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Hello Sunshine
Beginner

Cost of photography?

Hello Sunshine, 16 December, 2009 at 18:00 Posted on Planning 0 32

I don't want to open a can of worms here as I know how cost threads can go, but would anyone mind a quick straw poll of what you're paying for your photographer? I'm in very early days of looking but I've just found one who's work I LOVE. However, he starts at £1500 and goes up to £2500, which feels like quite a lot of money to me (in Yorkshire).

The £1500 package doesn't include an album (which seem to be photobooks looking at his site) but does include 400 digital images on DVD for printing yourself. He is also there from getting ready to first dance and a little bit beyond.

I have no idea if this is reasonable or not to be honest ?

32 replies

Latest activity by Hello Sunshine, 7 January, 2010 at 17:02
  • aliaisp
    Beginner July 2010
    aliaisp ·
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    Can't speak for Yorkshire but it sounds a teeny bit high for London so I am guessing it is probably steep for there? try negotiating, maybe you can get him down closer to 1200? good luck - am finding this the toughest choice of all, even more than venue, dunno why!!

    x

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  • B
    Beginner July 2010
    brideseekingblush ·
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    I'd agree - it does seem a lot, particularly if it's just for their time - but some do charge more! I guess you have to assess how important it is to you and how fixed you are on the guy you've found.

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  • sweetheart_sgc
    Beginner June 2010
    sweetheart_sgc ·
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    Hi im getting married in yorkshire and ive found someone thats working on the side***

    hes going to be with me from 3 o`clock till about 7.30pm

    gonna put every picture on to disc for me and do some air brushing on my main pictures if needed, lol - i know im gonna come out in a massive spot!!!

    for £100- im very happy to make my own photo story book online and print of what i want, hes also told me im able to blow my pictures to what ever size im after.

    im happy to take up this offee as alot of my family are photo mad so there will be cameras everywhere so im sure im gonna get loads of good pictures.

    no way am i willin to pay the amout some ppl pay, i nearly went with a women and i was gonna get 20 picture in a book and be with me for a hour for £250, so glad i looked about!

    xxx

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  • Peter
    Peter ·
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    That depends on what you are getting, quality wise. I know of at least two Yorkshire wedding photographers who charge more than this and are worth every penny (if you like their style)

    Quality does cost, wherever you are in the UK.

    I would be interested to know the photographer you like to see if it is one of the two I am thinking of.....

    Peter

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  • Cookie Galore
    Beginner November 2009
    Cookie Galore ·
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    That does seem a touch high, although not in the realms of fantasy. We paid a shade over £1,000 for our package which, in hindsight is perhaps a little high but we get all of the images on a disc including all versions of ones that he's converted to mono, colourpopped etc and can arrange for our own prints. We also get a leather-bound album with I think about 40 prints in it and a photo-montage print once we let him know what ones we want him to print. He was there (with his partner/assistant) from just before the ceremony (from about 1.30 I think, ceremony was at 2) and stayed until about halfway through the reception.

    The most important thing though was that we both really liked the guy, his style was very relaxed and exactly what we were looking for. He was also one of the few togs we found who was prepared to put an indication of his package prices on his website up front. If there was no indication I didn't even enquire - I don't think it's my job to chase up suppliers' price lists and I wasn't phoning round giving my details all over the place only to find out that the cost was way too high. Sorry, that got a bit long and not actually that helpful!

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  • Gillsy
    Beginner April 2010
    Gillsy ·
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    We are having the photographer from before the ceremony to the cutting of the cake. We are getting a 30 page album and all pictures in high resolution on a disc for us to print further copies. This is costing us just over £700.

    I think it depends what part of the country you are in but your quote does seem a bit high.

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  • C
    Beginner May 2011
    Curly Panda ·
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    Our photographer is £201 for three hours and then £50 an hour (i think!) if we want him for any longer

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  • M
    Beginner
    Mheather697 ·
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    It is quite high, but you get what you pay for. Maybe check out some that are cheaper so you are totally sure you are getting value for money.

