Look into picking up contracts for businesses. I shoot for an online food magazine quarterly. Have another contract that’s ramping up shooting local restaurants. I have an interview tomorrow with a local clothing store to shoot for their social media. I found all of this on LinkedIn. I’m looking to get into corporate headshots or something too. It’s a grind finding the outlets but you can do it. I also shot weddings for a long time and only do 2-3 a year now because I just hate them for similar reasons as your post.

I moved to commercial work. I do volume headshots, branding, and some event work. I still second shoot for a friend of mine who I also assist on his commercial shoots.

give family photography a shot! you still get to enjoy the couples and the love but it’s less stressful

You could totally change genres to maternity & newborn, or boudoir, or family portraits, or commercial head shots, real estate…. Content creation? So many options.

Another option might be to offer smaller coverage- like limit it to max 8 hours or whatever your threshold is, and then outsource your editing. The beauty of working for yourself is that you can create the career you want to have.

I hope you find a solution that feels sustainable for you.

If you enjoy it, I’m not sure why you can’t outsource or hire and delegate the things that you don’t enjoy.

I’m going to be brutal and say that no lucrative alternatives are any less time-consuming and pressured.

I shoot commercial and I’m moving to more weddings. Sure, commercial can have its days of easier jobs and less time spent editing BUT: Having shot high-end events, interiors, portraits, campaigns and editorials for large-name clients that have high expectations and can employ me again should I do a good job (which is the key to this line of business) you will do crazy travelling, long days, back and forth editing, much more retouching than weddings often require and you’ll likely need a good deal more kit. So don’t go thinking the grass is necessarily greener.

Drop me a DM or email if you’d like some mentoring. Links on my profile.

then the intense editing for weeks afterward

Why are you editing? Pay an editor if you hate it.

I started shooting landscapes and abandoned locations (urbex photography). Then I tried shooting models. I liked it. Then I had the chance to shoot a friends wedding cerimony only. They liked the photos, altough they were not anything special, I got a few photos they still have on their profiles to this day.

Then, a model friend told me about a known friend who was marrying and asked how much I would charge to shoot their wedding. I talked to them, showed them my work and low cachet for the job, they accepted it. And they paid me more to stay after the cerimony and take note of what photos each guest would want printed. The bride and groom would them take the photos and print them themselves. Fine by me, I still didn’t had experience with printing photos from a wedding, so I didn’t care.

From there, I started to shoot weddings here and there, mostly friends or known people, and was charging more on each time.

This year, I’ve shot 3 weddings and for all of them, I have made a gallery for clients and guests to see and order prints from. I work alone and I love the work. I have my main job in the printing business, so sometimes I get to print some large photos for my clients ate a great price. I don’t know how I did the transition, looking back to my photography and watching how I am today, makes me really happy with the results.

My tip: enjoy what you do, take your time to familiarize with both your gear and your clients. I insist on having a small shoot before the wedding takes place so they know me, and I know them. The last bride I had a photoshoot with, was pregnant. They used one of the photos from the shoot, to make a testimonials frame, where people would place their messages next to the photo. When I was about to leave the wedding that night, the bride happily pointed to the photo to show me how she loved that photo. Made my day.