Wedding photography

andygb

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

Best wedding advice is to get married as early as possible in the morning, then if
it doesn't work out at least you haven't wasted the whole day.

Who are we talking about here Bob, the newly married couple or the photographer.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

fatgit

joolesw1972 wrote: »

who gives us the photos on cd/dvd and full copyright,.

Photos on CD/DVD is one thing, full copyright is an entirely different matter.

No photographer should EVER EVER EVER give away copyright on their photos. Complete and utter idiot if they do.

joolesw - out of interest, what do you mean by the term 'copyright'?

edit: i see aimee above has mentioned granting licence, this is another thing entirely too.

andygb

omeyas wrote: »

Don't want to sound negative, but nowadays everyone that has a DSLR fancies himself as a wedding tog. I have done two lately for relatives, neither wanted to hire an official photographer, they were going to put an album together from the efforts of friends. And they aren't short of money, they just don't like the formal stuff. More and more people are favouring "reportage" style over the normal formal shots. You'll need to be able to put together DVD's, photo albums together, it's all very time consuming, a very steep learning curve if you are not already up to speed. And unless you have something special to offer, you'll find yourself fighting with "weekend warriors" to get work. I have turned down six weddings, it's a job I'd hate to do, but if you fancy your chances, give it go. Tells us when you have made your first million.
You could do worse than look at the forums at ephotozine.(it won't let me do links!) Do a search for "weddings", there are loads of wannabe wedding togs there, and pros.

Not negative at all, just realistic I would say. The digital age, together with quality and speed has changed things, largely for the better. What it has also done, is to give some people a false sense of confidence. Amateurs who have no basic skills, no technical knowledge, just stick the thing on auto, use the pop up flash if necessary, and produce a set of reasonable prints/images. The problem is, that when the dust settles, and the couple have a bit of time to look at the pictures sober, then there will be obvious reasons why they were cheap and quick.
I do not anticipate making a million, but what I do want, is to present any couple with a set of images which will "wow" them, vibrant reminders of the best day of their lives.

andygb

aimee21j wrote: »

I think that price is a fair price to start. On a different wedding form (youandyourwedding) there is a huge list of all the sub £500 photographers so if you offer a package that is less than £500 you could be included in that. I will stress that the lady we are using has been very flexible as she lives locally to us. As she has low overheads involved with travelling, she has upgraded the package. I do however think it is important to offer a license to re print (you still hold the copyright) as a lot of brides I have spoken to rule out photographers that don't offer this.

Something very important to add: More important thanthe price was the service. I needed to know that my photographer held public liability insurance and there would be a back up photographer if she happened to be unavailable to work. Flexibility was very attractive and she was happy to put together a package to suit us and our budget.

There are quite a few who offer a £250 "bargain basement" package, but it is just that, and they will try to gloss over it, and steer you towards a far more prestigious product. Insurance is a definite. The licence to reprint is a good idea, but carte blanche control over the CD is a none starter.

omeyas

aimee21j wrote: »

Something very important to add: More important thanthe price was the service. I needed to know that my photographer held public liability insurance and there would be a back up photographer if she happened to be unavailable to work. Flexibility was very attractive and she was happy to put together a package to suit us and our budget.

You're right, insurance, back up camera flash etc, and back up photographer. All good wedding photographers have all this, and more, but often someone starting out might not. Wedding photographers join groups, where if one is ill, indisposed for someone reason, someone else steps in, thus saving the day! Literally! If you get a cheap weekend warrior in, and his camera or flash develops a fault (it happens, believe me) and he has no backup, tht's your day gone.You get very much what you pay for, you'll struggle to get a good wedding photographer for less than four figures.Most won't get out of bed for less than a grand! (includes album,dvd possibly)

andygb

omeyas wrote: »

You're right, insurance, back up camera flash etc, and back up photographer. All good wedding photographers have all this, and more, but often someone starting out might not. Wedding photographers join groups, where if one is ill, indisposed for someone reason, someone else steps in, thus saving the day! Literally! If you get a cheap weekend warrior in, and his camera or flash develops a fault (it happens, believe me) and he has no backup, tht's your day gone.You get very much what you pay for, you'll struggle to get a good wedding photographer for less than four figures.Most won't get out of bed for less than a grand! (includes album,dvd possibly)

Well, nobody has yet suggested a figure above £500 so what does that tell you?
We are in a recession, and there are probably twelve million workers in this country earning less than £15K a year, do you seriously think that they and others earning the average wage (£24K a year), will be prepared to spend a grand on a photographer?

aimee21j

I wasn't prepared to spend a grand. What mattered to me was looking at a decent set of pics (in the flesh) and my photographer compared to those who were charging at least double.

karen_newcastle

andygb wrote: »

Well, nobody has yet suggested a figure above £500 so what does that tell you?
We are in a recession, and there are probably twelve million workers in this country earning less than £15K a year, do you seriously think that they and others earning the average wage (£24K a year), will be prepared to spend a grand on a photographer?

The wedding photographer has to make a living too in these tough times. For example if I quote £1000 for photography my profit might be £500. So to earn that average wage you quoted I need to be doing at least 50 weddings a year and that is pretty difficult to acheive.

andygb

karen_newcastle wrote: »

The wedding photographer has to make a living too in these tough times. For example if I quote £1000 for photography my profit might be £500. So to earn that average wage you quoted I need to be doing at least 50 weddings a year and that is pretty difficult to acheive.

So, does the wedding photographer only work one day a week? What is your point? Why do you only make £500 profit out of £1000, are you flying from the US to the UK to do every wedding? Nothing you have said makes sense, because I was trying to explain that the ordinary person in the street will not pay a grand for wedding photos.

o_t_e

Hi Andy - correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like you believe Karen's work begins and end on the wedding day; in reality she'll have spent several hours with the couple before the wedding and most likely be spending a full working week post processing images in photoshop and designing albums.

While I can't break down Karen's budget if she's providing a decent quality album - Kiss, Jorgensen etc - well that could be £400 out of the £1000 right there.

You'll need insurance for your kit, liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance to factor into how much you charge. Similarly you need to think about the costs of your tools and factor those figures into your profit. If your start with a base line of two camera bodies, two sets of flashguns, two f2.8 zoom lenses, and two f1.4 primes, the costs of that equipment, has to be factored into your profit and the knowledge you'll be replacing some of it in 2-3 years time.

There's certainly a market for the £500 wedding photographer. There's also a market for the £1000 wedding photographer. There's also a market for the £2000 wedding photographer - it just isn't to be found on moneysavingexpert.com.

Good luck in your venture.