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  • Debbie Graham Jewellery
    Debbie Graham Jewellery ·
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    When I got married 5 years ago, we went for a cheaper option with the photography & we REGRET every minute of it.

    We liked the work she did (but then whos to say that she took the pics in the first place) We dont have any nice pictures of our special day & I am still gutted all these years later. She was a complete nightmare from the moment she started & even our guests mentioned things to us after the wedding.

    She never got a penny from us in the end & she is damm lucky we did not sue her (yes she was that bad & so were her final images)

    If you really love his work, then I would say go for it. You will have these images to look back on for the rest of your life.

    Why not explain that you love his work but wonder if he can work something into a smaller budget for you, you never know he may be able to do something for you.

    If you are after some fabulous "reportage" style photgraphy, I can fully recommend the following people to you, though I'm not sure of their prices.

    www.morgan-photography.co.uk

    hth

    Debbie

    xx

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  • artisanwedding.co.uk
    artisanwedding.co.uk ·
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    I think you can never pay too much for a photographer... even if you have to sell your house to pay for it...

    (cough)

    Pete x

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  • Debbie Graham Jewellery
    Debbie Graham Jewellery ·
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    LOL ?

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  • Hello Sunshine
    Beginner
    Hello Sunshine ·
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    Thanks everyone, that does help give some perspective. Also thanks for that rec Debbie, I'll definitely look into it.

    I had a little google round last night and actually for the standard of his work, I think it seems relatively reasonable (I'm no pro, don't get me wrong, so I may be off the mark!). Peter, I'm intrigued as to who you think it might be! The one I'm looking at is Barnaby Aldrick.

    From what I can make out, for that £1500 you get:

    Coverage from first thing (as early as you want him) til beyond the first dance

    Pre-wedding shoot and consultation (plus images)

    DVD of 400+ high res, edited images

    Online gallery space for 6 months.

    I showed OH the website last night - he agreed the photos were gorgeous then when I showed him the costs he said he'd been thinking more like £200 or £300. It seems we might be on a different wavelength ? ?

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  • Debbie Graham Jewellery
    Debbie Graham Jewellery ·
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    OH WOW!!! I just had a look at the photographers website.... His pictures are AMAZING

    I LOVE reportage style wedding photgraphy, its what we thought we were getting with our wedding photographer all those years ago, sadly we ended up with nothing like we asked for.

    Afer what happened with our wedding photography I ALWAYS recommend any bride to be to NEVER EVER scrimp on the photography costs because you will never ever get those emotions of the big day on print again

    Debbie

    xx

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  • Hello Sunshine
    Beginner
    Hello Sunshine ·
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    Just been looking at his site again, they are fabulous aren't they? Some of the moments shots have made me feel a bit emotional ?

    I don't think we'll need a wedding car so maybe if we cut there we could put it towards the tog.

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  • K
    Beginner April 2010
    kazndave ·
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    We're paying £400 for ours. he's there from anytime i want in the morning till late on at night. he brings a photo viewer type thing & guests can have their pics taken then buy them straight away for £4 in a frame, it keeps our costs down as he's never taken it to a wedding n not sold any. also means that i can get photos with the night do guests that i wouldn't get if photographer went earlier.

    we get about 60 (ish) photos, album not included but range from £50 upwards and can pay £50 if we want the cd with all the pics on to print ourselves.

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  • Peter
    Peter ·
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    I must admit that I don't know the work of Barnaby.....one of the ones I was thinking it may be was Simon Mark Whitten.

    Peter

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  • Hello Sunshine
    Beginner
    Hello Sunshine ·
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    Ah yes, I was looking at his site yesterday. He was one of the ones which made me think Barnaby Aldrick was comparable price-wise. His work is fabulous, some of the stuff on his site is amazing. My short list is getting longer by the minute ?

