Interview with Brett Heidebrecht
by Rebecca Malouf Franson

The work of wedding photographer Brett Heidebrecht has been featured by some of the best known wedding publications in the world including Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides, Vogue, Style Me Pretty, Rocky Mountain Bride, Once Wed, Destination I Do, Southern Weddings, Magnolia Rouge and more. However, his impressive resume belies his down-to-earth, easy-going personality that makes him loved by so many.

Oklahoma City is home for Brett, his wife and their two young daughters, but his travel itinerary takes him all over the U.S. and abroad photographing other couples’ love stories.

Brett has made a name for himself as a top wedding photographer in an impressively short amount of time, with just six years of experience as a full-time photographer.  As a business management major, Brett discovered late in his college career that photography was calling his name. However, when he shared his new career path thoughts with his accountant dad he was told that although that sounded great, if he didn’t finish his undergrad degree he would be expected to pay his dad back for all of his educational expenses up to that point. As you might guess, Brett opted to complete his business management degree before pursuing his passion in photography!

Brett considered attending a photography school after completing his undergrad degree, but ultimately decided that it wasn’t for him. As he developed his photography skills he carefully selected workshops from master photographers to help him learn and grow as an artist. The first workshop he attended was from Jonathan Canlas, whom he had heard of through Instaproofs. Brett shared that Jon’s love for film, shooting weddings and his keen business sense really influenced his own photography journey. 

Brett’s next workshop was in Mexico with José Villa. In addition to the amazing educational experience the workshop provided, a great boost for his blossoming business occurred through the opportunity he had at the workshop to network and rub shoulders with editors and bloggers who ultimately helped him publish his work.

The most recent workshop Brett attended was with Jon Dolan in New York City. It was a weeklong workshop that was held in the evenings. During the days Brett wandered the streets of the Big Apple, his Roliflex in hand, working on a personal project. He captured 32 portraits of strangers; one shot per person, no do-overs, and each subject given the sole direction of looking straight into his lens. Brett’s goal was to really capture the essence of each person he photographed. “It was an interesting character study. I enjoyed seeing kinda how people responded to that,” Brett reflected.

Brett is passionate about photographing his clients in an authentic way that lets their true personalities come through in his photographs. He is intentional in his aim to be present in the moment and not dictate too much of the wedding day.

“There’s a really fine line between directing and making people feel comfortable, and really finding out who they actually are as a person and letting them shine through,” Brett shared.

“What I really want people to know is I want to allow a space where they can be themselves. I really just want to come with a blank slate to a wedding. It’s really hard not to fall back on that internal check-list and to be aware of what is happening.”

When I asked Brett how many cameras he typically brings to a wedding I definitely was not expecting him to rattle off the names of SEVEN different cameras! Of those seven, six are film cameras and one is a digital camera that he turns to during indoor ceremonies. Brett brings an assistant with him to weddings to help him manage his equipment and make sure that he doesn’t miss a beat when changing rolls or switching cameras.

The business side of photography can be a stumbling block to some photographers, as many of us are likely well aware of. Brett’s business management background seemed to have given him an edge so I asked him to share his thoughts about one of the trickiest elements of the business side of photography: Pricing.

“Whenever you are constantly meeting people where they want to be [with pricing] rather than knowing where you want to be and really staying true to that, it does get hard. You start feeling underappreciated and you kind of fall out of love with what you were in love with at one point. I just kind of made a decision that I wanted to stay true to my pricing and really value my work,” Brett said.

During our interview, which you can watch in its entirety on our YouTube channel, Brett shared an experience that happened early on in his career. He was charging $3000 for his base wedding package and he had a bride ask if he would be willing to shoot her wedding within her budget of $1800. Brett thought long and hard about it and consulted a fellow photographer friend about what he should do, since he really wanted the work but also wanted to stay true to his pricing. Although he was encouraged to take the job, Brett ultimately decided to stick to his pricing and pass on it. In this particular story, another bride came along and booked the same date, and because of all the add-ons she purchased Brett ended up making four to five times the amount that he would have made if he would have agreed to take on a client who was asking him to lower his prices. However, Brett was quick to also acknowledge that this is not always the case and that sometimes turning down less money means that he doesn’t end up booking a wedding on that day.

Brett leaves the door open for additional sales beyond the initial packages that his wedding couples select by using Instaproofs to sell prints; not just to the wedding couple, but to their guests as well.

“Instaproofs has been A-mazing! I always tell my friends who are with some of the other proofing solutions they are really missing out on the power of selling prints. I mean Instaproofs has really nailed that down and really sets you up with the tools you need. Selling isn’t even on the radar for any of those other companies. Instaproofs makes it super easy to sell prints and just lays it all out there,” Brett said.

“I love Instaproofs. It’s the best customer support I’ve ever experienced with any company as a photographer.” Brett also added, “I love helping people see the potential of selling prints through Instaproofs.”

To see more of Brett’s work check out his website, his Instagram feed, or his Facebook page.  And, if you’re ever in Oklahoma City, stop on in and say hello!