Wanted: Wedding Photographer with The Credentials of Annie Leibovitz and the Price Tag Of Wal-Mart
April 1, 2009 by Virtual Photography
Filed under Blog, Wedding Photography
Hiring Photographers – Amateurs Can Work was the title of the section on photographers in a newly released wedding planning book I found on the shelves of my local library. I picked up the book, well, just out of curiosity. Being in the wedding industry for as long as I have, I still pick up a ton of wedding resources, just to see what people are talking about and to find new and interesting resources.
Anyway, I read the section on photographers. And the more I read, the angrier I became.
Hiring Photographers – Amateurs Can Work
If you have friends or relatives who are good with a camera, you can save a lot of money by hiring them to document your wedding. If you have a friend or multiple friends take pictures, you can upload all of them onto a site like Kodak Gallery and let everyone buy the prints they want for just pennies apiece. If you do hire a photographer, give him or her a list of the pictures you would like taken, and be sure to include the rights to the images in the contract. Most photographers charge outrageous prices for printing and do not let you keep the negatives or digital files. You should also consider hiring a professional photographer who does weddings on the side. If the photographer has another source of income, he or she may be more willing to negotiate the contract price and image rights.
I won’t mention what book this came from, because it could be from a variety of sources. I’ve read things like this more than once.
As a wedding photographer that easily commanded five figure prices, I can tell you wedding photography is one of the most difficult forms of photography.
- You’re dealing with dozens of personalities, all on a frenzied day.
- You’re dealing with a ton of vendors all with a different purpose in mind.
- You’re dealing with a ton of family that all have their own idea of a perfect photograph.
- You have to create a perfect photograph in a hundred different locations. (From the back of a hairdressing studio, to a small dressing room with 25 females trying to get ready, to the great outdoors under blaring sunlight, to a dark dance floor with one spotlight.)
Yet again, thanks to books like this, brides head out into the ranks of their family and friends, trying to cut corners and hire a person with a camera who’s taken a few photographs.
Let’s actually analyze what this “bridal expert” said.
If you have friends or relatives who are good with a camera, you can save a lot of money by hiring them to document your wedding.
I know there are a ton of people out there that have bad photography from their weddings. I run across them every day. Whenever I mention my background, the stories begin. No matter what they say, it’s always focused around the photography. Is the purpose really to save money? Or maybe most people have been over-exposed to amateur photography and at this point can’t tell the difference.
If you have a friend or multiple friends take pictures, you can upload all of them onto a site like Kodak Gallery and let everyone buy the prints they want for just pennies apiece.
Again, the complete focus is on price. When it comes down to price, people can’t see professionalism. They see average pictures, and don’t want to pay a big price for something they can get from a family member. They need to see a difference to pay the difference.
If you do hire a photographer, give him or her a list of the pictures you would like taken, and be sure to include the rights to the images in the contract. Most photographers charge outrageous prices for printing and do not let you keep the negatives or digital files.
Two issues here. First, if you are a true professional, do you really need a list? Don’t you know to take a photo of the bride with her mom? The only list we ever asked for was for unique photographs to the bride and groom (i.e. the bride’s nanny flew in from London just for her special day). And second, rights to the images? Sure, the bride and groom should have access to as many photographs as they want. But the only reason someone says they want rights is so they can take the image files down to Wal-Mart and print them up. If a photographer is to remain a professional, he or she has to charge professional prices. It’s not the cost of the final product, it’s the education and commitment that built up to giving the photographer the talent to create that special image.
You should also consider hiring a professional photographer who does weddings on the side. If the photographer has another source of income, he or she may be more willing to negotiate the contract price and image rights.
Again, I see the lack of talent and originality shining through. If people can’t see the difference between what their friends produce, and what you as a professional produce, there is no way to charge a fair price.
As a photographer, if you snap a few photographs, and hand over the digital files to the bride, you’re not providing a full service. The more photographers shoot and promote themselves this way, the more it’s to be expected. The only way to change it around is to change the way we present it to potential clients.
Wedding photography has to be centered around a complete experience. From beginning to end, you have to be in control over everything. It’s not just about the photography. It’s about the show you put on as a professional photographer.
Even when we were shooting with film, a ton of guests would come up to us telling us how great our images were. AND THEY HADN’T SEEN ONE IMAGE YET! It was all the appearance, and how we were perceived as photographers.
Photography matters because it’s the only source we have to create and maintain our memories.
But really, the low image of a wedding photographer isn’t the fault of the wedding planners, wedding experts, and authors of bridal guides. It’s the fault of us, the photographers.