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  • Debbie Graham Jewellery
    Debbie Graham Jewellery ·
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    Hi,

    If you do get in touch with the guy who's link I posted, tell him that I sent you over to him. His name is Morgan I have known him since school days - I know he is doing 2 weddings this weekend so he may not reply straight away

    He is such a nice guy, really friendly. He is going to see if he can sort out my botched wedding pics as I have a copy of them on disc, so I may get some nice pics afterall (only 5 years late...)

    Debbie

    xx

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  • Beccy Sprout
    Beginner
    Beccy Sprout ·
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    We found a photographer whose work we loved. We then met her and booked her straight away as we got on so well with her... she cost £1800 for full day coverage with a second shooter (one of my pre requisites!), pre wedding shoot with pics, album with wedding pics, gallery etc etc. But be warned especially if you love their work because after the wedding we viewed our pics and they were all so amazing that we upgraded our album package straight away plus bought all the pics on cd (3 variations of each pic eg, for web, for email and for print)... whoopsy!

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  • 1Lucie
    Beginner May 2011
    1Lucie ·
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    Hi,

    I've just booked my photographer for 2011 (prices to be held for us). Its costing £950. This includes;

    Cd with all images edited and in black/white, colour and vintage.

    5 mounted photos.

    1 framed pic or box canvas.

    1 large reportage album with 100images.

    2 parent albums with 50 images.

    The time period being from getting ready until way into evening recepetion. I am in Cambs area. Our photographer is the same one that oh la la's engagement photos. Hope this helps.

    I think ur quote is a little pricey but probably not way off of the scale. Be very selective and do ur research! My oh is a amuteur photographer and couldn't believe how poor some of the photographers pictures were for the price (this includes ones who were charging over £3,000).

    xx

    Edit

    i just checked out your photographers website. They appear to be lovely photos from the ones i looked at.

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  • WeddingPrincess
    Beginner June 2010
    WeddingPrincess ·
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    Sorry to crash this thread but Peter could I possibly pick your brain a little bit? We too are based in Yorkshire (East) and have booked our tog quite a while ago now. However, I cant seem to shake this niggling feeling that I have about him.

    Dont get me wrong, when we met him he was lovely and said all the right things and we were really impressed with his work. It is just that his website has no new pictures on since we last met with him (June last year) and at the time he said he was in the process of having another constructed but this is yet to happen. (I am really hoping that he is too busy to do any of this!) I havent seen him at any wedding fayres and not people seem to have heard of him. It has just made me feel a little uneasy about it all. I am probably worrying for no reason but could I possibly tell you who it is and see if you have maybe heard of him?? If this is really cheeky I am sorry just thought you might be able to help.

    I will email you if you like. Wouldnt want to sully anybody's reputation or anything!

    Thanks

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  • The BFG
    Beginner August 2010
    The BFG ·
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    Alan Benson Photography
    Wedding & Landscape Photography
    5th January 2010
    These are the details for the photographer we are using, his prices are great compared to alot we looked into, we have met with him a couple of times and found him very professional and approachable he knew what he was talking about and we have great faith in him capturing our day . Goodluck in your search x
    • Home
    • About
    • Gallery
    • Wedding Packages
    • Slide show
    • Contact
    • links
    • Guestbook
    Wedding Packages and price list
    Please have a look at my Gallery at my other Photos as these are for Sale
    and a donation of 25% goes to HELP FOR HEROS

    2010 PRICE LIST

    Digital Story Book A4 £70

    Silver Package
    A minimum of 100 photos of the day put onto 2 dvd discs
    30 various sized photos put into an album
    A DVD slide show with 50+ photos set to your choice of music
    All Photos are Copyright Free
    £465.00


    Gold Package
    A minimum of 150 photos of the day put onto 2 dvd discs
    40 various sized photos put into an album
    A DVD slide show with 100+ photos set to your choice of music
    Two Parents Albums with 30 x 7x5 photos of thier choice
    One 20x16 inch photo printed and mounted ready for framing.
    All Photos are Copyright Free
    £699.00

