Interview with Our Labor of Love: Finding Success in the Wedding Industry as a Team

The website says it succinctly: Photographers on the Move in Los Angeles / New York City / Atlanta. Our Labor of Love is a syndicate of six wedding and event photographers, including co-owners Jesse and Whitney Chamberlin. The pair was named one of America’s top 10 wedding photographers by American Photo magazine, in 2011, and they have been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, New York magazine, Cosmopolitan, Photo District News, and more.

B&H spoke with Chamberlin about some of the benefits of creating, or being a part of, a team of photographers.

What do you feel is the number one benefit to operating in a consortium of photographers?

Well, I had to look up what a consortium is but, the more photographers you have, the more organic the marketing is. 

When you say the marketing is more organic, do you mean that you get a wider audience responding to the “word of mouth” advertising? Or is it something else?

We're working with so many other photographers in one studio and working under one name. People are saying the one single name, versus the disparate artists’ names. The sum of all parts has a much larger network of potential and past clients.

What are the other benefits?

Variety of style... Four eyes are better than two, so to speak. You learn from and teach each other, and if you choose the group correctly, you learn more. No health benefits or dental, though. 

Do you embrace the different styles and find colleagues who have styles that fit the brand as a whole? Or, do you embrace the different styles and let that diversity define the brand? For a customer coming to Our Labor of Love, are they drawn to one photographer’s personal style or do they come to the brand image?

Our brand image sets the tone right off the bat. Every photographer is going to have a little bit of a different eye, but there is a general feeling that we all shoot for—connection with our clients, and laughter. Some photographers are all about posing and telling people what to do; some are about not being seen. We definitely all go for the same feel. For instance, we look at each other's work and keep a group portfolio that we can reference. New photographers come to Our Labor of Love and they can look at what we've done and emulate the tone as best they can while still remaining artistically themselves. 

Would you recommend this business plan to others, and, if so, what are some first steps to take? 

No, I wouldn't. Kidding! Never collect any more than 20% from your photographers’ take. Never start a business until you feel you're at a level where you feel like you can actually teach photography. Why would you start a photography business without knowing how to teach photography? I don't know, but don't do it. 

That is a bold statement. How much of your business is teaching and how much is wedding and event photography? Do other wedding and event photographers need to be able to teach to be successful in business? If so, why?

What I mean to say is: if you have a business, and you are not the only photographer involved, you are trying to stick to a brand and show people how to work inside your brand. You need to be able to articulate that in a meaningful way. These are just my thoughts, obviously. Not facts. But an ability to teach on a level that at least explains your own motivations and style seems vital to me. 

Have you learned any hard lessons in the creation of your brand? 

No one person should be out front; there shouldn't be a lead. They might have different pricing, but no one should be more important than anyone else. 

Do your partners structure their own prices? Is that advantageous to them? Do you all share the pricing information with each other? What are your thoughts on having a set pricing structure for all of your partners?

We only have one office manager who deals with all of the beginning inquiries. Everyone has their own set price structure—the office manager is trained to be able to read between the lines in an inquiry to see if there is a key there. A lot of photojournalism might lean toward one photographer over another. We base it all on a calendar. Inquiries go by dates and availability and we work down a line based on seniority. Whoever has been with us the longest gets first dibs, and we go down the line from there, based on who is or isn't available. 

Are there mistakes that you could help others avoid? 

Don't be greedy. When running a creative business, you don't need to collect a ton of money from an artist. If you're not an artist and you're starting a business for artists, pay them respect. They're the ones that are making your money. 

Are there inherent challenges in operating as a team? What are those challenges? 

I think sometimes people get lazy and don't want to blog. Otherwise, I haven't found any challenges. Maybe that's because I work with my friends. 

How important is blogging to your business structure? Do you gain clients through the blog, or is this done more from the teaching aspect?

We only blog what we want to show. We're proud of what we take on, so there is a lot of work that can be done there. When your studio is shooting 106 weddings per year, and there are only 52 weekends in a year, balls get dropped. I wouldn't say that it's integral, but we definitely reach people outside of our usual client base through blogging. 

How has the experience of working in a consortium helped you grow personally? 

Now that we're all working together and helping each other out, I don't have to work as hard. I can focus more on what really matters in life. 

Professionally? 

I can see how to implement the same structure in my other businesses [Chamberlin is also the inventor of Smilebooth and the Flashdance, and founder of Photo Field Trip educational summits] and to apply the practices that help our group work well.

Do you have any final words of wisdom for our readers?

Working as a collective is an exciting, fun adventure. If you’re acting as a large family—a functional family—it will be great for you. The way that I see it, working as artists in a collective is not about running a studio. It’s not about holding someone down creatively. That doesn’t work. You allow everyone to work creatively and allow him or her to expand and to think different. The collective works as a unit. If you’re just trying to run a studio that is based on financial gains, the artists will sniff that out like a bloodhound and that will end up coming back and biting you. If you’re trying to share in the wealth and be a part of a team, then you run as a pack. There might be a leader, but any great team knows that a leader is just part of the group. They aren’t any more or less important than anyone else on the team.

Find Our Labor of Love on the Web and read more about its creators and members here.