Photographers - What are you getting for your money?

£500 engagement shoot- with an album of these photos

photography on the day- from getting ready to first dance. cd with photos. and an album

ohh plus a boundair shoot- with an album

Our TOG is giving us:

2 photographers all day from bridal prep to 10;30 at evening reception

Photo book album 10x10 and 80 images

2x parents albums

4x framed photos 10x8 for the dads

Order of photographs provided for attendees so they know what's happening.

Large signature mount with image

All images on disk for us to reproduce as we wish

Mini studio at evening reception

He's fully insured and carries spare equipment at all times.

All for £1500. He offers more than this on a personal level and I expect him to be worth every penny......HTH

I still dunno if ours is a good deal or not lol ? Yours seems very very good Becci.

We get:

Engagement Shoot,

Coverage of whole day from Bridal Preparation upto First Dance (Approx 10 hours),

2 Photographers,

Two discs containing all images in black and white and colour,

3 prof edited slideshows set to music (Pics chosen by us).

For £925.

This board i think will cause a lot of different opinions- like the kinda budget ones do. my wedding is costing no more than £4grang. and i have my photographer for £500. i would never ever spend anymore than that. i am getting a lot for my money. she is a very experienced photographer- loads of weddings, get on well with her, and generally really like her. so she charges £500. so for me any more money than that is silly. already we have had 3 completly different answers on this already- completly different prices.

suppose it comes down to how you feel about your photographer and how much you want to spend

We want nice, unposed, natural pics as well as the usual posed ones, don't particularly want an Album just want all pics from the day on a disc to do as we wish with them.

I think I may have another look round before sending this contract back with a deposit. I've just found a mistake on the contract anyway, she's wrote that we will be paying £975 altogether when it's actually £925. I dunno why, I just don't feel 100% comfortable now ?

Our budget is £1000 approx as we're not having an album.

Sammy is right about going for someone you like. our TOG is way over our initial budget, and the main reason we have booked him is that we trust him and he's given us confidence that he'll do a great job. The fact he's given us so much for it is wonderful and we are lucky. We did meet with other less pricey TOG's but none of them suited us and it was just too important a thing not to go with who we genuinely liked. We've just had to be a bit sensible elsewhere!

If you dont feel comfortable now then thats not a good start- and making mistakes- even little typing errors- could end really nasty

remember this person is photographying your wedding day- its a lot of money- and heartache if it goes wrong.

try google to see if there any others around- also try wedding fayres- as you can meet them and they give disounts there. remember to make sure you see whole weddings photoed not just little bits and pieces from loads of weddings.

if you dont want an album then £1000 seems a lot to me- i am paying half that- and getting an album and cd with all the images on.

Ours is £2040, for two photographers for the day (no bridal prep shots as I don't want them), a disc of all images for for us to reproduce images for friends and family and a 12 x 8" magazine-style alum of 60 mixed-size images.

May not seem like a lot compared to what others are getting, but of all the togs we saw we were the most impressed with their images and the way in which we work, and got on well with them and felt comfortable with them. I am pretty self-conscious and hate having my photo taken, and they were the only ones we met that made me feel at ease - we met one who seemed extremely extroverted and gregarious - not a problem in itself, but we both felt that he would try to take control of the day, and both from the style of his images and the things he said we felt he was too intersted in trying to direct people in what to do, rather than just naturally capturing the day as it happens.

Having said this, all the ones around us (certainly the ones we were recommended and found by trying to do our own research) tended to be on the expensive side - there was maybe one I saw that did a package for £1000, but nearly all were upwards of £1500, and most closer to £2000.

As sammywheeler said, you're likely to get a variety of answers, as well as differences in overall budgets and how much of the budget people allocate to photography, I suspect there may be some regional variations in price as well (could be totally wrong with that of course, haven't really looked into it).

Think as long as you're happy with your tog, that you both feel comfortable with them and know you'll be at ease with them on the day, and that they have included everything that you want to have in the package, taht's the main thing. I know that for most people it does take up a fair chunk of the budget, but as they are going to be the one thing (other than your memories of the day) that you will have for years to come, personally I think it's worth it.

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Do be aware that many albums themselves may well cost several 100£s for the photographer to get from the manufacturer...thats before they pay for the prints to go in it, Comparing prices without the full detail is never going to work, there are just too many variables that skew the perception of true "value" At the end of the day, when choosing a tog, you need to like the photography that the photographer delivers more than their price.(Budget allowing)

Peter

Sorry BB, took ages typing this so missed your second post - if you are having doubts and not feeling quite comfortable with them then may be worth delaying confirming the booking - sometimes little niggling doubts (even if over things like spelling mistakes) can be indicative of you just having an instinctive feeling that something isn't quite right in general - have they given a date you need to confirm by? May be worth taking a little longer to think about it, maybe see if you can meet anyone else and see how you get on with them?