    Platinum
    We start by visiting the brides house photographing her and the bridesmaids getting ready,then moving onto the ceremony and through to the reception,we will photograph the cutting of the cake and will even stay to capture the first dance,giving you a complete record of your special day.
    A minimum of 200 photographs of the day on 2 dvd discs.
    50 various sized photos put into an album
    A DVD slide show with 150 photos set to your choice of music
    Two Parents Albums 10x10 with 30 7x5 photos of thier choice
    Two 20x16 inch photographs printed and mounted ready for framing
    All Photos are Copyright Free
    £1075.00

    Book = £70.00
    Parents Album £70.00

    Please Note all Photos on DVD discs are Copyright -FREE


    :
    RSS: Wedding Packages Gallery
    Photos and Content © Alan Benson
    Powered by Photium
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  • The BFG
    Beginner August 2010
    The BFG ·
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    Oops that didnt work very well did it!!!! lol maybe you could check out his site, www.alanbensonphotography.co.uk x

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  • Hello Sunshine
    Beginner
    Hello Sunshine ·
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    Thanks for your input on this everyone, and for the link Lorna ? (he seems very reasonable!).

    I'm no further on with this at all. I just spend hours looking at people's websites and get no nearer to a decision, but have resolved to have appointments set up by the end of the month!

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  • The BFG
    Beginner August 2010
    The BFG ·
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    No probs and he will travel Smiley smile

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  • Peter
    Peter ·
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    Do feel free email me and I will find out what I can......FWIW, my site needs updating too!!!!. I am sure that all is probably ok. FWIW, not all photographers do Wedding Fayres, so don't worry about him not appearing at any...

    Peter

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  • D
    DeanC ·
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    Hi,

    Just for information our prices start at £500 for last minute bookings and go up to £1800 for a Graphistudio Wedding book, 2 parent books and 8 guest books.

    A DVD slideshow and a freindly photographer is complimentary.

    Hope that helps,

    Dean

    www.deancarney.com

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  • sazelbean
    Beginner February 2010
    sazelbean ·
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    Just wanted to give details of mine as i'm getting married in yorkshire next month. WOuldn't want to recomend just yet - wait until he's done ours first!! but his website shots are great. Very natural, no formal waiting around, colour and b&w.

    We're paying £600 for a full day (around 8-9hrs) and a disc to print our own pics of all taken during the day after editing. We have an engagement shoot this weekend so we can get used to each other (inc in price) and if we did want an album is another £200 for full printed 'book' style album with all edited photos of the day.

    You definatly need to meet them before you book - me and h2b are very nervous in front of camera and was important to h2b that he had someone he could 'relate' too (think thats means young and male rather than older woman who will boss him around lol)

    make a few appointments and go chat to them in person. Good idea to have flexibility in budget too - we didn't bother with cars so i could have chair covers and we got our bm dress free as a special offer with my dress so i spent more money on that

    x

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  • millymolly83
    Beginner August 2010
    millymolly83 ·
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    We are having an 8 hour shoot, including bridal prep and groom arrival, speeches, cutting of cake and first dance.

    Also our photo album, 2 parent albums, 8 mini albums and thank you cards for the guests.

    Thats costing us £1795

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  • Hello Sunshine
    Beginner
    Hello Sunshine ·
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    Thanks very much for this Sazelbean, that sounds really reasonable and just what we'd be looking for. I know you don't want to rec. yet but would you mind posting or PMing the name so I could have a look?

    I really appreciate everyone's input to this, cheers. For me, after the venue / food this is the bit I really want to get right, so thank you.

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  • sazelbean
    Beginner February 2010
    sazelbean ·
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    Yeah no worries - He's called Matt Sanderson and if his photos are as good as the service he's provided so far i'll be very impressed. He's been in constant contact through email checking on our plans and if we have any questions he always replies within 24hrs

    hth

    Sarah x

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  • sazelbean
    Beginner February 2010
    sazelbean ·
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    I just googled his name and chesterfield and his website comes up on top - couldn't remember exactly what it was.

    (btw - the wedding photos on his blog (jess the bride i think) thats my venue!! Smiley smile)

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