A bride doesn’t hire a photographer for a few photographs. She hires a photographer to enhance the memories of her entire day. You have to photograph it as such. And you have to sell it as such.
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Before escaping the wedding business I had photographed a little over 700 weddings. I have a few comments.
If you concentrate on building a good relationship with your couple then many of the problems of undervaluing you work can be minimised. Secondly, charge a good fee (including for prints) but also be mindful of how you can be generous. Create a good relationship and deliver good work you will have referral source for years.
I agree that wedding photography is one of the most difficult forms of professional photography. In what other areas of photography apart from perhaps photojournalism, do you have the following:
* no choice of model
* no choice of day or time
* no choice of location
* you must get images even if the weather or location is bad
* you cannot reshoot
* time is of the essence – they usually run late
* usually little assistance such as support crew for clothes, hair, makeup, photography tasks (eg for lighting, reflectors etc)
* limitations of wedding reception venues, including time, hostile management
* plenty of uncle Harrys with a camera who get in the way
* the need to get certain shots
* most weddings (if you do full service of the whole day) mean working a very long day
and finally everyone gets tired and emotional!
What sort of photo shoot has those specifications?
Notwithstanding all this, it is possible to do great work and make your couple and their families look great.
I enjoyed my time doing weddings. I am not sure however I want to go back there.
Good luck fellow photographers.
WHO could give brides advice to pick up their friend as a wedding photographer? Not to mention we wedding photographers spend THOUSANDS of dollars on equipment and dedicate ourselves to learning ever changing technology, how in a world a friend who has ho clue what to do and how to do it will document a wedding? My guess if the bride is REALLY on a BUDGET she will choose no pro.
I have witnessed recently a girl I know got married and published her wedding pictures on Facebook. I wanted to cry when I saw them, they were ridiculous! It was a “gift from a friend” – here she saved her money. And what did she get??? Awful armature pictures… I did say to her she looked beautiful (because she was)… but i said nothing about pictures… It just killed me, though why would I care. I cared only because I am a wedding photographer and I know how wedding pictures should look like.
Hope some bride WILL NOT follow that “advice”. Same thing is to advice people to go to a dentist who has never been a dentist… or to a lawyer who is not a lawyer at all.
Misleading the brides is awful…. I feel sorry for those who cries after they let their friend take wedding pictures. But it’s too late!
Thanks Alex and Galina for your comments.
Alex, I appreciated your comments “it is possible to do great work” and “I enjoyed my time doing weddings”. After all is said and done, we kept doing them year after year because we enjoyed them so much as well. There’s nothing like a group of guests loving your work BEFORE they’ve even seen the photos. It’s amazing being around people completely in love. And nothing was more satisfactory then having a bride and groom cry as they page through their final album, completely appreciating the work you’ve done.
Galina, that’s what actually made us become wedding photographers. The photographer at our wedding “lost” all of the photos of the ceremony, and most at the reception were either over or under exposed. I have a hard time looking at them to this day. That’s what motivated me to be the best I could for my wedding clients.
Thanks!
Lori
Oh boy, I could go on and on about why the “advice” is so very wrong but I think you’ve summed it up quite nicely. If you really want to save money there are ways but at the end of the day, as the say goes, “At the end of the day the cake has been eaten, the flowers are wilted and all that is left are the photographs….” I want to cry every time I see wedding photos with extra people (shadows) on the wall behind the happy couple. No full length shots, no stolen kisses caught by the camera and so many missing feet. Those I’m afraid are the good ones. The bad are the super dark, over exposed, blurry shots I see uploaded all the time…..
If you pay with peanuts, you will be served by monkeys.
It’s that simple, isn’t it?
What a GREAT title… only the best photographers would know… Love it.. yes in this digital age everyones a photographer / camera man… until the sh@t hits the fan and they dont know the f stop for inside church on a dark gloomy day… well.. I do!
I came across this article while i was searching for a good planner for wedding photographers.. My husband is a great wedding photographer (if i do say so myself) and I work behind the scenes doing the business end of it. Anyways, when i came across this article i just HAD to pass it on to my husband.. You summed up literally everything that we feel about the industry in one article. The more disturbing this though, is that some “professional wedding expert” is out there giving bride’s bad advice. I would love to know who this person is and if they are truly a known expert or just someone who wrote something.