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I would totally agree with this...although I would, wouldn't I..........?

We're getting

Two pre wedding visits. The coverage starts at the mother of the bride’s house and finishes at the mock cake cutting. An album that holds forty 5”x 7” prints. A preview / proof book with all the photos of the day. A framed 16”x 12” photograph of your choice. Two post wedding visits. Online viewing of all the wedding photographs. Photograph manipulation and special effects are free.

That's £550. On top of that we are getting a disc of all the images taken as a 'show special offer' we went to for free (normally £300) plus for another £50 he will cover the evening as far as the first dance (or £25 an hour thereafter), and set up a small studio in an unobtrusive corner and do portrait shots of our guests for £10 each that they can take away on the evening.

I have photoshop skills (albeit not a professional so I'm a bit slow) and access to a good quality printer through work, so any extra shots required (like a family shot for aunty Mabel) I can run off myself and use frames from the pound shop if necessary, that'll save quite a lot. We also plan to use one of the 'photo book creation' services for family albums as gifts as, again, I can do a lot of the montage and preparation work myself.

As others have said, finding a photographer you're comfortable with is probably the most important thing, possibly more than price in some ways. We went to a wedding fair and met 6 photographers, and the one we picked (who is also only half an hour from our venue) really stood out as being the one that we liked far more than any of the others there. With the show offer as well saving £300 really clinched the deal. He has over 20 years experience plus is a member of the SWPP which also helps.

The most important thing you get for your money, is the skill of the person that is behind the camera. The same apples for DJ's, Bands, Videographers, Florists, Cake makers, Chefs etc. etc..

A lot of vendors sell on the goods they give you, when the skills they have are so much more important. A good deal is when you get both great skill and product at a excellent price

We're paying £650 for five hours and get this:

• a CD full of your high-quality full-resolution images, so you can print, copy and distribute your images as you wish
• a selection of approximately 400 6" x 4" prints from the day
• a full online gallery that is available for your friends and family to view and purchase prints as required
• careful editing of each and every photo using the latest version of Adobe Photoshop
• no limit to the number of photos taken.

I went to scholl with the photographer and she also took pictures at my friend's wedding so I know she's good.

We will be paying £1400 and for that we get bridal prep and groom prep shots. He will do all the usual duties until 7PM when he will then set up a photobooth and will take shots n Personal messages from all our guests. The guest will get a pic of themselves too.

we got a 20 page a4 story book album plus some large prints. also got low res images on disc for review and the photos of guests will be made into a proper book like album showin the pic and the message.

i know we could have got cheaper, But as everyone else says, he was perfect for us.

At the end of the day its price over quality and what you are happy with, also different areas will command different price brackets and those on the high street usually charge more than those working from home,

As long as you have had a good look around and seen a few different photographers then you should feel confident in your choice, at the end of the day its not what photographer you can get for the lowest amount but what photographer offers the best work in your pricerange.

We are of a creative organisation and no photographer will offer the same as another and so will price on what they think they are worth against the competition.

As peter has said albums are another variable, there are hundreds of album companies out there offering albums from 100's to 1000's of pounds to the photographer.

Speaking as a guy, I can't figure out the value of the "getting ready" shots - I've seen so many with a picture of just a pair of shoes, the bride holding a glass of something with a veil being attached to her head, a bit of lippy being applied ... what's all that about? I've never seen pictures of the groom getting ready, and as it's both of your's big day surely the 'getting ready' shots are taking away from the number of proper shots you can get taken during the day, if a photographer offers a fixed amount of pictures to choose from for your album?

Its all about the little things. Guys get a suit and a pair of shoes.

I imaging the ladies on here will agree when i say its about the little things.

Searching for that perfect dress, Right shoes, right hair style, right flowers to go with the theme Right bridesmaids dresses.

And the prep shots is all about capturing those little things and the details.

and i feel starting like this helps me ease in to the wedding day as the day starts off relaxed (in theory)

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My husband is a photographer. Every couple wants something different, some can't even decide what they want shot or what approach to the day the photographer should have between themselves

Many women dream about and plan their wedding in minute detail from childhood. So while some men dont understand the significance of a pair of shoes (for example) I know that to many brides, it is a major thing for them. We shoot what you want. If you want shoes and getting ready - we shoot shoes and getting ready. If you want details, you get details, if you want unobtrusive people shots - that's what you get. Yes we have done shots of the groom getting ready. We recently had a bride and groom choose about 1/3 of the shots in a 50 photograph album as details and getting ready shots

Mine is costing £699 for photographs from bridal preparations through to the cutting of the cake (before reception). With that I get all the full resolution edited images on disc and a web gallery for friends and family to view and order from. Albums are extra but we plan to make our own.

