What to charge for wedding photographyng a wedding

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by nathan mccreery on May 11, 2009 at 2:18pm

I don't want to sound harsh but reality is what it is. I've been photographing weddings for 30+ years so believe me when I say that it sounds to me like your objectives are incompatible. You can "lowball" and do a lot of weddings for little or no return, but you are unlikely to be profitable if you do "lowball" your prices. If you figure out how many hours it takes to photograph a typical wedding, (minimum of four hours in my area) and how much time you'll be spending editing, color correcting etc. and if you sell prints at a lowball price you're going to end up working your a*** off for no return. If you're objective is to offer no charge weddings to people then do it. But don't deceive yourself into thinking that you're being profitable when you're not. The worst part about it is that people will take unfair advantage of your hard, diligent work and then not respect your work because it's either very cheap or free. I've learned some lessons in life and what I just told you is God's honest truth. You'll hurt yourself, you'll hurt the guys in your area that are trying to make a iving in photography and you'll hurt the profession. If it sounds harsh I'm sorry but underselling is almost always a bad idea. The only way you can make a go of it in the wedding photography business is to charge what you're worth (almost certainly more than $200.00) and make image quality and client service the area where you are competitive. At $200.00 for a wedding you're going to end up working for less than minimum wage on an hourly rate. You can get a job at Wal-Mart, make more money and have less stress.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joyce Elizabeth Sammons on May 11, 2009 at 2:25pm

Thank you. I hadn't looked at it that way. What would you consider a fair price?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by nathan mccreery on May 11, 2009 at 8:01pm

I am in a small semi-agricultural market and I can't walk out of the studio on a wedding for under $1,000.00 when I consider all that goes into photographing a wedding. What is it worth to you to spend a whole day Saturday going to the wedding, photographing the wedding, editing the wedding, meeting with the bride and her family to draw up details, having an attorney draw a contract that protects your interests etc. There are so many variables. It is impossible to say about costs. Weddings are the most complicated, difficult assignments with the highest exposure for legal problems and unless you're careful and a good manager the lowest profit per hour that you can be in in this profession. Unless you just really like them you'll get very tired of spending every weekend at someone's church doing their wedding. That's why it is that many portrait studios are moving away from weddings and leaving them to people who want to specialize in them and do several each weekend without a portrait trade during the week. I don't want to come off negative but weddings are a lot of very hard work and it's hard to be profitable in them if you aren't able to function in a high end market. I'm not; from the sound of your original post you aren't either.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joyce Elizabeth Sammons on May 12, 2009 at 11:22am

I'm glad to receive this advice at the beginning of my business. I have researched the market in this area and there are only 2 wedding photographers in a town 20 miles away. I've been distributing my business cards and brochures in the area I live in and have received a lot of positive response. I'm still developing my talent as a wedding photographer but from the feedback I'm getting I'm better than the 1 photographer that lives in my area. I've signed up with Pictage to do my sales mainly because that is the part of wedding photography i really hate. People not being able to make up their minds and then more family wanting to place more orders and you know what a hassle it is. Hopefully all of the post-wedding sales will be online. Also i plan to do most of my photography on pets. When I was a studio photographer I would sell more pictures on pets than on kids. I really don't mind the hard work and time i have to put into it. I sit at my computer for hours at a time now just editing and uploading my work. I still have to go to my storage building and hunt for the albums with my best work. It was hard when I ran a studio and had 12 hour day during the holidays. I'm single and don't have the family responsibilities a lot of photographers do so if I'm in a church every weekend it's fine with me. I was well known in the area back in the 1980's and it was great with everyone knowing me. I couldn't even go to the grocery store without people stopping me and bragging about how great their pictures were. I'm at a point in my life that I need that back. Right now I'm compiling an album of my work that will go with me everywhere. There's a festival there on the 22nd and 23rd and I plan to be there and taking photos. The newspapers are great about publishing the work of area photographers. I don't consider your advice harsh because the real world is quite different from what they teach you in college. I consider it all helpful advice from people not afraid to lay it on the line.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Chelle Musa on May 12, 2009 at 1:55am

couldnt agree more to nathan what he said is all true in the real world of photography no matter where u are :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by kUANYING FU on May 13, 2009 at 11:35am

I agree with nathan too. what he said about profit and attitude is really helpful to me.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jon Wood on June 7, 2009 at 12:30pm

The minimum I charge is $1000 and that's a bargain for professional photos considering all the editing and the bride's demands.

• ▶ Reply