entrepreneur.
The Journey from $50 Family Sessions to $5,000 Weddings
In 2005 Jennings started shooting family sessions on the side of her pharmaceutical sales rep job, and she was charging just $50. That price included her time and talents, plus a copy of the digital files from each session. “I didn’t really know where to start, so I just started at $50!” says Jennings. Little by little Jennings raised her prices over the next few years as she became more and more confident in her abilities.
On June 25, 2011, the day before her own first wedding anniversary, Jennings shot her very first wedding! As we spoke about the experience, Jennings became emotional and it was clear that this had been a pivotal point in her career as a photographer. Although Jennings had been skeptical at first, a good friend convinced her to shoot the wedding and she hesitantly accepted the job. Looking back on the experience, she sees that it was during this time that she discovered her calling as a wedding photographer.
Before jumping fully in and accepting additional wedding clients right away, Jennings was determined to finish the entire process of shooting the wedding, post-editing the images, and delivering the prints to her client. Then, if she received positive feedback and enjoyed the experience, she thought that she would consider additional weddings at that point. Long story short, she shot the wedding, delivered the images, received positive feedback from her clients, and loved the experience! Weddings became a normal part of her business from that point on, and in 2012 her son was born and Jennings left her job as a pharmaceutical sales rep to begin her career as a full-time wedding photographer. Jennings charged $2500 as her base price for weddings to start, and after about every 6 weddings she would bump up her prices up until she got to where she is now.
Advice on Getting Featured
I asked Jennings if she could share any advice about getting featured, and her insights were very practical. “It’s so important how you frame things,” she said. “In the back of your mind you need to think, ‘This is going into a magazine, and magazines like vertical pictures versus horizontal pictures.’ And then when you shoot a vertical shot, they’re going to change it to an 8x10 or an 8x11; so you’re basically cropping the top and the bottom off for a magazine.” She also suggests that in addition to framing the images correctly, you should be following the magazine(s) that you want to be featured in. See what their style is, see what their submission process is, and see if you should be submitting to them in the first place.
Some advice on being featured that Jennings has received (and follows) from fellow photographer and friend Virgil Bunao, is to “always think to yourself ‘shoot one for yourself and one for your client.’” And a few final tips that Jennings added are to shoot the details, since that’s what many magazines like to feature, and also to take more photos without people in them.
Favorite Print Labs
When it comes to print labs I was super interested in hearing which ones were Jennings’ favorites since she has such a strong background in printing, and doubtless her standards were very high. But first, her pet peeve– when people order albums through low quality online websites. “They look like CRAP! Order your albums from your photographer. You can’t go cheap.” Which brings us to where she likes to do her printing. Jennings has loved using KISS to print her albums for the past 5 years, and for standard prints ordered through her Instaproofs account she uses Richard Photo Lab. Jennings also favors White House Custom Color for prints, and Social Print Studio for magnets.
Attracting the Right Customers
We discussed a bit about how Jennings’ personality is a big part of what she brings to the table in addition to her photography, and she mused that “I feel like you attract the people that you are attracted to, and therefore if you’re not being yourself you’re not going to attract the people that you are going to work best with.” Also, when talking to potential brides on the phone she always says, “You know, I’m going to be next to you all day long. You want your photographer to be almost like your best friend. Someone you want next to you.”
Favorite Shooting Location
One of our Live viewers asked what Jennings’ favorite venue was to shoot at, and without skipping a beat Jennings answered, “Hands down Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina.” She shared that that location, in the middle of nowhere on the coast of South Carolina, is extra special and that she and her husband even recently vacationed there.
Instaproofs
As an Instaproofs user for 8 years, Jennings first heard about Instaproofs from the photographer who shot her wedding, who was also a mentor to Jennings. “What I love about Instaproofs the most is that they have so much stuff in the background. Instaproofs makes it so easy to sell prints. Literally at the click of a button.” After every wedding Jennings does a one-day only sale for 15% off, and she lets the client pick which day the sale is. “It’s an easy way to sell prints and make money. Auto fulfillment changed my life.” Jennings shared that she takes any opportunity to do a sale without bombarding people and that “the support and customer service at Instaproofs is awesome!”
Work-Life Balance
Jennings said that she is very happy with her work-life balance, which is no small feat! When I asked what her secret was she shared that she limits her number of weddings per year, and that most of her weddings are on Saturdays. “Fifteen is my number and I don’t ever double book a weekend.” Additionally, Jennings shared that “you have to say no, and I’m very good at saying no.” When asked for some advice on saying no, she replied, “Well number one, if it’s outside of your niche, say no. There’s no reason you need to do a headshot for some lawyer company when you are shooting weddings. Sitting at home watching DVR TV is more important to me than making extra cash by shooting lawyers; you know what I mean?” This advice hit extra close to home for me because, wouldn’t you know it, I had just done headshots for a law firm! I will definitely be taking Jennings’ advice to heart!
Music, Dancing, and Vendors
Prior to Jennings’ interview, rumors had been swirling that she has some great dance moves and that she wasn’t too shy to share them on camera; so, of course we had to finish our Live video interview with some of her sweet dance moves! (You can watch the video yourself to see them!) When asked what her favorite music is, Jennings answered “Any music except country. Anything that has a good beat that you can dance to. My all-time favorite is Tina Turner’s Proud Mary. My sister and I have been known to get up on the stage wherever we are and perform it. Also, The Pointer Sisters are great fun.” A viewer asked what Jennings’ favorite wedding bands are, and Jennings shared that ‘Simply Irresistible’ is her favorite band and that they played at her wedding. She also loves ‘As Is’ out of Atlanta, and she said that ‘East Coast Entertainment’ is a great resource for finding a band. “The band can make or break a wedding. I mean honestly, it can.”
Jennings sends her preferred wedding vendors, including bands, to the brides who book her. “I have great couples. I mean seriously, I love my job, I love it.”
You can view the complete interview with Jennings King, here: Jennings King Interview