Photographer help!!!

Hey,

It is achievable for that price for sure, although I'm not sure about the book. I would definitely say don't just book the first person you see in a rush, make sure you really like the photographer and their work, and that you meet them first to check that you get along with them. I sometimes think booking togs is like uni freshers looking for their first house. Everyone gets in a panic and whilst it might be the case that the really super top end best houses are gone, realistically you'll never be homeless!

Also I wouldn't bracket yourself really hard. What if you saw someone you really liked for £50 more, surely you'd just take them? I'd say look for photography you really love, meet them to see if you like them and worry about price after. There might be deals and compromises that can be made!

It depends on the quality you want.

I'm not only a tog but I'm getting married in 2014 myself and I'd never consider someone who charges less than 1k for image supply (on a disc) only, we've budgeted £1500.

Your wedding photos are important. Books aren't and can be put together anytime.

The reason I wouldn't touch someone under 1k would be because personally, I want a professional. Someone who runs a sustainable business and has done so for a few years, who has experience, who isn't supplementing their full time job, who's insured and has decent equipment. And who'll turn up.

I'm aware of the costs involved and can't see how anyone can do it for less than £1000 (Saturday, July, a year away) without some form of compromise.

Those that do do it for less will be those new to the scene building their portfolio. I started out at £200 all day, so it's certainly do able and there are the usual risks involved with someone new. My camera is a flagship 5k one and I know people £200 less than me using a £1000 camera with a £300 backup. The £1200-£1500 mark will get you some class pros. Again, it boils down to what's important to you ?

I am all of those Chris yet I charge less than £1000. There are many togs out there who will charge less than that magical £1000 figure although are better than many who charge more. At the end of the day its the photography that counts more than the price. I have seen many start up togs charge over £1000 because they perceive this as "the going rate" and think they can get away with it. Of course, many of those simply disappear once they realise that weddings aren't easy.

My costings are based on local weddings, I don't often travel too far as I like to create relationships with local suppliers and ministers(this often allows the tog more leeway.....there are several local churches that ban any photography....although they will allow me as I am a known to them. I also have a highly productive corporate side (Mrs C is aware of what this is) this allows me to be very well priced for couples as I don't have to rely solely on wedding photography. My income is based across the whole week and not just the long weekend when most weddings happen(Ok, editing for many is done in the quiet day.....I don't have quiet days)

Bottom line is that price is not always an indicator to quality.

Peter

Hmmmmmmm defiantly food for thought!

Spending £1000 or more is simply out of the question- we just dont have the money to do it.

We are thinking about getting rid of the book element and just getting a disk of the images and making our own book/album/parent album- ive got 4 weeks after the wedding to be creative and sort it before i go back to school!!

thank you so much for your help.

Clare

Sorry Chris but I have to completely agree with Peter on this...

Price is only an indicator of what they charge.....photographic images are an indicator of how good they are.

I charge £ 825 for a DVD of all the images from coverage of the Bridal preps to half an hour after 1st Dance.

Best regards

Dean

www.deancarney.com

I agree with Peter, and this is speaking from the Brides perspective!

I have seen plenty of photographers over the last few weeks, and a good chunk of them not charging less than £1000 for just the basic package, and in my opinion their pictures were terrible.

I have found a fantastic photographer who will cover my whole day from prep to first dance for £600, hes a lovely guy and hes so passionate and his work is fantastic, and i think it is more because it is a hobby for him, as he has a full time job and just does it because he enjoys it.

I am a full-time photographer with equipment to cover from bright daylight through to moonlight coverage (and it's nowhere near 5k).

Images (full 300-1500+ per wedding) say a lot more about the capability of a photographer than the price tag (without a clever sales gimmick) such as giving away all the photographs for couples to process themselves. The difference between a good and very capable professional photographer and an exceptional one is the quality of their post-processing.

Also, I always give a complimentary print to my couples (with DVD packages) so, wherever they get their prints from, they are at least aware of how good they could be.

In my opinion, wedding books and albums are the best way to see the quality of work a photographer can produce.

I know some of you guys don't agree with my post, which I expected. I'm talking generally and granted it's cheaper up North with various things coming into play with pricing.

But personally I'd never book someone for less than a grand, you have to shoot 40 weddings a year to clear a decent wage and cover costs at that price.

We have found one we like the look of for £350-£400. Meeting her next weekend to see how it all goes, bit worried now reading other posts about needing to spend over £1000 but we just don't have that! I'm a Buckinghamshire bride so definitely not someone getting cheaper northern prices as someone else said but I think you can get good value and not back the bank on photography.

i think you have to decide what's the most important - a book can be made any time but you can never get more photos or better quality.

As Giles has said £350-400 would be the cost of someone starting out - it's a great way to get a cheap(er) photographer as everyone starts somewhere.

The thing that interests me is the "a book can be made any time but you can never get more photos or better quality".

A good wedding photographer will only ever use 'RAW' to capture the images. This is like a digital negative. My point is that the end resulting photograph is only as good as the processing of the RAW file. The RAW file can be changed infinitely to suit knowledge, taste, or any other requirements that you, the client, might request.

So, I could give you a DVD of images that you'll love and in x years time think to myself, I could have done much better due to experience and knowledge of how to process those files. This is why I would argue that the more experienced photographers charge more.

You always get what you pay for (within reason of course).

Chris, that is a comment about profit and NOT quality....they are very different things.

I am now backing off from this thread as togs arguing does our profession no favours.

Peter

Our photographer is $850 and I am thrilled with him. I looked for a longgggg time to find one whos style I liked and when I saw his prices I was almost shocked because his quality is leaps and bounds above others in my mind (going from what I saw from galleries). Mine does come with a book, however the next package above came with a better book. We decided to go lower and either do the book ourselves or, get the book made done AFTER the wedding, so its not part of the budget.

It's not about profit. It's about being good enough to charge that and run a sustainable business. People will always check out the togs work first and their business will be generated by referrals, ratings and delivered work. If people are willing to book that person, year on year at their prices it shows they are good at what they do.

Last year I covered 54 weddings and have 41 bookings for 2013 so far. This indicates my price point and image quality is accurately balanced.

Nobody is arguing either Pete, quality isn't always related to price. We know this. But what I have had is 4 inquiries this year from people who have had their tog go AWOL because they've either had a better offer or are no longer doing it. All were around the £450-£800 bracket. We're only 7 weeks into 2013 and I know several very good togs who charge a few hundred more than me who are in single digits for this year. So price and quality do have a relationship. A really good tog can turn down work and keep their prices up...but only to a point then the bookings will fall off dramatically.

I'll always pick someone whose work is excellent for my price range. But I won't spend 3k for example. So like everyone else I'm limited by budget. Just as those who are limited to under £1000. Budgets are what they are and weddings have a habit of creating a debt shadow larger than the couple and I really advise against that.

In general the guide has usually been 10% of your budget should go towards a tog. I think this is accurate even if your day is 5k or 50k.

Hi Cecdesigner,

I notice you are in Birmingham - me too!

A friend of a friend has recommended Katrina Morris Photography to me who is based in Coventry, I am not meeting her for a couple of months but I had a look at the website and love the photos and because our budget is very similar to yours I am very excited about meeting up with them.