I think the worse thing for wedding photographers is craigslist. So many ammature photographers portray themselves as professionals, work up the bride to think that they can do some amazing things, and then end up botching the whole job.. and you’re right, I think people are getting desensitized to bad photography… i’m sure that the invention of myspace, facebook and craigslist has made this just expand even further.. I had recently be shown someone’s facebook page who claims to be a professional photographer.. it was sad and laughable, yet there were people saying “AMAZING WORK” all over the place.
Anyways.. GREAT article, and i think this needs to be shared to ALL brides everywhere.. if you can’t afford a photographer, give up on the flowers or the stupid favors that no one keeps and get a pro..
Its also the reason why my husband and I do a free photography giveaway once a year.. we feel that EVERYONE should be entitled to good photography.. and we let people submit their story and we judge accordingly – without taking away the value of our work.
oh my – perfect title! I am both a recent bride and a professional wedding photographer and let me clarify by saying I am not just a professional because I have been paid to photograph weddings, I also studied photography at Pratt Institute and further at ICP. Let me first say that when I started the process of researching and selecting a wedding photographer for my wedding I was horrified by the masses of wretched, untalented “professionals” out there charging both Wal-mart and Bergdorf prices. I was continually sickened by the amount of horrid advice from “wedding planners/industry pros” it is unbelievable. I think as conscientious professionals we have a responsibility to both educate and inform our potential clients about wedding photography and not be so focused on closing the deal. You have to understand the sheer volume of details and information never mind the magnitude of importance this whole process/day has for the bride & groom … this is all new to them and what to look for, what to avoid and what to expect are things most B&Gs are completely clueless about. I would say that most B&Gs place a significant importance on their wedding photographs; however, they do not understand what makes a professional wedding photographer different from a professional photographer or an advanced amateur/hobbyist. Here is usually what I suggest to my B&Gs who are struggling with their budgets:
1. Almost no one will like the food at your wedding, even if your venue has good food most people plan to eat before or after anyway since most banquet meals aren’t palatable. This is also where there is an opportunity to save the most amount of money. Also the bar tab is another place where you can have some wiggle room – offer and open bar during cocktail hour and then just wine/beer throughout the remainder of the night. People will be happy and you will save a bundle.
2. Invite less people. It is easy math x people cost x amount and besides B&Gs who have large weddings rarely actually spend much time together at their receptions. If you cannot invite less people then here is a great idea – invite everyone to the cocktail hour, they can see your first dance have a little fun and then only invite your close family & friends for the dinner portion … this is actually a custom for many countries.
3. Donate your flowers to a nursing home after your reception and they are now fully tax deductible … yay!!! {well in most states & only if you itemize your deductions}
4. Another way to save on flowers is to use larger/fewer tables which can save hundreds on centerpiece costs. Besides here is a good place to hire an amateur/hobbyist – have a florist do the important items: bouquets, boutonnieres, etc and have a friend who is good at arranging flowers {perhaps has even taken some classes} do the centerpieces – anyone with an eye for composition and access to http://www.marthastewart.com can make something beautiful. Plus you can buy your flowers in bulk from http://www.fiftyflowers.com and save a fortune too.
5. Want to save a fortune and have a luxury 5 star wedding … do what I did – DESTINATION WEDDING!!! I was married in Venice, Italy – had a couture Designer Loft handmade specifically for me gown – a 9 course dinner at the Quadri in St. Mark’s Square – One of the leading NYC wedding photographers all for less then $25k.
6. and if you absolutely MUST save money on photography here are my tips. First do not be afraid to negotiate no price is set in stone ever. Second have your wedding on an off day/season you will save money everywhere by doing this. Good old fashion bartering – are you a web developer? maybe the photographer needs some web work and will discount their fee in exchange, be creative. I have also had brides hire several different photographers – the most expensive for the ceremony & formals then either cheaper or amateur for the pre-ceremony and reception photographs. Also, sometimes professional wedding photographers will allow you to hire their assistant photographers for a fraction of their typical price. and in the end I always remind my potential clients that very few things will be passed down to your grandchildren – your rings, your gown and your photographs. Splurge on the forever things and scrimp on the one-day things.
Note: to all of your $975 “professional” photographers, perhaps you can find another cash cow to satisfy your greed from – stop cheapening the industry with your substandard, uninspired, mundane bs photographs. I am not quite sure which is worse, you all or David’s Bridal!
Nicole
Thanks so much for the wonderful comments – and for the great advice. I love hearing from photographers that “get it” and you really do. I wish you a ton of success – which I’m positive you’ll have building a business with that philosophy. Keep it up!
