6 Transferable Skills That Took Me from Primary School Teacher to Wedding Photographer

When I left teaching to start Charlotte Myles Photography, I expected to learn an entirely new set of skills. While I've certainly had to master cameras, lighting and editing, I quickly realised something surprising...

Many of the skills that made me a good primary school teacher have turned out to be exactly the same skills that make me a great wedding photographer.

If you're thinking about changing careers, or you're a teacher wondering whether your skills are transferable, here are six that have served me incredibly well.

1. Time Management

As a primary school teacher, your day runs like clockwork. One minute you're teaching maths, the next it's assembly, then break time, guided reading, lunch and PE. You quickly learn that every minute counts.

Wedding photography is surprisingly similar.

A wedding day has a timeline that needs to keep moving, and one of the biggest challenges is fitting everything in without making the day feel rushed. Group photographs are often the biggest time commitment, especially at larger weddings where couples would love every possible combination of family and friends.

Once those are finished, there's still time needed for those beautiful couple portraits.

My job is to keep everything flowing while making sure we capture all of the important moments.

Top tip for couples: Keep your group shot list to the people who matter most. You'll spend less time standing for photos and more time celebrating with your guests!

2. Public Speaking

Standing in front of a class of 30 children every day certainly builds confidence!

Teachers become experts at projecting their voice, giving clear instructions and getting everyone's attention. Those skills come in very handy at weddings too.

When it's time for the big group photograph, someone has to gather 100 guests who are all chatting, drinking and catching up. Then comes organising all the different family combinations.

Sometimes you have to be just a tiny bit bossy... in the nicest possible way!

3. Being Great with Children

This one almost goes without saying.

Teaching taught me how to build rapport with children quickly, and that skill is invaluable at weddings.

Flower girls, page boys and young bridesmaids don't always want their photograph taken. Sometimes all it takes is pulling a silly face, making a funny noise or turning the whole thing into a game to capture those genuine smiles.

Those natural moments often become some of the most treasured photographs from the day.

4. Working as Part of a Team

Many people imagine photographers spend the day working alone.

The reality couldn't be more different.

A wedding photographer works alongside registrars, celebrants, venue managers, wedding planners, videographers, DJs, caterers and florists throughout the day. Everyone has the same goal: giving the couple the best possible experience.

Teaching prepared me perfectly for this. Schools are built on teamwork, communication and supporting one another, and weddings are no different.

5. Being Organised (and a Little Bit of a Workaholic!)

People often assume wedding photography is just turning up with a camera.

If only!

Teaching involves endless planning, creating resources, organising spreadsheets, replying to emails and spending hours behind a computer.

Running a photography business is remarkably similar.

Behind every wedding are client meetings, timelines, editing thousands of images, blogging, social media, album design, bookkeeping, marketing and plenty of emails.

The photography is only one part of the job. Being organised is what keeps everything running smoothly.

And yes, this is me photographing a club night! 📸

I couldn't find a photo of me photographing a wedding, so this will have to do! As I said, I'm a bit of a workaholic, so if someone asks me to photograph an event, I'm usually there. And honestly, I love it, events are such good fun and give me the chance to photograph something completely different from weddings.

Photo credit: Hadfield Digital Media

6. The Ability to Hold Your Wee for Hours!

I couldn't write this blog without mentioning this one...

If you've ever been a teacher, you'll know exactly what I mean.

You don't just nip to the toilet whenever you fancy. You wait until break, lunch, after school... or sometimes much longer. During COVID, when there wasn't always someone available to cover your class, it could be even more challenging.

Let's just say... being pregnant at the time wasn't ideal! 😂

As glamorous as wedding photography looks, there are plenty of days when you're constantly on the move and don't get a chance to stop for hours.

Thankfully, years in the classroom prepared me well!

Final Thoughts

Changing careers from teaching to wedding photography felt like a huge leap, but I soon realised I wasn't starting from scratch.

Teaching gave me confidence, organisation, communication skills, patience, resilience and the ability to stay calm under pressure. Every one of those skills now helps me capture one of the most important days in my couples' lives.

So, if you're a teacher thinking about a career change, don't underestimate the value of the skills you've already built. You might be surprised just how transferable they really are.

And yes... you'll probably still have to wait until the right moment to go to the toilet!