A bizarre idea

[bobajob]

I attended a funeral Saturday just gone by, it was a friend of mine who had came to a violent end. I had my camera with me, not to take photos of the funeral: but rather for the 200km road trip. Any way at the cemetery my late friends sister asked me if I was taking photos of the funeral, I answered no. The sister urged me to shoot every thing, the hole, the casket on the straps above the hole and and. I did, some 200 photos later documenting the event right to the end, including candid shots of the mourners and posed groups. I put the photos on a CD and gave the CD to my late friends sister. Surprise, the family are over the moon and happy with the photos. This got me asking questions and have found out there is a market for funeral photos. People want it. I am going to take the plunge and give it a go.
By the way any body here done this or is doing this?

[cindy.marnell]

There is a market for this (however small), as I have had many relatives designate a person to take pictures in the cemetary. However, there are a few issues I can see. One, marketing yourself will be difficult. Funerals are often planned in a state of shock and grief, although preplanned funerals are on the rise. Photography is probably not one of the higher priorities they have while doing so. A close relationship with the funeral homes in the area will be necessary. Second, If you want to do any other work it will be relatively difficult. I probably wouldn't hire the guy who shoots funerals for a living to photograph my wedding or children.

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by cindy.marnell

I probably wouldn't hire the guy who shoots funerals for a living to photograph my wedding or children.

Just need a catch phrase.... something like, "from the cradle to grave and every occasion in between, if you need photos we are on the scene"

[candleman]

Sorry for your loss...

as for the photography,
i'm sure theres someone out there who does it.. however i see it as extreemly limiting.
How many people would, in the midst of the tragedy, think to look in the phonebook for a photographer.


do people really want images of their own grief??
in your case yes..
i know i'd never hire someone for a family or friends funeral. smile for the camera!...
Personally.. i'd find it quite offensive having a cameraman around taking pictures of what should be something private.


Go for it if you want to.... but just remember its not the first thing on peoples minds whe they have just lost a loved one.

just IMHO

[private]

My grandfather made a lot of money doing that type of photography...There is a market for it and its bigger than we realize - its so not for me tho.

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by scootermcq

Just need a catch phrase.... something like, "from the cradle to grave and every occasion in between, if you need photos we are on the scene"

smirk. nice one...

Yeah, this isnt something I would go in for either. However, I think the best advice so far has been to establish a relationship with funeral homes. I can't imagine they have people clamouring for the opportunity. However, I see funeral homes around here advertising all sorts of services, catering, video etc etc, so its definately worth sending emails and testing the water...

[kuvahmagh]

I agree the only way to make this work is to get your card/info to them when they are discussing the details of the service with the funeral home, cold calling obituaries is probably not the best solution.

[AnonymousKiwi1]

At my MIL's funeral a few months back the funeral director took a few photos with a little P&S. At the time I thought it was very odd. But apparently people want a record of these things. The photos he took were awful - but he's a funeral director, not a photographer. It seems to be a growing market, got to be worth contacting the funeral homes.

I could not do it myself. I hate funerals, even at those of people I barely know I end up a gibbering mess.
No chance could I produce photos of any quality.

[GadgetRick]

Hmm, never thought about doing this sort of thing. But, then again, people do strange things when they are mourning.

Seems like it would be a relatively easy business to build up. As we can see here, not many photogs go after this type of business. Just speak with local funeral homes. They can sell your services in addition to all of the other crap they push, er ah, sell to people who've lost someone. Sorry, I think what the people in funeral homes do is disgusting. They rape people on prices because they can. They make people feel bad if they don't buy the deluxe casket, etc.

Anyway, as strange as it seems, it looks like you could do this sort of thing.

[Swisstony10]

Funnily enough, I was at a small business advice workshop last night, and the adviser who ran it was talking about a guy who's been doing funeral photography for nearly 15 years - it's not the only thing that he does though.

Like all things, it's just another revenue stream. As has been previously suggested, a good working relationship with local undertakers is going to be the best way to get this kind of work. Think about it though - quite often nowadays the only times a whole family comes together in one place is for weddings and funerals. When my Nan died a couple of years ago, the funeral was very moving and emotional, because she was very very well loved by all of her family - all of her children, and all but one of her grandchildren were there, including my aunt who flew to the UK at (obviously) short notice from Australia. The thing is that once the funeral service and subsequent burial were out of the way, all the people who don't see each other very often got on with the serious business of catching up, and having exactly the kind of big family get-together that my Nan always loved, and although there was a tinge of sadness that she wasn't there to enjoy it, the 'getting together' part involved a lot of memories and laughter. And that's when it would've been good to have had a photographer handy.

The way things are going, it's pretty hard to make a living if you only cover one single niche of photography (unless you're an absolute master in that field and have lots of high-profile clients - I'm thinking well-known fashion/food/sports photographers as an example). For most of us, it's important to be able to service as many clients as possible, in a wide variety of situations, to be able to keep hold of our homes..