Lori
Nicole I would like to meet you or at least say thank you. Finally a person like myself who lets it fly in a honest,straight forward approach. Also congrats to the site where they let you speak your mind without “editing” your content. Most photo web clubs encouarge exchange of opinions but god forbid if your words are to harsh and mean {truth} we all must be friendly—thats not opinion,thats speech control so again thank you for allowing us to speak our mind.
Brian
Speak away! I love hearing all viewpoints. I think that’s the one thing that helps us all grow and become better in the future.
Lori
i want seesome pics of your website
I must say, that in here Estonia, the most prestigious wedding photographers charge about $1500 for the whole day, The average price for wedding photographers in here is around $500-$700 for the whole day, so it is a bit hard to compare the services in here to the prices in there. Also, just to get an idea – the average salary in here is $1200, and that is considered a high salary in here.
From my (guy’s) point of view, weddings are typically a waste of money, with or without professional photographer. 25k wedding and for what? Get married in Vegas, and use the 25k to have a great long honeymoon in Venice and actually enjoy yourself, rather than stress over how you look, if everyone is having a good time etc. Wedding does not build memories, life after wedding does. And that’s where most of the photographs should come from – places we visited, vacations we took, kid’s play etc. Wedding is like a Valentine’s day – over dramatized and over priced. An artificial memory creator.
I feel compelled to ask, why is everyone SO worried about amateur photographers? I’m a wedding photographer consistently booking weddings in the $3-5000 range and I am not the slightest bit worried about anyone charging $500 for all day, all digital images included photography.
1) I know that when potential brides meet me, the are immediately aware that what I offer is different from what they can get from an amateur. From the quality of the images to the paper the images themselves are printed on. You CAN’T order my albums through Wal Mart, my equipment (and back up equipment) is professional equipment. My clients are educated – not always when I first meet them, but I believe part of my JOB is explaining to brides the difference between professional and amateur photography.
2) A bride looking to spend $500 on her photography and $2500 on her dress doesn’t value what I do. I can’t force her to change her mind. Lucky for her (and me!) there is someone else who can fill her needs.
I certainly don’t agree with industry “professionals” giving brides advice like mentioned above, but I do think the type of bride I want to photograph knows better. Just because some one suggests she does all the food herself for her wedding, doesn’t mean she’s going to follow the advice! She knows that it could save her some money but it most likely will end up a disaster. Same with photography – and my clients know that.
As a musician, I can relate to this. I generally offer either a String Quartet or Trio, but when people hear the price, they often ask if I can make it a duo or solo. It just never sounds as good, so I refuse.
In getting our wedding photography, my fiancee and I went with a professional photographer, as we realised that good photos come from good training, and that would cost money. We’re also having a friend take photos at an afternoon tea we’re having after the ceremony, while the photographer will probably be busy with photos with us. The photos of people eating and chatting at the morning tea isn’t so important for us quality wise, but we know that our friend will do a good job. But the photos that we do want to be good quality, we made a decision to find a photographer who we felt a rapport with, and whose quality of photos and dedication to quality we agreed with.
Thanks Ben for the insight.
Once again, people do realize there is a difference between “Uncle Joe” and a professional. If you are a professional, charge like a professional. And continue to market to educate your prospects on why its important to hire a professional.
Thanks Sue. You said it perfectly with, “My clients are educated – not always when I first meet them, but I believe part of my JOB is explaining to brides the difference between professional and amateur photography.” That is the key. You have to educate your prospects on why they need a professional. They’ve never done this before (hopefully). And if photographs matter, they will understand everything you say.
How many clients do you truly need to build a successful wedding business? 30 a year? 40? Whatever that number, work to get the best 30 you can possibly get.
I really liked your blog! nice
Nicole…
Anybody with access to a Martha Stewart book? I would say that is rather insulting to the Florist professionals wouldn’t you? Sounds a bit like a pot calling a kettle black to me.
Theres a place for everybody. I don’t agree with the way the topic was addressed in the book but as someone who does offer a less expensive alternative to a master photographer, I can honestly say that I would not be in a position to charge the thousands that some charge. But if someone wants me to shoot their wedding, I will charge accordingly and that may happen to be $975.00 I’m not going to turn them away because they can’t afford a ‘real’ photographer. And I will never get the experience I require if I do. I havent had a complaint yet. I only hope to get better, and I seem to be with each event I do.
Photography can be such a pretentious industy, and I think we need to all take a step back and see it for what it is. And in this financial climate, there has to be a middle man to suit peoples needs.
Theyre just my thoughts.