AJ, while I grant it's less common, some of the photographers we saw did do groom preparation shots too - it was more pics of the groom and best man, ushers etc messing around than pictures of shoes! I'm not having bridal prep shots, as it's just not something that appeals to me personally, but I can see that for a lot of people it would be important - as a lot of planing has gone into getting all the little details right, I can see how people would want to take the opportunity to capture all these images as they will be part of the theme/mood of the wedding as a whole. Apologies for the rubbish formatting by the way, am posting from my phone.

We are paying 750 and get this:

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE DAY: a mix of relaxed/candid images and modern portraiture. No limit on time – 'hairdressers' to 'last dance' if you wish, it's up to you.
UNLIMITED IMAGES (edited and post-processed) delivered to you as Full Resolution & Printable files. I shoot around 1500 images(!) throughout the wedding day then edit the day down to around 250-300 images that tell the complete story of the day. (Every image is always available to view and receive if you wish.)
ONLINE GALLERY for viewing by family and friends.
ONLINE 'PHOTO-VIDEO' that you can email or link to social networking sites.


FREE OPTIONAL EXTRAS:

FASHION/PORTRAIT STUDIO set up at the Reception for Guests: If space allows I can set up my portable studio at the reception to capture some fun studio portraits of guest (particularly good if you have some outrageous friends!). These images are included in the package and can make a great 'Thank You' for people.
IT'S NICE TO HAVE PRINTS: tell me your favourite shots from the day and I'll happily have up to six professionally printed for free to display at home (up to 18”x12”).
PRE-WEDDING MEETING

I think the bridal prep shots are more for the atmosphere of getting ready, aren't they? They're full of the girlie details that a lot of us brides would have spent hours planning.

I suppose it's like girls vs boys getting ready for a night out... Us girls will all go in one room doing our make up, hair, etc and chat and giggle. The boys tend to go to their respectve rooms, put their shirt and jeans/trousers on and then go. It's like 2 hrs vs 2 minutes!

Thanks you for all of your help.. I think it speaks volumes that after I wrote this post I contacted 2 more TOGs. I'm going to go with my gut feeling on this and not send back the contract and continue my search. I've already had one reply from another TOG who is a little more expensive but I get a better 'vibe' from his website (That sounds weird lol!). Just arranging meeting up with him and seeing some more of his pics etc.

When we were looking for our TOG we narrowed it down to 3 people who were all in our price range. We had quotes between £500 and £2500 for pretty much the same service.

The lady we went with in the end had worked at our venue before so knew the photo opportunities already - which will cut down the time we're away from our guests. she does natural shots as well as posed which is what we're after and she was lovely, really sweet.

She will be there from me getting ready up to the first dance and we will get a disc of all our pics (around 500-600) and a slideshow on her website. We will do our own album/s afterwards - chrismas presents etc.

We're paying £500. In the end we said that it was out of three ranging from £500 - £650 but we went with our instinct on her personality...Hope that helps x

I've seen a few threads pop up like these recently and they're a good barometer for pricing.

On points already raised:

Albums can vary wildly in value as opposed to worth. More expensive photographers will use Graphistudio albums for example whereas others will use £50 online 'throw it together yourself' ones. Which you may as well do yourself. That way they're more personal and you pay the actual cost.

The best way to work out the value of a photographer (not the ability) is to work out how much you are paying for the actual images themselves. Take with a pinch of salt any valuations of the 'extras' offered. That unbranded album 'worth' £300 may only cost £50 in raw costs where something like GF smith, Graphistudio or Queensbury are revered and have a checkable pricing structure.

I factor in 6 days work, travel cost, equipment devaluation and insurances in my pricing.

A photographer offering all the images on a DVD, all day coverage, an album and a second photographer for £500 is running at an unsustainable level unless they rush the images. Or they aren't a full time tog meaning they have another job that takes up their time and takes them away from your photos.

At these times of austerity it's understandable that people are looking for value but many competitors are throwing together ill thought out packages to make themselves look better than the rest.

Ask yourself:

1: How many images am I getting.

2: How much am I paying for those images.

Once you have that valuation you can build on that. Pretty much everything else is secondary and can be done at a later date.

Personality is very important but because togs take their payment in advance there's nothing stopping them shrugging their shoulders if theres a problem. This happens at all levels of photography but is much more likely at the lower end of the price bracket.

