the great photography swindle...

Then don't, choose a photographer that suits your style and budget.

Define 'worth it'. To me, having pictures that will be my memories of the wedding for the rest of my life is worth investing a fair chunk of the wedding budget in.

I guess its because its potentially a weekend, plus there are many hours of editing involved, on top of the pressure to get all the shots perfect within the one day. I agree prices sometimes seem steep, but there are some reasonable photographers out there if you have a scout about.

No way, not only do they give up their saturdays to work, the hours and hours of work that go into sorting, arranging and editing the thousands of pictures taken, travel expenses, the upkeep of incredibly expensive equipment, prints and albums, and PURE natural talent to be ABLE to photograph a wedding beautifully. You arent only paying for the hours they stay at your wedding

Photography is our second biggest splash, after the food is eaten, the booze is drank, the dress goes back in the box and all you have left is the pictures.

You really get what you pay for in the end.

While your quote about all you have left is pictures hit the nail on the head, i dont think working oin a sat is reason to double your prices.. im just saying, why are weddings treble the price of there day rates... they must have to do all this work on there normal shoots...

It is ridiculous and I agree it's nice to have some nice photos and we have got a good phtographer!But i still begrudge paying a lot of money I mean really how often are you going to get them out once the post wedding buzz has worn off !

I personally think it is worth the money, as they have to do quite a bit of prep, work hard on the day, and then do hours of editing of potentially hundreds of photos. It's a skill that not everyone will be able to do.

If you can't afford the price for a full package with albums, then consider a disc-only package

Gosh guys, its an age-old debate i'm sorry to say. I charged a lot for weddings simply because one wedding was a full weeks work for me, editing, collating, backing up, admin, album design, slideshow making, uploading, resizing for the printers, uploading to the printers, ordering albums, putting albums together (this takes one day in itself) not counting the initial meeting with the clients, endless telephone calls, visits to their venue, a full 10-11 hours on the day excluding a possible 2 hour drive each way, also paying my assistant for a days second-shooting. behind the scenes we have: expensive cameras and numerous lenses and full back-ups for everything, flash-guns, memory cards, leads, battery packs etc. insurance, training, marketing costs, running a business costs. Photographers are business people, we run a business, we have to mkake enough money to cover our costs and have a nice profit at the end - or why would we do it? Would you do it???? A wedding is an incrediblly important time and as such we put our hearts and souls into making it just perfect for you, its extremely stressfull and its for this reason ive now stopped doing weddings, there is enoromous pressure on the photographer to supply you with your perfect images. A simple 8-hour shoot with a couple on location would be a breeze for me - factor in a wedding and its pure adrenaline - stress, sweat and pressure. Add all the costs above to this and you see why we charge as we do. There is no pressure on you the consumer to pay these costs - ask Uncle Bob to take them if you aren't a 'photo' person who will never look at their images again anyway. No skin off your nose! If you ARE a photo person and want some cherished images, pay a professional to do the job properly - honestly its worth it in the end - ive had countless emails off REALLY upset brides asking me to do something with their rubbish wedding photos.

sorry to garble on, but I really hate having to justify why a true professional charges what they do - would you walk into the best restaurant in London and complain loudly about their prices? No, you'd just go somewhere else, somewhere within your budget. There is a good photographer out there to suit all budgets.

*sigh* I don't mean to sound harsh, but in a similar way to you tiring of people hiking their prices, I get tired of people wanting something for nothing and declaring "I am looking for someone who is really good, but also really cheap".

I struggle to believe that good photographers DO hike up their prices simply due to the word wedding. The price you are quoted includes insurances, membership of professional bodies, well maintained and often state of the art equipment, possibly another photographer/assistant, days and days of editing, time spent with you answering your queries both before and in the weeks immediately after the wedding and probably lots and lots more. You just get what you pay for - as with most things.

Well said Nicola

This is the bit that puzzles me. There are as many suppliers (of all types, not just Togs!) who charge less than £500 as there are who charge over £2000. There's something out there for everyone. No one forces you to choose the more expensive option. If you have seen a supplier you really want but it appears they are too expensive, call them and see what is up for negotiation. If it's still too expensive, then you need to make the decision to choose an alternative, or make sacrifices elsewhere in the budget.

This 100%. I ❤️ you Gurzle.

Thanks bruv ?

That fair enough, without being rude, if i asked you to come to my back garden and take photos of my kids for 8 hours would it be the same price as the wedding?

if not why, you still have to do all they stuff you said...

would you walk into the best restaurant in London and complain loudly about their prices? No, you'd just go somewhere else, somewhere within your budget.

but would they double there price if i mentioned i got married that day...no

again, im not popping at photographers , im just trying to find out the reasons why the massive price difference because of the mention of the word wedding...

Iv not asked for something for nothing. im just trying to find out how you justify your prices because one of the women are in a wedding dress...

