Introducing the Season [Eight] Interns

– Posted by Mark

So here we are at Season Eight of our Photography Internship. We have a studio, we have way too much gear, and we have an army of photographers. Of course – running the internship and making sure it’s actually worth something takes a lot of effort – which is why no one else does what we do – and definitely not for free.

We’ve always said that our Photography is ‘Free & Unpaid’ – even though that’s largely untrue – since what we’re trading is worth a considerable amount even if it’s not actual money. Interns average about 30 photoshoots during the 3 months that they spend with us (some really go all out and get upwards of 50… yeah.) With an average of 3 hours per shoot… that’s 90 hours of ‘work’ that each Intern gives us – and sometimes it’s easily way more than that. SO – for me and Leah it’s really a question of how do we get people to work 90+ hours for us, for no money? Where is the value? What do we offer? Apparently a great deal.

This year I will personally photograph about 35 weddings, and we’ll contract out another 20-30 to our Alumni Interns. No matter what you might think of our photography, we know that our biggest business advantage is simply that we work harder than almost anyone else. We’re rarely published in the traditional wedding blogs or print magazines – and we just can’t seem to buy into the whole wedding industry complex that’s just there to sell you everything they can whether you need it or not. Yet somehow – clients are finding us and hiring us – and not only are they great clients, but they’re the best clients for us. Our business is amazing because our clients are amazing.