A scarily high number of people are popping up as wedding photographers thinking there's lots of trade, finding out there isn't and disappearing with deposits. This isn't the norm but something to be aware of.

I'm not knocking any photographers or pro high pricing either. Everyone has a budget to work to and different price levels help couples fill their needs.

I completely agree with Chris' statement.

I would add to that by saying that when I started out, my prices reflected my level of experience and knowledge. My prices have increased commensurately over the years, and I am by no means the most expensive photographer I know. But I am not on what you'd call a budget level either.

It is true that there are photographers out there for every budget and I hope most B&G's get what they want/need.

But in photography as in everything else, you do get what you pay for. The reality of wedding photography, unlike many things, is that you cannot return it if it does not work out.It is the only record of your day, and what you'll keep from the majority of things you paid out for... (which I am certain you all realise, anyway)

A little anecdote, which is 100% true:

When I did my first ever wedding fair, I had my stand between another local (budget) photographer, whom was well known in the area, and a husband and wife team whom did balloon displays for weddings.

The lady on that stand had a bit of a lull in trade and came to look at my books.

She look through and said *I really do wish I had booked you for my wedding*.

I asked why.

*The photographer whom we booked did not turn up himself. He sent someone we never met. All the photos were very dark and in some my husband's suit could not even be seen. The images were awful and the album was so cheap it fell apart after a month*

I was horrified and asked whom she had booked.She pointed at the photographer next to me!

I know this to be true as when I first started I went to see him and he wanted to hire me to shoot weddings for him. I was told how it *worked* and felt I did not want to be part of it.

His starting prices at the time were £250 for an all day coverage. The client got to keep all the negatives from 3 rolls of film. Sounded like an fabulous deal.

Now, I am not saying that all budget photographers will do this. But just beware that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your homework. Find out if the photographer has *verifiable* feedback. Do they shoot the wedding or subcontract it?

An experience and pro photographer has years of training, and invests heavily in his/her business in order to offer clients the best of everything, and peace of mind.Our prices reflect this fact.

But whomever you choose, I hope it will be right for you all and that you will have some wonderful images of your day.

Andrea de Gabriel

I'm going to be paying between £2300-£2800 depending on the album we pick.

That gets me:

- pre-wedding shoot

- signature board with our favourite photograph from the pre-shoot

- two photographers (so we can have bridal prep and groom prep - I want to see what he gets up to in the morning!)

- all day coverage at the wedding

- all images taken fully edited on a USB stick

- online gallery

- either an art album or a Queensbury album (we can't decide)

The pricing for the other TOG we're seeing after New Year is pretty much the same give or take a hundred pounds. It seems like a lot to pay but we love the work of the people we've seen. When we met the first TOG (he came to our house because he was down in London to visit family) it was like having a friend around for a cuppa. He answered most of our questions without us even having to ask them. TBH I don't even know why we're going to see the second one - mostly just because we feel like we should. Though I worry about liking the second guy just as much and not being able to decide!

Our is £995 and includes:

2 Photographers - Photos taken of the bridal gang get ready and me, then they go to the venue to take pictures of my OH & Best Man...Photos of guest, ceremony, up to first dance.

With the package we get 1 large GraphiStudio story book which can hold up to 300 pictures in, 2 parents albums and also 15 mini albums to send with thank you cards to guest around the UK & a CD with all our pictures.

It seems expensive, but the quality is breath taking :-D x

We are paying £749 and getting a husband and wife team from London, a pre-wedding photoshoot, 2 photographers from getting ready to first dance (about 8 hours), 200 digitally ready hi res images on a disc.

The most important thing to me was that I loved their style of photos and when we met up over coffee, she really understood what we wanted. If I am going to be spending all day with these people, I want them to be fun and professional!

She also came recommended from a HIB on here which was also important to me, I didn't look at anyone who wasn't recommended.

£600

Two Photographers - from morning preparation (one tog with me and one with OH) through to the beginning of the wedding breakfast

All the photographs (after editing ) supplied on a DVD slide-show set to music/an index book

The high resolution Jpeg files supplied on DVD allowing you to print your own photos

I'm a bit in the same situation, my sisters boyfriend is a professional photographer in the RAF and has volunteered his services for the complete day- free of charge! He regularly does wedding photography in his spare time so i know he has done it before, i have seen his work and its very good. I just find it hard telling him what i want, as if i were paying for it id be demanding left right and centre, although i'm not paying for it i know that i should still tell him exactly what we want. Any suggestions? He usually charges over £1200 for a days session.

Through browsing the internet and looking at photographer im aware that prices can range anything from £300-£3000!