I think i'd get arrested if I did that!! ?

Seriously though, I think the point as to why it's more expensive has been made - it's a one-off occasion - the Tog only has one chance to get it right and the level of skill that some Togs have reached at getting those perfect shots means they can command a premium price for that service.

Are you sure this is the case, Joneyyy1981? Maybe you should ask photographers who appear to charge a lot less for another, similar job which entails all of the preparation, equipment, follow up work and time that a wedding does, what their price breakdown is. If they are unable to provide you with a reasonable account of costs then take your business elsewhere. Reputable photographers will charge a cost which is representative of their skill and the amount of time and effort it takes for them to produce a product you are happy with - their reputation is worth more than 'swindling' the odd wedding customer out of a couple of hundred quid.

Our TOG is the second biggest expense after our venue. I think some TOGs are true artists and worth every penny (ours included) decent photos will be timeless but i did see a few TOGs while doing my research that writing prices there photos cant cash.

Our TOG is a friend of FBIL's - so we got mates rates. He is an amazing photographer and to be honest if he'd charged us the full amount I'd happily pay it as his work is his life - you can tell just from looking at the photographs.

Right, here's my take on it.

I'm around £1000-£1200 for a wedding.

For this I usually end up meeting couples beforehand (3 hours at least with travel), then there's all the correspondance and prep for the day (3 hours at least) then there's the day itself, (10 hours not including travel time). Then there is all the convoluted lighting, people management and artistry involved. Probably 3 locations involved too.

Then there's the editing which on a wedding usually can take 3-4 days and I'd deliver between 500-800 images.

So far you've got around 6 days work out of me for a grand. For a professional artist. With professional images averaging out at £1-£2 each.

So say someone wanted me to photograph a kids party? I'd charge £150 for that, for 2 hours and around 100 images and two hours editing.

The only time I would do 8 hours for £250 would be if I was doing no editing at all on anything, ever. Not only that I'd only do it near to where I live or I'd charge fuel on top. Editing is where the chunk of work takes place! (To be honest, I don't think I'd even do that for so little).

So shoot and burn in wedding hours would equate to £250 x 6 days = £1500.

Kids party in wedding time would equate to £150 x 2 = 1 day (£300) x 6 days = £1800.

Weddings are a whole different kit and kaboodle of work and are probably the best overall package available from a tog.

So finally, Six 8 hour days is what, 48 hours. At £1200 it works out at £25 per hour. But from that I also have to pay all of my costs such as fuel, car, insurance, those two camera bodies worth 5k each and the selection of expensive lenses which need service and repair....oh and Tax.

Well explained, thanks

Everything Chris said.

Consultation 3 hours.

Venue visit 3 hours.

Pre-wedding/engagement shoot plus editing 8 hours.

Correspondence 3 hours.

The actual day which can be up to 16 hours.

Editing again 3-4 full days work.

Consultation after wedding to go through photographs 3 hours.

Plus people management, lots of pressure and a high personal standard to meet I don't think I over charge at all and my rates are extremely competitive. Expenses are also huge I have spent thousands on my equipment not to mention my insurance, advertising and accountant. Its definitely not just a case of showing up taking photos and handing them over on a disc.

As said previously you get what you pay for and wedding photography is massively high pressure you have to put the time in to get to know the couple, show up to the wedding and behave professionally and friendly for up to 16 hours while being constantly on the ball so you don't miss any of those important moments, I go home exhausted after a wedding (Good job I love it so much)

I also don't know about anyone else but I only do one wedding a week so I can keep my high standards of service and not tire myself out so that is taken into consideration for me as well.

Every photographer is completely different, the best thing to do is to set your budget and find 3 or 4 photographers that you like with in that budget and meet with them, if you find someone you love but they are over your budget get in contact and see if they are open to negotiation or if they can do less hours etc.

You also need to decide on the style and just how important the photography is to you. Maybe get in touch with some photography schools and see if they have any budding wedding photographers looking to build up their portfolio and experience in exchange for a lower rate, its a bit of a risk but you never know you might have a future Mario Testino photographing your wedding.

Best of luck in finding someone

Joney,

Unfortunately a lot of togs let people down. Usually the newish ones who get a better offer etc. It doesn't make it right and it's not your fault if you've been let down!

Ask on the forum if any togs are available on the 27th of July. I know I am but I've one on the 25th and 26th so if I was to turn up I might be a bit, erm, tired!

Funny

My point was that i don't like to do back to back weddings. I have a few abroad this year and other parts of the UK and I don't think it would be fair for clients for me to show up to their wedding knackered from a wedding the day before and travelling all night so its best to keep it simple. It also leaves the rest of the week free for editing, consultations and engagement shoots. Again that goes back to the point of how every photographer is different.

With your first point thats why contract and deposit are so important they are their to protect both client and photographer.